[09.07.14] Lee Minwoo: I’m made for the stage, it’s my own ‘brand’ from head to toe

Not as a Shinhwa member, but as M Lee Minwoo, he has already spent 4 years on stage. Shinhwa has unknowingly become the longest-running idol group after 11 years since their debut, and had become role models to many junior groups since a long time ago. Now, Lee Minwoo is back on stage with a new album that contains his confidence in his music.

Even when he has to decorate the stage with him alone, without the other members by his side, he still exudes a glow unique that only Lee Minwoo has. This is his distinct color that he has been building into what has come to be known as “M Style”. He proclaimed, “I will decorate the stage with my own music and style, a style from head to toe, that is unique to me.”

The title of his Vol 4.5 album, ‘Minnovation’, best describes this. Combining M’s unique qualities with innovation.

“I was really preparing the album feeling as if I was standing at the edge of the cliff. I looked for the answers to my previous failures, and then resolved them myself.” Unsatisfied with the results of the 4th album, he has been constantly trying to find out the reasons behind his failure. Eventually, he found his own color, his own brand and his solution is to become “a singing dancer”.

And the title track ‘Minnovation’ was born out of such circumstances. It’s a track infused with electronica and hip-hop beats. He explained, he wanted to present a more sophisticated stage with the most trendy feel to the public. The magnificent beat with the catchy intro gives the song a taut feel. The scratch sounds achieved with Vox Effecting makes the song even more interesting.

With hip-hop and R&B as the basis, he shows his musical spectrum with the 6 tracks on the album. Besides the sweet ‘Love Me Ice Cream’; ‘Summer Time’ which fills the air with the scent of summer; the album also features a remix version of ‘The M Style’ done by 1TYM’s Song Baek Kyung. As a producer, songwriter and performer, one can feel in every song the elements that would make people dance along to the music.

“It seems that I’ve only been making music that I want to make. To let more people experience it, listen to it, and enjoy it, I’ve put in a lot of affection into it.” In his recent and fantastic comeback stage, one can feel his improved music, stage performance and changing style.

The entire album is filled with vivid fluorescence. To show off his unique personality, he used a spectacular laser glove on stage and thus really made his performance very distinctive. He also incorporated his new dance moves such as the ‘Transformers’ dance, the ‘M Tic Toc’ dance and the ‘Antenna’ dance, and at the same time, he was tirelessly involved behind the scenes, from research to design and monitoring, and the sincerity in his heart is even more obvious.

Lee Minwoo said that he’s very happy to be living a life of a singer. He’s always able to present a brand new stage and brand new music whenever he stands at the starting point again. Looking back at the time that has passed, Lee Minwoo said, “In the last 11 years, although there have been many twists and turns, but I’ve also learnt how to resolve crises. In terms of music and dance, I think I’ve set very good values.”

Casting aside his brilliant 20s, he is redrawing the blueprint for his 30s and dreaming of another revolution. Together with the Shinhwa members whom he has spent 11 years with, they are planning for a talkshow that’s different from the rest. He also hopes to achieve his dream of grooming the ‘2nd-generation Shinhwa’. “In my 30s, I plan to create the ‘2nd-generation Shinhwa’ together with friends who share the same passion in music. Of course, the Shinhwa members will all get together again, and present a complete stage performance to everyone.”

Credits: Mydaily + Su-mi@absolutshinhwa