“Is there a problem with the song…?”
When Do Wook asked, Jung Yoon Ki pushed back his bangs.
‘Go low, Go high’ was already done with recording and had been added to an album. They would remix it a little so that they could release it as a new sound file, but if one thought of it as a follow-up song, they could just add choreography to it and release it immediately. In other words, it was an already finished song.
“It’s because of you.”
“Me…me?”
Do Wook asked as he pointed to himself.
The other members were frozen in place over the tension of Jung Yoon Ki specifically calling out Do Wook like that.
‘Are they going to fight?!’
‘Should…Should I stop them?’
‘Do Wook, Yoon Ki, whose side should I take?’
‘Wh, why all of the sudden…they were getting along well…’
A lot of thoughts crossed the minds of the rest of the members. Honestly, despite having worked together for a long time, the KK members had not fought even once.
Of course, there were times they squabbled because they were exhausted and sleep deprived, and even outside of those conditions, bickering can’t be avoided when guys of the same age are stuck together 24/7, but they had never had a serious disagreement.
It was thanks to Jung Yoon Ki and Do Wook working in perfect harmony as pillars.
The leader Jung Yoon Ki’s and Do Wook’s position honestly overlapped a bit, but they each did their own roles while respecting each other.
If there were an issue with a member’s behavior, such as neglecting rehearsal or getting lazy, Jung Yoon Ki scolded them as the older brother and leader.
Do Wook lead the musical part of KK. As such, when it came to activity planning or music direction, Jung Yoon Ki had completely followed Do Wook’s opinions. That went for the other members as well.
Honestly, Do Wook had never made a suggestion that needed to be rejected.
However, Jung Yoon Ki pointed out Do Wook and said he was the problem.
“That’s right. You. I’m talking about you.”
***
Thankfully, and obviously, Jung Yoon Ki and Do Wook did not end up fighting.
Jung Yoon Ki, who had returned to the dormitory, brought the printout of the lyrics he used when recording ‘Go low, Go high’ to Do Wook’s room and was checking off parts with a pen.
“From here to here.”
“Yes.”
“These two lines.”
Do Wook nodded his head. It was indeed the part he had sung.
Jung Yoon Ki checked off the other members’ parts too. Do Wook had distributed the parts for ‘Go low, Go high’ after consulting Jung Yoon Ki as the composer.
He probably had a paper with the lyrics organized by parts somewhere in the room, but Jung Yoon Ki had such a serious expression as he checked things off that Do Wook could only watch Jung Yoon Ki’s actions, unable to say anything.
‘Is there a problem with the parts?’
Do Wook thought. However, he remembered things progressing smoothly without any opposition at the time.
“This whole part is Won’s and my rap part…Man, you said this is Hyung Seo and Ji Hoon’s part, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And around here is Tae Hyung’s part.”
“Ah…Tae Hyung’s part…Is his part too short for filming a music video?”
Do Wook asked.
Only then did Do Wook start to understand what the problem Jung Yoon Ki was talking about was.
One of the most sensitive issues in group activities is the part distribution. Since they prioritized skills or whose voice fit the song better, there was bound to be a member who notably took a back seat. The members might understand, but not the fans.
Also, the member himself might become lethargic, feeling that they weren’t of any help. Even if they played an active role elsewhere, singers always shine the brightest when they play a big role on stage.
Being well aware of that, it wasn’t possible to distribute it fairly down to the minute or second, but Do Wook, as the producer, tried very hard to spread the opportunities as much as possible to members who didn’t have a big part.
In the case of the title song, the company also expressed detailed opinions on the part distribution, starting with Album Production Team Leader Shim Joon. From the company’s standpoint, thinking of the big picture, they unsurprisingly wanted more parts distributed to the member they wanted to spotlight in the album or a popular member.
Therefore, for a B-track song that wasn’t used in activities, Do Wook more freely distributed parts to the members who normally didn’t have big parts.
In the case of ‘Go low, Go high’, it was a song with a hip hop bass, so the focus obviously was on Jung Yoon Ki and Kim Won. In an unprecedented move, the vocal part was short and the rap part was long.
Therefore, looking at it now, the parts for the vocal members, especially Park Tae Hyung, were too lacking.
Since it was a special sound file, they were planning on ending activities after a few short music broadcasts, but it was understandable that Jung Yoon Ki, as the leader, would be bothered by it.
Do Wook was thankful to Jung Yoon Ki for pointing out something he hadn’t even considered.
“No.”
“What?”
“Man, Tae Hyung is one thing, but there’s too little of you.”
“Ah, I…”
Do Wook was always next to Ahn Hyung Seo in formations for title songs and one of the members with a big part. Therefore, when distributing the parts for ‘Go low, Go high’, he gave most of the vocal parts to Ahn Hyung Seo and Suk Ji Hoon.
It was an incredibly rhythmical song, so their two voices went well together.
Jung Yoon Ki had agreed with Do Wook at the time, but that was before they actually did activities for this song.
Jung Yoon Ki firmly believed that Do Wook was the team’s main vocalist.
Do Wook was the face of KK and its center. So Jung Yoon Ki thought they couldn’t have Do Wook’s part only be 10 seconds in a 3 minute long song.
