“I believe the factor with Okay-pop is it’s so saturated,” says Keeho, the outspoken Toronto-born chief of P1Harmony. “I really feel like lots of people like to repeat no matter works and avoid no matter doesn’t, so I really feel like there’s not plenty of teams which can be prepared to take dangers, and I don’t even assume it’s the group’s fault.”
Keeho is squeezed in between the group’s 5 different members — Intak, Jongseob, Soul, Theo and Jiung — on a curvy resort sofa the day of their August efficiency at KCON.
“Okay-pop isn’t just about trying fairly and being nice on stage,” he provides. “I believe it’s the artistry and it’s the music and ideas and the visuals and choreography… So I believe the extra concerned and the extra freedom now we have to make the selections that we need to is what is going to make every group stand out in their very own methods.”
“The people who find themselves actually those which can be being inventive needs to be those taking artistic route and management,” he continues, “and I believe our group and our firm are actually attempting to make that occur for us, so I’m grateful. Clearly, I nonetheless assume now we have an extended approach to go. I believe that’s the route we have to take.”
5 years can seem to be eons within the lifetime of a Okay-pop star, however when P1Harmony burst onto the scene in darkish aplomb again in October 2020, it was the thick of the pandemic. Unable to foster an in-person connection, they as an alternative relied on music reveals void of an viewers and an ingenious introductory film.
Now, they’re making up for that each probability they get, as within the night time earlier than this interview, after they performed on the Academy Museum’s Okay-Tradition night time, leaping within the aisles inches away from attendees. Jiung, an all-rounder within the crew, speaks on that second. “We at all times need to work together with our followers, so each time we go on the stage, we at all times ask, ‘Can we go down into the group?’”
These days, P1Harmony’s trajectory is on an upward swing. The 2024 mini-album “Unhappy Tune” grew to become their highest-charting album on the Billboard 200, peaking at 16. They adopted that up this previous Might with “Duh!,” their eighth EP and first to debut at #1 on the Billboard World Albums chart. They even discovered time to stretch their solo chops. Simply final month, ace rapper and dancer Intak launched a sultry cowl of Usher’s “Good Kisser.”
With 18 million views on YouTube, the punky boom-bap “Duh!” from its eponymous launch barely had an opportunity to chill after they introduced their newest album ‘‘Ex,” which they launched final Friday.
“Ex” is timed to coincide with the “Most Needed” tour, their greatest but, kicking off final weekend on the East Coast (they debuted the lead single on GMA final week), and making its approach to the Inuit Dome in Los Angeles on October 18th.
If it looks as if it’s so much, it’s. Particularly because the members are actively concerned within the songwriting course of. When requested if they want somewhat extra time to catch their breath in between releases, Keeho pauses to translate after which quirky singer and dancer Soul deadpans, “Sure!” dissolving them into giggles.
“Okay-pop, as you already know,” Keeho picks up, “is such a fast-paced business, whereas in America, it’s like you already know, artists will drop an album each two or three years, which is wild… however in Okay-pop it’s like twice a yr, typically extra.”
“Ex” is a sonic departure for P1Harmony with mid-2010 rock and R&B leanings. The third monitor “Silly Mind” is a cool ode to overthinking, whereas the riffy “Dancing Queen” would match proper in on an Ed Sheeran album.
“‘Silly Mind’ is one in all my favourite songs on this album,” Jongseob, the group’s youngest, and a rapping-songwriting ace, jumps in. “And I really feel like after we had been making this album, I attempted to determine how we are able to deliver some recent songs.”
“Ex” is notable as their first all-English language launch, with one exception: The title monitor has a Spanish language model. Whereas they’ve lined Spanish songs earlier than, releasing their very own model of the catchy, feminine empowerment tune “Ex” was a present to their world fan base.
“It’s such a extensively spoken language not solely in America, however all around the world,” Keeho says mentioning that they had somebody available within the vocal sales space to assist with pronunciation. “It didn’t make sense to make solely an English model and depart it at that. We felt like we had been going to put it on the market in America, so we positively wished to sing in Spanish as nicely.”
Vocalist Theo provides that he beloved the problem of working within the language. “Due to the pronunciation,” he says, “there’s plenty of assault… it’s like a clear sound within the ears. It’s gentle when it must be and robust when it must be.”
The connection extends past language into tradition. Recognized for its on-line presence, P1Harmony achieved a viral second again in 2021, wilding out on a livestream when followers urged they play “La Chona” by the norteño band Los Tucanes de Tijuana.
It’s the small moments like this which have related them extra deeply to followers like dance teacher and influencer Alejandra Diaz , who has adopted the group since its 2022 KCON look and was tapped by its L.A.-based report label hello82 for collaboration on the album rollout.
“I really feel a particular place in my coronary heart with P1Harmony,” she says when reached by telephone. “I’ve had the chance to see them many occasions right here as a result of they arrive so typically. And to me, being a Mexican-American who was born and raised in L.A., to have a favourite Okay-pop group [of mine] say how a lot they love coming right here and the way they see it as a second house, and on high of that, for them to acknowledge the affect that Latines have within the U.S. and the [other countries] they frequent, it makes me really feel actually seen.”
