[K-Exclusive]: YOUNG POSSE Answers Some Questions Ahead of Los Angeles Concert
YOUNG POSSE recently kicked off their first ever U.S. tour, The Hungry Tour. Starting out in the east coast and making their way west, the group stopped in Los Angeles on November 2nd. Ahead of their show in the City of Angels, the five members sat down and answered some questions for Officially Kmusic.
Q: Congratulations on your first tour! Was there something you were most excited for before the tour began, or something you were most nervous about?
Sunhye: Until now, we had been performing in places where there were many people who didn’t know us or our songs, but this time, thinking about performing in front of people who truly like our songs that came to see us made me excited to imagine how much more energetic it would be when we enjoy it together with our fans. However, since we had never filled such a long running time by ourselves or done it continuously for a month, I was most worried about managing my voice even before the tour started, so I paid a lot of attention to taking care of my voice throughout the entire tour.
Yeonjeong: Since it was our first tour, I was very excited and had a lot of things I wanted to do. But because it was also our first time, I lacked knowledge in many areas. I think I watched a lot of videos and practiced a lot to catch anything I might miss! It was our first time meeting the U.S. fans, and I really wanted to create happy memories with them, but I was also quite worried that we might disappoint them.
Jiana: As I performed and met fans in various places across the U.S., I was excited about how we would continue to grow and improve. What I was worried about, however, was our health due to the temperature differences and the back-to-back schedules.
Doeun: While other members had experience preparing solo stages for monthly evaluations during our trainee days, I felt pressured because I had to prepare my first solo stage for this tour. Also, since all our members are Korean, I was a bit worried about speaking English. However, I wanted to communicate a lot with our international fans, so I studied hard and came on tour.
Jieun: I was worried about whether I would be able to communicate well because I’m not very good at English!
Q: It’s been a little over a year since your debut! What’s some advice you would say to yourself from one year ago?
Sunhye: Trust and enjoy!
Yeonjeong: I can’t believe it’s already our first anniversary; I’m so grateful. There are so many things I would love to say to myself from a year ago, but I’d like to tell myself to express what I like more! I have so many things I love, but I’m also quite shy and tend to be very conscious of others. I’m still in the process of getting to know myself, but I want to tell myself to enjoy more and grow wisely.
Jiana: “You don’t need to worry as much as you’re worried, but don’t snack too much under the excuse that you’ll handle the schedule well! Also, make sure to work on self-development and self-care in advance!”
Doeun: Doeun, you should have practiced more.
Jieun: I hope you practice a lot more and believe in yourself so that you can do it with more confidence!
Q: If you could take a break and a trip together to celebrate your one-year debut anniversary, where would you love to go vacation?
Sunhye: I want to go camping together. Rather than a luxurious trip, I think we could get closer by having a barbecue party, sitting around a campfire, eating cup noodles, and experiencing hardships together.
Yeonjeong: I would be happy to go anywhere with the members, but if I had to choose one place… I would love to visit Jeju Island with them! I enjoy tasting delicious food, and I also want to see the vast ocean together!
Jiana: I want to enjoy a hotel stay on Jeju Island! I love green tea, so I’d like to visit Osulloc.
Doeun: I want to go to the mountains together and sit while enjoying the scenery and listening to the sounds of nature.
Jieun: I want to visit Jeju Island domestically and Switzerland internationally.
Q: Sunhye, you wrote your debut title song with a backstory of seeing a poster of a macaroni cheeseburger. Are you usually inspired by random things throughout your day, or do you seek out inspiration and time to write specifically?
Sunhye: I have a habit of jotting down things I want to write about in my lyrics as they come to me in daily life. I also get inspired by creative works like movies and music, but for now, I find it most enjoyable and easiest to write lyrics based on my own experiences.
Q: Since your debut was inspired by macaroni and cheese, do you have a favorite pasta dish to eat?
Sunhye: My favorite is carbonara cream pasta.
Yeonjeong: I love all types of pasta, and I’ve tried many varieties, but I think the pane pasta was the most delicious among them!
Jiana: I like all kinds, but I especially love aglio e olio!! Bacon carbonara is great too.
Doeun: Our debut song is ‘Macaroni Cheese,’ but I prefer tomato pasta or spicy pasta.
Q: Your group has quite a unique girl crush, hip hop concept. Was it difficult to adapt to this as you were preparing for debut, or were you all naturally drawn to this type of music, choreography, and style already?
Sunhye: When I joined the company, I encountered many new things, but it was actually more interesting, and I naturally came to love hip-hop culture.
