Day6 bassist and vocalist reflects on rediscovering himself, embracing vulnerability and taking greater control of his music and stage persona Young K (JYP Entertainment) After spending the past decade giving his all as part of K-pop boy band Day6, singer-songwriter Young K says it is finally time to turn his attention toward Kang Young-hyun, the person behind the artist.That process lies at the heart of his second LP, “Youngest.” Arriving two years and 10 months after his first album, “Letters with notes,” the 15-track release captures not only Young K’s broad musical range, but also a period of self-examination in which he began confronting emotions and parts of himself he had long kept out of view.“I think I worked hard enough over the past 10 years as Day6’s Young K to say that I gave everything I could without having any regrets,” Young K said during a group interview with the press in central Seoul. “That made me think it was time to take care of Kang Young-hyun and ask what kind of person he is.” Young K (JYP Entertainment) He began working on the album after wrapping up activities for Day6’s 10th-anniversary album in September 2025 and tour. Despite having only four to five months to complete the project, all 15 songs were written during that period.“I thought, ‘If not now, when will I get another chance to release this many songs?’” he said. “I wanted to put out as much music as I could while I had the chance.”The unusually long track list reflects the number of sounds he wanted to explore. For the album, Young K reunited with Lee Woo-min, who worked on Day6’s debut song “Congratulations,” and collaborated with renowned artists and producers including GroovyRoom, Sunwoo Junga, Poptime and Bumzu.“I had a lot of music I wanted to try,” he said. “I worked with new people and made many new attempts. Some of the styles I experimented with did not make it onto this album, but the 15 songs that remain are what I want to show as the current Young K and the current Kang Young-hyun.” Young K (JYP Entertainment) Determining what was truly “Young K-like” proved more difficult.When he asked himself what he wanted to do, what he liked and even what he disliked, he found that he did not have clear answers. For years, he had focused on carrying out whatever task was placed before him, always trying to do it as well as possible.“It wasn’t that I disliked those things, and I found joy in doing them,” he said. “But it often felt like completing a mission. When I was suddenly given the freedom to do whatever I pleased, I didn’t know what I wanted.”The album became his way of searching for the answer.Rather than drawing a firm line between Young K and Kang Young-hyun, the process weakened the boundary between them. Young K described his stage persona as the most polished and accomplished version of himself, while Kang Young-hyun includes everything that comes before the finished result — the effort, flaws, uncertainty and vulnerability.“In the past, I wanted to ignore those lacking parts of myself and cover them up,” he said. “This time, although it was painful, I tried to acknowledge and look at them.” Young K (JYP Entertainment) The rawer side of himself appears throughout “Youngest,” including frustration, resentment, loneliness and a desire for release.“F world,” for example, openly expresses the feeling of asking the world what more it could possibly demand from him.Elsewhere, he examines wounds he had previously hidden or tried to handle with humor.The lead track, “Shut The Door,” emerged from one such experience.Young K wrote the song in around 30 minutes, the day after discovering that close friends had been speaking about him behind his back. As the only celebrity in the group, he said he sometimes became a subject of gossip because of the unusual nature of his profession.“I wrote it almost like a diary,” he said. “The feelings were very fresh because it had happened the day before.”Although the song grew from a specific incident, Young K said its emotional core extends beyond the experience of a celebrity.The bright synth-pop track portrays the relief of shutting out a world that can leave anyone feeling scrutinized, worn down or overwhelmed. For Young K, that sense of escape comes after returning home, putting on headphones and playing games with friends over Discord.“I thought a lot of people probably sigh with relief when they come back inside after spending the day out,” he said. “I hope listeners can put on their earphones, disconnect from the world for a moment and feel some freedom through this song.” Young K (JYP Entertainment) For the first time in his 12-year career, Young K thoroughly participated in the album’s production, design, logo, marketing and promotional planning.He similarly took a hands-on approach to his upcoming solo tour, which begins with three concerts at Inspire Arena in Incheon from Aug. 14 to 16 before traveling to Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila and Kuala Lumpur.However, through the new album and tour, he said that he is not necessarily seeking to unveil a dramatically transformed version of himself.Instead, he wants fans to see him as he is now: the result of everything he has built as Young K and everything he is beginning to acknowledge as Kang Young-hyun.“I spent nearly 16 years, including my trainee years, focusing on living as Young K,” he said. “When I finally looked at Kang Young-hyun, I found that he was younger, more fragile and more inexperienced than I expected.”Accepting those parts of himself was difficult because it felt like admitting his shortcomings. But Young K said recognition had to come before growth.“I think this album shows that stage of the process,” he said. “I am trying to look at the Kang Young-hyun I had covered up, embrace him and move forward.”