Jang Dong-woo is beginning his days with an alarm — actually. He wakes up at 7 a.m. each day to add content material tied to alarm-themed promotions for his new solo album and monitor fan reactions.
He has all the time been the loudest spark within the second-gen Okay-pop boy band INFINITE — the group’s kinetic rapper, dancer and resident stay wire, however on a cold Monday morning throughout an interview with The Korea Occasions at a restaurant in Seoul’s Yongsan District, he leaned ahead with the urgency of somebody who has rebuilt himself piece by piece.
“This album is made out of my very own cash and thus falls fully below my duty,” Jang stated, half laughing on the weight of it. “I lastly perceive why leisure CEOs get so harassed.”
A whopping six years and eight months after his first solo challenge, the INFINITE rapper-performer returns Tuesday with “AWAKE,” a self-made, six-song mini-album designed to jolt listeners out of emotional autopilot.
The idea matches him. His vitality fires quick, his phrases tumble out and even his jokes land with precision. However beneath that positivity was the steely resolve of somebody who has spent the previous few years remodeling his whole 15-year profession from the bottom up.
Jang Dong-woo of Okay-pop boy band INFINITE / Courtesy of Jang Dong-woo
Jang described the years after INFINITE’s navy enlistment as “a pure delay” in releasing new solo materials. The pandemic and several other company transitions stretched the timeline even additional.
Ultimately, he parted methods together with his final firm and determined that if he wished to maneuver ahead, he must carry the burden himself.
“An enormous nest issues, however ultimately, I noticed carving my very own path mattered extra to me,” he stated. “After spending greater than 15 years within the trade, I lastly got here to suppose there was nothing I could not deal with alone.”
Dealing with issues on his personal quickly meant self-financing the challenge, from manufacturing to the music video. He met with 16 composing groups, pushed closely for the visible idea and refused to compromise on high quality.
“I did not need something strange,” he stated. “I am drawn to darker ideas, virtually Joker-like, so I went by intensive conferences with the crew to deliver that imaginative and prescient to life.”
Jang Dong-woo of Okay-pop boy band INFINITE / Courtesy of Jang Dong-woo
On the middle of “AWAKE” is the observe “SWAY (Zzz),” an iPhone alarm-inspired single constructed on a razor-sharp beat and a soundscape meant to jolt.
“Some folks stated they wished to show it off instantly,” Jang stated with a fast grin. “The alarm sound bothered them. However that is precisely the response I wished. I wished one thing folks could not ignore. Good or dangerous, it ought to depart an impression.”
One other gem from the album is his self-written observe “Life,” which Jang says represents the album’s emotional middle. It attracts from private experiences, together with navy service, a herniated disc and the surprising readability that got here with it.
“I believe being born is already a form of success,” the 34-year-old stated. “Your failures ultimately grow to be your tales. That is the message of the tune, and likewise why I selected to not make it overly sentimental or heavy.”
Regardless of his humility, Jang isn’t shy about his ambition.
“In fact I need this album to do properly,” he says. “INFINITE’s success got here from music, idea and luck all aligning. I hope that luck comes again once more. However even when it would not, ‘AWAKE’ in itself is proof that I can maintain creativity, and that my subsequent large step is inside attain.”
Jang Dong-woo of Okay-pop boy band INFINITE / Courtesy of Jang Dong-woo
His subsequent step is the quiet engine working beneath every little thing he does: coaching the subsequent technology. He envisions forming a boy band grounded in robust efficiency, self-discipline and emotional consciousness.
“I’ve instincts for efficiency and for selecting music that matches an artist,” he says. “I wish to deliver out strengths in different folks. 5 years from now, that is the place I wish to be.”
For now, he’s pouring every little thing into the solo album he says “took a mortgage to finish,” however his ambitions stretch properly past it. Jang needs collaborations with world artists, from Travis Scott to Offset, and he additionally needs a 3rd solo album constructed round a title observe composed by his personal hand.
“I am doing this with the mindset of a rookie artist,” Jang concluded. “I need folks to see that I can do every little thing, that I am a ‘multi-player’ and that I am prepared for extra.”
