Singer Roy Kim, who is in his 13th year since debut, mentioned his fandom Roy Rose as the driving force behind his long run.

In a music talk commemorating the release of his new single ‘Just As I Am’, Roy Kim said, “It always feels good to see songs stay on the charts for a long time.”I always release songs with the hope that they will do well, but I try to lower my expectations. But I do look at the charts on the day of the (song) release. Sometimes I feel happy when I check (the results).” He talked about his consistent track record of releasing hit songs. In fact, his latest work, ‘If You Ask Me What Love Is’, released in October of last year, is currently in the top 20 on Melon.

So what does long-run mean to Roy Kim, who debuted on the national audition program ‘Superstar K’ and became famous the moment he appeared? He said, “The feeling then and now is completely different. I was grateful, but now I‘m happy in a different way,“ he said.

He continued, ”I was only 19. I had the drive that I could do anything, and in fact, I did well no matter what I did. I was drunk. 13 years later, I’m having a moment of success again, and I‘m so grateful that there are still so many people who love me.“ He continued, ”When I debuted, I thought my fans would be like oxygen and stay by my side forever. At some point, I realized that they could leave me at any time if I didn’t put in the effort, so I try harder to sing and communicate with them. The more years I have, the more I feel this, and the higher my chart rankings are during this time, the more deeply I feel this.“
With his representative song and debut song, ‘Bom Bom Bom, he developed the image of a ‘spring singer’. He said, ”There are many people who think of me when they think of spring. Even the gym staff thought I‘d be busy because it’s spring,“ he said. ”‘Bom Bom Bom’ is the song that played the biggest role in making me known. I‘m grateful, but looking back now, I feel embarrassed. I could have looked better and sang better. I wish there was another hit song that surpasses ’Bom Bom Bom‘,“ he said, feeling embarrassed about his innocent image in the past.

Regarding the royalties for ’Bom Bom Bom‘, he said, ”It doesn’t feel like a pension, but in percentage terms, it goes up a lot like ‘Bom Bom Bom’,“ and he said with satisfaction, ”My favorite season is the transitional period. Between winter and summer, and between summer and winter. If I had to choose one, I‘d definitely like spring.“

Roy Kim’s new single, ‘Just the Way I Am,’ is a spring song that he‘s released after a long time. This song, which was first performed as an unreleased song at his 2023 solo concert ‘Roy Note’, is a modern rock genre that stands out with its cheerful band sound that suits spring. Roy Kim took charge of the lyrics and composition, and it tells a story of loving ‘usus’ just as we are, even if we are imperfect and not perfect.

Roy Kim plans to build empathy with the public through ‘Just As We Are’. He said, “Telling my story is important, but what I think about the most throughout my work is the listeners’ position. I think about building empathy with the public and fans”, and “Thanks to that, I think I continue to produce songs that are loved by many people. It is a great help on my way to becoming a popular singer. I maintain my sense and sharpen my intuition through the process of thinking about what kind of voice, what kind of lyrics, and what kind of music my listeners want to hear”, raising expectations for the addition of representative songs.
He then said, ”The spring of life comes steadily,“ and showed a flexible attitude, saying, ”It wasn‘t always spring for the past 13 years, but there were many spring-like moments. It’s hard to achieve something by going up, but if you work hard, spring comes.“

”I don‘t think it’s frustrating even if the results don‘t come out, but rather that it’s just not my season. Spring will come anyway. The driving force behind the spring of my musical life is my fans. In the past, I felt that this kind of answer was capitalistic and cheesy, but as time goes by, I really feel the importance of my fans. A year goes by when I communicate with my fans. I don‘t want to make it hard for the fans either.”

Roy Kim’s new single ‘Just As I Am’, which will further enhance the spring atmosphere, will be released on various music sites at 6 PM on April 2nd.

Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com Reporter jhj@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.