Block B Interview on Inkigayo Magazine + Photo

Inkigayo Magazine - Block B

[BLOCK B] We want to earn the titles of ‘uniqueness’, ‘talent’, and ‘freedom.’ From the moment we joined our company, our CEO told us that it’s run as a system where we do everything ourselves, so they will not force us to do anything. He said, “You have to learn how to improve yourself on your own, and your concept will be decided on your own. If you do not receive the response you desired, then you must take responsibility for that.” All of us like this system, and we hope to continue to pursue unique and free music. We’re ‘freedom idols.’ (laughter)

[IDOL] We hate that people view us through a stereotype. As opposed to hitting it big with an addictive hook song or a variety show and drama, we’re greedy to be acknowledged for ‘true music.’ We’re always making an effort to differentiate ourselves from the other idols. On a small scale, it’s things like our outfit and hair styles, and on a grander scale, it’s things like our music. Please anticipate our music. We also have to attract 10,000 members for our fancafe before the release of our mini-album, so please join! (laughter)

[SHOUT] People say a lot of things about our stage, especially hip hop fans since they anticipated us the most. But the fact that we’re even being talked about, whether good or bad, means that we’re still receiving attention in one way or the other. Please watch over us and continue to give us your advice and criticisms. We’re going to be running at the top of the game, anyway! (laughter) It’s hard to deal with everything, but we consider it just one of the processes of growing. We are ready to take your criticisms.

We’re also receiving all of the presents and snacks sent to us and are extremely grateful for them. There are a lot of fans that want us to put up proof shots on our Twitters, but there’s just so many that it’s difficult for us to take one for every one, which upsets us greatly. Please be understanding of that. We promise to work hard in in Korea and cross over to Japan with a better image soon, so please anticipate and support us.


Inkigayo Magazine - Taeil

[IT’S ME] I’m an AB bloodtype, and some people say I have a tendency to be a bit psycho. I think I act like any other person, but I think that registers as unique to other people.

[DREAM] I’ve always loved music and first joined a music club and promoted for six years under that. I wasn’t under an agency, but we had a lot of members so we’d travel in a van whenever we performed at events. Performing is something you can’t learn from reading a book, but rather something you pick up from experience, which is what I learned with the group. I randomly auditioned for “Birth of a Great Star” and suddenly got picked. It was a program that helped me cross from underground to mainstream.

[ON THE STAGE] I think that I’m not eye-catching, but I do have my own charms and a voice that isn’t common but still recognizable. I’ve only sung for about five years, so coming out as an idol now, it was really difficult to learn how to dance. Since I’m the main vocalist, I receive one-shots from the cameras a lot, and looking back, I thought it was so funny how my face, voice, and body were all doing different things. I didn’t like how I was dancing and even more how my eyes looked so small on screen. I look a bit dazed when I don’t have eye make up on, so starting with our “Wanna B” promotions, I began wearing sun glasses. Unfortunately, they’re so big that they keep sliding off my face. Lately, I’ve been trying to pick up gestures that I can pretend to do when I’m actually just fixing my sunglasses (laughter).

[EPISODE] There’s an extremely expensive mic in our recording room. Our composer doesn’t let us touch the mic so we just leave it how it’s positioned. Since I’m the main vocalist, I stand in the middle, but we have to lower the mic because I’m so short. Every time we have to reposition it, the composer will come in to do it. I guess he got tired of it because he said he’d buy socks for me to put insoles in (laughter).

[MEMBER] Zico looks aggressive so he’s misunderstood a lot. My first impression of him was that he looked very strong. He was wearing a school uniform with long hair and I didn’t think he looked like a student at first. ”Was he wearing a school uniform for fun?” His face and his uniform just didn’t match (laughter). When I first saw Jaehyo, he was so handsome that I felt captivated. “How could he be so handsome?” I thought to myself. I just stared at him.

[TATTOO] “Never forget your roots.” I want to never forget my roots and always show my best.

