BOYNEXTDOOR, in the Present Tense

One of the defining sounds of BOYNEXTDOOR’s latest chapter began not in a recording studio, but in the swell of a crowd. During the group’s first world tour, a chant TAESAN caught from the crowd at a Lollapalooza aftershow stayed with him. That energy eventually found its way into “ANIMAL” through its repeated “hoo, hoo, hoo” — a hook designed to be echoed back, wherever in the world the group might be performing.

Since their 2023 debut, JAEHYUN, SUNGHO, RIWOO, TAESAN, LEEHAN and WOONHAK have built an archive of youth in motion: the rush of attraction, the clumsy honesty of confession, the sting of heartbreak and the quiet burn of rebellion. “ANIMAL” is rawer and more instinctive than much of what came before it, but the shift feels less like a pivot than a natural evolution. Perhaps it is less that BOYNEXTDOOR decides what youth should sound like, and more that life happens first. The six members bring who they are in that moment back into the music. As their lives change, so does what they have to write about.

More than three years since their debut, the “present tense” they started with has expanded. Stages that once felt out of reach have given way to a world tour, bringing new experiences, new audiences and new voices into their lives. Some of what once troubled them has taken on a different meaning in retrospect, while experiences they could not have imagined at debut are now part of their everyday lives. Their growth, in other words, becomes part of the material they write from.

In conversation with Billboard Korea, BOYNEXTDOOR unpack the life behind HOME: DELUXE, their evolving creative instincts, and what youth means in real time.

• ‘HOME: DELUXE’ — Stepping Outside

  If HOME was about building a space of your own, HOME: DELUXE pushes beyond those walls into a wider world. Right now, what are the six of you most eager to expand?

  WOONHAK: We wanted to create something people could sing along to anywhere in the world, no matter the language. That’s where the “hoo, hoo, hoo” chant came from. We hope it opens doors for us to perform in more places and with even more people around the world.

  Do you remember when the idea for that hook first clicked?

  TAESAN: During our Lollapalooza aftershow, there was this moment when the whole crowd sang along with us. I just loved the sound of everyone’s voices coming together. I remember thinking, “I want to bring a sound like that into our music someday.” Later on, I came up with the “hoo, hoo, hoo” chant. It sounded almost animal-like, so we paired it with the chorus of “ANIMAL.”

  You’ve worked closely with ZICO for a long time. What was his reaction when he first heard “ANIMAL”?

  JAEHYUN: Near the end of the process, we caught up with ZICO and played him what we had. He contributed some of his own ideas, and we worked together to make the song stronger. What stuck with me most was how confident he was in it. Having that kind of trust from him gave us even more energy as we finished the song.

• Defining the BOYNEXTDOOR Sound

  From crush-stage excitement and confessions to heartbreak, rebellion, and now the raw energy of “ANIMAL”—you’ve explored very different sounds. As you keep experimenting, what makes something still feel unmistakably BOYNEXTDOOR?

  TAESAN: I think it comes down to our energy and the fact that we keep coming back with something new. With every release, we don’t want to put boundaries around what BOYNEXTDOOR can sound like. We want to explore different styles while keeping our own thoughts and emotions at the core.

  JAEHYUN: With HOME, there was a certain weight and seriousness to the project. But when we started working on the deluxe version, we wanted to clear our heads and make something we could just run around and have fun with. To me, capturing whatever we’re feeling in the moment and putting it straight into our music and performance — that is what makes us BOYNEXTDOOR.

  You’ve often spoken about finding inspiration in films, books and other musicians. What’s the key to taking things you love and translating them into your own voice?

  WOONHAK: For me, inspiration usually comes from a specific place or a real experience. The tour made me realize how different every audience can be — the reactions, the energy, the whole atmosphere of each show. What we experience onstage doesn’t just stay there. We remember it, and sometimes it finds its way back into what we create next.

  JAEHYUN: Speaking of taking inspiration, RIWOO put a ton of thought into the choreography for the “ANIMAL” chorus. I remember watching him study animal videos to figure out how they moved.

