Upon Request
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After ending their long hiatus, Supreme Team returns with
their digital single album “Thanks 4 the Wait” as the fourth contender for
Amoeba Culture’s ‘NOWorkend’ project. After nearly 2 years, Simon D and E-Sens
come back to the stage as “Supreme Team” with the release of their new song “You
Just Have to Stay as You Are” featuring Crush.
The album’s title song “You Just Have to Stay as You Are”
serves as a message to those who are worried of their future and are unsure of
reality. The song is also fitting with Supreme Team as this serves as a new
beginning for the duo since it’s applicable to them as well. We were able to
hold an interview with the two men of Supreme Team in getting a further look
into their project album and new song.
Q: We’re able to finally meet with Supreme Team after a long
while through the ‘NOWorkend’ project. The expectations were high seeing that
the previous contenders were Gaeko, Yankie, and Zion.T. As the fourth contender
for this project, we are curious as to how you came to join this project. We
also assume that there is pressure for the upcoming songs you will release
seeing that the reaction from the audience was hot.
E-SENS: In listening to how the tracks released from the ‘NOWorkend’
project were really exciting, we had thoughts of wanting to join. We’re currently
in the midst of working on our official album but seeing how the time in
between us working on it now till our release date will have a big gap, there’s
a lot of wait time and it’s an even longer wait for me (to come back)
personally. In wanting to show the public the thoughts I’m having as of right
now, I decided to participate in the ‘NOWorkend’ project. Since it’s been such
a long time in releasing a song, I did have slight pressure in the beginning in
feeling the need to do better than before but while I was in midst of
production, producing was really fun and I was able to wrap it up happily and
contently.
SIMON D: I don’t think there was a great pressure (for me),
but I did have a bigger thought of wanting to hurry in letting everyone listen
to it. It’s been 2-3 years since Sens and I have worked on something together
and when we were writing lyrics and recording the tracks, it made me feel like I
was going back in time to the beginning days of Supreme Team which was very
enjoyable. During the entire time of production, all I could think about was wanting
to hurry in letting everyone listen to it.
Q: The single album’s title is called “Thanks 4 the Wait.” I’m
thinking that we should start from this part, so please tell us about the album
title.
SIMON D: In seeing how Lil Wayne’s mixtape title was “Sorry
4 the Wait,” we were determined to make our title “Thanks 4 the Wait” for the
next upcoming works from Supreme Team. We wanted to show our gratitude to the
fans that’ve waited such a long time during our hiatus, so we dedicated the
album title to them.
E-SENS: Just like as it’s said, it means we’re thankful for
the fans waiting for us. Through SNS or replies, I’ve seen responses like “I
want to see you two on stage,” “I’m waiting for an official album from Supreme
Team,” etc. and I was really thankful whenever I would read or hear those
things. I also want to thank those who haven’t forgot about Supreme Team and
continued to wait.
Q: Please give us an introduction of your title song “You
Just Have to Stay as You Are” featuring Crush.
SIMON D: Artist Crush – who made the song and featured in it
himself – is an artist of the crew VV:D, a crew led by Zion.T. I think that the
song reflects the courses we’ve taken in life and the people we are today. The song’s
morals are to not be too insecure about reality and to trust yourself a little
more in protecting the place you’re at now.
E-SENS: All of a
sudden, I’m now in my late 20s and I see my friends, hyungs, and dongsengs
around me worrying about the future and becoming insecure of reality where they
fall into worries in thinking, “Is this truly the job I want to be doing? Is this
the right path for me?” In our song “You Just Have to Stay as You Are,” the
moral we wanted it to have is that what you’re trusting right now is the right
path you’re going down so what you’re doing is sufficient enough, that you just
have to stay the way you are.
Q: Despite being in the same genre, we’re curious about the two
individual stories you put into your lyrics.
SIMON D: “$300,000 house, my credit card is purple swag, I have
no foreign car, and I always have Lebron x on my two feet.” What’s written in
my lyrics represents my life exactly as of right now. It shows what I’m doing
and I make the effort to show that in my lyrics – you can say the lyrics carry
my lifestyle in it. I wanted to tell those who listen to the song but also
myself that through the song, I’m doing well and that if you trust yourself a
little more, you can continue to do as you do now.
E-SENS: “Whenever people ask me how I’m doing, I only have
one answer that I always reply with and it’s ‘I’m good.’” This part was the
only part that I wanted to show and mark as my appearance. To be honest, when
people asked me that question, I would reply with that but I don’t think I was
doing well at all and it was just a reply out of greeting someone.
After writing lyrics, I truly think I actually say “I’m good”
as an answer now. You can compare this song to the song I participated in
Primary’s album called “Poison,” but “You Just Have to Stay as You Are” is a
brighter version of it although they hold the same message. My personality is
sensitive and tends to beat myself up for things but through this song, I think
I really wanted to tell myself that “I’m good” and when we wrapped up in
working on the song, I think the thought of “I’m good” crosses my mind more
where I can say it now.
