Thai Idol TEN Talks SM Entertainment Departure & Forming His Own Agency: ‘I’m Starting Again From Zero’

TEN has ambitions that span all over the map — but this fall, the global superstar knew he had to get himself out west.

Since exiting prominent K-pop label SM Entertainment in April, the Thailand-born idol has hit the ground running. Over the summer, TEN celebrated a full decade in the entertainment industry with a three-day residency in Bangkok. Now, building off the momentum of his new English-language EP OUTWEST, which the multilingual artist co-wrote, he’s crossed the Pacific Ocean for his first U.S. solo headlining tour.

Before wrapping up on Tuesday (Nov. 10), the trek brought him to 14 intimate venues across the country — and he already has plans to return in 2027 as part of a more expansive world tour.

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Because even with everything TEN has accomplished as a member of sprawling boy band NCT, its Chinese subunit WayV and special crossover project SuperM, he feels that there’s always more ground to cover. “It’s like I’m starting again from zero,” he tells Billboard during a sit-down conversation in L.A. “I’m trying to make a new journey, my own journey, starting from the beginning to find who TEN really is.”

For an artist as mercurial and multihyphenate as TEN, that’s an evergreen question. But while he’s content to sit with uncertainty, founding creative agency ILLIMNT — which supports his projects across Korea, Thailand, the U.S. and beyond — has pushed TEN to trust his own instincts.

“I’m more comfortable with giving out my ideas, my vision,” he says. “Before, I was like, ‘Should I give out my ideas? Is this the right direction?’ Now, I’m not afraid to be wrong.”

As he stepped into a fearless new era, his music had to follow suit. Along with OUTWEST’s bold tech house title track, chiller counterpart “IRL” sums up TEN’s mentality through a turbulent year. His favorite line — “Jump out the window because I want to fly” — doubles as a mantra. “The road in front of you might be scary. You might trip and fall, and never be able to stand up again. But if you don’t do it, you never know.”

“I’m fine to be silly,” he adds. “I can make mistakes. I can fall. But as long as I enjoy my life in the moment, get up after I fall, then everything’s going to be fine.”

Below, he talks more about life and art after SM Entertainment.

Why did you want to kick off this new era with a showcase tour in the U.S.?

I haven’t really gotten to meet my U.S. fans up close — I did during SuperM, but I didn’t really get to talk and connect with them like this. So this tour, because it’s very close up, I want it to be like a party.

You mentioned that you don’t have the rights to perform some of your old songs. Do you think we’ll get to see some of those songs eventually when you launch a full-scale tour?

Oh yes, we solved that problem, so we get to perform any song we want now.

I’d love to see “Dream in a Dream.” 

Okay, next year let’s do that.

You parted ways with SM this year. Why did it feel like the right time?

The story is like very simple. I was sitting on my sofa, and I realized I have so many ideas, so many visions that I want to try. It’s not because of how [things were going] with the old company. I just wanted to write a story of my own. I want to take risks, and that’s how everything started. 

I don’t want to regret not doing this in five years’ time. Like, “Oh, I should have tried.” I was taking a risk, but it felt like the right time to do it.

What were the conversations you were having with your NCT members at that time?

They’re very supportive. I always share this with my manager and with my members — I always had this vision of, “I want to try this, want to try that, I want to have, like, the Ten vision community.” I don’t know. [Laughs] And they’re like, “Hyung, do what you want to do.”

Even though I’m doing my own thing, we’re still a team. We will make time to do a comeback or participate in events [together]. They were like, “You know, we stayed with you for ten years, and we always saw that you had the vision. All those years. And it’s just time for you to do it.”

Did anyone give you advice?

Not really. A lot of people were just like, “Are you sure you want to do this? It’s going to be very tiring.” But no one could change my mind during that time because I was scared of not doing it and regretting it later on.

I think I’m very simple-minded. If I want to start something new, I just take the risk.

In creating ILLIMNT, were there challenges that you weren’t anticipating?

So many challenges. ILLIMNT is now six months old, but we started from zero. I’m very lucky that I have good people, staff, who trusted in the vision. I think the hardest part is that I get to learn so many things that I never had [to worry about] in the old company. Every decision I make, I have to be responsible for the result. 

For example, now I’m preparing for my new album: the album concept, what message I want to show to the audience, how we’re gonna shoot this music video, all these ideas. [With SM], it was like, “Okay, we prepared this for you. Do you like it? Do you want to make any changes?” But now we’re the ones who bring the concept and figure out the changes.

