MNEK - kiwa LIVE session

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studio kiwa presents LIVE | MNEK

Set List:
“Colour” (00:06)
“Phone” (04:40)
“Tongue” (9:05)

MNEK I “Making music is just natural for me” – the way MNEK describes his own music may really be the simplest yet most accurate way to sum up his creative process after all. For MNEK, musical inspiration just keeps on coming through his mind, day and night. He adds that his transformation from being a little boy who simply enjoyed music, to becoming a world-famous musician and producer, is nothing but natural. Although MNEK is mainly known in Korea as the producer of BTS’ ‘Paradise’, he’s been long acclaimed worldwide as a true musical genius. When we listened to his new album, ‘Language’, everything felt natural, just like MNEK’s way of working with music – we felt like we were meant to listen to his music.

Hearing me pronounce his name just as the way it is spelt, MNEK immediately corrected me saying that his name should be read, alphabet by alphabet – M, N, E, K. MNEK seemed to be rather strict on himself, quite unlike his upbeat and rhythmical music. Seeing him reminded me of a figure of a line – straightforward and honest. His song ‘Colour’ sheds light into his experience of love, which filled his black and white world with beautiful colors, while ‘Phone’ portrays a bright yet strictly hidden sense of emotion. ‘Tongue’ is all about how one thinks that his confession will end up drawing a line between him and his friend. With lyrics easy to understand supported by playful melodies, further boosted by his amazing vocals, his fabulous performance at kiwa will remain as one of my favorite gigs of all.

In Korea, we used to have a trend of customizing ringback tones, at which I was at the forefront of. The reason I was so into setting up a ringback tone, was mainly because I thought that the songs would somehow help deliver my hidden feelings to the person I used to love. It was the hope of making a connection, which led me on. These days, it’s so easy to either connect or shut off people out of our lives, that we often forget the need of using music as a method of communication. ‘Language’ reminds us of what music can do, by really ‘talking’ to our hearts. Whether as a musician or just as a person, MNEK is definitely good at speaking his mind.

While he was heading out, MNEK told us that his position in the industry as a young black gay musician on itself is quite political, and that his current success is probably enough to prove what his music is really worth. In a world of chaos, MNEK’s music provides the world with a common language which can be used for communicating with each other. This is why people from all countries and cultures can’t help but love his music – it brings everyone together. Lastly, we’d just like to tell MNEK that we believe he’ll end up making music for a long time, just as he wished – what can be more ‘natural’ than that? MNEK and music is meant to be!

Thank you MNEK, for visiting studio kiwa !

Listen full songs of MNEK:
https://mnek.lnk.to/LanguageAlbum

filmed at ‘Namsangol Hanok Village’
Website: https://www.hanokmaeul.or.kr/

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