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How pajamas and puzzle pieces inspire VIXX's Ken

Published: 12 Jan. 2025, 07:00

YOON SO-YEON
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Ken of boy band VIXX [S27M ENTERTAINMENT]

The rock sound is becoming the new “it” thing in the Korean music industry, but that’s not the reason boy band VIXX member Ken decided to go with the guitar-and-drum vibe for his first solo album, “Puzzle.”

“I wanted to try something that I hadn’t in the past, especially because this is my first new solo music in four years,” Ken said. “I have always liked rock music, and I wanted to incorporate that into a love story. The album is also meant to be what it’s called — a puzzle — where each song is a piece to the puzzle of my life as a singer, so they all sound different and carry different meanings.”

Ken released “Puzzle” on Dec. 26, four and a half months after his first official solo album in May 2020. His solo debut came eight years after he made his debut as a member of boy band VIXX in May 2012.

Having debuted in 2012, around the time when some of the biggest names in K-pop were born, VIXX survived the toughest peer competition by going out on a limb, trying something that not many other bands had and venturing into the world of fiction on stage.

From superheroes and game characters to vampires, Jekyll and Hyde and voodoo dolls, members of VIXX readily turned themselves into any fictional being to fit the story of their new music, earning themselves the nicknames “concept-dol,” “fantasy-dol” and even “horror-dol” — a play on words from the K-pop reference to artists as idols.

Ken of boy band VIXX [S27M ENTERTAINMENT]

Ken was the main vocalist of VIXX who pulled off the highest notes with the smoothest techniques, which he readily used to begin his career in musicals in 2015. He has since taken part in some of the biggest pieces in Korea, including “Hamlet” in 2017, “The Musical Dracula” in 2019, “Xcalibur Musical” in 2022 and “Notre Dame de Paris” and “Ghost Bakery” last year.

So when it comes to singing, Ken definitely knows what he’s doing. But still, that didn’t mean that the new album came easy. “Puzzle” is also the first new album Ken has released in the year since VIXX released its fifth EP, “Continuum,” in November 2023 and the first ever since the artist joined his new agency, S27M Entertainment, in July of last year.

“It feels so nerve-wracking to release a new solo album for the first time in four years,” he said. “I’m worried but also excited. I know that there are a lot of people who don’t know me that well, so that also makes me feel curious and nervous about how they will like my music.”

“Puzzle” contains five songs, including lead track “Gradually” followed by B-side tracks “Bye My Only Universe,” “We Are Forever,” “Make Me Strong” and “Dear Little Star.” Ken took part in writing the lyrics for “Dear Little Star” and even pitched in with a unique idea to make the song special for the fans.

Ken of boy band VIXX [S27M ENTERTAINMENT]

“I wanted it to sound like a really earnest and intimate lullaby, so I insisted that I record it as soon as I woke up and my vocal chords weren’t fully woken up,” he said. “I felt like it could be a way of making it feel just that bit more sincere for the fans, because it’s the voice and emotions that I have at the waking moment of my day. It’s meant to make people imagine how I would be singing my honest feelings in my pajamas in the morning.”

Sincerity for fans is crucial for Ken, according to the singer. He is known to frequently communicate with fans through messaging app bubble and leave any posts he can on other social media platforms, too. Bubble is a fan community and communication app where fans pay to send private messages to artists and the artists answer them, as if having a one-on-one conversation.

“I prioritize my communication with fans, but especially for bubble because the fact that someone is paying to talk with me deserves my extra attention and effort,” Ken said. “So I start my day every morning by sending a ‘Good morning’ to the fans, as if I would to my girlfriend, and tell them to have a good day and that I love them. I mean every word of what I send.”

“It turns out that other artists just use bubble once or twice a week, but I like the way I’m doing it right now,” he added.

Ken of boy band VIXX [S27M ENTERTAINMENT]

Ken is now a veteran singer with 13 years under his belt. His singing skills have gotten even better thanks to his days practicing for musicals and having to perform live, which all crossed his mind while he was recording “Gradually.”

“I was just 20 years old when I began my career and I could remember all the days that I struggled to learn how to dance, when I had just joined the then-agency to become a singer,” Ken said. “And then I had my first role in a musical in 2015, which I never thought would happen. But looking back at all those things, I made it through the long road.”

Ken uses his real name, Lee Jae-hwan, when performing in musicals, as opposed to the stage name he carries as a singer. There isn’t much of a difference between how he works as the two, but the separation helps him as a person, according to the singer.

Ken of boy band VIXX [S27M ENTERTAINMENT]

“There is the happy Jae-hwan and depressed Jae-hwan, all within me,” he said. “And whenever I get to express them, either through acting, or singing or in any other way, it really makes it feel alive. I think the fact that I’ve been wearing these different hats have made it possible for me to carry on his work for so long.”

Having started off the New Year with a solo EP, Ken is now set on a full-length album — but not just now.

“I really do want to release a solo full-length album, probably within 2027,” he said. “I think if I can get a big hit song before then, it could help shorten that goal.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]