PRIPEA
Stan
The singer-dance-entrepreneur came to the United States in February of this year, not only to put the finishing touches on Cyan, but to film a reality show that lets viewers watch him experience the joys of everyday life and travel (Hello, Daniel is currently airing on South Korean television). Daniel speaks with a self-assured calmness about his new projects as well as about overcoming the hardships that came before them.
Jeff Benjamin: There is so much to talk about but, first and foremost, I want to know how are you doing? I don’t want to focus too much on the past, but we know you needed to take a break in December, can you let us know what was going on?
Kang Daniel: [...] everybody runs into a wall sometimes and that happened to me in December. But what gives me courage, and what I want to focus on more than what happened to me, is that I overcame my obstacles and it’s really that which gives me courage to move forward.
Jeff Benjamin: How would you describe this new album, “2U” and its choreography, compared to your past works ?
Kang Daniel: [...] “2U” has a sound that's gentle and comfortable—a mix of pop and hip-hop. I think it works well for spring. [...] I’d describe the choreography as difficult. But what I mean by that is that it’s a difficult song to dance to, it might seem like it’s a little bit slow at times but we’re able to make it very spectacular in its own way. I took part and participated in the whole process of making this album. From selecting tracks, including title track, to recording, arrangements and mastering, it’s even difficult to choose one song as my favorite. I focused on putting my heart into it.
Jeff Benjamin: The album title Cyan has another color theme like your debut. Last time we had an interview, you told me you were finding your color as an artist. Is this the color for one album or does it represent you?
Kang Daniel: The “color” series is the process of finding my true colors, therefore I can’t say this first mini-album Cyan is my color, but I would like to say the “first button.” As if, I'm thinking about what to wear every morning, I'm going to try them on one by one and find the color that suits me the most. There are so many colors I want to try on though.
Jeff Benjamin: You also said you were learning to balance your CEO and artist side, but needed to remember the artist side. Have you found balance?
Kang Daniel: There's so much that I prepared this year to show people and there's so much more in me as an artist that I want to show. [...]
Jeff Benjamin: I didn’t know you had those influences in you, I see it though, very cool. Anything else surprising coming from you this year?
Kang Daniel: There’s a variety in the things I’ve prepared and everything I’ve been thinking about creatively in my head has now been organized, and I feel ready to present it. Even when I was on my break, I was constantly thinking about what I would be doing when I returned. I think the level of completion is going to be at a higher standard now.
Jeff Benjamin: When you do a hit a wall or get stressed, who can you lean on?
Kang Daniel: Of course I have good friends that I can rely on, but the one person who has been there that I can always talk to, face to face, is my mother. Even now when I talk to my mom, we just don’t know where the time goes and we end up talking for, like, three hours.
Jeff Benjamin: To wrap up, this wasn’t public but we saw each other at Music Bank at the end of 2019. I asked you if you were feeling happy and you said, “Yes...I think” and it made me a little worried. Are you happy now? It’s okay if no.
Kang Daniel: I’m finding my way. Every day I take it day by day, but I think I found the way.
You can read the whole article and interview on >> Forbes << website