K-Pop Star Wonho Channels 2000's Pop With 'Better Than Me'

Forbes

5 days ago

WONHO for 'Better Than Me'
K-pop artist Wonho has been extremely busy over the past few months.
So much so, it had taken seven months since his last single, 'What Would You Do,' for him to release new music. Today, the 32-year-old singer returns with his highly anticipated English pop single, 'Better Than Me.'
'[It took a while for me to release music] because I wasn't happy with how the vocals sounded or how the recordings came out,' Wonho says through an interpreter over Zoom from Seoul. 'As I have been getting ready, this was the right time that I feel ready to showcase something to everyone that has been waiting.'
Inspired by the music of the late 1990s and early 2000s, 'Better than Me' has smooth teen-pop vibes in the same vein as boy bands like *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. Wonho was a fan of that time of music, listening to the Norwegian pop duo M2M and *NSYNC.
'I loved M2M's 'Pretty Boy' and other songs by *NSYNC,' he smiles as he's told his song is 'a '00s bop.' 'I'm happy that you caught those vibes that I wanted to express.'
The song for the summer is about being confident and able to walk away from a relationship stronger. When he first heard it, the music instantly resonated with him, as he felt it had a lot of power behind it.
'I've always wanted to try this kind of music [at some point],' Wonho says. 'I'm happy to try it.'
For the music video, he wanted to mix the old-fashioned style with the current style of videography. Think old school MTV and VH1. He played with the quality of the video in its visualization, mixing a lightly grainy feel with the high-resolution filming of today. He also wanted to keep the fashion retro and straightforward. He says so many videos use a lot of CGI and computer graphics, but he wanted to express the song through his visuals with no complicated theatrics. It's just Wonho purely singing, dancing, and being his sexy self.
'I wanted to keep the concept as simple as possible – while also mixing it with an older kind of style,' he explains. 'So, keeping that same high-quality footage, but as simple [as possible] to keep it clean.'
The second single serves as a glimpse into Wonho's first full-length album, slated for release later this year. Wonho says that many of the songs on the album will be in English to better communicate with fans worldwide.
'This is the type of music that I'm mainly working on, but in the future, who knows what I'll be able to work on next?' he says.
WONHO for "Better Than Me"
He's also experimenting with different genres of music, including R&B, electronic dance music, and country. His goal is not to be confined to one genre of music, but to become a global pop star who 'could pull off everything.'
'This current album that I'm working on is to encompass a whole variety of genres,' Wonho describes. 'I'm not tied to just one single genre. I am working on songs that I really want to do and are overall good songs to listen to.'
Although he enjoys the process, he finds American country music the most challenging to work with because he's never lived a country lifestyle. He was born and raised in South Korea, and American country music isn't that popular there.
'I just go off of the history of the genre and the basics in the style,' Wonho admits. 'Trying to create a song based on that knowledge is pretty hard.'
When it comes to country music, Wonho hopes American fans will respond favorably to it. He may not need to worry about his fans' responses. Many Americans have already consider the singer one of their own. At his U.S. concerts, there have been so many American flags with his image on them, which he finds them very amusing.
'I feel that fans in the U.S. are really welcoming [of] me,' he laughs.
WONHO for "Better Than Me"
He does have plans to return to the U.S. when the album is released, but is currently focused on his 'STAY AWAKE' South America Tour, which begins on July 12 in Santiago, Chile, followed by stops in São Paulo, Brazil (July 15), Monterrey, Mexico (July 18), and Mexico City (July 20). He did express his interest in Latin music, so there could possibly be a Spanish song in the future.
'I am currently working on [different] genres and songs like that, so I hope I can let everyone hear them soon,' he says.
Wonho is curious if WENEE, the name for his fandom, will like it. He is nervous because he cares about his fans and always wants them to enjoy it.
'I'm really waiting for the moment that the single will drop,' says Wonho. 'I always want them to like it. I think they will end up liking it.'
Wonho's "Better Than Me" is available on all streaming platforms.