Inkigayo Magazine - B-Bomb

[IT’S ME] People say that they think I’d be really quiet, but I really want to break that image. I’m not quiet at all. I joke around a lot in our dorms so I’m sure this image will be broken once we shoot a reality show (laughter). I also like looking at magazines and collecting shoes and hats. There isn’t any one member that doesn’t know how to dress themselves, but Jaehyo and Kyung are a bit lacking in that department. I have a lot of interest in fashion, but it’s really maknae P.O. that’s fashionable.

[HARDSHIP] After I first left the company I was training in, I rebelled it. I knew that I wasn’t young anymore and I had so many more things to think about. I was so upset in not being able to train anymore and realized then just how precious the opportunity to train really is. In the team I was with before, they were all my hyungs. After joining Block B, I had suddenly become one of the oldest so I had to pay extra careful to my every actions, as well as work on bringing the team together. In terms of talent, I was also pressured in having to set a good example for my dongsengs.

[EPISODE] This is something that happens often. When we do the laundry in our dorm, the shower water gets weaker. The members that are showering will always yell outside to turn off the laundry machine for a bit. We also run out of towels a lot because we have so many members, so that naturally makes the kids not want to wash often. I think I’d have to choose Jaehyo as the member that doesn’t wash often. I share a room with Jaehyo and he doesn’t like cleaning up. I have to yell at him, “Jaehyo! Clean this up!” and force him to do it. I keep talking about Jaehyo, but that doesn’t mean it’s because he’s dirty or anything (laughter).

[MEMBER] On my first day of training, I was having a hard time adjusting when Jaehyo came up to me and said, “Come over here~ Let’s go eat out together. You can do this just like this.” He was taking care of me so well so I automatically assumed, “Oh! He must’ve trained here for a long time!” I was really grateful until I found out that he had joined the company just a day before me. He’s a natural leader, which shocked me. I thought he had trained for at least three years (laughter).

[TATTOO] “If you’re desperate for it, it will come true.” In order to become a singer, I learned how to dance really hard with a desperate mindset, and my dreams really did come true.

Inkigayo Magazine - Jaehyo

[IT’S ME] I look cold when I have my mouth closed, but the way I talk and the way I act is actually awkward and childish, so people consider that my ‘reversal charm.’ People tell me to “close my mouth” whenever I talk. The only consistent thing I’ve heard for the past five years was, “You need to close your mouth.”

[HARDSHIP] There wasn’t anything particularly difficult for me at all. Before our album was released, I withstood our recording and training with my excitement for our debut. The members of Block B were chosen in a survival, competition system so it was hard to become the final chosen member. There definitely was pressure in having to compete against people your own age with similar dreams. Every night, I’d stay up worrying to myself wondering, “What if I’m dropped?” Thinking about it now, I think I learned a lot from those experiences and it made me become a stronger person. If I hadn’t endured those times, then I would probably just be watching Block B through the television right now. Training might be painful, but now that I’ve become a member, I think it’s something I can look back on as a fond memory.

[MUSIC] This is something that we have to work harder on, but personally, I hope that Block B’s music becomes more familiar with the public. Even if it’s not their style at first, we’d like for them to open up to our music and feel a sense of familiarity, like a tattoo on their body. I guess I’d want nothing more than for Block B’s musical identity to be melted into our music as well. In the future, I want to hear that our group is a group that knows how to communicate with the public.

[EPISODE] I once bought four packs of face masks that had five face masks in each, which comes out to a total of 20. I lined them up in the fridge and used them starting from the top. One day, I felt something was off so I looked at the bottom and saw that three of the five were missing. I was just going to let it go, thinking that the members had used it, but I got angry the more I thought of them using the ones from the bottom. So sneaky! I felt betrayed so I asked the members and they all said they didn’t use it. I see that there’s a member with a better skin lately, I wonder who the culprit is? (laughter).

[TATTOO] “Always be humble, and always have your head down even when praised.” This is something my parents always said to me so I always kept it close to heart.

Inkigayo Magazine - ZICO

[IT’S ME] In my dorm, on TV, and in front of my family, I’m the same person. I think my charm is that I’m not fake. I’m not sure about my personality being masculine or anything, but I do think I’m energetic (smiles).

