DAY6 bassist Young K, who has been a steady pillar of the band, has returned entirely with his own personal story. His second solo full-length album "YOUNGEST," released after two years and 10 months, features an impressive 15 tracks, with his touch on every single one of them.
The title track "Shut The Door" captures the moment of closing one's heart and repeating to oneself that everything is going to be okay. The remaining 14 tracks also capture his past few years, ranging from a longing for freedom, memories from his military service, reconciliation with a friend, to snapshots of daily life. Though it received high marks for its high quality—with DAY6 member WONPIL even praising it as a "masterpiece"—Young K himself could not hide his shyness.
"I am usually very strict when evaluating myself, but I want to say that this is my best, my current best."
The new album contains a total of 15 tracks: "Marionette", "Shut The Door", "F world", "Hey Honey", "Cheering Song" (literal title), "SPIKE", "Yonge St.", "million reasons", "100 Reasons Why We Broke Up (with JINJOO of DNCE)" (literal title), "Drivin' into Hell", "whatever", "Goodbye, Love", "Heading Home" (literal title), "Baby's Breath" (literal title), and "Coffee in the Studio" (literal title). Because every single song holds his own story, his explanations were detailed as well.
"Among them, 'Coffee in the Studio' is the track that captures the most everyday story. It started out completely impromptu in the recording room and was finished right on the spot. We did a formal recording later on, but the version where I improvised and sang with the lyrics written right then turned out better, so it was put on the album. 'SPIKE' is a song I wrote while having a great time watching the volleyball anime 'Haikyu!!', and 'Heading Home' captures vivid memories from inside a bus on the way back after training during my military service, with the feeling that 'I lived fiercely, those were war-like days.' There is also 'F world', which holds a sense of unfairness toward the world. There are so many unfair things in the world. So it is a song about flipping the middle finger up at the sky toward the world. On the other hand, 'Marionette' contains a longing for freedom. It is a song about cutting the strings and stepping out. Since it was my first time cutting the strings, it is a bit clumsy and shaky, but it is a song shouting that from now on, I will cut the strings and move forward."
During the interview, when one representative track was played, Young K could not contain his excitement and swayed his body. It was "Goodbye, Love". Speaking about this track, which he worked on with GroovyRoom, he began by saying, "I've wanted to collaborate with a DJ for a long time."
"I have known IÖN from GroovyRoom for 10 years, and since he likes band music, I had hoped this collaboration would happen someday, and that moment has finally arrived. I made it as a song to be sung while thinking of the final moment of a final performance."
Now in his 11th year since debut, Young K is a representative K-pop singer-songwriter who has released over 200 songs. According to the Korea Music Copyright Association's rankings for idol copyrighted songs as of June 3, 2026, he ranked 4th with 219 songs. When asked about the source of his creativity, he answered calmly.
"The reason I have so many songs is because early on, I wasn't as well-off as I am now. I had to build my skills for survival, and as I kept working, the songs piled up. Through that process, I honed the skill of looking at the world a little differently and expressing it." (He chuckled and waved away rumors guessing that reading books was his source.) "I brought books of poetry into the military three times to use as references, but they came out without even the plastic wrap being torn off." (Laughs)
His reflections on writing lyrics and composing as a bassist were also unique.
"Originally, as a vocalist, I hated the instrument called the bass. Guitars and keyboards allow you to accompany yourself while singing, but the bass was hard to hear, which made me sad, and the process of learning the basics was also difficult. But as I kept doing it, I realized that the bass plays the role of a bridge connecting rhythm and melody, and I think that experience greatly influenced my composing abilities."
For someone whose unique perspective on the world directly leads to lyrics and melodies, "Cheering Song" was one of those tracks. Among this album, the lyrics he likes the most are also from "Cheering Song".
"As you live life, you get tossed around here and there. Due to the nature of being a celebrity, I could become gossip among friends, and I was once hurt in my heart by that incident." While working on the song, he let those friends listen to the lyrics in advance, and the friend cried and apologized. "That is how we reconciled and are getting along well again."
On the other hand, the song that was least easy was "Marionette".
"The lyrics are about 'cutting the strings and moving forward,' but admitting the very fact that I had been hanging from strings meant admitting that I was longing for freedom, so it wasn't easy." He added, "It means I had tied strings to myself. Within the band DAY6, regardless of likes and dislikes, I made music to carry out given missions, and it made me ask myself whether I had truly made the music I genuinely wanted to do."
He also directly designed the concept for the title track's music video.
"I participated starting from the planning stage. I emphasized that when you open a door and walk in, nature should unfold, with a white bed placed in the middle. I wanted to express the inside of the door as a virtual space far from the real world, a space embodying freedom. It also includes a scene I had wanted to try for a long time." He added, "Back when I ran a YouTube channel, I couldn't do a pickup truck concept due to safety issues, but we finally realized it this time."
Meanwhile, "YOUNGEST," the album that is most true to Young K himself and compiles the answers he has thrown at himself up to now, is officially released today at 6 PM. Riding the momentum of his comeback, he will hold a solo concert titled "Young K Solo Tour < YOUNGEST >" as part of his solo tour from August 14 to 16 at the Inspire Arena in Incheon.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)