“Success is a strong word”

At the end of the exhausting world tour, most groups would have a well -won vacation.

Not homeless children.

Within weeks after the record of record -breaking records this summer – including two Solded Nights at the Tottenham Hotspur London Stadium – the Korean band released a new Karma album.

It was their second album for less than a year; During this time, they also released a new EP and a 12-packed project called HOP, with the participation of solo songs by each of the eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and in

Not only that, but they made their debut in Marvel’s cinematographic universe, with Sountrack Song Slash appearing at Deadpool & Wolverine. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman returned the service By getting into a music video of homeless children, Chk Chk Boom.

All this activity made them The Fifth Most Great Act in the World Last year, just behind Taylor Swift and Drake.

However, unlike many K-POP groups, homeless children write and produce their own material. So how the hell, they maintained this level of creativity as they traveled the largest places in the world, playing three-hour shows every night and spending time to visit local art galleries (Hyundzhin) and roasted potato objects (Felix)??

“We divided the parts as much as we could and shared the work among the members,” explains the rapper and vocalist Han, who at the age of 25 has more than 170 credits for the production and writing of his name.

“Every time we had a little time to record demo songs, we would get together in the room together and work on finishing the songs as a team.”

If it sounds like a soul destroying a way to record, you have underestimated homeless children.

Since his debut in 2018, the band has approached music with a combination of curiosity and hunger, constantly pushing its sound in new directions.

To Karma, which includes everything from Brazilian funk rhythms of the ceremony, to pop-punk flaxes in my head, which rely on the sounds of good Charlotte and Avril Lavin.

“I think this is a great song that you need to listen to when you feel stressed or go through hard weather,” says the group’s member member.

The highlight is a song called Bleep, a challenging fishes to their offenders – with a hook that uses Korean jargon for “sound signal” (삐처리) (삐처리) (삐처리)

“Failure, sound signal / fragile, sound signal / lase, beep / hassy, ​​sound signal / anger, anger, cancellation of noise.“

“This is my favorite,” says Hyundzhin.

“The texts feel bold and refreshing and there is something very satisfying in the message it possesses.”

The song brings additional resonance when you learn that Felix – the band’s thunder baritone – has won permission from the US court to reveal an anonymous social media consumer in connection with a defamation case.

According to legal documents submitted to California, many positions blame the musician born in Australia for treating employees “as servants” and acting “as if he were a prince”.

Felix, who is suing the consumer in Seoul, said his accusations had caused him “severe mental suffering, physical suffering and humiliation”.

In the tribal world of K-POP, such cases are surprisingly common, as excessive fans go too far in the destruction of their rivals.

But in their bigger part, homeless children prefer not to focus on negativity.

Their new album is entitled Karma to reflect the “good energy and connection” that they have built with fans over the last seven years, Lee says.

“We thought this was the right time to tell this story, because we could really feel all the positive karma that comes from our hard work,” Changbin adds.

Anyone who has watched their series on YouTube will know that it is more interested in fun than friction – whether in Dressing like a grandmother; Changbin SEUNGMIN DUMING IN THE BAST; or the running joke about their soundtrack label Uncomfortable birthday cakes.

In the social media, the group creates a strong connection with the Fan Army – known as a stay – with live streams on a late night and Q&A sessions held by their hotel rooms.

It gives a special intimacy to their celebrity, a quality that extends to their live shows.

In London this summer I was amazed at the way homeless children collapsed at the distance between the scene and the audience.

Against the background of precision choreography and pyrotechnics, they held dance challenges and karaoke sessions; And he pushed the names of the screens fans during the Coldplay -Sque Ballad cinema.

Among the songs, Changbin said it was an honor to play at Tottenham Stadium for his love for English football; And his roommates began chanting spells in British accents, as if they were listening to Harry Potter’s restart.

For Encore, they cleared the perimeter of the stadium floor and were walking through giant, telescopic platforms, icy by inflatable characters, as if they were in the parade of Macy’s Day. As a result, even fans of cheap seats approached their idols closely.

“It was such an incredibly happy moment for us,” he remembers the tour.

“I have the feeling that we will enjoy such moments every day. The tour really reminds us how precious a stay is for us.”

“During the tour, I realized how much they remain there, which support us, wherever we go,” Han adds. “It really left a great impression on me.”

In America and Europe, homeless children’s dominant tour Box Office and Records for attendance For K-POP tape, with 1.2 million tickets, $ 182 million receipts (£ 135 million).

As something like a victory tour, Karma went straight to the top of the US charts – which made them the first group in the story that made the number one debut with each of their first seven albums.

But when you ask them for all this success, the octet is suddenly removed.

“Success is a really strong word and frankly I have no confidence to judge whether we are really successful or not,” says Bang Chan, the defined leader of the group.

“What I can say is that homeless children, including myself, have come very far, but we are still very hungry to achieve more basic stages.”

The conquest of the United Kingdom is definitely on the bucket list. They have already included dirt elements in Track 3racha 2022 and say they would like to cooperate with Coldplay and 1975.

“I love their musicality and the way they pour everything into their performances,” says Sungmine. “Listening to their music always makes me feel so emotional and inspires me a lot.”

However, they are tightly attached to larger career goals.

Asked if they would like to play on Glastonbury or Super Bowl (they literally have a song named after the event), Seungmin breaks the question.

“The short-term goals are great, of course, but our biggest goal is to be a group that is the test of time and remains in history as one of the longest-lived groups.”

This is an ambition explicitly at halftime, the Boom-Bap rap track, which refers to the renewal of their contract with the recording label Jyp Entertainment last year.

“This game is not over, too extensive,” Felix promises. “They don’t know what’s next.”

In other words, homeless children just start.