Viewer Discretion Advised, or 03, is the third studio album released by Superbia Entertainment’s duo, X2. It was released on July 5th, 2016, several months after their second album release. There was no real title track on the album, and three music videos were released: one for Like it, Love it, one for Sweet&Sour, and one for Nylon.
Basically, X2 released an album full of sensual, sexy r&b vibes, giving their fans more content than they ever could have asked for. The boys told fans that production takes time, and because they’re almost entirely self managed, having consistent comeback schedules can be difficult, but they worked as hard as they could to churn the album out in a timely manner. They thanked their listeners extensively for their patience.
Album playlist (here)
TRACKLIST
swim (ft. hijinx’s hyunae) - insp. hui&somin’s swim good
spend the night - insp. yelloasis& junny&holynn’s bed
cherry - insp. 누플레이&dmeanor’s 시선
sweet&sour - insp. donguy&c.o.v.v.’s sweet & sour
nonstop - insp. jus2′s long black
you + me = ? - insp. reddy&jay park’s think
melting - insp. elo&colde’s melt
gravity (rj solo) insp. jooyoung’s planet girl
grapevine insp. junoflo&jay park’s grapevine
sensational - insp .junny’s feel that
weekend - insp. for the weekend - junny & paloalto
lovers - insp. love! dance! - haon
nylon - insp. nylon - haon, & ph-1
ERA NOTES
The hair colors were NICE this era
RJ sported a lovely dark red hue
Junsik’s hair was dyed silver.
The styling continued with the trend of formal wear, though never quite perfectly poised.
The music videos were all surreal once again, as a callback to their aesthetic roots. They were somewhat reminiscent of drug trips, saved from being too cliche by interesting text effects (lyrics, bar receipts, etc.) and imagery where colors blended and dripped.
Once again, they didn’t give a fuck about how explicit some of their imagery was. To make fun of the censorship of media in Korea, they censored random objects like lipstick tubes and cars, but left imagery including far more suggestive themes untouched.
Despite the varied concept this era, the uniting factors were the colors red and imagery involving cherries. Yes, countless jokes involving “popping one’s cherry” ran rampant amongst the fanbase.
RJ commented on working with labelmate Hyunae ( @hihijinx) and admitted that she scared him the entire time...he also said that he was scared of Impulse’s Nye. Junsik, meanwhile, bluntly stated that he found neither of them intimidating, and that RJ is just afraid of everyone.
Promotions began as they always did for these fools. RJ couldn’t help but spoil a bit on his Instagram feed by posting very suggestive images of himself...AKA shirtless photos and mirror selfies where everything that needed to be covered was just barely concealed. His captions teased at the album title, with lines such as “a little too NSFW for you?”.
After that, both he and Junsik began posting photo-spreads split up into individual posts that formed images of women’s lips, mysterious captions declaring “Coming Soon.” It didn’t take long for the X2 official accounts to begin teasing as well, until concept photos were released
.There were three sets of concept photos. The first was categorized by hazy, smoky rooms lit by sensual pink and purple lighting. Junsik and RJ were photographed sprawled in limos with their trademark lackadaisical affects. RJ wore an unbuttoned suit jacket with nothing beneath, and Junsik’s own formal wear was significantly disheveled, tie undone and hair mussed. They looked as if they had been through a hell of a night, the floor of the limo littered with empty alcohol bottles, women’s underwear, and glittery high heels.
The second set of photos had them at a house party. RJ was posed leaning against a wall by a poolside, keeping up the neon theme, with the addition of cyan from the swimming pool’s luminance. He remained shirtless, lipstick prints scattered across his neck and collarbones, and an over-exposed effect gave the image a candid feel. J
unsik’s photos were similar, though he was seated on a poolside lounge chair, eyes closed as he leaned back, a soju bottle dangling limply from his hand.
The third set was by far the most interesting. Scantily clad women wearing odd animal head masks were included in the photos, including reaching behind a seated RJ to claw at his bare chest, and lying down with their heads in Junsik’s lap as he relaxed on a bed. In these, they were even less properly styled, hair wavy and mussed, and clothing disheveled beyond belief.
They claimed that the photos told a story, and the seemingly random choice of the animal masks on the women reflected the trippy but sensual feeling of the album, balancing between the viscerally unsettling nature of trance-like sound and the undeniably sexual undertones nearly every song held.