  RIWOO: It actually started with a pigeon. [Laughs]

  MEMBERS: Then it was a monkey climbing a tree, a crocodile, a rabbit… even a tiger and a dinosaur.

  RIWOO: In the end, we basically look like wild animals out there. The movements are meant to feel completely natural, dynamic, and instinctive.

• Growing Up in the Open

  Looking back, do the anxieties or hard moments from your debut feel different now? Is there anything you once wished you could avoid, but now appreciate having lived through?

  JAEHYUN: If I had gone through everything from our trainee days to our debut on my own, some of it might have simply felt like difficult moments I had to get past. But because the six of us went through it together, they became shared memories instead.

  Now we can look back and laugh about it: “Remember that? That was actually so much fun.” Back then, we were just grinding in a practice room, holding onto big dreams. Now we can look back and realize that so much of what we were dreaming about has become our life.

  SUNGHO: What’s fascinating is that it’s often only in hindsight that I realize how differently another member experienced the exact same moment. The more we share those different perspectives with each other, the more there is for us to discover about one another. I think that makes our relationship more interesting.

  WOONHAK: I feel like we’ve grown even closer since releasing our first studio album. It’s not easy for a group to reach this level of closeness.

  JAEHYUN: But we pulled it off. [Laughs]

• Youth in Real Time

  BOYNEXTDOOR has consistently put the real emotions and anxieties of your age into music, while ONEDOOR has grown right alongside you. As you grow older together, do you think the version of “youth” you express will evolve too? What do you want to capture most about this exact chapter?

  LEEHAN: I don’t think youth belongs to a specific age. To me, youth is about capturing the feelings and experiences that could only belong to who you were in that exact moment. As we get older, our lives will naturally change, and the youth we express through our music will evolve right along with us.

  WOONHAK: Right now, I just want to capture how much fun we’re having onstage. After our first studio album, we found ourselves wanting to have even more fun performing, and that feeling led us to “ANIMAL.” I want this chapter to feel like one big shared moment — us jumping around and having fun with as many people in the crowd as possible.

  JAEHYUN: I don’t think youth has to be this pristine, polished concept. The youth BOYNEXTDOOR captures feels much closer to real life. Even when I look at our concept photos and music video for “ANIMAL,” I find myself thinking, “Those guys could actually exist somewhere.” To me, that feels like a very BOYNEXTDOOR kind of youth.

• SUNGHO

  

  When you think about your ambition today, what shape does it take? Is there a mark you feel you need to make as an artist?

  SUNGHO: Rather than having one specific thing I feel I need to accomplish right away, my biggest ambition is to leave something behind through music — some kind of legacy — whether that’s as a group or as an individual.

  There are so many directions we can take and different sides of ourselves we can reveal as idols. But if I had to choose what I want to leave behind first and foremost, I want it to be through music.

  On a more immediate level, what’s a short-term goal you’re keeping your eyes on right now?

  SUNGHO: If we’re talking about the immediate future, I really want “ANIMAL” to win an award. [Laughs] That’s always in the back of my mind. I guess I’ll always have big dreams like that.

• RIWOO

  

  You seem to set exceptionally high standards for yourself. While that level of strict discipline can feel overwhelming to most people, do you find structure and satisfaction in it instead? What drives you to operate that way?

  RIWOO: Honestly, there are times when setting the bar so high or putting that much pressure on myself gets tough. But the sense of accomplishment I feel when I actually hit those standards, when I follow through on what I set out to do, outweighs the stress every time. That payoff is probably why I stick so strictly to a structured routine

  Was there a specific moment while working on HOME: DELUXE that gave you that breakthrough feeling?

  RIWOO: I’d contributed to our choreography before, but this time I set a very specific goal. I really wanted to create the chorus dance and get my name in the official choreography credits.

  I started filming dance ideas in waiting rooms between music show schedules and gathered reference videos to pitch to our performance directors. I spent a lot of time breaking down my ideas and advocating for my vision. Seeing a goal I set for myself actually made it onto the stage and into the final performance meant everything to me.