Yeonjeong: Since my trainee days, I have naturally been exposed to various genres like pop and hip-hop, and I believe that hip-hop best expresses who we are! That’s why I think I naturally came to love it more and was able to showcase it better!
Jiana: At first, there was some awkwardness, but I feel like we gradually found clothes that match our style.
Doeun: In fact, I liked artists with a girl crush and hip concepts even before becoming a trainee, so I didn’t have a hard time adjusting!
Jieun: Since I joined the company, I started with the hip-hop concept naturally. At first, there were various challenges, but over time, I’ve come to like hip-hop and feel that it suits me well, so I’m always learning with joy!
Q: YOUNG POSSE is a group that’s also quickly become well-known for having memorable choreography to pair with your music. If there’s one song you’d recommend to someone based off of the live performance and choreography, what would you choose, and why?
Sunhye: A track from our second album called “Scars.” It’s fun to express the genre and sound through dance, and it’s the song we enjoy the most while performing.
Yeonjeong: I also want to recommend the song “Scars!” It’s a song that not only I but all of our members love, and we tried to incorporate the stories we all wanted to tell when writing the lyrics. It’s also the song we’ve been with the longest, so it holds a special attachment for us! We learned it together during the choreography creation process, and it perfectly fits the song, making it one of our favorite performances!
Jiana: I recommend our second album’s title track, “XXL!” The title expresses itself in a direct yet stylish way, and I think the flow of the performance is really great!
Doeun: I want to recommend “OTB.” It’s a track from our debut album! Each part showcases our unique personalities through both the vocals and choreography, and especially the chorus choreography is really exciting and fun!
Jieun: I recommend the song “Scars!” It’s my favorite song among all of our tracks and also my favorite performance! There’s a move in the chorus where we reach our hands up to the sound of ‘woo!’ so I encourage everyone to try it along! It’s a really cool and fun choreography.
Q: Though you’re quite known for your concept already, do any of you have something you’d want to try out in the future?
Sunhye: I’ve shown many unembellished lyrics that reflect being young so far, and I’m curious about how a more mature YOUNG POSSE would be like.
Yeonjeong: I believe one of our strengths is the ability to challenge ourselves with various concepts, so I want to gradually show you our different sides in the future!
Jiana: I want to show a lot of charm with various concepts without being confined to the framework of hip-hop.
Doeun: I’m currently enjoying the hip-hop concept so much that I haven’t thought about other concepts yet, but recently, I’ve been enjoying the music of Japanese bands and peaceful botanical songs, so I’d like to explore similar styles of music in the future.
Jieun: I would like to try making an R&B style song in the future!
Q: What are your goals, both short-term and long-term, as a group? What do you hope for YOUNG POSSE to accomplish in the future, and what do you hope YOUNG POSSE can be known and remembered for, for years to come?
Sunhye: My short-term goal is to perform as a headliner at a festival. In the long term, I hope that many people will continue to enjoy our music and that it becomes a part of the culture.
Yeonjeong: I hope we can become a group that communicates through music with more people! I believe that thanks to the support and encouragement from many, we can shine even brighter, so I want to give back someday! Also, I want to be remembered for a long time as someone who is both friendly and a cool stylish person!
Jiana: My short-term goal is to wrap up our U.S. tour well and then go on tour in other countries! For my long-term goal, I want to become a group that is recognized by everyone, not just a girl group that does hip-hop, and I aspire to be a group that can win the Artist of the Year award!
Doeun: I actually don’t usually set a timeframe for my goals! It might be a vague thought, but I just want to be the best!
Jieun: My short-term goal is to successfully finish this tour and then have a fan concert in Korea with our Korean fans! My long-term goal is to become a great artist who can empower the people watching our performances by meeting more fans on bigger stages. I also want to achieve first place on a music show!
Q: And finally, what’s one word that you’d use to describe what YOUNG POSSE is to each of you?
Sunhye: It feels like a rowboat. With my members, we keep rowing and working hard to move forward. So, I don’t think we can stop rowing; that’s why we are constantly putting in effort, and that’s how we can keep progressing.
Yeonjeong: Winter. I like this season most among the four seasons because it has a cool yet cozy vibe. I think it has various charms, which is why I chose it!
Jiana: I would like to choose white for YOUNG POSSE. When you mix all colors of light, you get white. I want all the different charms of each member to harmoniously come together and make us shine even more attractively.
Doeun: I’m curious and really looking forward to what we will do in the future, so I want to say a question mark.
Jieun: I want to express YOUNG POSSE as crayons!
Make sure to check out Officially Kmusic’s official concert review and recap here, and all our photos from the show here! Special thank you to YOUNG POSSE and team.
Written & Edited By Ephney Tsai
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