Member of the world famous Bigbang, D-LITE will debut in Japan solo with high anticipations!

We talked about everything thoroughly, from how D-LITE selected 10 songs out of both old and new Japanese songs, how different his version is as compared to the original singers and there are also some stories on the production process. The special column is a must read too!

B-PASS: What is the reason having a cover album as your first Japanese solo album?
D-LITE: In the past, when I was collaborating with DAISHI✩DANCE san, I listened to many songs known under a sub-genre, Shibuya Kei, at that time I then got interested in J-pop bit by bit. Because of this chance given to me now, I have been listening to many J-pop songs, so when I was given the suggestion to do a cover album, I thought immediately that “I want to try it.”

B-PASS: When deciding to do a cover album, did you choose songs that you liked?
D-LITE: When selecting songs, I did not know which the popular or unpopular songs were, I just selected songs that I liked and collated these songs together in my cover album. So, every song is my favourite song. The first time I listened to the songs, if I felt warmth, I will take that as inspiration and believe that I might be able to pick it out again. The songs I like definitely got selected with some of the other songs from the recommended list and I listened to them all again. I selected songs that I felt a hint of warmth in it and listened to it again seriously, and take into consideration the slight difference that I feel to digest it and chew it. This is how I selected the songs for this album.

B-PASS: I guess you are used to singing Japanese songs now.
D-LITE: This is still difficult (laugh)

B-PASS: About the cover, I heard that you even viewed the live performances of the original singers and did a lot of research.
D-LITE: Yes, I did watch it. And I also listened to other people covers of the original songs. “After listening to this cover, I will use this style for my cover”, this is how I think.

B-PASS: Were you influenced after watching so many videos of the songs?
D-LITE: Definitely. It’s not only listening to the original songs, but I also watched the actual performance video and try to create the impression for my cover, I received a good driving force for my cover.

B-PASS: After doing all these research, I believe D-LITE must have added your own colours in too. Which song did you encounter the most difficulty trying to add your own color in?
D-LITE: It’s “Missing You Now”. For the other songs, once I heard it, an image immediately comes to my mind on how I should cover it, or how I should re-arrange it etc. However, for “Missing You Now”, the impression that came out is just too huge. I spent the most time thinking “How should I sing this song, how should I let others feel my colours in this song.”

B-PASS: Oh. Amongst the songs, there’s one that you did a daring re-arrangement.
D-LITE: You are talking about Joyful.

B-PASS: Yes, I got shocked. It was such a bold feel.
D-LITE: The original song really left a deep impression. The content of the lyrics and mood are also bold. However, the first time I heard the song, I felt like I was back in childhood again, I felt happy innocence and enjoying everything. So I was emphasizing on that feeling and considering what effect there will be if I add in Bigbang’s composing style. So, when you feel shocked, I am happy!

B-PASS: I think you must have related to the Japanese lyrics, just like how the English songs are expressed directly right? What do you think is the special characteristic of Japanese song lyrics?
D-LITE: For Japanese lyrics, instead of expressing it directly, it was more like many twists and turns, using different techniques to express your feeling. However, “Singer’s Ballad” is very straightforward. Amongst all the songs that has been sung or I have listened to, I think that this is a special song. It was expressed very directly.

B-PASS: What is that one song amongst the 12 songs in your album that left its deep impression in your mind and is in the same mood as you now?
D-LITE: It has to be “Sunny Hill”. I think that just by listening to the lyrics, one will be able to have energy. It is the same for my state of mind now, although I will have many obstacles and walls blocking me, if I just work harder and rush forward, the end result will be part of my beautiful future right, this is how the song makes me think. It also tells me, the pain that comes along with it is also necessary. Only by having the painful future will our paths be brighter. I really like song lyrics that make me think this way. In the midst of producing this album, I had a different type of work, I felt nervous and stressful. However, after all of these are done, when I listened to my completed album, I was thinking, isn’t it because of all these pain which is how I am able to get so much satisfaction and realize all these are real? As it is a song that makes me think this way, and has many overlapping parts with myself as well, which is why I think this song is in the same step as me.