• JAEHYUN

  

  Becoming part of BOYNEXTDOOR alongside the other five members must have shaped you as an artist, too. Is there a side of yourself that only came out because of them?

  JAEHYUN: I used to be the kind of person who barely had the energy to look out for myself. Now, when I wake up in the morning, I check whether the other members are awake. If someone’s sick, I find myself checking in to make sure they’re okay. Seeing myself become that kind of person still genuinely surprises me.

  I think being the leader has changed what I want, too. I used to want to become the coolest singer in the world. Now, I want to become the leader of the coolest team in the world. And it goes both ways. I don’t think I’ve ever been cared for this much in my life. The members give me so much love, so I’m trying to give back the love I’ve received.

  When the six of you come together, what color do you think JAEHYUN brings to BOYNEXTDOOR?

  JAEHYUN: All six of us have very different charms, and I think BOYNEXTDOOR’s color only feels complete when we’re together. There was a time when I thought a lot about what color I was actually bringing to the group myself.

  These days, I feel like I’m gradually becoming more certain of my own musical identity. At the same time, I want to become someone who can help bring all of the members’ different colors together.

  On HOME: DELUXE, I rap in the opening of “ANIMAL,” and I think that part really works for me. The song itself is pretty rough, and someone at the company told me, “You’re definitely good at bringing out that rough edge.” So this time, I got to show off a little of the wild side I’d been keeping hidden. [Laughs]

• TAESAN

  

  You’ve cited diverse influences in the past, from The Beatles and Oasis to My Chemical Romance and Nirvana. Do you see yourself diving deeper into rock-oriented sounds in the future?

  TAESAN: I’ve always genuinely loved rock music, so I naturally gravitated toward instruments like the bass and electric guitar. On our world tour, I actually got to play bass live for the jazz version of “Nice Guy.”

  Moving forward, I’d love to experiment with a more guitar-driven rock sound. Lately, I’ve also been really into the sound of One Direction’s music, so that’s another kind of sound I’ve been paying attention to.

• LEEHAN

  

  As BOYNEXTDOOR continues to grow, how do you view your role within the group today? What kind of presence do you feel you’re becoming for the rest of the members?

  LEEHAN: Working on this album definitely brought us even closer. Within that dynamic, I think I’m becoming someone who can be more open and proactive about sharing my own thoughts and creative ideas.

  I was involved in the songwriting process this time, contributing my own ideas to the melodies and lyrics. As I’ve gained more experience taking that kind of initiative, I think I’ve gradually become more confident, too.

  What was that creative process like for you personally?

  LEEHAN: Rather than creating something entirely on my own from the beginning, I really enjoyed the back-and-forth of exchanging ideas with the members and building something together. Seeing my name in the album credits made me really proud.

• WOONHAK

  

  You once said, “If I only get one life as a singer, I have to make it all the way to the top.” What does “the top” mean to you today?

  WOONHAK: I want us to achieve something that’s never been done before. But to me, that isn’t just about breaking records. It could be the impact we make through our music or our live performances.

  If we can become the kind of artists who make a real impact on people growing up watching us, or even people our own age, I think “the top” is that moment when people genuinely see us that way. When someone looks at us, starts dreaming because of what we do, or feels truly inspired by us, that’s when I’ll know we’ve actually made it.

  Looking down the road, do you hope there will come a day when the other members say, “I’m glad we had WOONHAK by our side”?

  JAEHYUN: We already feel that way. If we didn’t have WOONHAK, this group would be in serious trouble. [Laughs]

  SUNGHO: He’s such a great maknae.

  JAEHYUN: He knows exactly when to be mature, but when acting like the youngest is what the team needs to lift the mood, he somehow knows exactly how to do that, too. There are so many times when I catch myself thinking, “WOONHAK really holds this team together.”

  SUNGHO: He’s basically BOYNEXTDOOR’s Park Ji-sung. [Laughs]