TRENDZ on doing things your way
It’s 5.45 am here in South Korea and K-pop boy group TRENDZ, along with a plethora of reporters and excited students, have joined a ZOOM call for a virtual fan meeting hosted by Professor Grace Kao of Yale University.
TRENDZ bring a fresh and energetic vibe to the K-pop scene. Image: Global H.
As part of Professor Grace Kao’s course Race and Place in British New Wave, K-Pop, and Beyond at Yale University, the fan meeting gave the group’s fans (dubbed FRIENDZ) the unique opportunity to learn more about this youthful and energetic boy group. After showing various clips from their music videos, the 7 members introduced themselves to a class full of excited faces who sat eagerly in front of a sign that stated “Yale <3 TRENDZ”.
Rapper, Lead Dancer, and group Maknae, Yechan told fans: “I’m baffled that we got this amazing opportunity.” (Trans.)
Whilst Rapper, ra.L expressed: “We really appreciate that we’re here.
“We want to give you some positive vibes today.”
And spread positive vibes they did. The group were interactive and bubbly throughout the hour-long call, with Main Vocalist, HAVIT, catching the giggles at one point — ending his cutely expressed statement with his head in his hands. At the beginning of the call he told fans: “It’s our first time meeting so many people online, so I’m nervous”.
TRENDZ aim to lead Gen Z K-pop fans and create new trends within the music industry. Images: Global H.
To kick-start the fan meeting, TRENDZ individually introduced each song from their latest single-album ‘STILL ON MY WAY’. Fans were treated with the unique experience of watching the music video for the album’s title track “MY WAY” together with the artist — the overall sentiment being that this would be a memory we would all cherish for the rest of our lives.
The first song on the album, “ven conmigo” hails the group’s first time exploring the moombahton genre. “O.Y.E”, an abbreviation of ‘open your eyes’, delivers a meaningful message of awakening your inner-self, and the aforementioned “MY WAY” is an energetic track that enables the group to convey a message of passion and determination.
After sampling the album with a short live performance of each track, including a rap verse from “O.Y.E” and a high-energy snippet of “MY WAY”’s iconic choreography, the group opened a poll to ask attendees which of TRENDZ’s songs they liked the most. “NEW DAYZ” from the group’s 2nd single album ‘BLUE SET Chapter. [NEW DAYZ]’ stole the show, sweeping 50% of the votes.
Watch the music video below.
The fan meeting concluded with a fire-round of questions from the eager students. The members spoke of their love for hip-hop (competing in a short but hilarious ‘dance battle’) and gave advice to budding K-pop idols — urging them to take inspiration from their song “MY WAY” as the lyrics and music video convey a meaning of getting up no matter how many times you fall. When asked which groups they wish to collaborate with in the future, the immediate answer was SEVENTEEN, followed quickly by BTS, with member ra.L (semi) jokingly falling to his knees in prayer.
Despite waking up at 3 am to prepare for the fan meeting and expressing their worry that they would lack energy for their fans, TRENDZ kept us all engaged for the hour and left us wanting more. This group has a palpable energy that is absolutely infectious. Their bubbly personalities will leave you grinning from ear to ear and their vibrant songs will stay in your head for weeks to come.
Thank you to Helix Publicity for inviting us to this fantastic event, and to Professor Grace Kao and Yale University for hosting. Cherry Chu Magazine would also like to extend their well wishes to TRENDZ and FRIENDZ and wish you many happy years to come!
