ATEEZ’s HONGJOONG on Taking Off the Captain’s Hat for “ENOuGH” With Bazzi

It’s the thick of August when HONGJOONG appears remotely from somewhere in Los Angeles. On a short break from official duties heading up ATEEZ, a K-pop group with three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, he’s here to talk about “ENOuGH,” his new solo collaboration with American singer-songwriter Bazzi. Fresh-faced, he occasionally brushes back long strands of glossy black hair while nursing a slight cough.

Creative ideas come quickly to the 27-year-old performer, both for his band and his solo projects. “That’s the hardest thing these days to me, because I’m the person who in every moment gets lots of inspiration from everywhere,” he says, noting he keeps a running log of ideas.

ATEEZ is currently on official vacation, one of the few stretches of time off in their busy year. But instead of taking a much-deserved break on some tropical island, HONGJOONG has been busy working on his solo project.

“I try to make a balance because I love to do my own thing, but I’m more happy with ATEEZ… We have two long breaks… and then I just plan: ‘Okay, in this month and this month is vacation, so I will try to do my own thing in the US.’”

He envisions a different sort of travel: collaborating with likeminded musicians from around the world while chronicling the remains of his twenties – pressing pause before any more time slips away.

Back in December, HONGJOONG, who first learned to produce music on Cubase, pieced together the beginnings of the track. “I thought this was a very cool song,” he says. “But I didn’t want to release it alone because something was not ‘enough.’ So I waited for some kind of destiny.”

Destiny came in the form of 29-year-old singer-songwriter Bazzi, whose music HONGJOONG first heard eight years earlier.

In October 2017 Bazzi self-released the dreamy “Mine,” which went on to become the breakout single from his debut studio album Cosmic. In early 2018 as the song gained traction, HONGJOONG was in the thick of training for his debut. He recalls liking what he heard from the Michigan-bred vocalist.

Fast-forward to June of this year when ATEEZ was in London to headline the BST Hyde Park festival. Bazzi performed just before their set, and HONGJOONG remembered the artist who captured his attention all those years ago. Finally, they had a chance to connect.

“I’m glad I [found] another friend,” he says of their meeting. “This song popped up in my head and I asked him, ‘How about trying something with this song?’” Bazzi loved it.

After the festival, the two began to communicate over WhatsApp.

“The song was already almost done but without the second verse and when I gave him the track, he had an idea for another chorus part and also for the outro,” he says of the burgeoning creative friendship. The two ping-ponged back and forth, with Bazzi sending over his vocal adlibs.

Once the framework of the song was in place, HONGJOONG turned to the lyrics.

“It’s very honest…My twenties were fast and full of schedules. I always felt that something is not enough in my life. I was always searching for that. These days, I’m thinking [about that time] that – what was very precious…or fearful – was close to me already but I didn’t see that, and I was always looking for something that would make me ‘enough.’”

Someone else might hear something different in the song, he muses — money, a person, a job. The lyrics themselves seem to be addressed to an unnamed lover.

“I want a love that stays
One I don’t have to chase
Quiet and steady pace
No finish line to race”

The lyrics are all in English with the exception of two lines that translate to: “When I reach the end after decades
if there are only two of us in this universe, that’s enough for me.”

“ENOuGH” starts out with a haunting synth riff that almost sounds like it’s a dispatch from the depths of the ocean or perhaps, an alien planet. It then drops into a soft trap beat. HONGJOONG starts off with a slow, rhythmic rapping that evolves into a chilled out chorus. Bazzi keeps pace with the soft vibes coming in on the second verse, his raspier voice making a nice contrast with HONGJOONG’s smoother tone.

The music video and accompanying imagery align with the song’s cosmic sonic-sphere and portray him as a sort of modern-day Starman (HONGJOONG is influenced by David Bowie) ready to explore the far reaches of the galaxy. In the video, he comes down to earth and meets or nearly meets — as they don’t ever directly interact — Bazzi who is waiting in a park-like setting ostensibly for his love.

Aside from”ENOuGH,” HONGJOONG has a flood of creative ideas including fashion design. Last year, he tested the waters with Petit Coussin, a 24-piece handmade children’s collection and accompanying fashion film that paid tribute to the children’s clothing store his mother once ran.

More than influences like Bowie and Michael Jackson, his parents have had a profound impact on his overall artistic sensibility. When the subject of a 2024 photo shoot of ATEEZ for PAPER by Hungarian fashion photographer Szilveszter Makó arises, HONGJOONG says the photographer he would like to work with is much closer to home.

“If some magazine allows it, I want to have a photo shoot with my father. Because my daddy, when he was young, was the best photographer in my eyes. So I want to try that someday.”

For now, those plans will have to wait while he concentrates on music. Live performance videos rolling out alongside the song will further bring him back down to earth –  he even arranged an acoustic version of the song.

“With this [“ENOuGH”] I want to show my natural moments because many of ATEEZ’s audience thinks of me as a fashion lover, and that I’m the Captain of ATEEZ, and like ‘He’s very charismatic,’ or like, ‘He’s very colorful in his life…’ I want it to be with my voice. I wanna make this enough with just [the] guitar and me.”