00:00Hi, Hollywood Reporter. I'm Vernon from Seventeen.
00:03I'm also coming out with a new album called V8.
00:08And I'm sharing my playlist.
00:15My first song is Where Are You Now by Jack Yu.
00:19It's just one of my favorite songs of all time.
00:23I love the song to the point that I wish it was mine.
00:26And I just hear, like, so many other songs that sound influenced by this song.
00:33Because even our album, I feel like, is heavily influenced by this song as well.
00:37And yeah, it's such an iconic song.
00:39What is it about a song that makes you want to listen to it again?
00:45Is it just like, oh, I enjoy this, I'm gonna keep going?
00:50Or is it like you enjoy, perhaps, something that's different?
00:54Like, what is it about a song that draws you in?
00:57Man, it's so, it feels so difficult to analyze why I like something and to explain it.
01:07I guess with this song, it's just so sonically pleasing.
01:11Like, the drop, it's like, like, I feel sadness and excitement at the same time.
01:22It's just so addicting.
01:23I don't really know how else to explain it.
01:26It's, yeah, I think it's really a good song.
01:28Can you tell me a bit about why you and V8 are teaming up for this?
01:34Well, it was V8 who suggested this unit in the first place to both me and our label.
01:42And I said yes because I felt like I could do something fun with him.
01:48I think we have relatively synchronized taste in music out of Seventeen.
01:54And, yeah, I thought I could really put my heart in it if I did this with him.
02:05My next song is Drama by Blade and Mekatok.
02:09This is the song where I first found out about Mekatok.
02:14Yeah, I mean, I've always loved Blade.
02:17And then one day I saw Blade releasing an album with Mekatok.
02:21And I talked about this song in an interview.
02:28I think it was, like, in 2022.
02:32And, supposedly, Mekatok posted about that interview on his story and he tagged me.
02:40And I didn't know that until, like, earlier this year.
02:47I reached out to him and I told him about V8.
02:51And I told him I'd love to work on a song with you.
02:55So he sent me a bunch of demos.
03:00And me and my top liner friend worked on a couple of them.
03:04And once the first Sing A Song demo was made,
03:10I just instinctively felt that this would be the focus track for our album.
03:20And, like, so...
03:21And then Mekatok, he came to do his own show in Seoul.
03:27Thank God.
03:29So, like, we had the time to work on it together in person.
03:33And, like, finish up the whole thing.
03:34And that was, yeah, that was, like, such an important session for the song.
03:43Mekatok, he even designed our DSP cover.
03:47Yeah, he has a degree in graphic design.
03:51Yeah, he's really talented.
03:53Some people do have it all.
03:54Like, we're the same age and, like, he's, like, I just admire him so much.
03:59But she's so talented.
04:01I feel grateful to be able to call him a friend of mine.
04:06I'm so curious about, like, how you feel.
04:09You know, your background influences your music taste.
04:13I know you moved from America when you were very young.
04:16But you obviously still speak fluent English.
04:19You grew up in Korea.
04:20That's a really interesting kind of, like, in-between space.
04:24Especially when you're, like, finding pop culture.
04:27How do you think that's influenced kind of your taste in music?
04:31My childhood has a huge influence on my taste today.
04:36I think I have a weird taste in things.
04:38Because I'm not completely American pop influenced.
04:46Nor am I Korean pop influenced either.
04:52And, yeah, that, I feel like that really connects with my, um,
04:57I think that connects with my identity.
05:01Because I've never felt fully American nor Korean either.
05:07And, um, that confused me a lot.
05:10But now I kind of think that might be a weapon of mine.
05:15So, I'm trying to just utilize it as much as I can.
05:27My next song is Money Machine by 100gex.
05:30I first found out about 100gex, um, during, like, the COVID lockdown season.
05:38I suppose a lot of people did as well.
05:41Like, that's when, like, hyperpop first really started rising, like,
05:45and it got its own, like, playlist.
05:48Yeah, like, that sound was just so sensational to me.
05:51I've never heard of anything like it before.