RJ was literally such a dork around all of the women in their video. There were clips of him apologizing and bowing to each girl after shooting scenes where he had to be touching them, or if they were on his lap. Junsik made fun of him for it, but fans found his affect endearing.
Honestly...it’s pretty easy to guess how fans reacted. They were, understandably, completely feral.
Born in Honolulu, Nari moved to Korea when she turned three with her father after her parents separated. At the age of seven, she debuted in a kids group as a rapper and dancer. Her music career continued until she was 15 and decided she no longer wanted to be in a spotlight.
Nari met Hwimin in high school when she was thirteen and the two became fast friends. Later, they met Gyujeong and the three became Groovyroom together.
Lisa signed into Indigo Music on 2018 making her the second female under the label.
Her audition tape for the show hit over 5 million plays on Instagram and 7 million views on views on youtube.
Was a contestant of the Mnet hit show ' High School Rapper 2 '
Got chosen as one of the most expected contestants by the competitors. In the same show, Young B chose Vinxen and Kira B ( Lisa ) as strong candidates for the win.
In the first episode, this being the cypher round she impressed the judges and the other contestants with her ability to ride the beat and play around with it.
By the second episode, she had already built up an expectation among the contestants and the judges. For this episode, she had to talk about the real her she chose to talk about her personal hell ' her family ' and how this had built up demons around her and how making music and her art had saved her life.
For the group mission on episode 5, she was part of the Groovy Room to which she lost.
She was the first female to be part of the Alternative Youth Clan. The Alternative Youth Clan originally consisted of Young B ( Dickids Crew ) , Agunu ( Dickids Crew) & No: El ( Indigo Music Rapper ).
At the age of 16, she emancipated herself from her parents.
In 4th grade, she showed advance understatement of the lessons and was jumped a grade.
Growing up she was alienated by her peers do to her unique features, ethnicity and because her fashion sense was different. In other words, she didn't fit any of the stereotypes surrounding her race and this caused her to be outcasted.
She is a fan of Kim Haon's meditational mindset.
Lisa was born with bigger attributes compared to the average girls of her race.
Dropped out of school on the second semester of her junior year.
Moved to Korea in 2017 in hope of being as farther away from her family.
She worked at a convince store and as a barista at a small cafe.
She gathered a small popularity on Instagram because of her dark aesthetic and sexy photos.
During this time she became a model for streetwear fashion.
Was the female protagonist of the MV for first Fxxk by Agunu in 2017.
Her relationship with Agunu got exposed by accident by Young B who busted into Agunu's studio/room while doing an insta live but did not expect to run into Lisa and Agunu making out (Instagram live 2019120).
Considered controversial because of the number of piercings and tattoos she has along with her ' provocative ' clothing.
Loves to show off her body
Has a total of 18 piercings and 7 tattoos one of them being the famous moon tattoo of Bloo from Mkit Rain.
She has featured in many songs two of them being the 119 remix Produced by Gray and the Killa B by Young B
XO is the second studio album released by Superbia Entertainment’s R&B duo, X2. It was released on January 14, 2016, and featured the title track heaven. The album received a moderate amount of controversy for its explicit lyrics and content, though ultimately, X2 just didn’t care. After wonderful success with their first album, their comeback was timely and once again entirely self-managed; it was anticipated and well-received.
(playlist link)
TRACKLIST
heaven (title) - insp. elo and penomeco’s oh i
heaven features a spacious instrumental complemented with strings, powerful vocals, subtle but driving percussion, and a gradual build-up into an airy and equally as strong chorus. Layered vocals from both of the members lend to an atmospheric sound to the song, and despite the song being mostly vocal-driven, Junsik’s rap portions provide a refreshing respite from the flowing nature of RJ’s vocals. The song is a seamless blend of their individual vocal flavors, and showcases their harmonic abilities in particular.
