Within a few seconds of his latest EP, BAEKHYUN gently introduces himself with the words “Hello, World.” The opening song “Good Morning” radiates a pleasant optimism: “Under the new sky every day / A gift-like today is dazzling.” That positive, contagious outlook is one of the EXO member’s defining characteristics—and that mood is actually rather apt, considering it’s 2 am here in New York when I speak with him over Zoom from his home base in Seoul.
His fourth solo mini-album, Hello World, comes nearly four years after his last release, Bambi. There’s a reason for this long hiatus, since immediately succeeding the 2021 release, BAEKHYUN enlisted in South Korea’s mandatory military service and served nearly 20 months. He lept seamlessly back into his music and business endeavors after his discharge—with as much dedication as ever. He started his own company, IBN100, leaving SM Entertainment, and completed an impressive sold-out “Lonsdaleite [dot]” Asia tour.
After the artist teased a new release on tour and social media over the last year, BAEKHYUN’s EP serves as both a gift and a reintroduction to all the fans who’ve been patiently waiting. “I won’t be taking such long breaks anymore,” he tells StyleCaster. “I will keep creating music for my fans and listeners and showing a lot of different sides of myself.”
In Hello World, BAEKHYUN’s velvety voice guides you through songs that are generously infused with classic R&B sounds—but with tinges of different genres, like Bossa Nova in “Rendes-Vous” and groovy bass-driven synthpop in the lead single, “Pineapple Slice.”
BAEKHYUN’s enriching process for the album was indeed fruitful, and it makes him crave that sweet success even more.
Your last solo album, ‘Bambi’, was released during the pandemic and then you had to go to military service. What has changed since then?
I think the biggest change is content culture. Working on music hasn’t changed that much. But now there are more different types of content I can do than before. Now that I am promoting my new album, it’s nice that there are many more outlets to communicate with people from around the world. I’m happy to be able to connect with fans who have been waiting for me all around the world.
It’s fitting that your new album is called Hello, World The 4th Mini Album. It seems that you’re introducing yourself to a broader audience now. How do you hope to introduce BAEKHYUN as of now?
I think before, I was seen mainly as a vocalist who tries really hard and practices a lot. Of course, I am going to continue to practice and try to improve myself, but I also want to show that I have a lot of experience now. I want to be more relaxed and confident in front of the audience. I also want to challenge myself by exploring different genres and showing a lot of new sides.
You have managed to carve out a career as someone who’s incredibly versatile and can move between genres and concepts. How do you think you’ve managed to do that and how does that reflect your performance?
I’ve had a lot of experience with various genres with EXO, and I brought that experience to my solo activities. In the future, especially beginning with this fourth mini album, I think there’s a lot more I can do, and there’s a lot more I want to do. There’s the human side of Baekhyun and there’s also BAEKHYUN on stage. I’m going to make an effort to bring those two BAEKHYUNs together. I think one way of doing that is to try out a lot of different genres that are based on R&B— like hip hop R&B and other genres that can be derived from R&B. I’m going to keep trying out different concepts and show them through my music.
When I first saw the photos of Hello, World The 4th Mini Album, it felt like it leaned a lot into film noir and it reminded me of Bambi. But in the album description, it said this time you wanted to lean into the expression of film genres such as action, drama, noir, and romance in your music and concepts. What inspired that decision?
The main concept of this album connects to the message “imagination becomes reality.” As an idol, I think I got to experience a lot of different characters as I get to be a lot of different people through different concepts. I wanted to show that I can incorporate all those different sides and showcase my diverse charms through this album.
A lot of responsibility is placed on solo artists in K-pop versus the way that responsibilities are shared in groups. What do you enjoy most about working solo?
As a solo artist, I would say that I have a lot more flexibility with time. When I’m working as a group, the logistics take longer as there are more people around. I think being a solo artist is quite lonely and it’s a lot more fun to act to perform as a group.
Do you have any advice for fans who are also looking to find confidence in managing a lot of responsibilities or just trying to find themselves?
A lot of people simply say “hope you feel better about yourself,” but I know those words are often not enough if you’re feeling really down. As a vocalist, I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself either. But I took vocal lessons and practiced a lot, and finally, I felt more sure of myself. If there is any advice I can give as someone who has experience with feeling unconfident, it’s that the important thing is to invest time in bettering your skill set in certain areas where you feel less confident.
