BYS: B.A.P for FANS Magazine Oct. VOL. #3

Admin: Chanmol

[UPDATE]
- English Translation

[NOTE]
- To be translated in All Languages soon.

©BABY的兔子專屬地 | _StrongBAP

Japan tour kicks off soon

Before becoming the mainstream in America, the Japanese market has become the current target of B.A.P. After continuously holding large-scale performances overseas after debut, they planned to hold a number of concerts in Japan as well. Their tour begins in November, bringing six concerts to cities such as Kobe, Aichi and Tokyo, with an expected audience size of 60,000 fans. B.A.P picked ‘Warrior’ to be their Japanese debut song because it is not only a very upbeat song but also their Korean debut song.

Constructive competitions with peer idol groups

Debuting in the same year, EXO has gained soaring popularity recently. Will B.A.P find it stressful? Daehyun and Himchan expressed, ‘Although we debuted in the same year, we are more like colleagues working in the entertainment industry. We did not see them as rivals. When we see them doing well we will congratulate them as well. Instead of treating them as rivals, it is more appropriate to say that we are having a healthy competition. Through the competition, both groups can make better improvements. This is true not only for EXO but also for other groups which debuted with us around the same period of time. We all learn from each other.’

Photo Captions (from top to bottom):

Hairstylist is helping with Youngjae’s (left) hairdo. “Youngjae~ Your hairstyle is so cool~”

Zelo’s representative matoki is a blue masked rabbit. This blue uniform just fits him well.

Daehyun is mesmerizing the camera!

©BABY的兔子專屬地 | _StrongBAP

Exploring different music genres
Ahead of revealing the title song with an identical name with the album “BADMAN”, B.A.P chose to release ‘Coffee Shop’ and ‘Hurricane’ first. ‘Coffee Shop’ is a song in Jazz and R&B styles, while ‘Hurricane’ is a dance track combining Electronics and House music. These two songs sounded very differently with previous B.A.P’s productions! Yongguk explained, ‘We have not tried these genres before and therefore we decided to reveal these two songs in advance, with the hope of expressing B.A.P’s eagerness of exploring different music styles to everyone!’
Our trademark style has to be kept
On the contrary, ‘BADMAN’, the title song with an identical name with the album “BADMAN”, has a very similar music style with B.A.P’s style in the past. One can definitely tell this is a song of B.A.P after listening, and its style also goes in line with current music trends. Himchan elaborated, ‘Although our title track is in a familiar B.A.P style, we are glad to see that the public acknowledged our ability in performing this kind of songs. We love producing songs with our own musical colour and we do not find it bad at all.

Profile

Name: Kim Him Chan

Nickname: Chan Omma, Kim Chan Chan, Chan Mama

Date of Birth: 19 April 1990

Horoscope: Aries

Blood type: O

Height: 180cm

Weight: 69kg

Place of Birth: Seoul

Role in B.A.P: Sub vocal, Visual

Representative rabbit (Matoki): A pink masked rabbit (TATS MATO)

Speciality: Guitar

Hobby: Shopping

Favourite music: Urban, R&B

Favourite food: Japanese cuisines

Favourite colour: Black, gold, red

Favourite movie: ‘Wind’, ‘Breathless’, ‘A Bittersweet Life’, ‘Let’s meet’

Ideal type: A kind woman

©BABY的兔子專屬地 | _StrongBAP

Accumulating experiences from overseas concerts
After holding their solo concert in Korea in February, B.A.P immediately embarked on a concert tour from California, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and New York in America to Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. After experiencing numerous large-scale overseas performances, they have officially stepped onto a global stage facing the world! Himchan gratefully remarked, ‘After so many overseas performances, we now feel more comfortable performing on stage and we are able to see our strengths. That’s why in our latest album “BADMAN”, you can see our huge improvement.’
Meeting American fans is surprising
During touring, B.A.P had an interview with MTV in New York Times Square. Youngjae shared in excitement, ‘We performed in a building in the middle of Times Square. A lot of people, including a considerable number of Americans and Koreans, came to see us perform in crowds. That was a great honour which put us in elation.’ While performing in America, B.A.P was shocked by the participation of many American fans. Jongup added, ‘Perhaps that was because our performances and songs are more fierce than many Korean groups in general.’

