K-Pop Spotlight: OnlyOneOf
This self-producing boy group, composed of leader and vocalist Love, rapper KB, vocalist Rie, dancer YooJung, rapper Mill, vocalist JunJi, and beatmaker Nine, debuted just six months ago and already have two mini-albums and three music videos under their belts. After their ambitious debut with Savanna and Time Leap, the septet is back with their latest title track, Sage, off their new mini-album Line Sun Goodness. We caught up with the boys amidst their promotions to chat about their comeback, self-care, and Hogwarts houses.
How would you describe your current sound and how it differs from your debut tracks Savanna and Time Leap?
Nine: I’ve been working on beat making and truly believe I’ve improved the quality of my beats since our debut. I am so excited about our work on our track OnlyOneOf me. Of course, I love our other songs, too, but whenever someone compliments OnlyOneOf me, I can’t contain how happy I am that we helped to make that song. We’ve also enhanced the details of our vocals since our debut, because our team has such a unique collection of tones. There is still a lot more that we are working to do better!
KB: I tried to express a sexier and more desperate tone of rapping for Sage in comparison to our debut. These days, Nine and I are trying to pay attention to the smallest details of a song to learn how to compose better. We are really proud of the three songs on this album that we helped compose.
Love: I’ve really tried to challenge myself as a vocalist on Sage by singing with an emotional, begging tone. I sang more softly and sensually on Savanna and Time Leap.
YooJung: I’d say Sage definitely shows a matured and restrained sensuality compared to Savanna.
Rie: Yeah, Sage is more intense, with more tension!
Mill: I tried to record the tracks as if I were on a stage…so I think my voice came out even more sensually? The fans can tell us if that’s true!
If you had to choose only one musical artist to listen to for the rest of your lives, who would it be and why?
Rie: Post Malone! He continues to release music that feels fresh and modern, so I could listen to him for a long time and still be surprised by his music.
Mill: I’ve been listening to a lot of emotional music lately and pH-1 is one of my favorite artists for music like that, so I’d choose him.
JunJi: I will definitely pick BTS Jungkook’s songs! I feel like I could die in peace if I listened to his music :)
YooJung: Hmm…there’s this fantastic group called OnlyOneOf that makes spectacular music! Hehe.
What was the most challenging part about preparing for your first comeback?
Nine: I’ve practiced really hard to be able to make diverse facial expressions on stage!
YooJung: I’ve also tried hard to get better at making sophisticated expressions that tell the story of our music.
KB: I wrote tracks for this album day and night! We all study music and composition as hard as we can and try not to hesitate to try new genres and sounds. For this album, we continued to work on establishing our own sonic color that feels unique to us.
Rie: Our debut was a pretty sensual concept, so I’ve put in my best effort into creating a more powerful image for Sage.
Mill: Definitely my new bright red hair style! I think it has really changed my image and definitely help our team tell the story of Sage because it references the lyrics.
JunJi: Sliding with knees!! It definitely hurt to learn and is really difficult to do! There are ways to do it in a way that don’t hurt, but I’m still struggling to do it perfectly :( But it looks really good on stage! :)
If you had to sort yourself into a Hogwarts house, which would you choose?
YooJung: This is very easy. Nine, KB, JunJi, and Mill are all Slytherin. Love, Rie, and I are all Gryffindor. And we have fans from all houses, so they help complete our school!
KB: I like spending time in the sauna.
Love: I like walking alone late at night, listening to music. It helps clear my head.
Rie: I also like spending time alone and going fishing!
YooJung: I’ll use beauty tools to give myself a really relaxing facial massage :)
JunJi: I like watching seafood mukbangs.
Mill: I watch sports on TV at the end of the day.
Nine: My favorite way to relax is eating ramen while watching a rerun of the Korean reality show Infinite Challenge.
What’s the most interesting thing about you that people may not know?
KB: I think I’m getting taller still.
Love: When I like a specific food, I will eat it every day for an entire week.
Rie: I can cook a huge amount of ramen at once and keep the noodles from getting soggy! I am called “Noodle Rie” because of this.
YooJung: I know almost all of the spells from Harry Potter (Petrificus Totalus!) and I grew up studying Cha Cha and Ballroom dance.
JunJi: I am always singing in my free time, no matter where I am.
Mill: I’m really good at annoying JunJi :)
Nine: I’m really good at jumping rope and I can make a sound effect that sounds like the echoes of a karaoke machine.
What’s the most important piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Nine: The Korean artist Insooni gave us great advice which is that “fans will notice if you’re lazy, so practice hard and be honorable to yourself. That hard work will be recognized.” This advice continues to helps us all a lot.
Love: Exactly. Don’t cheat yourself out of hard work. Using shortcuts will get you someplace faster, but will lead to mistakes in the long run, so work hard and practice fair and square.
KB: Good things will happen if you think positively and put in your best effort!
YooJung: Even if you fail, always try your best.
Rie: Life is his who enjoys it. Don’t regret anything and embrace challenges when they come.
Mill: I like a piece of advice that our creative director gave us, which is that our team will grow stronger and last longer if our members are considerate of each other and look out for each other. We are a family.
The video for Sage has a very futuristic vibe—what are you most looking forward to as a group in coming years?
KB: We really want our music to grow and get better as we grow as people, composers, and performers ourselves. In the future, we hope to make music that falls well on many ears and gives comfort to many people.
Want more OnlyOneOf? Check out their video for Sage and follow along with the conversation here.
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