B-PASS: In your album title there is also the word “discover”, did you re-discovered the good points in Japanese songs?
D-LITE: It is warmth. Especially the songs selected for this album. Although the lyrics doesn’t express warmth, although my expression and mood while singing the songs doesn’t express warmth, although when performing these songs I will use different tone to express myself, in general, the feeling I receive when performing are all immersed in the warmth of all the songs, I was cured by the songs, by singing. I sang with the heart of wanting people to feel healed upon listening to my album.

B-PASS: You sang “Singer’s Ballad” for your MV, when filming it you must have sang quite many times right? After recording and filming, what was the re-discovery of this song’s charm?
D-LITE: I think when everybody listens to this song, their deepest impression would be the last line “I love you” in the lyrics. However for me, as a singer, the most touching part was the start of the song lyrics. Although what I am singing at the start was saying singing isn’t actually a difficult thing, however, I really related to that part. I feel that that unites all the singers’ mood. If only we can sing while feeling that way. There might be times where we don’t do it smoothly, but I feel that people who sing must be singing while thinking that way.

B-PASS: What was your first impression of that song?
D-LITE: Actually before selecting the songs, I have already heard of this song on the web before. I wanted to see what good songs there are so I was searching for the web and I came upon this song. It was actually a cover by Mr. Children san, but I really liked it. Thus I went to listen to the original version again and that mood became stronger. Then I suddenly thought that this is a song that I must sing regardless of anything. It was a song that I liked that much.

B-PASS: Which is why we can hear that song a voice that has so much feelings in it. You have also included two songs that you have performed before during Bigbang’s live. The first is “Baby Don’t Cry”. It is a song that you have been singing for a while, now that you have to use Japanese to sing it, please tell us what you re-discovered about its charm.
D-LITE: Changing it from Korean (original version) to Japanese, the mood changed as well. After listening to it after recording, the mood was different from the original version, it was like listening to a new song. However, I sang it using the same mood I had while singing the Korean version. It doesn’t matter which language it is because the feelings and original song has never changed. It must be because of the strong world view of this song, so much charm was what I re-discovered.

B-PASS: Looks like the audience can sing along together in this round’s live tour.
D-LITE: I really can’t wait.

B-PASS: There is also “Wings”. This song as well, when I listened to it in Japanese I thought it was fresh.
D-LITE: I sang “Wings” in every stop of ALIVE TOUR while “Baby Don’t Cry” was sung in the previous tour. Both are songs that while singing on stage, I hoped that everybody will get to listen to the Japanese version one day. I had this impression during live stages already which is why I recorded both songs in Japanese into this album.

B-PASS: You have sung many different songs before, what do you think is the reason why you still selected these two songs?
D-LITE: For this two songs, although I don’t know why, I kept wanting to sing it in Japanese. I trusted that gut feeling and recorded it into the album. It could be during the live stages in Japan due to the feelings I received when on stage.

B-PASS: So, if you did not perform it live before, you might not feel that way.
D-LITE: It could be that way. When I was singing it, the response was good too, and it was also songs that fans enjoyed, it could be because of it that made me feel this way.

B-PASS: When singing on the wide stage, you still sang very comfortably.
D-LITE: It is very comfortable, every time.

B-PASS: So I could feel D-LITE’s colors in both of these songs.
D-LITE: I am happy to be able to let you feel that way.

B-PASS: And there is also a special collaboration right?
D-LITE: You’re talking about “Tonight Boogie Back”.

B-PASS: Yes! It is a song that had shine brightly in Japanese music history.
D-LITE: Yes, that’s right. Which is why I worried a lot, about doing a cover for it. It was recommended as the first hip hop style song in Japan. Also, Bigbang is a hip hop group and I also wanted to challenge Japanese hip hop. However, it was really worrying about the re-arrangement of the song and how to perform it. Of course, I communicated a lot with VERBAL (m-flo) san. But it was really too difficult thus I was troubled. However, VERBAL san has done many good re-arrangement of songs for me, I will just hand myself to the music and sing.

