Junsu of Korean pop trio JYJ said Saturday he is not afraid of going against the seasonal trends of the K-pop market, since making a unique album is the only way he can match his fans’ support.

“Every time I release an album, I try to differentiate it from my previous albums, and stay away from putting up similar work with slightly different songs,” he said during a news conference for his fourth and latest full-length album “XIGNATURE.”

“Showing different performances in different work is my way of appreciating the people who come see me every time (I release new work),” continued the singer, also known by his full name Kim Jun-su and stage name Xia Junsu.


The South Korean heartthrob said he insisted on packing “XIGNATURE” with 13 songs, significantly more than usual for a full K-pop album.

“(Stuffed) albums may be far from the current market trend, but I know my album -- I stuffed my album as I always have,” the 29-year-old singer grinned.

“Every single piece of the 13 songs deserves to be the lead song of ‘XIGNATURE.’”

Yet the album did not entirely ignore market trends, he said. Although he explicitly proffered dance songs to impress concertgoers, he also tried to keep some ballads in the new album to reflect the pro-ballad atmosphere among K-pop fans.

“I was impressed that many of you fell for sweet ballads, like ‘How Can I Love You’ that I sang for the TV drama ‘Descendants of the Sun.’ I tried to reflect your preference for ballads in the new album, as you’ll see in ‘Is You.’”


The media event was held 90 minutes before his first solo concert in the Gymnastics Arena of Olympic Stadium in southeastern Seoul. With the two-hour concert, Junsu kicked off his Asia tour that will take him through eight major cities in South Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong and Thailand.

About 8,000 concertgoers from home and overseas swarmed the venue.

“I am grateful for the people who have trusted in my album and my concerts, especially when I make almost zero appearances on (televised music) shows. It’s simply incredible.” (Yonhap)