xikers MINJAE, "Exhausted Physical Strength for Vocal Unit Song"... Rock Spirit Contained in 'Runners High'

MINJAE of the group xikers revealed the production behind-the-scenes and musical direction of the unit song 'Runners High' himself. In a recently released video, MINJAE communicated with fans immediately after finishing practice, explaining in detail the extreme situations experienced during the song production process and the reasons for selecting the genre.

"Working through tears while exhausting physical strength"... Vocal unit song decided just before recording

MINJAE confessed that the work for this unit song was a very grueling process both physically and mentally. He shared his feelings at the time, stating that while handling a schedule of about two hours of sleep per day for approximately two and a half months, "because my physical strength was limited, I became devastated," and "during the last week when we had to make the vocal unit song, I was already out of my mind," adding, "I really worked while holding back tears."

Urgent situations continued during the song's completion process. According to MINJAE's explanation, while preparing the vocal unit song after finishing the rap unit song work, a situation occurred where they could not use the previously planned song. Due to this, they faced a situation where they had to write a new song just two or three days before recording. He revealed the urgent timeline, saying, "The recording studio was already booked, so I felt at a loss because the song wasn't coming out," and that he was only able to complete the song the day before recording. On the actual day of recording, the song was confirmed in the morning, and while heading to the recording studio, he checked the song's perfection while on the phone with a company official.

'Runners High' keyword, inspiration gained from personal experience

The song title 'Runners High' started from MINJAE's personal experience. MINJAE mentioned his experience of enjoying running last year and the year before, taking a break, and then starting running again around last July. He stated, "I was a person who had never felt runners high in my life," and explained that he came up with the keyword while recording in his notepad the sense of pride and the pleasant sensation of the wind when he stopped after running 5km during his restarted running.

MINJAE explained, "Since it is an emotion like a limited edition that you feel when you go to the extreme, I thought I could make an interesting song if I utilized this keyword," and based on this, he conveyed the theme to the vocal unit members and proceeded with the song production.

Pop-punk genre selection and combination with Rock spirit

The genre of this song is pop-punk, which was popular in the West during the 1990s and early 2000s. Regarding the reason for choosing the rock genre, MINJAE highly evaluated the unique attitude of the genre, saying, "Hip-hop and rock share the same spirit of confidently saying, 'I am the best no matter what others say.'" He added, "The bright and exciting beat and intense guitar sound have a feeling like a finishing move that makes the heart beat."

He also mentioned the strategic intention regarding the unit composition. MINJAE stated, "If the rap unit friends show a bold and strong side, I wanted the vocal unit to be a channel where xikers can release their emotional side and sincerity," and revealed that the goal was to maximize the capabilities of the vocal line members to create a song that is pleasant for the public to listen to. Meanwhile, MINJAE expressed gratitude for the current love 'Runners High' is receiving in the video, and also mentioned the preparation status for the Japanese album to be released during the winter.