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After months of waiting, finally we can rejoice as JYPE’s newest K-Rock group, Xdinary Heroes made waves in the industry and finally debuted with their song ‘Happy Death Day’ from their first mini album ‘Hello, world!’ released on July 20th.
Xdinary Heroes derive their name from the idea that anyone can be a hero and swear to entice you with their efforts of expressing their dreams through their music! The group also describe themselves as a group that embodies Generation Z: they showcase the many sides of their generation by expressing the different emotions that their generation feels, like rebellion and confidence.
Well, you can definitely see them display this energy when they’re on stage, showing off their incredible vocals and mesmerising stage presence, but before we start falling completely in love with them, let’s start by getting to know our 6 new Xdinary Heroes: Gun-il, Jungsu, Gaon, O.de, Jun Jan and Jooyeon.
[From left to right: Jungsu, Gun-il, Gaon, Jooyeon, Jun Han & O.de]
Goo Gun Il or Gun-il, is the leader and the drummer of Xdinary Heroes and you can tell that he is a master of his craft. Gun-il was born on July 24th, 1998 in Seoul, South Korea but moved to the US when he was in the 6th grade, and due to his move to the US, he became fluent in English but faced hardships while being there. Gun-il has stated that when he moved to the US, he felt isolated and depressed due to being in an unfamiliar environment and because of the language barrier. To cope with this, he found solace in music with the English rock band Muse being one of his favorite artists; he began playing the drums at the age of 15 and continued to pursue his passion by studying at Berklee College of Music. Gun-il describes himself as a person with a strong sense of responsibility and who digs deep into what he likes.
Kim Jung Su, going by stage name Jungsu, was born on June 26th, 2001 in Ilsan, South Korea; he is the keyboardist and main vocalist for Xdinary Heroes and learned to play the piano from the ages of 7 to 11. He has stated that he always wanted to be a singer but his parents were against the idea, so he joined a vocal club while Jungsu was in high school when he was finally able to persuade them to send him to a music academy. While he was a trainee at JYP he also began playing the keyboard again before debuting in Xdinary Heroes. Jungsu has described himself as someone who is shy and calm and as a big eater.
Han Hyeongjun aka Jun Han was born on August 18th, 2002 in Ulsan, South Korea, and he serves as the electric guitarist for Xdinary Heroes. He has said that his ultimate dream is to make his name known to the public as an artist who does music. Two years before he became a trainee, he auditioned but failed since he couldn’t play the guitar very well. Jun Han says that he is the type of person who is calm but makes everyone laugh when he tells a joke, and he also describes himself as timid and careful.
O.de, pronounced Odd, is the rapper, vocalist, and synthesizer player, but he was born in Suwon, South Korea on June 11, 2002 with the name Oh Seungmin. His parents are also from Busan, so this led to him developing a Busan accent and his family would visit Busan for every holiday. O.de was an athlete in his younger years, participating in cross country skiing from his first year in middle school to his first year in high school; we still don’t know much about how he ended up becoming an idol. He says that he is a good cook as long as he follows the recipe and fellow member Jooyeon says that he is a homebody. O.de describes himself as someone who is naive and tends to get absorbed in the things he’s interested in.
Gaon or Kwak Jiseok, is the electric guitarist, rapper, and vocalist for Xdinary Heroes; his birthday is January 14, 2002 and he was born in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. He has always had a passion for music since he was young and was in a band during his middle and high school years. After participating in a contest with his band in middle school, he received a business card from a JYP casting manager but didn’t think much of it at the time, however two years later, he went to audition for JYP and ended up passing, becoming a trainee! He is also a lyricist and helped write the group’s debut song ‘Happy Death Day’ with fellow member Jungsu. Gaon describes himself as someone who is spontaneous and passionate.
And then finally there’s Jooyeon; born Lee Joo Yeon, he serves as the bass player, main vocalist, and is the maknae of the group. His birthday is September 12, 2002 and was born in Ansan but moved to Daegu when he was young. Jooyeon is known as the “King of Dance '' when he was in a dance group before debuting with Xdinary Heroes. The members designated Jooyeon to be the “energizer” of the group and has described himself as a very optimistic person.
As you can see, the members of Xdinary Heroes all have varied but fairly normal backgrounds, which is what makes them perfect to act as a voice of a generation that has felt pushed down by the powers that be. Despite being new to the scene, by expressing themselves through their music and individual talents, their message is already obvious to anyone who cares to listen to them.
However, there was still so much we couldn’t cover about them in today’s article, so we highly recommend you check out the rest of their mini album ‘Hello, world!’ for yourselves and see what else this group has to tell the world on behalf of a generation!
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Writer: Taryn Novak
Editor: Han (O.L)