My advice may pertain to my own experience but I would like to say that if you can figure out what you want to improve and work toward that goal, your hidden confidence will naturally rise.
There’s the human side of Baekhyun and there’s also BAEKHYUN on stage. I’m going to make an effort to bring those two BAEKHYUNs together.
Speaking about fans, you’ve shown such great appreciation to EXO-Ls during your fan meetings and tours this year. For someone who’s been in the industry for over a decade, what does cultivating that relationship with fans mean to you right now?
At some point, I started to feel that I could rely on EXO-Ls. Beyond the relationship as a fan and idol, I feel a genuine connection with my fans. I can’t even find the right words to truly express how I feel but it’s like we are connected even from far away, even if we don’t see each other every day, even if we’re not near each other.
I feel like this is the most fundamental form of love, and that this emotion is very deeply rooted in love. EXO-Ls are precious to me, and they give me so much energy and I cherish them so much. I will try to be even closer to EXO-Ls in the future. Right now, it feels like I can rely on them. I don’t know if I should rely on them like this. I’m not usually a person who relies on other people but to my EXO-Ls, I really do feel like I can rely on them.
How has touring affected the way that you wanted to present this album? You gave a spoiler on Weverse about “Rendez-Vous” and performed it at the last encore show of your Asia tour, ‘Londsdaleite [dot]’. How did you feel about the fan reaction to that and performing it on stage for the first time?
The reason why I chose “Rendez-Vous” as the “spoiler song” is because I wanted to show an upgraded version of myself. I chose a B-side that I felt held some new elements that I hadn’t tried before, but also something that isn’t completely unfamiliar to my fans.
I was coming back after such a long time, so rather than showing a completely new side, I thought I would add a little bit of freshness. I thought an R&B song with a bossa nova rhythm would feel a bit more familiar. I really like “Rendez-Vous” and I was really glad that EXO-Ls also loved the song. I felt that even though I had a hiatus of three and a half years, EXO-Ls still loved what I did and what I wanted to show them. I felt like I could trust myself more in doing what I wanted to do.
You said you want to work with a variety of sounds and genres. Whether it be another artist or other genres, what influenced you personally to shape this album?
Rather than looking to other artists for inspiration, I really looked within myself and thought a lot about what I wanted to do. I reached back into my past for inspiration. I thought about what kind of R&B music I listened to in high school, up to what kind of R&B music that I’m listening to now. In this album, I wanted to include music that isn’t so different from the past albums, so it’s still R&B and might seem a little bit familiar. But after this album I might want to try some different styles. I might want to do a little bit more fundamental R&B, from the late 90s to early 2000s. To wrap up, rather than other sources of inspiration, I really looked into myself and thought about what I can do best.
How would you describe the story behind making “Pineapple Slice”?
When I first listened to “Pineapple Slice”, I could immediately see myself performing it on stage. I really liked it. When we were first recording the song it was my first recording in a long time, so it was a very unfamiliar environment and I feel like I needed a little bit of time to get used to it. I had been getting vocal lessons throughout my break, and I received feedback that my voice had changed quite a bit. I love the bass line in the song because I have a mid-range bass voice, and I think the bass line and my voice have good synergy. Based on the feedback that my voice has changed, we could proceed with the recording smoothly.
Are there any expectations on what you hope fans get from Hello, World The 4th Mini Album, or are there any tracks in particular that you hope fans will really pay attention to?
First of all, since I performed “Rendez-Vous” live before releasing this album, I think it would be nice for fans to listen to the recorded version too. Also in the song “Cold Heart” I tried rapping for the first time and well, I feel a bit shy about that song because it’s my first attempt at rapping. It’s not bad, but since it’s a new experiment for me I’m very curious what fans will think about that song. I love all the songs on the tracklist and I hope I can perform them live for the fans.
Are there any exciting plans for the future? Is there anything leading towards any plan for the States?
For now, with the recent album release, I can’t be sure about my future schedule. But as I was doing the Asia tour, it occurred to me how much I wanted to do a World Tour. I want to go around the world and greet my fans who have been waiting for me all around the world. Someday, I hope to say hello to all my fans around the world.