Profile

Name: Moon Jong Up

Nickname: Rice dumpling leaf, Jong Up One (means a staff member)

Date of Birth: 6 February 1995

Horoscope: Aquarius

Blood type: B

Height: 176cm

Weight: 66lg

Role in B.A.P: Sub Vocal, Dance

Representative rabbit (Matoki): A green masked rabbit (DADA MATO)

Hobby: Listening to songs

Speciality: Dancing

Favourite music: R&B, Hip-hop, Dance

Favourite food: Raw beef

Favourite colour: Black

Favourite movie: The “Step Up” Series

Ideal type: has no particularly ideal type

©BABY的兔子專屬地 | _StrongBAP

The rest are afraid of showing muscles
In recent B.A.P’s concerts, whether Yongguk is showing his muscles has been a hot topic for discussion. This is because he generously showed off his muscles in their concert held in Korea back in February. He cheerfully explained, ‘I have been exercising to keep fit but I did not exercise deliberately for the concert! I did promise our fans that I would show my muscles if we won a rookie’s award. I did this just to keep my words!’ Besides Yongguk, other members are all afraid of showing their muscles. They agree that Yongguk has the best body among members in unison. It would definitely be a giant headache if they were to send another member for this.
Debuting in Japan as a new challenge
B.A.P has been enthusiastically expanding in America and Japan, with locals finding it hard to believe that it is just two years after their debut. They will release their first Japanese album and debut in Japan on 7 October. After establishing a solid foundation in Korea, what is the reason of expanding in overseas markets? Yongguk explained, ‘All six of us have a common goal since debut, which is to become world-class singers. We have been working very hard towards this goal. Ultimately, we hope that B.A.P’s music could become mainstream in America.’

Profile

Name: Choi Jun Hong

Nickname: Little Tomato

Date of Birth: 15 October 1996

Horoscope: Libra

Blood type: A

Height: 184cm

Weight: 63kg

Place of Birth: Mapo

Role in B.A.P: Rap, Dance

Representative rabbit (Matoki): A blue masked rabbit (TOTO MATO)

Hobby: Listening to music, penning lyrics, skateboarding

Speciality: Beat-boxing

Favourite music: R&B, Hip-hop, Electronic

Favourite food: Tomato, Kimchi

Favourite colour: White, red, green

Favourite movie: ‘Crossing’, ‘Step Up’

Ideal type: who has a beautiful smile, can speak English well and is like a mother

©BABY的兔子專屬地 | _StrongBAP

Holding live performances instead of appearing on TV

When comparing to other idols, B.A.P seldom promote themselves through TV appearance. What is the reason behind? Himchan explained, ‘We believe that we can display our different sides better through live performances than appearing on variety shows. I think if we are to promote in future, we will continue with this mode.’ Perhaps their promotion strategy works as B.A.P has made their name shine in just 1.5 years after debut. It is astonishing that the number of their fan club members has even exceeded 100,000.

Evolving with K-Pop trends

Conveying messages concerning social issues is a unique feature of B.A.P’s songs. Yongguk stated, ‘Since debut, our songs have been shedding light on social controversies. Although singing love songs is good, bringing positive messages to fans through music and helping them grow uprightly are also good.’ It is heartbreaking to many fans that B.A.P has barely taken any rest yet releases albums (six albums in a year) and holds concerts non-stop. They are, however, very glad about all these. Himchan added, ‘K-Pop music changes rapidly and we want to catch up with its pace.’

