THE BOYZ's Hyunjae And Sunwoo Reflect On Their 5 Years Since Debut, What They Always Want To Keep In Mind, And More

Nov 29, 2022

THE BOYZ’s Hyunjae and Sunwoo have joined Cosmopolitan for a pictorial and interview!

Hyunjae and Sunwoo of the K-pop idol group THE BOYZ, who will soon be celebrating their fifth debut anniversary, sat down for an interview after their photo shoot and shared their thoughts and reflections on their journey so far.

The interview kicked off with Hyunjae looking back at the past five years since debut. He shared that the Seoul encore concert for the group’s first world tour “THE B-ZONE” remains as a meaningful memory by saying, “We weren’t sure how far we had come. Because of COVID-19, we didn’t have a chance to meet fans in person, so we didn’t have a chance to feel it either. I realized it only when I saw the seats completely filled up as soon as the opening stage [of the concert] kicked off. I thought to myself, ‘It has not been in vain that we have come so far. THE B also recognizes our efforts.’”

Previously in one of the interviews he participated in, Hyunjae asked himself the question, “Am I doing my share well as a member of THE BOYZ?” When asked the same question now, Hyunjae replied, “I think that all the members including myself are doing our parts well. But we don’t stop there. We want to do better, we want to be cooler, and we want to be more successful. There are times when things don’t go as planned, but in the end, I think it boils down to the thought that we can do this.”

When asked about what he can praise himself for doing well, Hyunjae answered, “Well… I would say that I never forgot my initial mindset from when I was a rookie. I am wary of losing my original mindset just because I gain more experiences. I don’t think that is cool either. I think I’m doing well at keeping my mindset still.”

The interview continued with Sunwoo sharing his thoughts on THE BOYZ receiving Best Performing Artist at the Genie Music Awards earlier this month. Sunwoo commented, “Actually, that award felt like the last chance for me. Rather than getting the award for performing well, I felt a sense of responsibility, like whipping oneself into shape by receiving this award, so I think it was good. I needed it.”

While on tour, Sunwoo wrote the lyrics for “Survive The Night,” one of the tracks on their seventh mini album. Sunwoo recalled, “One night while on tour, I sat leaning against the window. It was a time when I had so many thoughts every night, and I wanted to write about myself being like this and just started writing even though it wasn’t a song I was supposed to write lyrics for. The title literally means surviving the night. I put my heart into this, wishing someone to show up and save me from falling deep in my thoughts.”

Sunwoo actively uploads his personal projects to SoundCloud which shows his musical ambition as well as an independent self that is different from THE BOYZ’s Sunwoo. Sunwoo shared, “I think THE BOYZ’s music and my own songs are different. However, I never think, ‘Because I’m Sunwoo of THE BOYZ, people will like it even if I do only this much.’ I want to make music that whoever listens to it will enjoy. I’ve been writing lyrics for THE BOYZ’s albums so far, but someday I want to present a song that I wrote and composed.”