Q: If you could, can you pick out a memorable line from each
other’s lyrics?
E-SENS: “The foot-long gap between success and failure is
the first two letters of my address and the source of my money is through my sincerity.”
SIMON D: “The happiness that seemed expensive to me when I was
younger was the shining Christian Dior on her wrist. Your personality changes
with what you’re wearing and that’s the first impression I had of this city.”
Q: Your second track “이릿” is unique just from the title, but
the mood of the song is a completely different feel from your title track. Could
you give us an introduction about this track?
SIMON D: “이릿” was written to have a trap genre
with a southern hip hop feel and it was produced by one of our friends TK. You can
see this song as a sequel to “땡땡땡.” If I were to explain, “이릿” has
a bit of a stronger and rougher feel than “땡땡땡” and
the message of the song isn’t just to “have fun,” but to “have even more fun
and succeed.”
E-SENS: If you look at most of Supreme Team’s songs, they
all somehow connect with the overlapping theme being “I’ll do well, I’ll do
well.” We usually go around about the theme but express it a little differently
with each song and in our title song “You Just Have to Stay as You Are,” we
express that we’re doing well as of right now while with “이릿” on
the other hand, it’s more so that whatever comes across our way, we’ll shut up
and do it. The title “이릿” is written in Korean of the English words ‘eat it.’ We
thought it’d be fun to write it in Korea so that’s how we chose it as the
title.
Q: There must be a lot of anecdotes on you working together
in such a long while. What was the most memorable anecdote while you were working
together for this project?
E-SENS: It took 5 times longer to work on this project than
our normal producing pace. We edited a verse about 7 times before recording and
I think this was the first time we’ve edited that much. Despite us telling each
other that this production will be pressure-free, I think internally we felt
pressured. Because it’s something that we’re putting out after such a long
time, we really thought that we had to do well so we kept on editing it.
SIMON D: Because it’s been too long since we’ve worked
together, I think there was time needed to adjust and unlike our early 20s
where we were more so lively, both Sens and I now realize the importance of
working together. This is also why I think that we repeated going to the recording
booth, writing lyrics, recording, rewriting lyrics, and recording again during
the duration of production. There was a day where Sens and I both spent 8 hours
at a coffee shop writing lyrics. We spent all night drinking too much coffee
and energy drinks so we felt miserable when we were driving back in the
morning. The distance from the car to the front gate is only 5 meters but we
took 10 minutes to walk because we were wobbling as if we were wasted. I hope
everyone is cautious from overdosing on caffeine…
Q: Before the 2013 Amoebahood Concert, this would be the
first time you’d be standing on stage as a team in 2 years. I’m pretty sure you
had a different feel than the other artists in the lineup, so tell us a little
on how you felt before standing on stage.
SIMON D: I wanted to hurry up and run onto the stage. When I
was promoting alone, often times Rhythm Power did help me but the loneliness
was even greater. I’ve continuously drawn the image of E-Sens and Simon D
having fun on stage together and I truly missed the energy we had on stage as a
team. I wanted to work hard in having fun on the stage for the fans that waited
and came to see us.
E-SENS: I did have lots of thoughts of wanting to go on the
stage in seeing other performances but I think that feeling grew even bigger
when I was preparing for the Amoebahood Concert. As the day of the concert
approached and we finished the rehearsals, I felt a little nervous. To imagine
this empty concert hall that I rehearsed in front of be filled with people made
me nervous but really happy.
Q: This project album is a digital single album but it’s
also been a long while since you’ve released a new song since the latest one
prior was “Then Then Then” from “Ames Room.” After releasing your new song, you
held your first stage at the concert after such a long while. This was a song
you revealed first to the fans and did you have any resolutions?
SIMON D: What I was slightly worried about was that because
this wasn’t a song everyone knew, that it would bring the atmosphere down a
little but the thought of it being a special song that we were revealing to
those who came to the concert first outweighed it. Because it’s a song we’re
revealing for the first time, I’m very nervous.
E-SENS: I was a little hesitant on revealing the song at the
concert before the official release, but I did want to let those who came to
the concert to see us have the chance to listen to it first since this is the
first time in a long whole that Supreme Team has been on stage.
Q: (After the release of the song) Now you’re awaiting your
official release of the song. What are your plans after the digital single release?
E-SENS: Right now, I want to do everything I can and want. I
want to reveal my solo works, release our official album, and do various
featuring for other artists and I’m zealous but the most important thing is to
release Supreme Team’s official album which I plan on having it be released
within this year as the goal.
SIMON D: I think we’ll be performing for a while after the
release of the single and will focus on working on our official album. We’ll
try aiming for this year, if not sooner to have it be released and as you
already know, most hip hop musicians don’t keep their promises but we’ll work
hard to keep those promises.