[DREAM] I’ve always loved hip hop music since junior high. After starting music on my own, I knew that I wanted to just be a ‘musician.’ When I first received an offer to become an ‘idol’ from my agency, it is true that I didn’t want to. Thinking about it more, though, I realized that being an idol is something I can do at my age and that it was also a great opportunity to spread hip hop to the mainstream public. I’m also sure that it would help not only our musical careers, but my growth as a producer as well.

[HARDSHIP] I receive a lot of stress when I’m planning out the overall frame of a song and putting lyrics and melodies to it. I want to create a song in ‘A style’, but the more parts I put in, it turns into a ‘B style.’ It’s really hard splitting a song between seven people, and even more difficult to create a song that satifies everyone. ”Freeze!” is a song that was supposed to have a Far East Movement-like feel, but after lengthening some parts and putting electronic elements into it, it ended up sounding like any other pop song. The song had a nice concept beat-wise and I know that I should have gone rougher with it, so it’s a bit disappointing in that regards.

[MUSIC] The hip hop community had a lot of expectations from me before my debut with Block B. I think they expected me to go with something unorthodox to reform the music industry, so there was a lot of people that said, ‘He’s no different from the other idols,’ after we debuted. When I was reading those replies, Cho PD hyung told me, “You can’t lend yourself to the words of others. You have to grow to become someone that can move not a small community, but all of Korea.” I’ve put down some of the pressures I’ve felt and am just enjoying music as freely as possible.

[TATTOO] I want to get a tattoo that says ‘Never Stop.’ It’s hard to get back into it once you stop so I think people should never stop what they’re doing. Like dancers going into a slump when they stop dancing, it’s the same for music. I will never stop pursuing music.

Inkigayo Magazine - Kyung

[IT’S ME] I think me, myself, is a charm (laughter). I’m the team’s ‘atmosphere maker’, and that’s a charm that you can’t buy or learn from anywhere or anyone. What am I lacking in? Aside from my ‘height’ and the ‘size of my head’, I’m confident in everything.

[DREAM] When I was in the States, I listened to a song Zico had made called ‘Kuek.’ I remember bursting out, “Wow! This is really cool”, and I’m not lying when I say this, but I immediately thought, “Girls might like me if I rap like this!” I started rapping with that naive thought (laughter). I began by buying a mic and sticking it in the computer and uploading my raps on the internet under the name of ‘Holke.’ After some time, Zico told me that he had sent a demo tape to an agency and got contracted, and offered me to come over. That’s how I became a singer.

[MUSIC] Our focus on this album was to show something that only Block B could do to differentiate us from the rest. We’re going to be pursuing music with a hip hop base because we we hope to bring the hip hop genre closer to the mainstream public. Through our music, we want to show everyone that we’re not just idols, but ‘free idols’ that have their own color and pursue the music they want.

[ON THE STAGE] During our “Wanna B” promotions, my hair style really bothered me. My hair would keep splitting so I had to keep brushing it, and I got really tired of doing that. When I promoted underground, we were able to act however we want, but now that we’re on TV, every little thing like our facial expressions and our fingers gets caught. Unlike other idols, most of our members have a lot of stage experience so I wasn’t worried about our live performances.

[TATTOO] I’d want the tattoo, “Know Yourself.” I thought I was handsome until Jaehyo hyung joined and we took a picture together. I can’t express what I felt at the time in words. On a radio show, I wanted to give the feel of a musician so I would cringe and stuff while singing “Is It Only Me?” When I turned to monitor it, I realized… ‘I really need to know how myself.’ If I really act however I want, I’m really going to be kicked out~ From now on, I’m going to find something that fits me for both my facial expressions and my physical appearance.

Inkigayo Magazine - U-Kwon

[IT’S ME] My charms are my eyes (smiles). The fans and staff of our company said that they like seeing me smile. Being a timid blood type A, there’s the stereotype of being like “I’m sorry I can’t be understanding~” but I’m trying to always to always stay optimistic and to just let everything pass on a better note.

