‘It’s Telling Our Personal Stories,’ X:IN on Their New Album ‘THE REAL’

THE REAL holds honest emotions. “Our ways of becoming idols; the way we dealt with difficult times and problems we had,” says X:IN’s main rapper and lead dancer, Nova, describing the album as a musical expression of “personal stories.”

The rising South Korean girl group with homegrown E.Sha, Nizz, and Hannah, Russia’s Nova, and our very own Aria from India got their start from ESCROW Entertainment, a South Korean recordand entertainment agency. 

“X”—in their name—speaks of the unknown, discernible in X:IN and their distinct sound. Their promise was clear right when they embarked on the road of music via Ready X:IN, their debut album, released last April. Subsequently, their first mini album, SYNCHRONICITY (August 2023), further explored the unknown facets while spanning a range of music and ideas that were in keeping with X:IN’s flair.

The band’s journey to fame is now revealed in the various sentiments that THE REAL, their second mini-album, channels. “I think for this album, we’ve tried to show X: IN’s colors very extensively,” says Maknae and main rapper Aria, adding that the creative vision that went into making it was a result of their collective effort above all else. “All of us have pitched in our ideas and suggestions for the making of this whole album.”

It essentially has to do with the innermost feelings of X:IN about their ascent to fame. According to E.Sha, the leader, vocalist, and main dancer, the album contains a lot of joy, anger, and sorrow. That’s where it all begins: memories, the emotions that accompany them, as well as the rest of the journey. It’s music pulsing with the perfect balance of poignant and happy moments.

I see THE REAL as an arrangement that digs further into the experiences of each member, tracing their ups and downs, their gradual growth into the individuals they are now, and their relationships with each other.

It includes four songs. “MY IDOL,” “NO DOUBT,” “WITHDRAW,” and “NEVER SORRY.” “MY IDOL” is about the pursuit of dreams; “NO DOUBT” shows the members’ contradictory personalities; “WITHDRAW” depicts times of hardship but also the process of getting through them for the greater good; and, of course, “NEVER SORRY” introduces X:IN’s first ballad. “From the outside, it may just be a story about lovers breaking up, but if you look at it in the context of the album,” E.Sha says, “it’s our story.”

In the end, THE REAL is about strength in the face of challenges and jeers and eventually getting to where X:IN is today. Without downplaying the complexity of difficulties, the songs’ discussions of grief, denial, self-worth, and ambition have universal appeal. And none more so than the lead single “NO DOUBT,” which shows off X:IN’s juxtaposition of the mundane and the monstrous, adding to the intriguing “X” factor that makes the band what it is.

Watch the full conversation with X:IN on THE REAL below.