When K-pop's emblematic group EXO debuted in 2012, each member was assigned a superpower as part of their overarching lore. Kim Jongin, then a fresh-faced 18-year-old, was given the ability to teleport, promptly appearing and disappearing throughout their many music videos. He also received an alias: KAI, whose Chinese character "开" means "to open."
Eleven years later, KAI has manifested his nickname; his individual success has opened doors to three solo albums, countless world tours as part of EXO and supergroup SuperM, and several luxury brand contracts (he is an ambassador for Gucci and a representative for Yves Saint Laurent Beauty). It makes sense that he sees himself as someone who can't be constrained — and that he named his third EP Rover.
As the title insinuates, embodying multiple things at once has always been KAI's specialty. He is notoriously shy off-camera, an introvert who stays silent unless spoken to, but who unravels in winding thoughts and warm laughs when comfortable. At the same time, he is also one of K-pop's most lethal performers, with a voice that is as soft as sinful, and ballet-trained movements that spellbind any audience.
Rover is KAI's latest self-actualization. In a Zoom call with GRAMMY.com, he is all smiles as he mentions that this album is the truest to his creative desires so far. Whether visually or sonically, the six-track collection (plus a second installment of his conceptual video series, FILM : KAI, to be released on March 20) fuses everything that he is known for: the teleporting, the hypnotizing dance moves, the many characters he can embody, and his versatility in approaching rhythms that go from reggaeton to R&B.
He ponders about the limitations of social media and receiving love in tracks like "Black Mirror," and "Say You Love Me," while longing for freedom in "Bomba" and the project's title track. "Here I am in your face/ Focus on every single expression/ Y'all buzzin', catch me if you can," he sings in the latter, making reference to one of his favorite movies. In the music video, he also hints at Billy Elliott, another formative movie in his life, while adopting multiple personalities and namesakes. There are no boundaries to KAI's artistry, after all.
Ahead of the release, GRAMMY.com caught up with KAI about the meaning of freedom, his relationship with social media, and how it feels to be an idol for over a decade.
You ask to be called "Mr. Rover" in the EP's title track. Who is Mr. Rover?
That's me! [Laughs.] [The song] has a story about a wanderer and a message of wanting to be free, and since I want to be free on stage, and as an artist in general, Mr. Rover is me.
What is freedom to you?
I put a lot of thought into that, but honestly, I still don't know. I do feel free, and I do feel freedom when I'm on stage, and in order to feel that true freedom, I think it's not just throwing away something that's inside of you. It's more like trying your best and putting more effort into that freedom that you're seeking.
A lot of my fans say that I seem very happy and free on stage. I really want to be like that. I realized that, in order to be free, there's a lot of things that I have to try harder behind the stage.
Indeed, one of your main characteristics is that on stage you are very confident and charismatic, while off stage you are a little more shy and warm-hearted. What's on your mind when you're on stage?
I don't think that much when I'm on stage. This is intentional, because I try not to think about anything and just do my best. Just enjoy that moment. If I think a lot, then it'd be difficult for me to concentrate. I really want to get to that level where I don't have any thoughts and I can just feel free and do the performance as it is.
On stage, you can usually see me smiling and laughing a lot, but that's because the more I get nervous, the more I start smiling and laughing, and the more I enjoy it. Once I feel a sense of pressure is when I truly start to enjoy [it]. I realized that I must be crazy to be enjoying all this nervousness. [Laughs.]
Besides freedom, what are three main words that you associate with this album?
The first one is "SNS" [Social Networking Service, or what Koreans usually call social media], because it's actually a theme in the album. To add up, the album also has a message of loving yourself and not caring about what others think.
As in one of my tracks, "Black Mirror," when the display screen is black, it tells you to see yourself reflected there and to love yourself more. "Say You Love Me" [is] a song about desiring love. On SNS, we care a lot about likes, followers, and what other people think or how they see us.
The second keyword is "performance." It is a very important part of this album, because I really did what I wanted to do. There are a lot of performances to see and hear altogether, so when I was preparing [them], I tried to show different aspects of myself.
And my third keyword would be "happiness," because that is the emotion I felt the most while preparing for this album. I really enjoyed it, and I felt a lot of happiness in my daily life. I think that it's going to be a very memorable period for me.
Since your first keyword is SNS, what is your personal relationship with social media?
Honestly speaking, if I wasn't a celebrity, I think I wouldn't have been using SNS at all. But since I am, I do have to [use] it, and I think of it as a way to communicate with my fans.
In my album, tracks such as "Black Mirror" or "Rover" have a message of being free and loving yourself, and I [prepared] a lot of curated content to show to my fans. I do have a desire for [my fans] to like that, but I want to say that it doesn't matter because, as a human, it's the same for me. I watch YouTube too, I watch all those [Instagram] Reels at night before I go to sleep. So you know, after all, I'm doing the same thing [as everyone].
Your second keyword is performance, and you seem very happy that you could do everything that you wanted for Rover. What new things were you able to show through your performances this time?
The ["Rover"] music video is very well-made and fun, and another FILM : KAI is coming out soon. The first FILM : KAI was released before my first music video [for "Mmmh"], so the role of it was to explain the whole concept and help the listeners understand what I was trying to say.
This time, FILM : KAI is coming out after the music video [for "Rover"], so I think it could be a chance for the viewers to organize their thoughts and compare with what they have been thinking while watching the music video, so they can realize some different charms [within it].
You talked about your first album, KAI (开), and now you're on your third album. What are some of the differences between them, and what have you improved on since your solo debut?
For the first album, when preparing the songs, it was more about finding what I wanted to do as KAI and what I'd like to show people. For the second album, it was more about focusing on what people would like to see and what they wanted from me. I did feel a bit pressured and stressed, but it was one of the steps in the process of trying to find what I really want to do.
For my third album, I was able to find what I want to do and start doing it. As an artist, I grew a lot, but that's why I think it was a new challenge. It's something new that I'm attempting.
If it wasn't for the first or the second albums, the third one wouldn't even exist. I even had some songs that I saved during the [previous] albums because I thought I wasn't prepared before, but now I'm ready to release them to the world. As a soloist and an artist, I'm just developing and growing. There may be a lot of lacking skills still, but this album is very special to me, and I like it a lot.
You've been an idol for more than a decade now. What is the most important thing you learned so far?
Being an idol is a job too. The line between my daily life and my life as a celebrity is very ambiguous. From time to time, I could feel more stressed out, and as it is a job where I can share emotions with the public, there's a bit of pressure on that too.
The most important thing to do is to take care of my mental [health] and mindset, and this realization was a chance for me to grow. I've been thinking deeply on how to become a better person, how to live a happy life as a human being, and I think that, as KAI, I really want to share more positive and happy thoughts with my fans and the people all around the world.
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