MONSTA X’s Joohoney Wants Fans to Go Crazy for ‘INSANITY’

Joohoney’s schedule has been insane, which makes sense since he’s promoting his new album. INSANITYsince its release on January 6.

The MONSTA Lightsin 2023. It has found success on the Korean charts, with its lead song ‘STING’ hitting No. 1 on the K-Hip-Hop charts, followed by other songs on the album, ‘광 (Gwang)’ and ‘Bite’, which landed in the Top 5. The album itself debuted at #23 on the worldwide iTunes Album Chart. Music critics praised the rapper for his powerful beats and sharp lyrics, naming his song ‘STING’, which features a snippet of the great boxer Muhammad Ali: ‘one that packs a punch.”

Joohoney is very happy with his album’s reception on the charts and critics, but his main priority is how his fans, aka MONBEBE, feel about it.

“Will the fans be happy with my album?” says Joohoney over Zoom, during a brief break from his busy schedule, from Seoul. “I’m happy now, but I have a lot on my schedule. I’m very tired, but MONBEBE will be happy [to see me]so I’m happy.”

Johoney calls INSANITY a continuation of his first album, because after the lights are turned on, they have to shine – and what better way to shine than to go crazy, making it blink. He explains that 광 (Gwang) has a double meaning: to shine and to be crazy. “I could summarize both meanings in one word, that’s why it became crazy to shine.”

He’s referring to his music video for “FREEDOM,” the title track Lightsin which he wears a suit made of mirrors, and how the lights reflect on him as he moves. The more extreme and crazy the movements are, the more the light shines and spreads.

“I want to build mine Lights world,” he says. “Joohoney’s Light World. Lights then push the darkness to become bright [with INSANITY]we have to go crazy to shine. I am an artist and a star, and my fans are my light.”

The seven songs on the album tell Joohoney’s personal story, all written, composed and produced by him: “광 (Gwang)” focuses on light and madness; “STING” is about identity; “Push (Feat. REI of IVE)” navigates disequilibrium within a tumultuous relationship; “Bite” centers desire; “Touch the Sky (Feat. Tiger JK)” is about boundless determination; and “NO BRAIN NO PAIN” closes the album with the “strange calm that remains after every emotion has burned away.” Each song represents a trial and tribulation that he faced or felt before, and he wants to show a side of himself that K-pop idols are afraid to show.

“With this album I wanted to show the more personal and honest side [of myself]’ he says. ‘Show me why I have a living and [my need] moving on is more honest, and that’s what I have to do as an artist.

He hopes that more K-pop artists will share their personal stories, and that it will eventually become a genre that focuses on honesty.

“I hope we can all be more honest, and I hope more and more artists can do that too,” he shares.

With over a decade of experience in the music industry, he admits that being a K-pop idol isn’t as great or grand as people think. He believes that the only reason why idols become great is because of the fans who love them, and that artists can only become greater because of their fans.

“To be honest, I didn’t make music for my fans in the beginning,” he admits. “I just wanted to show the kind of music I was really good at and show off my skills. But now that I’m 30, I realize how important it is to make music for my fans. I only exist because my fans are there now. This has become a big factor in my mind as I’m changing as an artist.”

Joohoney has paid a lot of attention and care to the whole thing INSANITY production that goes beyond the music. He knew he wanted certain elements and concepts that fit and flow with the music. His song “STING” was inspired by Ali, who said the famous line, “Float like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee.” Joohoney wanted to show his fighting spirit and always loved and respected boxing. That’s why he asked his company, Starship Entertainment, to use Ali’s famous quote for the song. He also loved that the bee part was related to his name: JooHONEY.

“I always thought about the fans who said that [my name and emphasizing] JooHONEY,” he laughs. “JooHONEY like a bee. [The quote] inspired that.”

‘STING’ is one of his favorite songs from the album, along with ‘Bite’ and ‘NO BRAIN NO PAIN’, because these are his truths. ‘Bite’ is about the industry and what many K-pop idols think, and ‘NO BRAIN NO PAIN’ is all about the idea of ​​’just do it’. He explains, “Today, too many people have so many thoughts and think too much, so when they have a goal, they can’t really achieve it. So just do it!”

His face lights up at the mention of Tiger JK, with whom he collaborated on ‘Touch the Sky’. Tiger JK has been Joohoney’s role model since he was young. He remembers buying his CD and hoping they would one day work together. That dream came true when Joohoney sent Tiger JK the song and verse, and he said, “Bro, let’s go! Let’s do this!”

“It was like, ‘Whoa,’” Joohoney recalls. “When I sent him my verse, he added his own. He was surprised by my verse. It’s such an honor to do that.” [have him] on that track.”

Of INSANITYJoohoney goes hard with the rap and beats, as expected from the main rapper of MONSTA In fact, he was the K-pop idol who branded the babyish line: “milk you” – even earlier KPop Demon Hunters‘ character, Baby Saja, used it.

He says all the Joohoney people see is him, just different sides of him. He explains, “It’s all Joohoney, but I wanted to express the real Joohoney in my first album, Lights. INSANITY is stage Joohoney. He has crazy skills, strong rap, and then there’s the cute Joohoney. Maybe it will be in the next album.”

Joohoney already has a lot of plans for his next album. He wants to continue the themes lightly and calls it his own canon universe, where everything is connected. His ‘light universe’ started with his song ‘Smoky’ from his 2020 mixtape, PSYCHE, and flows well with his other main songs: “FREEDOM” and “STING.”

“As it continues, now that I’ve gone crazy/mad, I can be really excited and super happy,” Joohoney reveals. “I can be so excited that you want to dance and see the cute Joohoney side with the ‘kukukaka’ – and just feel happy. I want to get back to that.”

Joohoney’s INSANITY is available on all streaming platforms. Physical albums are available at select retailers.