[HARDSHIP] There was no official confirmation that I would be a member of Block B from the company and I too wasn’t confident. I only learned hip hop through dancing and in the musical aspect, I lacked a lot. I was in a state of shock when I heard the company speak about me in saying, “Do we continue to take Ukwon?” Zico told me, “There’s a lot of talk about you within the company. They said that if you don’t work hard, we won’t be in the same team. Work harder and I’ll be there to block for you” which became a lot of strength to me. Later on Zico had said to the company, “There’s a lot of sides that Ukwon hasn’t been able to show yet which are hidden, so just wait a bit and look out for him” in which Ukwon was really thankful once he had found out. Our boss Cho PD complimented that I was the one who grew in terms of skills and appearance wise amongst the rest since my first day as a trainee up until now and that if I work harder than right now, I have even more potential.

[ON THE STAGE] I wear a bandage around my arm on stage. My muscles aren’t tight around, so the bandage keeps slipping. I should work out my arms so that I can gain some muscle (smiles).

[TATTOO] I want to get a tattoo that says “Love makes Me Strong.” The fans and family who give me love, as well as the love from my members makes me stronger.

[FAMILY] Before I went to middle school, my father passed away and so it was just me, my mother, and my brother as our family situation wasn’t great either, so my older brother worked to pay for my academy fees. My brother said, “Even if other people compliment you, I’m not going to. Don’t ever become arrogant.” Despite having a cold personality, he’s like a dependent father figure to me. In not being able to satisfy my family’s expectations and always spending an uneasy trainee life, now I was able to make my debut and having an album out, my mom especially was really glad (smiles).

[BLOCK B] It’s bad if you take it negatively, but I would like for us to be called “a group crazy for music” (smiles). Whenever I see videos of dancing, I think “There are artists who are crazy for music” and from now on, I will work hard until I hear people really call me a ‘crazy guy.’

Inkigayo Magazine - P.O.

[IT’S ME] I’m an only son so I received a lot of love growing up. I’m also a B bloodtype so I tend to get angry really fast, but now that I’m living with my hyungs, I can’t get angry. Since I’m the maknae, I have to just let everything go even if it’s not my fault. I’m also not the type to run errands for people, but I’ve grown so accustomed to it now that my body moves before I even think about it. I hate how I’m like this (laughter). On stage, I look charismatic, but I’m just the ‘cutie maknae’ to my hyungs.

[DREAM] My original dream was to become a theater actor so I applied for an arts high school. I’ve attended acting academies since I was in the fourth grade and worked as an extra in junior high. In my freshman year of high school, one of my teachers suggested that I try becoming a singer and introduced me to an audition. I did like to rap but I didn’t have a clear goal of becoming a rapper so I was scared. Once I arrived at the agency, I saw Zico and Kyung hyung rapping, and at that moment, I knew that this was what I wanted to do. I thought to myself, “Even if I fail this audition, I want to become a rapper. I know that if I pursue this path, I won’t ever regret it.” My dream of becoming a rapper was because of Zico and Kyung hyung. It was because of their amazing skills that I was able to find a clear dream.

[ON THE STAGE] “Wanna B” is an emotional song that features Zico and Kyung hyung’s high tone raps and my low tone rap at the end. I think that helped deliver the lyrics efficiently and help the public recognize my voice as well.

[EPISODE] Normally when we’re in our dorms, we’re usually doing stuff on our own on the laptop or working on songs. We were all watching TV together one day when A Pink came on the screen. I was watching without much thought until I randomly turned around and saw that every single one of them was staring intently at the screen. Watching them all sit and stare like that was hilarious! (laughter)

[TATTOO] I’m not the type to like tattoos, hennas, or piercing ears. Even if I don’t get a tattoo, I’d like to tattoo “become someone’s goal” in my heart. I want to work hard, and after time passes, I want students my age now to say my name when they’re asked, “What kind of singer do you want to be like?”

Translations by B ON THE BLOCK

Block B Photo

#Photo Credits to real owner#