Profile

Name: Yoo Young Jae

Nickname: Jae Jae, Durian

Date of Birth: 24 January 1994

Horoscope: Aquarius

Blood type: AB

Height: 178cm

Weight: 65kg

Role in B.A.P: Lead vocal

Representative rabbit (Matoki): A yellow masked rabbit (JOKO MATO)

Hobby: Listening to music

Speciality: Singing, sleeping

Favourite music: R&B, neo soul

Favourite food: Meat

Favourite colour: the colour of the sky

Favourite movie: ‘Sunny’

Ideal type: who loves and cares about me a lot, who has beautiful hands

©BABY的兔子專屬地 | _StrongBAP

[Previous Updates]

©BABY的兔子專屬地 | BAP_Intl

Live performances enhance affability to the full

The reasons why B.A.P can become so popular among the unstoppable influx of idol groups are multifaceted. One of them is that they have been holding lots of live performances. Another is due to their fierce image, which helps them stand out from those who emphasise on nothing but good looks. B.A.P not only produces albums frequently but also has close contact with fans through various events such as concerts, showcases and fan club functions. As Daehyun stated, ‘BABYs are particularly fond of live performances. The sense of having face to face contact is especially affable and this is actually the best means of communication.’

Our maknae is the most popular no matter where we are

After visiting so many countries, does the popularity level of different members of B.A.P vary among places? According to Daehyun, ‘The popularity of individual member really varies in different countries, but our maknae Zelo is always very popular no matter where we go.’ Zelo was regarded as “the youngest idol” when he just debuted in Korea. However, Zelo has probably lost this title to other younger idols debuted later on in this 1.5 years after debut.

Profile

Name: Jung Dae Hyun

Nickname: Busan Wonbin, 掙大錢(sounded similar to Jung Dae Hyun, which means earning a lot of money), 鄭大黑(refers to his tanned skin), 吃貨(means who eat a lot or loves eating), Hyunnie

Date of Birth: 28 June 1993

Horoscope: Cancer

Blood type: A

Height: 177cm

Weight: 63kg

Place of Birth: Busan

Role in B.A.P: Lead vocal, high pitch vocal range.

Representative rabbit (Matoki): A white masked rabbit (KEKE MATO)

Hobby: watching movies

Speciality: Singing (high pitch), drawing comics

Favourite artist: Shin Yong Jae sunbaenim

Favourite music: R&B, ballad

Favourite food: Cheesecakes

Favourite colour: Florescent colours

Favourite movie: Science fiction

Ideal type: Shin Saim Tang (The woman printed on ₩50000 note)

Strive for perfection in every job

The name of B.A.P stands for Best, Absolute, Perfect. In this over a year time after debut, their performance has lived up to their own name without disappointing anyone. Be it music album production, live performances on various stages or endorsement modelling, as suggested by the group name, they always give it all for the best! When shooting for Korean school uniform brand Skoolooks, even if they seemed a bit exhausted due to their hectic schedule, they still showed their most energetic side in front of the camera after seeing the smart attires.

Widen their horizons across the border

Not long ago, B.A.P made a comeback to Korean music scene with their third mini album ‘BADMAN’. Through releasing new productions, they showcased their advanced talents accumulated after holding lots of domestic and overseas performances. As Yongguk the Leader shared, ‘We spent a long time on the preparation of our third mini album “BADMAN”. We visited and performed in lots of countries in the past year, which is indeed an eye-opening experience to us. This album is a collection of a lot of music genres we have not tried before. I would say this is a very eclectic piece of work.’

Profile

Name: Bang Yong Guk

Nickname: Bang Papa, 房子(House), Bang Daddy

Date of Birth: 31 March 1990

Horoscope: Aries

Blood type: O

Height: 180cm

Weight: 65kg

Place of Birth: Incheon, Korea

Role in B.A.P: Rapper, Leader

Representative rabbit (Matoki): A red masked rabbit (SHISHI MATO)

Hobby: Self-entertaining, Exercising

Speciality: Composing, Penning lyrics, Rap

Favourite artist: 1TYM Teddy

Favourite music: Hip-hop, Soul

Favourite food: Sushi, Spicy instant noodles

Favourite colour: Red, Black

Favourite movie: ‘Constantine’

Ideal type: Tong Wei (a Chinese actress)

[Previous Updates]

B.A.P are not Badmen

Being the most glittering rookie group last year, after holding domestic and overseas performances in various scales, B.A.P has come back with more sophisticated stage presence and a more mature image. After working very hard for over a year, B.A.P has gained soaring popularity of their music and themselves. They are even invited to endorse the famous Korean school uniform company Skoolooks, showing how one can look 5cm taller and 5kg slimmer in the dandy uniforms!

B.A.P for FANS Magazine Oct. VOL. #3

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