Fresh Boyz: “From Lee Hyori to G.Na, We’re Lucky”

Fresh Boyz. Just hearing the group name would make you think of a teen male idol group. However, the average age of the group is 30 and the members are Ceejay (31), Kwon Sa Jang (31) and Nohl Bu (27). They’ve spent more than 10 years sharpening and polishing their skills in hiphop and say they’ve been trainees who’ve prepared for a long time. They only dreamt of making a debut and being able to meet DJ DOC’s Kim Chang Ryul was like putting wings to their dreams. Kim Chang Ryul fell in love after watching Fresh Boyz perform and worked on their album for 5 months.

“The long 12 years has evaporated after meeting Kim Chang Ryul. We are going to trust in Kim Chang Ryul hyung with our fathers and now feel so confident.”

– They are a group who are pretty well known in the hiphop world
Ceejay: “We performed numerous times in Hongdae. After entering Joong Ang University (with an electrical engineering degree), I joined a hiphop club on campus and fell in love with music. I performed with Lee Hyori during her song “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” I was even written as “Lee Hyori’s Man” on the internet.”

Kwon Sa Jang: “I met and befriended Ceejay at the hiphop club on campus and became peers in music. It’s already been over 10 years since we’ve been a team. We’ve always dreamt of having our debut, but we didn’t realize it will take this long.”

Nohl Bu: “Ceejay and Kwon Sa Jang have already been together for 7 years before I joined. We were both in Hongdae and knew that the other had skills. When we first met, our faces were “fresh.”

– Ceejay is close with Lee Hyori
Ceejay: “That’s not true. I only saw Hyori nuna when we performed together. She took care of me well during that time. At the end of promotions, she presented me with a baseball jacket and cap as a present. She’s a pretty cool sunbae.”

– You have ties with Yang Dong Gun
Ceejay: “Dong Gun hyung helped us because he liked our music. But he suddenly went to the army in 2008 and we tried to release an album then, but things didn’t work out. Kwon Sa Jang also went to the army so the debut was pushed back and now it became 10 years since we’ve prepared.”

– How did you guys find favor with Kim Chang Ryul
Nohl Bu: “Representative Kim Chang Ryul liked our performance. DJ DOC members also performed on the same stage and when they saw our performance, they shook our hands telling us, ‘Lets work together.’ As with Yang Dong Gun, we didn’t have a contract relationship. He just watched us perform favorably.”

– You normally enjoyed DJ DOC’s music
Kwon Sa Jang: “Of course. There aren’t that many people our age who haven’t listened to DJ DOC. It seems these hyungs are the first to mix rap in their songs. It’s thrilling that we get to be in a good company after 12 years  . Kim Chang Ryul hyung is our saviour. He’s like a strong-father figure.”

– Psy is on a roll these days. What are rappers thoughts on this
Nohl Bu: “He’s great. He combines rap with pop music well. His music sense seems to be very good.”

– Explain what’s different with Fresh Boyz’ music
Ceejay: “We are a team who focuses on Korean hiphop. We think that popular music that the mainstream is not needed. We want to create a trendy music and help evolve hiphop. Our title song “King Kong Shower” is a song that represents our vision. We feel great that G.Na has helped out with featuring. After seeing her in person, she is lovely beyond words.”

– What do you want to show on stage during your title song’s, “King Kong Shower,” performance
“The only thing we have is our long experience with performing. We talked about showing how we’ll be free and energetic. We’re not going to focus on staged choreography for the fans who are tired of that kind of performances.”