DAY6's Young K: "Before joining JYP, I was in the late stages of celebrity disease... I was a frog in the well" [Interview ③]

*This content was translated by AI.

DAY6 member Young K (real name Kang Young-hyun) faced the honest inner self of human Kang Young-hyun.

Recently, Young K held a roundtable interview at Seoul Jongno-gu JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul to commemorate the release of his second solo full album 'YOUNGEST'.

On that day, Young K recounted anecdotes from his trainee days at JYP Entertainment (hereinafter JYP) before his debut. He confessed with a hearty laugh, "I used to think I was a genius who would shake up the world. Before becoming a trainee in Toronto, I was in the late stages of so-called 'celebrity disease'."

He continued, "That was the time when my nose was highest and celebrity disease was at its peak. But as soon as I joined JYP and saw other trainees, that celebrity disease crumbled into dust. All the trainees shone brightly, singing songs brilliantly and dancing incredibly well. I realized, 'I really was just a frog in the well.' In fact, becoming a trainee helped cure my celebrity disease."

This album sheds its past pretense and focuses entirely on himself. Young K revealed that beyond working on his new album, he spent time asking himself many questions.

"I asked myself many questions like, 'Who are you?' and 'What is your current state?' But what surprised me most was that when I asked, 'What do you like?', even I didn't know what I liked. Over the past 10 years, I did my best to fulfill the mission of DAY6, so much so that I didn't even know what Kang Young-hyun wanted to do right now or what he liked and was good at most. Although I haven't found a complete answer yet, I think this album will best reflect my current state."

He also prepared a special reward for his hardworking self. Young K said, "I plan to give myself a gift when I successfully complete these activities and reach a certain stage of completion," revealing his excitement about traveling to a resort for the first time in his life.

Given how honestly he expressed what is most 'Kang Young-hyun-like,' those who have watched him closely reacted warmly. PD Park Jin-young simply praised, "It's good," while JYP Jeong Uk (President) reportedly said, "This song was good. The music video turned out well too? You did a great job restraining yourself." Young K joked, "'Restraining myself' refers to weight loss. From before the album work until the day of the music video shoot, I lost about 10 kg. Now I'm in the phase of rebuilding my stamina, and what the public will see in the music video is my prime state."

Steady support from fellow artists also continued. DAY6 member Wonpil, who heard all the tracks first, left high praise around the time the 10th-anniversary concert was ending: "It's a masterpiece." Young K smiled and said, "If you call it 'DAY6 Young K album is a masterpiece,' I'd be greedy, but I was truly happy that Wonpil said so."

In addition, Melomance's Kim Min-seok and members of tvN's 'Amazing Saturday' (where he is a regular cast member) also showed enthusiastic reactions. Young K shared, "When I played it for friends around me, many responded with 'Wow, this is new.' Even Hyung Kim Min-seok said it was good, and when I played it for a few members of the 'Amazing Saturday' family, they were very excited and happy." He added, "I actually sang the song once on set already, and since then, whenever the members do anything, they shout 'Shut the door~ Shut the door~', so I have high expectations," revealing strong confidence in his solo activities.

'YOUNGEST' will be released at 6 p.m. on the 27th via various online music platforms.

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*This content was translated by AI.