U-Kiss has returned as ‘bad boys’. There is the question of how much stronger their titles can get, following ‘Am I Vulnerable’, ‘What’, and now ‘Shut Up’. If they showed a period of transition in ‘Am I Vulnerable’ from boy to man, they are now showing the image of cold men in ‘Shut Up’ dressed in black and white suits.
"After coming back, there’s a lot of response that we’ve ‘become real men’. I haven’t seen any negative comments. It makes me happiest when I hear that our ‘skills have improved’. We promoted ourselves with a cute image at the beginning of our debut, but we are now showing everyone a more mature image".
The full-version music video for ‘Shut Up’ was flagged for inappropriate content for minors at international video site YouTube. An international fan reported it as such, and so the video is only available for those who are not underage. In the ‘Shut Up’ music video, there are scenes with the members shirtless.
Kevin, whose body is slim, confessed that « Shirtless scenes are burdensome », but Kiseop showed an unexpected side by stating, "I expected it. I didn’t really feel a lot of burden".
"We were really surprised. I didn’t think that it was to the extent that the underage couldn’t watch it. About two to three weeks before filming the music video, I heard that we might need to take our clothes off. I worked out really hard. Because we’re wearing suits on stage, you can see our body shape". (Alexander)
The dance that goes along with the beat of ‘Shut Up’ became a hot issue before their come back. But the dance that U-Kiss has put out as the main one is the ‘Scolding dance’, where they form a circle with their hands in mid-air.
"Knife dance, Warrior dance, Ninja dance, Rapid-fire dance—it has a lot of names. We haven’t been able to choose a name outside of ‘Scolding dance’". (Kibum)
17-year-old Dongho, the youngest member, calls himself ‘oppa’ during ‘Shut Up’. Fans who heard the lyrics along the lines of ‘Oppa doesn’t like you’ have responded with witty words, saying such things as, "Dongho an oppa… this song must only be for people under the age of 16".
"The initial name of the song was ‘Oppa is’. I haven’t gotten the chance to hear ‘oppa’ during my everyday life, so at first it was awkward. But I tried to show a charismatic image of myself on stage. Now, I have the feeling that I want to be called ‘oppa’". (Dongho)
‘Shut Up’ ends with ‘Oppa doesn’t like bad girls’. We asked if they really don’t like bad girls.
"Yes. I don’t like them. There’s a different feeling associated with the words ‘bad boy’ and ‘bad girl’. Uh… if the bad girl had a bit of a femme fatale feeling going on, then maybe it would be different".
It’s already been two years since debut. They were successful in getting their name known, but there was a lot of burden when it came to trying to solidify their entrance. As each and every album begins to pile up, they have no choice but to become more cautious in choosing a color of music that fits well with them.
"When anyone asked, ‘How is this album?’, I would reply loudly, ‘It’s daebak’, ‘Anticipate it, because it’s going to do well’. I thought that we needed to show a stronger image. Because of this, our come back was pushed back a lot, but as soon as I heard ‘Shut Up’, I thought, ‘This is the song’".
In December, U-Kiss will be having their fan club opening ceremony as well as a concert. They will also be doing a jet tour, like the one that F.T Island did in the past. This is especially surprising, given that they have never released an album in Japan. U-Kiss are also permanently starring on ‘MADE IN BS JAPAN’, a TV Tokyo program.
"Programs in Japan have long rehearsal times. They begin their programs after carefully calculating how it will be filmed. If the program is one hour, then rehearsals take about two hours. The point that’s different from Korea is that filming takes about the same time as the actual program that airs. Even when late, everything can usually be finished around 8~9 p.m".
2010 has about two months left. What is U-Kiss’s goal?
"Receiving first place. If that’s hard to accomplish, then we want to become a group that is accepted for our talent. We showed addictive choreography until now, but ‘Shut Up’ is more performance-oriented. We will become a group that is accepted internationally, like Super Junior".
Their fourth mini-album ‘BREAK TIME’ will give U-Kiss a chance to leap forward. There is not a lot of time left in 2010. Whether or not U-Kiss can fulfill its goal is being watched closed.
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