If you aren’t already, prepare to fall in love with CRAVITY. For those who missed it, the brand new K-pop group was skyrocketed into fame after they dropped their debut single, “Break All the Rules,” on April 14, 2020. Yep, after its release, the music video gained over two million views in just eight hours, and within the first hour, six celebratory hashtags took up the worldwide trends on Twitter.
It’s safe to say the entire world is obsessed with this musical sensation, and J-14 got the chance to chat with them about the inspiration behind their new track, their upcoming music and what it was like to gain so much attention online in such a short amount of time. Plus, find out how the group — made up of Serim, Allen, Jungmo, Woobin, Wonjin, Minhee, Hyeongjun, Taeyoung and Seongmin — are staying busy amid the coronavirus quarantine!
J-14: Tell us about “Break All the Rules!” What’s the song about?
CRAVITY: The main message of the track is meant to convey, “Let’s break the frames and rules that we’ve locked ourselves in.” It represents CRAVITY’s bold step forward. The rough texture of the sound and addictive melody are key aspects of this title track. We hope everyone can feel CRAVITY’s teamwork and the synergy that comes with it by watching our powerful performances along with the music.
J-14: Can you share some fun, behind-the-scenes stories from onset of the music video?
Wonjin: Serim, Seongmin and I sweat so much that we had to wipe our sweat and fix our makeup after every scene. I remember that the most, especially because our staff worked very hard for us.
Hyeongjun: For my individual scene, I was placed in a room with mirrors surrounding me on all sides. That was very cool and from the inside, I could not see what was going on outside. It was really fun shooting that scene, but I was also a bit embarrassed because I could only see myself wherever I looked.
Taeyoung: Seongmin hung from a wire for his scene. It was cute seeing him not knowing what to do when his body kept turning uncontrollably.
J-14: What was it like to get so much attention so quickly?
Serim: We thank you so much for your attention and love. I feel like we should work harder to return the love we’ve received.
Allen: I feel so grateful that we could share our music with our fans and hope we can return with an even better album next time, to share with a greater audience.
Jungmo: I didn’t know we would get so much love and attention, but I’m so happy we were able to and I want to thank our fans. To give back to our fans, we will work harder and develop more as a team.
Woobin: I want to thank all the members for what we were able to accomplish and our fans for the attention we’ve received. I feel like we must work harder to return this love.
Wonjin: It is such an honor on our part and we want to return to our fans with a more developed and improved team.
Minhee: To be honest, I still cannot believe it. As much as our fans are cheering for us, I feel like we should work harder to fulfill their expectations.
Hyeongjun: It hasn’t been long since our debut, but many fans are giving us a lot of attention and love. We are really thankful for that and will work harder to give back to our fans. We have a lot to work on as rookies, but we hope everyone will stay tuned.
Taeyoung: It feels unreal, but I feel extremely happy at the same time. As much as our fans are cheering us on, I will work harder to meet the expectations they may have.
Seongmin: I am so grateful and I hope to give back to our fans by trying harder.
J-14: What’s next for you? Any plans to release any more music soon?
CRAVITY: First, we plan to actively promote our album that we worked hard on. Also, we are preparing various digital content to meet our fans via online platforms. We are always preparing and practicing to show our fans a new side of us. There are a myriad of aspects we haven’t shown you yet, so please look forward to our future works!
J-14: How are you guys staying busy during the quarantine?
Serim: We’ve been busy promoting our debut album. However, to adhere to the social distancing campaign, we are performing our stages at broadcasting stations without an audience. We hope to meet our fans soon.
Allen: Due to the fact that we cannot meet our fans in person, we are holding our fan sign events via video calls. It was truly a new experience.
Jungmo: Although we cannot meet our fans in person, we are trying out various methods to reach out to them like filming video content to upload.
Woobin: We’ve been using platforms like Twitter and our official fan cafe to communicate with our fans in between our schedules.
Wonjin: It is extremely unfortunate that we cannot meet our fans in an offline setting, but all of our members are taking measures to get closer to our fans on online platforms.
Minhee: We’ve been sharing a lot of content online and are in the process of preparing more to come. We are chatting with our fans in real time to make up for not being able to see each other in person.
Hyeongjun: As we are proceeding with recordings for music shows without an audience, we think it is unfortunate, but at the same time, we hope the situation will become better soon. We are constantly reaching out to our fans online and it feels like the affection we feel for each other is growing day by day. We really want to meet our fans soon.
Taeyoung: While continuing to promote through our stages on music shows, we are preparing in various ways to show our fans new aspects of ourselves. Also, we communicate with our fans on platforms like Twitter whenever we have time.
Seongmin: We meet our fans online on various platforms. I’m glad our fans like the content that we are releasing online. We are also sharing snippets of our daily lives with our fans in real time. I feel like the relationship we have with our fans is getting stronger.
J-14: Any tips for fans who are feeling low during this time?
Serim: I recommend fans to watch a movie series or K-dramas at home. Time flies when you watch them and they’re really fun to watch.
Allen: It reminds me of the phrase “This too shall pass.” We should all think positively and if there were things you wanted to try in the past but didn’t have enough time for, I think it is a great opportunity to try those things out for self-development. It is a great time to reflect on ourselves.
Jungmo: First, it is unfortunate that we did not get to meet our fans in person. However, CRAVITY will work harder so that we can give our fans positive energy during these trying times.
Woobin: Because we have more free time than before, I recommend people to find a hobby that they can enjoy to pass the time.
Wonjin: I recommend eating sweet snacks to become energized.
Minhee: Usually, when I am at home, I watch movies or play games. If there are movies or K-dramas you missed out on, I recommend you catch up on those.
Hyeongjun: I recommend our fans to watch videos or other content of CRAVITY. We want to interact with our fans a lot, so we use various platforms including our official fan cafe and Twitter. If you look at CRAVITY, it will cheer you up.
Taeyoung: Look at CRAVITY to boost your mood!
Seongmin: I hope this time can be spent to try out new things that you haven’t been able to try before and reflect on yourself as a person.
J-14: Do you guys ever fight? If so, about what?
Serim: Seongmin and I splashed each other with water in our dorm bathroom.
Woobin: Our members all love eating so much that whenever we choose our menu, we have mini debates. These days, though, we compromise well, so it’s been much more convenient.
Minhee: The two youngest members, Taeyoung and Seongmin, were arguing whether bananas had seeds or not. That was cute.
J-14: Who is your dream collaboration?
Serim: I really want to work with ATEEZ. I’ve always dreamed of having a collab with them.
Allen: I wish to work with Illenium, who is an EDM artist that I love. I personally think our voices would go well with his track and I believe K-pop is definitely a genre that many EDM fans will enjoy as well. I hope we can work with him in the future.
Jungmo: I want to work with Yu Seung Woo, a senior musician at our company. I always enjoy his songs and like when he sings while playing the guitar.
Woobin: My dream collaboration is with Kihyun of MONSTA X and Eunji of Apink. They are both great vocalists and I want to try singing with them.
Wonjin: I want to collab with Jeong Sewoon. He is an artist I always look up to.
Minhee: I want to work with MONSTA X. It seems like it would be in the distant future, but if we are ever able to work with them, it would be such an honor and I would be really happy.
Hyeongjun: It would be a great honor to work with any artist, but I especially want to collab with MONSTA X. We have a long way to go, but I really want to perform with them some day.
Taeyoung: The Chainsmokers are my favorite musicians and I really want to collab with them because I really like the genre of music that they produce.
Seongmin: My dream collaboration would be with Paul Kim. I listen to his songs often and if there is ever a chance in the future, I would love to collab with him.
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