26
8 DAYSscene & Heard
STORY (^) CHERYL ONG
ZICO
FIGURE
South Korean rapper and new
Skechers ambassador ZICO doesn’t
take himself too seriously. After
all, he thinks dissing himself in his
own music is “fun”.He discovered his talent thanks to boredom.
“During my school days, I was planning to major in
drawing. Once, when I was in a drawing class, I felt
bored and started listening to music. I started liking
that instead of drawing. This led me to become a
musician. ”He’s his own worst critic.
The boybander-turned-soloist recently released his
second mini-album Television, which contains the song
‘ANTI’. With lyrics like “You can’t fool me/I’ve seen
your face off-screen/I’m going to wipe your make-
up off/And tell the world that it was all an act,” the
song was written from the perspective of a hater. “I
got inspiration by thinking that I’m a hardcore Zico
anti-fan,” he said. “This was a topic I always wanted
to tackle. I thought it’d be fun to criticise myself. It’s
not based on my own experiences. But after looking
through the lyrics, I think that I’m a pessimist.”He’s a workaholic.
“I get inspiration from books, good quotes and my
conversations with others. My motivation is music
itself. I work day and night to make the best music!”He destresses by enjoying a tipple with his
squad.
“I don’t have many rest days. But when I do, I like to
meet my close friends. I try to deal with the pressures
of work by doing things that bring me joy, like catching
up with friends over beer or spending time with my crew
at our workroom.”He’s a Japanophile fashionista.
“I’ve been interested in fashion for a long time. I love
shopping in Japan and the fashion sense of Japanese
hip-hop musicians — it’s unique and pretty.”
PHOTO: KELVIN NGOI (SKECHERS SINGAPORE)New kid on the
block: The K-pop star
and leader of Block B
is the ambassador for
Skechers’ new D’Lites
range.