YANG HYUN SUK Says, “AKDONG MUSICIAN Produced Unprecedentedly ‘Organic’ Music… PSY·WINNER’s Comeback is Also Imminent” (Interview)
[이데일리 스타in 박미애 기자] YG Entertainment (“YG”)’s head producer YANG HYUN SUK expressed his confidence, talking about his high expectations for the disclosure of AKDONG MUSICIAN’s debut album.
In a telephone interview with E-Daily Star in, YANG said, “AKDONG MUSICIAN’s album is a healthy and organic one that makes listeners think how come this kind of music could be created in Korea. They have created a very good album”. He went on to say, “People have been expecting that the PSY and WINNER will come back early this year. Even though I can’t confirm it, their music is also now coming to the finish”.
Producer YANG HYUN SUK has been spending very busy days recently, taking the charge of producing YG singers including AKDONG MUSICIAN, PSY, WINNER, TAEYANG, and EPIK HIGH, as well as appearing in “K-Pop Star 3” of “I Love Sunday”, SBS channel’s entertainment show.
AKDONG MUSICIAN is an acoustic duo made of brother LEE CHAN HYUK (18) and sister LEE SOO HYUN (15), who won “K-Pop Star” season 2. They created sensation in the show, with brilliant and novel songs including “Don’t Cross Your Legs” and “You Are Attractive”, as well as their confortable and attractive tone”.
AKDONG MUSICIAN releases their debut album on the 7 this month. The album is a full-length one with total 11 songs, all of which were written, composed, and produced by LEE CHANG HYUK. They have selected “MELTED” and “200%” as the title tracks and will pick one more title track after the release of the album, through selection by the public.
△ What the music that will be included in AKDONG MUSICIAN’s debut album is like?
It is a very good album. It is a very healthy and organic music that has never existed in Korea so far. There has been too much of idol boy groups’ music in Korea’s music scene so far. As far as I know, the media has also pointed out the problem of girl or boy groups’ cookie-cutter music with cute or sexy concept. Last year, too, dozens of new idol groups were poured into the music world, but only few of them were a really well-prepared team. That undermines further development of K-Pop. AKDONG MUSICIAN’s music is a very differentiated one, which will make you wonder about if we have ever seen a singer who does such kind of music in Korea so far”.
△ What did you feel about their music when you directly listened to it?
AKDONG MUSICIAN is teenagers, so they have a unique perspective of the world. Listening to their music, even I, in my forties now, feel like entering a whole new world. Their music reminds me of my childhood days, which I’ve forgotten now. As we grow up, we lose a lot while gaining a lot. Listening to AKDONG MUSICIAN’s music, I recovered my emotions in the childhood days. Their music makes you feel a variety of subtle emotions. I think this is why people who remember and like AKDONG MUSICAN love their music. Nowadays, people pursue wholesome food for their health, and I think AKDONG MUSICIAN’s music is like wholesome food. Personally, I hope that K-pop could be healthier than now, and more musicians who do that kind of music make debut and come under a bigger spotlight”.
△ What’s the evaluation like inside YG?
YG is a music label that focuses on hip-hop, but I think people give the same evaluation to really good things. YG actually does not confine our music only to hip-hop. We just do it because we like it the most and thereby are good at it. Actually, if people make YG create music like AKDONG MUSICIAN’s, we can never do it. There exists a variety of music and art in the world and a person who likes SF films can also like “Frozen”. YG really likes AKDONG MUSICIAN’s music”.
△ AKDONG MUSICIAN unexpectedly makes debut before PSY and WINNER.
The works for the album of AKDONG MUSICIAN have long been completed and it has been done quite well. Many people expected that PSY and WINNER would make debut or come back before AKDONG MUSICIAN, and their preparations are almost done now, too. Maybe, we could deliver their news in a week. YG has so many plans for this year, so we are supposed to be very busy. I am committed to making year 2014 a year of YG’s new leap forward”.
2014. 4. 2.