hit me up - insp. sik-k and gaeko’s ring ring
shinin’ - punchnello and crush’s corona
expensive - simon dominic and jay park’s won and only
don’t be shy - crush and sik-k’s don’t be shy
Sheer filth. The song is upbeat and light-hearted, despite the very explicit nature of the lyrics. This song, while very popular, was regarded with particular distaste from listeners as people realized that RJ was only barely legal by Korean age when he wrote it. The lyrics featured lines such as “Tell me what you what you wanna do/I’ll take it off slowly/I can undo it with one hand/The tight clasp on your back/Till you ask for more/I won’t stop/Twice, three times, from the top, from the bottom/I wanna live inside” from RJ, clearly referencing not only undressing a girl, but much more than that. From Junsik, lines were more palatable, even if he had lyrics like “I wanna hear your moans/Let’s wash up/But keep the bathroom door open/Don’t be shy/girl I told ya/Let’s say the shower made you wet/and I slide/Between your thick thighs.” So, yeah, the song was obviously explicit as hell. When brought up in interviews, the two sort of brushed off the controversy, stating that music was about expression, and it was unrealistic to expect every single young artist to pretend to be naive to save face, especially when they aren’t idols. They hung out with a few YouTubers, one of which joked around with the two and had RJ show off his unhooking a bra with one hand skills (as many as he could with a time limit and on a mannequin), but he was laughing too much to do it more than three times and his hands were shaking because he was nervous.
don’t u know? - woo, loco, and gray’s we are
a moment of silence - loco and crush’s still
ERA NOTES
Just as they had done with their first album, all of the posts on the x2 instagram were archived. in their place were nine photos with white backgrounds and black graphics that formed the lewis dot structure of dopamine, as well as 011416 beneath.
RJ and Junsik both went mostly quiet on their personals, as well, though RJ’s last instagram post had the caption “baby, you’re like a breath of fresh air” and a photo of clouds taken from an airplane seat.
Junsik was obviously more comfortable behind a camera this time around, though clearly not at RJ’s level. Once again, teaser videos were released, one for each member.
Junsik’s featured him walking and looking seemingly bored on what looked like a mirrored sheet of glass, in a computer-generated sky of shifting colors, ranging from pink to dusty blue. His hair color was hidden beneath a baseball cap. He wore a loose white dress shirt, asymmetrically tucked in and with the sleeves rolled up on his forearms, black pants, and minimal jewelry.
RJ was filmed underwater, sitting cross-legged in dark water. he had one elbow on his knee, face resting in his palm as if he were finding something incredibly tedious, and glanced repeatedly at the rolex on his wrist to see when it would be over. He was styled similarly, though his jeans were heavily ripped and shirt half-falling off his shoulders to flow in the water around him, wearing nothing underneath. His hair color was hard to make out, but dark.
Overall, there was a dual color scheme for the music video. RJ was featured with mostly darker blues and greys, and primarily underwater. Junsik’s color vibe was silvery, pink, and dustier pastels. Along with that, RJ’s theme was underwater, while Junsik was framed with clouds, the sky, and more traditional “heaven” imagery. This dichotomy was used to represent the dual sides of love, or “x” vs “o”: when you’re so deep ‘underwater’ in love that you can’t breathe, and the flip side, where you’re on cloud 9 and all too blissfuly unaware of the lack of oxygen and danger in climbing higher and higher.
The music video for heaven followed the same trend as the teasers and focused on the duality between the sky and water, and the need for oxygen in both. There were a lot of shots with CG that looked like paint on glass, whether in the sky or in a spacious apartment that was apparently entirely underwater, creative transitions, and a color scheme that shifted between the members’ individual aesthetics for the concept. The styling remained simple, as per their brand, though Junsik surprised fans at one point by having a scene in which he was sitting on the edge of the same mirrored platform as his teaser, shirt entirely unbuttoned, and singing/rapping almost lazily. His hair color was revealed to be silvery-grey in the video, and RJ’s navy blue with streaks of lighter color for dimension. In the scenes where the two are together in the CG sky with a time-lapse showcasing rapidly shifting clouds and colors of the sky with paint on glass effects, they’re back to back and feeding off of one another’s energy. They were praised for the sincerity of their expressions, and of course, the sex appeal in their unbuttoned shirts and lazy affects.
XX, or 01, is the debut album from Superbia Entertainment’s duo, X2. It was released on October 21, 2015, and featured the title track chill. Unlike traditional idol group debuts, there were no member teasers released. Instead, 15 second clips of each song were posted on Superbia’s instagram feed two weeks before debut, and a cryptic link that led to a website that was entirely blank and white other than XX and ARE YOU READY? in black, plain font in the center of the webpage. A few inventive fans inspected some of the code on the site, and found more information leading to a second webpage that linked to X2′s official instagram, which was hidden under a nondescript handle. Even still, no photos of the members were released, and although a new photo was posted every day (later revealed to have been taken by RJ), anything that featured a human face was intentionally censored with a glitch effect. A few people guessed that Junsik would be making his duo debut after his solo career (under the name J.SK) kinda fell off the map.