05:54And that, me, um, finding out that genre, like, that world, like, that, that sonic world,
06:04like, that has a huge influence on my taste in music today.
06:09Like, and that's not too long ago either.
06:12Despite being very young, um, I'm wondering how you think you've seen kind of, um,
06:17either the trends in the industry or, like, just the sound, how it's changed, um, since you guys debuted.
06:24I feel like K-pop sounds more and more like American pop instead of K-pop.
06:33And I think a lot of people talk about that too.
06:36So it makes me want to go back to, like, the 2000s or, like, the 2010s.
06:41Like, early 2010s, like, when I was in elementary school, like, Wonder Girls or Big Bang, 21, all that.
06:50I think it's because, um, like, K-pop, like, K-pop producers always try to bring American sounds to K
07:06-pop
07:08and, like, make it their own thing.
07:10And I think, right now, they got to the point where they're too good.
07:15So, like, there's, like, you can't differentiate between K-pop and pop.
07:19I mean, you can, but, like, the gap has become more and more, um, thin.
07:26And I think, and I think a lot of people, that makes a lot of people, like, want to go
07:30back to, like, old K-pop.
07:34So, that's something I think about, yeah.
07:36I do think it also certainly has a lot to do with, um, K-pop becoming so popular in-
07:44Abroad.
07:45Abroad.
07:45And that, like, also, uh, sent a whole new wave of American producers.
07:51Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:52Right, so, like, American producers are just straight up doing K-pop.
07:57So, obviously, that's the result you get, yeah.
08:05The next song is Song 2 by Blur.
08:09But it's a remix by Madeon.
08:11And it's not officially released on DSPs.
08:15I've only seen it on YouTube.
08:18It's a deep cut.
08:19My friend sent me this song, and I loved it.
08:22And it was when I had to work on a solo song for V8.
08:27And that song made me want to work with Kirara to recreate that sound, which resulted in MIA.
08:37But when it's just the two of you and you have opinions, I assume that kind of goes away.
08:41So how did you, perhaps, manage seeing each other professionally in a new light?
08:46What D8 keeps telling me is that he's never seen this, like, passionate side of me before.
08:53Yeah, I guess I was really, like, full on focusing on making this album.
09:03D8, no, I mean, I don't think D8 was that different than when he was in 17.
09:11I guess I was.
09:14Because, like, like you said earlier, like, there shouldn't be too many cooks.
09:22So, like, and I understood that.
09:26I acknowledged that, which is why I always, like, followed Uzi's or Bumzoo's or the label's lead.
09:32But this time, like, it was the first time we could do whatever we wanted.
09:39And I didn't want to take that chance for granted.
09:48My next song is Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO.
09:52When I was in middle school, I went to a Korean middle school.
09:56But even in Korea, everyone was infected by, like, this song.
10:04And, like, every time, like, every time a period ends, I go out to the hallway.
10:13And everybody would be just shuffling nonstop, like, crazy.
10:17Like, that was just, like, that was, that's probably one of the best memories of, like, from my middle school.
10:28And when we first, like, I mean, after finishing our song, Sing A Song, I knew we had to dance
10:36for this.
10:37But I kept contemplating what kind of dance we should do.
10:42And then I saw Romance Planet, which is a different musician who shuffles to his own music.
10:52Like, he has his whole, like, shuffle heart style aesthetic.
10:58And that really inspired me to maybe just bring back, like, the Party Rock Anthem shuffle.
11:05If you could name this playlist, what would you name it?
11:08It's just straight up V8 influences, like, like, um, influences for V8.
11:15What type of environment would you suggest someone listen to this playlist?
11:20Honestly, any environment.
11:21Like, um, like, sometimes my members would complain that I'm listening to too loud music.
11:31Like, even the middle of the night.
11:33Because I would, I just wouldn't care what time it is or, like, wherever I am.
11:37I could suggest this playlist when you want to dance.
11:40Whenever you want to dance, listen to this playlist.
11:43Thank you, Hollywood Reporter.
11:44I'm Vernon, and this has been my playlist.
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