“I’m ok. More than that, Tae Hyung’s part is small, but what if we have Tae Hyung in the center during the bridge and add choreography…”
“No, I’m not ok with it. When we do the arrangement for the remix version, we have to increase your part or something even if we have to shorten the rap part a little.”
Do Wook was briefly lost in thought. However, no matter how many times he thought it over, the core of this song was the rap part.
“The rap is the focus of this song, if we shorten the rap part…”
“There’s too much rap. It’s almost a genuine hip hop song. Ignoring the part distribution, will the public like it?”
“I think it’d be fine with the hook and vocal part…and honestly, a lot of people listen to hip hop these days.”
“…that’s true.”
Jung Yoon Ki nodded his head in agreement.
“Of course all of us are the main characters in all the KK songs, but it’s true that there are members who are more visible than others. In each song. It’s just that this time it’s the rappers.”
Do Wook made it absolutely clear that he had no intention of shortening the rap part at all.
Jung Yoon Ki also knew that when Do Wook picked this song, he must have had a reason. Do Wook must have mulled over it more than he did before making the decision. Therefore, it was really hard for Jung Yoon Ki to logically beat Do Wook.
Jung Yoon Ki also liked Do Wook’s intention to show how talented and incredible KK was at not only dance music but also hip hop.
Still, this wasn’t right.
Of course it was ok if there was one song wherein Do Wook had a small part.
“You said you want synergy in the ‘Continue’ activities, didn’t you?”
Jung Yoon Ki asked. It was probably a decision that Do Wook had made with the success of KK’s unit OKAY, which did not include him, in mind. However, the thing Do Wook and the members were currently aiming for was not just the success of OKAY.
Jung Yoon Ki wanted to point that out to Do Wook clearly.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Whether domestic or overseas, you’re the most popular member of KK, as well as the most known. It doesn’t make sense for you to have a fleeting role, does it? Sure, let’s say the other members are also famous in Korea. Overseas, you’re big because of the movies and dramas you did.”
Jung Yoon Ki spoke frankly. He didn’t specifically say who was first place, but it was simply the truth. It’d been that way since they debuted, so now it wasn’t something that hurt their pride.
“Man, yes. We’re a team so we all work together. I’m happy too that you trust the members and want to leave it to them. I appreciate it. But Do Wook,”
“Yes…”
“If now is the time to strike as you said, I think it would be wrong to conserve the resources we have. You’re this team’s best resource.”
Hearing Jung Yoon Ki’s explanation, Do Wook also had nothing more to say. There was definitely merit to what Jung Yoon Ki said. What Do Wook wanted to show through ‘Go low, Go high’ was the rappers’ skills and KK’s hip hop music color.
However, after thinking it over and trying to be considerate of the other members as a producer, he seemed to have forgotten an important member, himself.
“Still, shortening the rap part…”
Do Wook slurred his words. At the same time, it wasn’t as if there were lots of other vocal parts, so he couldn’t take another member’s part.
‘It’s not a long song, so maybe we need to extend it a bit…No, then the overall balance of the song could collapse.’
Seeing Do Wook agonize over it, Jung Yoon Ki had a worried look.
“Hmmm…”
Do Wook’s room was briefly filled with silence. Then Jung Yoon Ki said half jokingly and half seriously while laughing,
“You, do you want to try rapping?”
“What?!”
It was a very sudden and shocking suggestion. Even Do Wook, who was usually not expressive or easily surprised, raised his voice, surprised.
Jung Yoon Ki ignored it and, after quietly looking at the paper with the lyrics on it, he pointed to one part with a pen.
“Yeah, that would work! This part here!”
What Jung Yoon Ki pointed to was the hook where Kim Won and Jung Yoon Ki repeat the same lyrics like a give-and-take.
“I picked a rap song because you guys are good, it wasn’t so I can rap… I mean, you know that I’ve never rapped before.”
“This part might be good. It’s strong too. It’s easy too, man. Give it a try.”
“Yoon Ki…”
“Seriously. Give it a try. People who are good at singing are good at rapping too.”
That was true for the numerous trainees Jung Yoon Ki had seen.
Do Wook had definitely said from the beginning that he was aiming for a vocal part, and his debut was decided not long after he entered so he didn’t get rap lessons, but most trainees usually take both vocal and rap lessons to find out what part they will fit in to.
Based on that, trainees who are good at singing have excellent rhythm, so they were better than average at rapping.
Jung Yoon Ki kept urging him, so Do Wook had no choice but to give in. After sighing, he recalled the rap part that Jung Yoon Ki said. It came to mind quickly because he had already heard it dozens of times during the recording.
Do Wook thought that Jung Yoon Ki would immediately give up his idea of Do Wook doing the rap part once he heard his bad rapping.
“When they go low, we go high, we go the highest ever, That’s precisely where I’m standing.”
Do Wook rapped to the beat as he bobbed his head.
They got the lyrics, ‘When they go low, we go high,’ from a speech by the First Lady of the United States. Kim Won had said the speech left a huge impression.
Like the often-cited speech, ‘Go low, Go high’ was a song about determination to keep your dignity until the end even if someone tries to start a mud fight to bring you down.
The lyrics were definitely the focus of the song, and a part that had weight.
“Oh?”
“Oh…”
Do Wook and Jung Yoon Ki looked at each other, surprised.
—
Next chapter: KK gets a glow up with the help from Coco