(playlist link)
As the debut date grew closer, the Instagram started becoming more and more cryptic, featuring obscure quotes and graphics, which later were revealed to be hints about the members themselves. Numbers such as the coordinates of their birthplaces and heights were scattered throughout the graphics, and many potential fans on social media figured out that the key to figuring out the numerical code was the word “ready.” After that, things were a lot easier to decode, and the day before the proposed date of their music video release, a teaser was finally posted of each member, with their names.
Even during Junsik’s solo career, he did everything he could in order to avoid showing his face to the public, not wanting to sacrifice his privacy just yet. His teaser was more cryptic than RJ’s to reflect it, but both of them were photographed in a room that seemed to be entirely constructed out of metallic silver, down to the floors. Rj was posed sitting on the edge of a table, a relaxed smile on his face. His style was simple - a hand-painted denim jacket with wave designs on it, jeans, and expensive-looking white sneakers. He wore a baseball cap with the same wave design, hair black and styled slightly messily. Junsik was photographed lying down on a metallic silver couch, an open book draped over and hiding his face. The book cover once again had the wave design on an otherwise solid blue background. The words “RIP BARTHES” were on the bottom part of the cover, a clear reference to the French writer, and in particular, his essay, The Death of the Author. All that could really be seen of Junsik was that his hair was black as well, though his short-sleeved grey tee displayed his tattoos, which a few people recognized from photos that were allegedly of Junsik during his solo works, though they were never confirmed to be him.
TRACKLIST
chill (title) / insp. crush & sik’s song of the same title
cereal / insp.crush & zico’s song of the same title
half moon / insp.dean & gaeko’s song of the same title
bout u / insp. jeebanoff, kvsh, and olnl’s ‘about you’
what 2 do / insp. dean & crush’s song of the same title
hug me / insp. crush & gaeko’s song of the same title
hands on u / insp. dean & anderson .paak’s ‘put my hands on you’
down / insp. sik-k & crush’s party (shut down)
2 much / insp. loco & dean’s ‘too much’
ERA NOTES
The music video editing was very artistic, featuring inventive transitions. Some examples were a glass of silver paint being knocked over, and the camera going into the spill to cut into the next scene, as well as plenty of glitch effects, and upside down cuts of the members seemingly on the ceiling while singing and rapping and seated.
Junsik didn’t dance at all in the music video, but there are a few cuts of RJj dancing a bit in a room with solid blue walls, silver paint slowly dripping from the tops of the walls to the floor. He later released a video of the full choreography, and tutorial videos in English, Korean, and Japanese.
RJ definitely got more screen time, but that was Junsik’s preference. Although he seemed comfortable behind the camera when his face was shown during the music video, he seemed obviously uncomfortable during interviews, especially next to baby twenty-year-old RJ all bright-eyed and eager to talk as much as possible.
After the chill MV was released, both of the members were featured in interview-style videos, where they introduced themselves and spoke more about who they were and their decision to distance themselves from the music, referencing Roland Barthes’s theories on the death of the author, and how by removing the context from a piece of art (whether auditory or visual), the true essence of the music can be gleaned. RJ spoke at length on how someone might have preconceived notions, for example, on his skill or lyrics if they had known his age and lack of experience beforehand beforehand. Both discussed how Korea’s music industry is so image-oriented that what they did was risky, but ultimately created the intrigue they needed around their music. When asked why RJ chose to reveal his face sooner than junsik, he commented that although it made him nervous, he needed to do it in order to prove to himself that he could do it.
RJ took it upon himself to translate almost everything he said into the three languages he knows, and Junsik joked around with him about showing off, but the easygoing and good-natured affects of the two were well displayed in how they interacted with one another onscreen.
A live performance version of hands on u was released, and once again, more dance from RJ. Junsik teased him about how he should have just debuted in an idol group if he wanted to dance, and RJ did unfortunately receive a bit of controversy for his eye roll and disgusted expression at the suggestion.
They got off to a bit of a rocky start with further controversy right from the beginning as pictures of RJ were leaked that showed him drinking underaged predebut, but he apologized, and claimed his friends were drinking but he wasn’t while with them. (Which was a lie, and he was much more careful from there on out).
