It’s spelled “No Genre,” but it’s read “All Genre” — boy band BoyNextDoor is back with its new album, “No Genre,” that shows how the six-member group is capable of any and all kinds of music and defies being labeled with just one name.

“We tried to show how we don’t just make music of one certain genre or concept,” member Taesan told reporters in an interview on Friday in western Seoul before the release of “No Genre” on Tuesday.


As is to be expected from singers who participate in making their music, BoyNextDoor's members had a lot to say. Each member, when he got his turn, articulated his ideas with well-thought-out words to complete what could only be described as the finest one-hour interaction with reporters that a two-year-old K-pop boy band could demonstrate.

“If you listen to all the songs from ‘No Genre,’ you’ll be able to actually hear our versatility,” Taesan continued in his explanation of the album’s meaning.

“There’s something really jazzy as well as hip-hop. The lead track, ‘I Feel Good,’ is a mix of hip-hop and funk, while there’s also a city pop song and a medium-tempo R&B in the list as well. We made sure to approach each song differently.”

“There are two messages to ‘No Genre,’ which is to show the free-spirited fluidity of BoyNextDoor along with the broad range of our skill sets,” added leader Myung Jae-hyun.

Members Myung, Taesan and Woonhak all write lyrics, and the other three members also pitch in with ideas.

“The reason that we could work on such a variety of music was because we just trust each other so much that we know that we can pull off anything,” Myung continued. “So this album is called ‘No Genre,’ but I actually think it’s ‘All Genre.’ We have such a broad spectrum of music, and we’re confident that we can do it. And even if there are things that individual members can’t do, we know we can lean on someone else to do it.”

BoyNextDoor’s fourth EP, “No Genre,” comes four months since its single “If I Say, I Love You” and eight months since its third EP “19.99” (2024), released last September. Seven tracks are included: upbeat hip-hop funk “I Feel Good,” jazzy pop soul “123-78,” a soft city pop “Step By Step,” a playful funky track “Is That True?,” a deep pop track on the pain of a breakup titled “Next Mistake,” the band’s famed dance track “If I Say, I Love You” and an English version of “I Feel Good.”

“We promised that we would make our next lead track something that everyone can jump and dance to, even before we started working on ‘No Genre,’” Woonhak said. “And when we first heard the beat of ‘I Feel Good,’ we knew that it was it. We all agreed that this would be the lead track — we just needed to work on making it ‘more like BoyNextDoor.’ And that’s what we did. We made it fun, rebellious and cheeky to let everyone know that this is our music.”

BoyNextDoor debuted in May 2023 with its single “WHO!” under KOZ Entertainment, a HYBE subsidiary founded by rapper Zico of Block B with six members: Sungho, Riwoo, Myung Jae-hyun, Taesan, Leehan and Woonhak.

Having learned from its producer and mentor Zico, BoyNextDoor’s music has always carried a heavy resemblance to Block B’s cheeky music style but with a young and trendy touch that has made BoyNextDoor stand out from the so-called fifth-generation K-pop groups that are hyping up the Korean music scene.

But more than music, there’s something that Zico has been stressing to the members ever since day one as a trainee.

“Diligence, politeness, passion and never forgetting to share our greetings with others,” Leehan said. “He frequently emphasizes the importance of these four things.”

“The weird thing is, it’s like he knows when we’re about to face burnout,” Myung said. “Right at that moment, he comes to us and then tells us that we need to remember those four things. It’s become a thing for us too, and we tell each other, ‘Hey, what is it that you can’t forget?’ whenever we think someone is about to falter.

“What’s really amazing is that after we really took his words to heart and showed diligence, politeness and passion, and never forgot to share our greetings, people recognized our sincerity.”

The members’ dedication truly shows through, not just through their staged performances but also in what is referred to as self-produced content, or jakeon, in K-pop. This coined word is short for jache content, meaning self-produced content, and has become a crucial form of content to attract more fans in the online world.

“We heard that a lot of people like us for how we’re shown in our jakeon, and we’re so grateful,” Leehan said. “I think a part of that is because the way we are on the screen really isn’t much different from how we are when we have no one around us. We like each other so much that it’s like we’re trying so hard to make each other laugh.”

“We really talk a lot,” Myung said, echoing his bandmate. “That does mean that we argue a lot. But we all think that’s a good thing, because it’s only through confrontations that you get the ideas that you never would have thought of on your own. We’re not afraid to speak to each other about our ideas, and we’re not afraid to collide a little.”

BoyNextDoor celebrates its second anniversary on May 30. The band recently finished its first tour, “Knock on Vol.1,” having played 17 performances in 12 cities around Asia. Before that, BoyNextDoor landed at No. 40 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with “19.99" and surpassed 1 million album sales for the first time. The band soared up the music charts with “If I Say, I Love You,” which debuted at No. 4 on major domestic streaming app Melon's Top 100 chart straight after the song's release.

“Time has flown so quickly,” Sungho said. “We would never have guessed that we would be welcoming our second anniversary of debut the way we are about to. We went through so much, and we grew a lot. We were given so much love — more than we ever hoped for — and we are lucky to release new music in time for the joyous occasion. Yes, we would like to be given more love, but the biggest goal for us always is to mature and mark ourselves down in any way we can.”

When asked for the band’s plans for a full-length album, leader Myung replied in a careful, yet firm manner.

“We take the idea of a full-length album very seriously, and we’re constantly in talks with producers and among each other,” said Myung. “The album would mark the end of the first chapter of BoyNextDoor, and so when it does come, whenever that is, we want to be really confident to show it to the world.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]