SHINee member KEY may have traveled lighter than usual for his first solo U.S. tour, but the run of KEYLAND: Uncanny Valley shows was no less extravagant than expected from the consummate K-pop showman.
When KEY makes his grand entrance on stage at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 3 — albeit accompanied by a smaller dance crew than he utilized in Seoul — he is dressed, essentially, in a suit of armor: silver corset, bedazzled shoulder pauldrons buckled together across his chest, gauntlets with claws. “Dressed to the nines,” he sings at the top of the show, making a statement from the very first lines of grungy pop punk opener “Strange.” “Yeah, we all got something to hide.”
Everything is not what it seems… which is, of course, exactly how KEY planned it. Raised on glam-rock, the Korean star sees the storytelling value in obfuscation; while his elaborate costuming may partially be a form of artistic expression, he notes there’s also a bit of sleight of hand happening.
“I don’t wear costumes to show my identity. I cannot say it’s 100% my style,” KEY tells Billboard. “It’s more like strategy. I’m not always trying to show who I am, what I am. It’s different things.”
Throughout the night, though, the person behind the larger-than-life front is steadily unmasked. Shedding pieces of the armor, he eventually loses the garb completely, swapping it for a sparkly football uniform. After touring through retro, high-octane hits “BAD LOVE” and “Gasoline” from his 2021 and 2022 projects of the same names, the singer peels the veil back further, reemerging in a casual zip-up embellished only with his cuddly rainbow monsters to close on the beautifully earnest “Lavender Love.”
It’s that very human version of KEY, now clad in all gray and with the roots of his bleached blonde hair growing out, who greets Billboard in our L.A. office, the day after he kicks off the North American leg of his tour. It’s not just this major career milestone that has KEY buzzing; he’s coincidentally run into one of his heroes, Cynthia Erivo, just moments ago in the hallway outside the podcast studio where we’ve set up shop.
While known for playing around with otherworldly sci-fi visuals, his head is definitely out of the clouds as he offers refreshingly blunt analysis of the K-pop business, including how he’s created his own brand within the industry after almost two decades as one of its leading players. Below, KEY opens up about adapting the real-world horror of his latest album, HUNTER, to theater stages in the States; battling perfectionist tendencies; and how, when it comes right down to it, he just wants to live his life.
Billboard: How did it feel to headline your first solo U.S. show?
KEY: It was the greatest moment of this year. It was amazing. No other word can explain it. I had so much fun last night. I didn’t want it to end.
Does the energy here feel different than in other countries?
They’re similar, but U.S. fans want to say things louder. Their opinions, too. “What did you have for lunch?” That kind of thing. That was very interesting.
How did you choose which songs to perform on this leg of the tour?
I sang “Novacane” and “Trap” in Korea, but it’s kind of a gloomy ending. On purpose, of course. [In the U.S., I wanted to say] “let’s go crazy” at the end. That’s why I switched those songs for “Imagine” and “Glam.”
The run of shows here also has a smaller scale than your Korean concerts, so how did you decide which elements to bring?
I had to choose between bringing all the dancers or bringing the live band from Korea. For this show, the live band was really, really important for [songs like] “Strange,” “BAD LOVE,” and “Gasoline.” I chose to bring the band members because I know what the U.S. thinks [is most important]. All of my friends complimented the band, so I thought I had chosen well.
What story are you telling with the show?
I wanted to open like, “I’m not a good kid anymore! Please be shocked!” Because that’s part of my childhood, too. I was so into visual kei and Western rock. I didn’t dance during the opening when I sang “Strange.” I wanted them to be shocked by my gestures, my facial expressions.
And then we wanted to move on to a more familiar chapter. My outfit gets a little bit lighter; I wanted to show [that the progression from] “Strange” to “Good & Great” goes very naturally. And then I change again, and it’s like showing human KEY’s moment with that uniform. [All the stage outfits were] like the bridge between the opener and “Lavender Love.”
I wanted to talk about the costuming, especially that first outfit. A trend in K-pop right now seems to be for idols to wear clothes that could seemingly be pulled from their own wardrobe. It’s very naturalistic — but your costume during the opening set is very much the opposite.
That’s exactly what I wanted to do when I released “HUNTER.” With my concert, too. Of course, I love trends, and it’s important to learn all the trends. But, as solo artist KEY, there’s something I have to show the audience — who I am. I have to show how I compare to others, too. That kind of outfit makes me stronger as an artist. It’s my expression.
It reminds me of when SHINee released “View” in 2015. This trend of casual, down-to-earth styling seems like a long-term impact of that, among other things.
[When “View” was released], some fans didn’t like the individual outfits. Because no one had tried that before. We were wearing vintage t-shirts, used pants — they weren’t used to that in those days. In some ways, I do think people got influenced by us. I can tell, and I’m proud of it.
Speaking of SHINee, last night you mentioned that you want to come back to the U.S. as a group. Can we look forward to that?
I want to. Maybe. I can’t say specifically when we can come or when we’re going to release our album. But we’re preparing something all the time. Organizing is just really hard with timing and all four members. But I promise, we’ll come back.
I’m sure there are many parts of the job that you’ve gotten used to in the last 18 years. But is there anything that is just as hard for you as when you were a trainee?