During an interview, junsik was asked how he felt about debuting again, especially with someone so much younger than he was. Junsik literally looked the camera dead in the eye and said “it beats going broke.”
So yeah maybe RJ was fully convinced Junsik hated his guts for the first like eight months of working together.
As some of the tracks are explicit, the English curse in chill was censored with “messed up” rather than “fucked up”
RJ was clearly uncomfortable with the amount of recognition he received right off the bat for being able to sing, rap, dance, model, and produce at his age. He tried often to keep bringing up how talented Junsik was in interviews and to divert the attention away from himself, but it made him come across as dismissive and ungrateful...which led to more difficulty for the poor thing, so debuting had its ups and its downs for both of them. RJ spent the first few months after debut stressed as hell and grappling with how difficult it was to maintain a good image, as everything he said and did was so harshly analyzed.
A few people recognized RJ as a dancer from some dance videos and covers, as well as a back-up dancer for a few groups. In fact, he went somewhat viral a few months before XX’s release for being “the hot backup dancer” for a popular soloist, though no one really expected him to be a trainee about to debut himself.
⟶ X2 (엑스2) is an independently-managed hip-hop/R&B duo under Superbia Entertainment. Unlike classic idol groups, they’re free to experiment with their content the way they please, and oftentimes that means mature themes in their music. They self-produce and self-manage, and do not promote the same way that idol duos do. They prefer to keep the music mainly for the art, and produce for other artists, as well.
Jihun is ethnically Korean, but he grew up speaking three languages at home. His father was adopted by Japanese parents living in Korea, and he was taught both Japanese and Korean. His mother is Korean-American, and after having Jihun in Honolulu, they decided he’d learn all three of the languages they knew.
He worked as a backup dancer for several artists at the beginning of his career, and gained attention as a backup dancer for a few female soloists before people knew who he was. At the same time, he was trying his best as an underground artist.
He prefers to go by his real name than his stage name, and often forgets he has one in the first place. The original intention behind his stage name was supposed to be for a Japanese god, but he fell out of the habit of using it early on, and now most fans refer to him just by Jihun.
He’s still active as a choreographer for idol groups, and he maintains a position on the staff at a dance studio in the area.
Most people expect him to be taller.
While Jihun is nothing but charged, sexy energy and charisma onstage...he’s a baby offstage. He’s shy and pretty much a complete dork, and many fans don’t believe him when he insists he’s baby.
He adores photographer and other types of art, and fancies himself a bit of an interior decorator from time to time (aka he obsessively reorganizes his apartment at least once a month for better vibes).
He got his nipples pierced on a dare from a friend when he was 18, and while he thought he’d end up hating it, he found he liked them enough to keep in...it’s been six years.
He’s the KING of girl-group cover dances, no one can compare!
Negative ↬ Introverted to a fault, secretive, guarded, intimidating
↳ 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎
He actually began his career with Superbia back in 2012, though he remained anonymous. He produced for years for them and other companies without revealing his face, and released a handful of popular albums.
He has produced for several notable idol groups, including all of Superbia’s. beyond groups, he’s partnered with other producers for projects, and put together instrumentals for choreographies belonging to dance teams. The majority of his career has been spent behind the scenes.
Junsik has already completed his 18 months of military service.
When he returned from the military, he decided to re-debut and reveal his face, and while it was never officially announced that he was the rapper who disappeared 18 months prior, people quickly figured it out.
He’s known for his rapid rapping skills and down-to-earth affect. it’s obvious that he’s still getting used to being in the public eye, even though it’s been over 4 years.
He seems incredibly intimidating because of his stature and body modifications, but junsik is the papa bear of superbia entertainment, and is one of the easiest people around whom to be around. he’s especially protective of his partner, RJ.
He enjoys producing for girl groups the most, and has a signature sound! He loves making musically complex but bubbly girl group songs, and has worked with GWSN and LOONA.
He...he genuinely...doesn’t give a fuck. He says whatever is on his mind, and because he isn’t an idol, he doesn’t much care.
Probably wishes he could go back to before he was recognizably famous, but he tries to keep his complaining to when he’s drunk and hanging out with RJ alone.
Most iconic quote: “Can you guys check your daddy issues at the door, for once?” When his fans were going feral during a late-night Instagram live when he was shirtless and eating cereal.
