[INTERVIEW] Heejin blooms as a solo artist with her 'K' EP

K-pop

Published: 31 Oct. 2023, 18:00

[INTERVIEW] Heejin blooms as a solo artist with her 'K' EP

Scenes from Heejin's ″Algorithm″ music video [MODHAUS]

Heejin of girl group ARTMS is ready to bloom again and become a representative K-pop artist as she returns with “K,” her first solo release in seven years.

“Just like the title of the intro track, ‘Kehwa’ best describes my current situation,” Heejin said during an interview with the press on Monday at the Modhaus headquarters in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

"Kehwa," the title of the intro track, means "bloom" in Korean.

“As I bloom once again and flourish, I wish to present myself to an even wider audience,” she added.

Heejin of girl group ARTMS dropped her first EP ″K″ on Tuesday. [MODHAUS]

“K,” which dropped on Oct. 31, is Heejin’s first solo EP that comes seven years after her first and only solo endeavor through her project single “HeeJin,” which was released in October 2016. It is also Heejin’s first music activity after joining the newborn agency Modhaus earlier this year, following legal battles with BlockBerry Creative, her former agency.

As “HeeJin” was more of a one-off music release to introduce herself before she officially made her debut as a member of girl group LOONA, Heejin, too, wondered whether to call “K” her “official debut album” or just a “comeback album.”

“I called up the CEO and asked whether I was coming back as a solo artist or making a new debut,” she said, explaining that while “K” will be her first time officially promoting the album on music shows, “HeeJin” still is her solo debut release.

Scenes from Heejin's ″Algorithm″ music video [MODHAUS]

The name of her first solo EP “K” comes from her aspiration to represent K-pop and Korea, the artist said.

“I’ve chosen ‘K’ as the title of my solo album as ‘K’ is the letter that represents Korea,” Heejin said. “Just like K-pop, K-food and other categories with the ‘K’ designation, the title of the album includes my ambition to represent K-pop and Korea.”

Scenes from Heejin's ″Algorithm″ music video [MODHAUS]

“I think the album also incorporates the types of music that K-pop should pursue, in my opinion,” she added.

“K” features six total tracks: “Kehwa,” “Algorithm,” “Sad Girls Club,” “Video Games,” “Nokia” and “Addiction.” And while Heejin was never known as a singer-songwriter prior to this, she took part in writing lyrics for “Algorithm,” “Video Games,” “Nokia” and “Addiction.”

“Algorithm,” the lead track of the EP, is a “breakup song” that sings of the feelings of love that keeps on rising even after a breakup and features melodies inspired by '80s western pop tunes, reinterpreted into “K-pop style,” according to Heejin.

“I wrote the lyrics for 'Addiction’ as I was eating my late-night snack at 2 a.m.,” Heejin said with a laugh. “I ended up eating noodles at 2 a.m. and asked myself if I was addicted to noodles; that’s how the lyrics came to be. […] I really didn’t mean to reveal this, as I feared it would ruin the listeners’ immersion to the song.”

Heejin also explained that “Video Game,” which was the first song in the EP to be recorded, was inspired by Disney’s 2012 film “Wreck-It Ralph.”

“Even before we started to think about the production of my solo album, I’d been vocal about wanting to take part in the album-producing process, and our CEO constructively accepted my request,” she explained.

Heejin from girl group ARTMS dropped her first EP ″K″ on Tuesday. [MODHAUS]

In three out of the four songs, Heejin also worked with the CEO of Modhaus, Jaden Jeong, which was not necessarily an easy task for her.

“It’s not easy producing songs with the CEO,” Heejin said with a smile. “I write my lyrics as I sing the verse myself, but the CEO doesn’t do that when he makes changes to the lyrics — so one time I realized that the lyrics [he suggested] just wouldn’t fit the melody of the song, which had me editing the lyrics on spot.”

In “Nokia,” Heejin said that working with tripleS’s Park Sohyun was a breeze, as she had complete trust in her ability to write lyrics.

“'Nokia’ might actually be my most favorite song in the album,” she said. “It’s about alluding yourself to an old Nokia phone after a breakup, slowly fading away from your memory. […] I’ve never used a Nokia myself though,” Heejin laughed.

Heejin from girl group ARTMS dropped her first EP ″K″ on Tuesday. [MODHAUS]

Lyric-writing was not the only bit to which she contributed.

“I ended up being involved in every bit of the album production, to the extent that our CEO got sick of my involvement,” Heejin said. “I made suggestions for the album’s cover art, I asked the team to edit the font of the teaser image […] and even suggested the clothes that I would wear in the album; all the clothes that I’m wearing today were also chosen by myself.”

“I believe I now have the power to truly stand on my own two feet,” she said. “During [‘HeeJin’ in 2016] I just said yes to whatever the agency threw at me, but now I've learned to give my own opinion and even disagree with the agency if necessary.”

“I finally feel like a real artist,” she added.

Heejin from girl group ARTMS dropped her first EP ″K″ on Tuesday. [MODHAUS]

Heejin also explained the backstory behind joining Modhaus with Kim Lip, Jinsoul and Cheorry after a court suspended the four members’ exclusive contract with BlockBerry Creative and allowed them to sign new contracts with other agencies in April.

“We were all determined to stay together […] and while many agencies sent us offers to join their company, Modhaus was the only company that accepted all four of us members,” Heejin said. The quartet announced the project ARTMS that same month and welcomed Haseul to the team, who signed with Modhaus in June.

Jinsoul, Kim Lip and Cheorry from ARTMS were featured in Heejin's ″Algorithm″ music video [MODHAUS]

“While we haven’t started any official preparation for our debut, I think we will be able to present ourselves [as ARTMS] with all five members next year,” Heejin said.

Their dreams for an “all 12-member” reunion as LOONA also remained positive.

“We are always open to a LOONA reunion: our CEO feels positive about it, the members want it and our fans are waiting for us, so we still want to show ourselves as a group of 12 if the opportunity arises,” she said.

“I hope people focus on the ‘Korean beauty’ that I get to try out in the album,” Heejin said. “Also, just like we can’t live without algorithms, I hope I, Heejin, can exist on many people’s algorithms in the future.”

To find out more about Heejin, visit Celeb Confirmed!