How did you decide to hold your 10th anniversary concert in your hometown and why did you want to invite Thai artists to perform with you?

At first, I wanted to try something new, because I did my STUNNER concert alone, and I had never sung with a Thai artist before. With my 10th anniversary, I was trying to look back at where I’m from. 

Musically, I was raised in South Korea. But working with Thai artists, how they use their voice, how they enjoy the stage, is very different. They’re very raw. [As a K-pop artist,] I used to sing the same melody all the time, but with the Thai artists, they change the ad-libs, the melody. That’s very new to me. I had the thought, “Why am I so strict? I can just sing whatever melody I want on stage as long as it connects me to the audience.”

It was three days, different guests, different set list. That was my idea. I didn’t want to play three days in a row with the same set list because it might be boring. Then I found out it’s pretty tiring.

You love to challenge yourself. 

That’s why, after the concert, I decided not to talk as much. Because sometimes ideas can hurt you. [Laughs]

Has being under your own company changed your relationship with your fans? I feel like K-pop fans often take issues up with companies rather than artists, but now there’s not that buffer.

Because we’re still new, we’re trying to make our own system. There’s eventually going to be conflict, but as long as we find the middle ground, I think it’s going to be fine. But conflict — you never escape that. There’s going to be a time when fans and our artists and company need to understand each other and the direction that we are heading toward.

How much does fan response factor into your decision-making? 

I do really read and listen, but sometimes there are areas where we need to find balance. I think turning a blind eye is not the solution. Different people have different perspectives and opinions, so it’s nice to be able to understand them.

What are your biggest goals now?

That’s so hard. I think as long as I enjoy doing what I’m doing right now, making music, exploring. Even though I’ve been working for 10 years, there are so many things that I didn’t really experience, like the U.S. tour or joining a big music festival. 

Which festival would you want to perform at?

So many! [To his team] Where should we go? [Laughs] I’ve always wanted to try Coachella, but Lollapalooza looks so interesting, as well. Jingle Ball, all those festivals. I just want to try it out because you reach a different audience. I want to see how they react to my songs, because when you’re at a festival, people don’t [necessarily] come to see you.

Coachella would be great. Taemin’s set this year was amazing.

Yeah, Taemin told me it’s very different. You have a time limit on your rehearsal, and then you need to prepare for it really quickly. He gives me a lot of advice. I really love him.

When ILLIMNT was announced, it was interesting to see so many handmade elements in the social media posts — hand-drawn art, friendship bracelets — since K-pop is leaning so heavily into AI.

I feel like there’s no like right or wrong answer with art. Right now, we do a lot of handmade art, but nowadays there are so many different forms of art, like graphic design, motion art, or sometimes you do digital art on your iPad. I feel like I’m slowly exploring all those different forms of art.

I still feel like art is [made by] using hands. But at the same time, you can modify it. You can do a fusion. Sometimes you draw with your hands, and then you put it in your iPad and do motion effects. I think there’s no limit.

Since you’re such an interdisciplinary artist, do you ever feel like you’re being pulled in too many different directions?

All the time. That is why now, I’m trying to focus on one thing. I have all these ideas, but what is the first priority? I’m trying to list all the things I want to do, and then check one off and continue.

Same with speaking different languages. You know a lot, but sometimes you know nothing. [Laughs] Because you get so confused.

I remember that used to be a joke about the WayV members.

That’s why when some people tell me, “You speak a lot,” I’m like, “No, I speak zero.” I’m trying to study more. Now that I don’t really use my Chinese that often, I keep forgetting. But it’s so hard because I move 24 hours [of the day]. It’s so hard to just take out my book out and study.

The K-pop industry is full of perfectionists, but I get the sense you’re more satisfied just putting things out there. 

This changed because of Woodz [Cho Seung-youn]. For example, doing a wrong move or cracking your voice on stage — I was so afraid of that. When I met Seung-youn, I saw him doing his concert. Sometimes his voice cracks. Sometimes he forgets the move. I was like, “Oh, bro, aren’t you afraid?” And he said, “You know, we’re humans. It’s normal to have your voice crack sometimes, as long as after your voice cracks, you fix it.”

When he said that, I was like, “Oh, that’s right. What am I afraid of? It’s normal.” Sometimes people want to see imperfection, too. It’s boring to be perfect all the time. There’s no thrill. Because of him, my mind changed. I’m very happy I have a lot of good friends.

Last time we spoke, you said you didn’t know what kind of person you were yet. Is that still the case?