B-PASS: How is it as a Japanese famous song?
D-LITE: It’s very good. Such melody and rhythm during the 90s era and the unique expression of the rap lets people think that this is a powerful song. Other than feeling that way, while singing it, I thought it was really great.

B-PASS: I can’t wait to hear it during your live.
D-LITE: Yes. I am now preparing for many things, it is my first solo tour, and also one man. I hope to let people see many sides of D-LITE, to let people who don’t know me to know me after the tour. For that, I have to prepare even more, so I hope you can anticipate it.

Special Column [Starting of the journey]
It is going to be spring soon, the season for graduation->new life is coming too, D-LITE talks detailedly about recollections of memories of [Starting of the journey].

I would like to talk about my story about how I took the first step into my new world, the singing world. It was during middle school times, when I first went against my parents because I wanted to pursue music but they didn’t allow it. My father is a very strict man, so to me, he not only requires me to study hard, but also wants me to learn taekwondo and aikido after my classes, so at that time, I had the dream of being a athlete and obtaining success. I thought that even if I really could not become a athlete, I will become a pastor. This was how much I was thinking for my future. Under such a father, I was being trained to be an adult in a very strict manner.

However, when in school, there are many friends, so I will become a kid who is very energetic and likes to play pranks on people. However, once I am at home, I will become very quiet and study seriously due to my father’s strict teaching. My days at home are spent with studying and training hard.. At times like this, it was my first time saying “I would like to be a singer”, and then my dad said “This is impossible. You will never stand on stage. You obviously do not have that courage”. However that is because my dad only sees my side at home, the quiet and hardworking child, but when in school with many friends, I was very confident with my singing.

Carrying the dream of being a singer started in school. I went to noraebang with my teachers after a school excursion. After I sang, all the teachers who heard me were so shocked, and they even encouraged me to join singing competitions. Due to the teachers praise, I wanted to join the competitions to give it a try, and I even won there. The experience I had there make me carry confidence for my singing, and because of this, I had a dream of being a singer, however, my father’s strictness made it hard for me to tell him that. However, I did not want to give up on my dream, so I chose to challenge it. I thought, “This is my memory of [Starting of the journey].”

Right now I still think that fulfilling dreams are not easy at all. Despite that, if there is something we need to charge forward and fulfill our dreams, it has to be the “I will die without this” attitude and perseverance. Without this, I think it can’t be fulfilled, I have also came till this far due to my “never say die” attitude. There is still something that we absolutely need, which is all the accumulated hard work from the perseverance.

I am a person who will fight even harder if I receive objections. For me who starting chasing dreams in my early teens, at the start, my father will sigh whenever he sees me. However, I wanted my parents to both agree to my dream, so that has lighted up my passion to fight even more and it made me more stubborn towards my dream. I think the most important thing in fulfilling dreams is to carry this strong passion of determination.

In the midst of chasing my dream, I have not once thought of giving up. If you ask me why, I will say it is still all because of the strong determination I have. And also, I am conscious that I might lose everything I have build upon this far. It doesn’t mean that it is fine even though I lost everything. During the time when I was realizing my dream, I lost things in the process, but I have confidence that these things will come back to me in the end.

The things I lost during the process of realizing my dream has yet to return to me. If you ask why, that is because I am STILL realizing my dream right now. After fulfilling one dream, there will always be a next goal and dream, and this continues. Thus, I will start working hard everyday again. A me like this, my dream right now, is to reply to all the fans support and not failing their expectations. Many things have happened on me, however, everybody is always supporting me and giving me help even up till now. I have always been very thankful because of your support. To repay everybody, I would like to do whatever I can do. Then, I hope that my reply will allow everybody to receive happiness. This is the me right now, D-LITE, tightly hugging the dream in my chest. To fulfill this dream, I hope to welcome the moment I step onto a new journey in “D’scover”.