[Sighs] Practicing. I don’t like learning something new, let me be honest. I like to play on the stage, but if you want to play, you have to practice. I hate practicing. I hate rehearsal. I never get used to it. Without the crowd, all the technical rehearsals… it’s boring. But you have to do it anyway.
And my fans know this. Creating choreo is really fun, but learning? It’s different. [Laughs] When I’m in the studio, I’m like, “I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to do it. But I have to do it. OK, let’s do it.”
I read an interview where you mentioned that you never expected to be doing this for so long — in 2008, idols didn’t tend to have careers that continued well into their thirties. When did you start to realize you might be able to perform for longer than anticipated?
When I got out of the army, and I got to keep doing it. My career kept going, and a lot of work came to me. I took so many TV commercials and solo schedules. I was like, “What the heck is going on?” I felt like if fans were there, or work came to me, then I should just keep going. I’m 35 [in Korean age] now. And I will do the same thing until I cannot do it anymore.
How have your priorities as an artist changed because of that?
We were 100% produced by a producer [at first]. It was work to find myself as an artist. Like, “What do I have to show? What music do I have to sing?” Now it’s different. I was running KEY in SHINee back in the day, but now I’m running KEY as a brand. It’s all about branding — what I’m going to wear, my cosmetics, perfumes, bags, real life, Instagram, everything.
When I spoke to a senior group recently, they mentioned how much the K-pop industry focuses on producing social media content now. How does that fit into what you’re saying about branding?
I was part of the first generation of Instagram in Korea. I made my account 14 years ago, I think. I made it without my company’s approval. I didn’t have to ask them, because they didn’t know what Instagram was. [Laughs] That was the start of branding myself. Like, “If you guys don’t put me in magazines, I’ll just shoot and post on my Instagram.”
These days, everyone is doing that. It has become a red ocean. When everybody is doing it, [it becomes harder to stand out]. But it’s also the fastest and easiest way to show yourself.
What kind of advice do you give to junior artists?
You can compose, you can write lyrics, you can produce yourself, but this generation is all about branding. Just think about who survived in K-pop. They’re still influencing a lot of things, like, “Oh, someone is holding that bag. I want that bag.” Or even furniture. It’s all about branding yourself. I think that’s the most important thing. People have to have a reason to like you without your group. That’s what they have to build, step by step.
Idols do seem like they’re more encouraged to show their personalities these days, rather than being assigned roles.
If I look back, SM [Entertainment] was right. They produced me well when I was young. At this age, though, no one knows me better than myself. You have to listen to the agency, of course, and learn from them. Then you develop yourself and your taste. That’s how it worked for me. That wasn’t my strategy, but I just learned from all the experiences.
It’s really hard to show different sides of yourself, because people are always expecting something from you. Like, “I thought she had a cute character, but now she wants to change.” People feel odd about that. But if you want that, you have to face it. And you can change.
Even as a soloist, you have to make compromises when you’re creating an album or planning a tour. How do you approach those conversations with SM now?
It was a long journey to make SM believe me. Now they listen to me, but for my first solo album [2018’s FACE], I kind of let them do everything. I didn’t want to take responsibility for it. But after the army, something has changed within me. That’s why I created BAD LOVE. And I went through a lot of things for Gasoline. Now they believe what I say, but I had to fight a lot back in the day to create something.
The one thing I never forget is that this is business. I trust myself, but I have to prove myself. That’s how it worked with HUNTER, too. I cannot just say, “Why don’t you guys listen to me?” Or, “Why don’t you guys put more money into music videos?” I have to be realistic.
One of the main themes of HUNTER is wrestling with yourself, or viewing yourself as the enemy. Is that something you often feel in your real life?
Doesn’t everyone feel like that? [Laughs] Fighting yourself is the hardest thing. If you overthink, the biggest enemy is yourself.
Would you say that you’re a perfectionist?
I know how to negotiate with myself. I want to be perfect, but I’m not chasing it. If someone gave me a billion dollars and told me to create anything I wanted, then I would make something perfect. But it never works like that.
Does working within those kinds of constraints force you to worry about perfection less?
Actually, I don’t know. I don’t try to be a perfectionist, but it’s just who I am. It’s my character. I’ve worked really hard on my albums and across my career. Maybe it worked a little bit because I’m trying to do everything with my own hands — merchandising, marketing, everything. Because I want to be part of my album, of course. It’s my album.
How do you measure success for yourself?
As you can see, I don’t chase results. Results aren’t important. I don’t care about them. If it’s small or big, it doesn’t matter. If I can have a show, then it’s OK, right? If you compare everything… You cannot live like that. And I don’t want to.
I always say that if I lose everything tomorrow, it’s OK. I’ve been there. Nothing’s going to change. I have family to go back to, and I enjoyed [my career] well. I think that’s what people can say makes a successful life, even without money or fame.
Is there something else you want to be asked?
I always tell myself not to dream like a teenager. You don’t have to be the first, the highest, the greatest. If you enjoy your life, it’s fine.
So I guess the question would be, “How do you want to live the rest of your life?” I’ll just give what I can. If, someday, I can’t do this anymore, I’ll just quit. [Laughs] And I’ll live my life — as a father, as a friend of someone, just an old man, I don’t know. But I’ll just live, you know?
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