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| yna@yna.co.kr 2021-08-13 14:16:21
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Yonhap) -- Just by looking at the title of IU's "Celebrity," OH MY GIRL's "Dolphin," "Dun Dun Dance" to Taeyeon's "I," it is hard not to hum along to the melodies of these songs. Ryan S. Jhun (Jeon Se-won), who has created these addictive music with his own hands, will begin to start his first single project "MAXIS."
After 12 years of working as a K-pop producer and writing numerous hit songs, Jhun plans to release five to six songs consecutively and later as an album by the end of this year. The songwriter will feature idol singers he has worked with over the years. The first song to be dropped on Friday is "Maniac" with NCT's Doyoung and Haechan.
"I made these songs as a gift to idol singers and their fans," Jhun said. "I believe I'm able to be where I'm today because of them. I have never considered myself to be in a higher position than the singers I have worked with. The music from this project will be a limited edition in which fans can continue to listen to for a long time."
NCT, the first artists to collaborate with Jhun, has mainly performed hip-hop genre songs based on the "SM Culture Universe," however is set to portray a completely different color with "Maniac."
Members Doyoung and Haechan from NCT and their agency SM Entertainment reportedly immediately accepted the offer to feature in Jhun's project.
Jhun also didn't forget to praise the two artists, saying, "During the recording, I was so touched because I could tell the two singers have practiced a lot beforehand."
The K-pop producer also said that he had chosen the featured artists based on their sincerity in music.
Jhun had set up various genres ranging from acoustic, hip-hop to minimal pop like a "buffet" and connected the songs with the appropriate singers.
"I focused on how desperate and sincere the singers were. In addition, I wondered whether the chosen artist would awaken my creativity. In fact, only a few singers actually inspired me during my years as a producer," Jhun said.
Although Jhun has now become a hit song producer working with top idol stars and on projects, the start of the songwriter's career was not all that easy.
Ryan Jhun born in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, returned to Korea in 2008 with the dream of becoming a K-pop producer after moving to the U.S. when he was young. All Jhun had was a suitcase and 200~300 dollars in his pocket, which he carried around while crashing in his friends' houses or wandering homelessly.
Jhun had visited various agencies, including SM Entertainment, to play them his demo songs. SM Entertainment officials even said they had suspect Jhun to be a fraud at first due to his use of heavy Gyeongsang dialect despite living in the U.S.
However, SM Entertainment's Co-CEO Lee Sung-su had immediately made a deposit after hearing Jhun's demo. Since then, Ryan Jhun had settled in SM as an exclusive producer.
"SM Entertainment gave me the opportunity to live and carry on. Music is my only breathing hole. I still appreciate and respect Co-CEO Lee Sung-soo and CEO Lee Soo-man," Jhun said.
Even after Jhun became independent and formed his own team, he has continued to maintain a good relationship with SM Entertainment. The producer also supported NCT's project song production by "doing everything they asked for."
In the early days of Jhun as a producer, he gained recognition for working on Lee Hyo-ri's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and SHINee's "Lucifer" and started to build his career by working on songs for TVXQ, EXO, SHINEE's Taemin, Red Velvet, LOONA, and NCT.
Recently, Jhun made another successful hit with "Celebrity" and "Flu" after receiving songstress IU's offer. Ryan Jhun, who received a phone call from IU's agency at the time, laughed while saying, "I thought it was a spam call because it was very unexpected."
Although Jhun does not compose large quantities of songs, he always has a high chance creating hit tracks. Asked about his secret to success, Jhun once again said "sincerity" as his answer.
"I once saw a comment that said the songs I make are calculated. However, if someone follows a certain formula when producing, that doesn't guarantee the song to become a hit. I make songs with all my heart as if I'm preparing food for a very precious guest," Jhun explained.
"I poured my heart and soul into this project," the 42-year-old producer said. "I want to contribute to the development of K-pop with my songs which are full of life."
As someone who has mastered all music genres such as pop to heavy metal from a young age, Jhun's pride and attachment to K-pop could be seen from the passion that was put into this project.
"Within K-pop, there needs to be detailed sections and if one group has many members, it is frankly complicated to compose," Jhun continued. "However, that is the biggest charm of K-pop."
"[K-pop] is very colorful. It's not suggestive but in some ways poetic. That's another charm K-pop has. In American pop, it usually deals with topics like drugs, sex, addiction while K-pop talks about hope and positivity."
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