SEVENTEEN’s S.Coups and Mingyu drop the façades on their debut EP

The formation of CxM, the new duo unit from SEVENTEEN members Mingyu and S.Coups., was, according to S.Coups, a “spur of the moment” idea. Mingyu had been mulling over the the possibility of making a solo record when the universe offered up an opportunity to team with his bandmate. They very quickly began working on their ultra-confident, bass-heavy EP, HYPE VIBES, which comes complete with a dusting off of Roy Orbison’s classic, “Oh, Pretty Woman”, interpolated into the lead single “5, 4, 3 (Pretty woman) (feat. Lay Bankz)”.

They worked on the EP, Mingyu estimates, for around four months, writing and recording across the globe while simultaneously putting together its frills-free visual concept of two very hot people doing very hot people things, like driving a convertible, hanging out on a sailboat at sunset, and playing pool in tank tops and thigh-hugging leather trousers. But while S.Coups and Mingyu (who are Hugo Boss and Calvin Klein ambassadors, respectively) have made HYPE VIBES sexy in places, it’s far removed from their sneering, smirking contributions to SEVENTEEN’s recent fifth album, Happy Burstday. Instead, it’s unfettered and celebratory, arms flung wide to embrace the multiple genres they love, and the freedom they have here to play with them.

They’ve known each other, and worked together, for over a decade. Sat in a corner of a room at their label’s HQ, they’re bare-faced and casually dressed, listening carefully so as not to interrupt the other’s sentences. Mingyu is charming and restless, flipping and flicking his hair until it stands on end; S.Coups with a bucket hat pulled almost to his eyes, is thoughtful and attentive. They possess the ability to pre-empt and finish each other’s thoughts but CxM has surprisingly allowed allowed them to discover new facets of each other. Dazed caught up with them to find out more.   

Because you’re both in SEVENTEEN’s hip hop unit, I was rather surprised that HYPE VIBES delves into R&B, pop, rock and EDM. Why is that?

S.COUPS: We really wanted to capture everything that we love on this one record, so you would have noticed that every track is of a different genre. And the reason we selected ‘5, 4, 3 (Pretty woman) (feat. Lay Bankz)’ as the lead single is very hard to describe because it was just an instinctive draw.

Where did the choice to interpolate Roy Orbison’s ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ come from? 

MINGYU: It just so happened one day that I serendipitously came across that song and it’d been quite a while since I’d heard it. I was like, ‘Huh, why does this song sound familiar, I know this song’. It’s such an old song but it’s so timeless. We really wanted to interpret it from our perspective in this day and age, and thought it’d be fun to put our unique touch on it. After the song was completed, we saw the movie [Pretty Woman]. So for the music video I think we drew quite a bit of inspiration from the film.

You both have lyric and songwriting credits on the EP, but how involved were you across the entire process?

S.COUPS: When it comes to the music video, the jacket images, the outfits, we were involved in every single decision made, and Mingyu and I were in discussion throughout. The most surprising thing while we were working was that I knew we had similar taste in music from being in a group over the past ten years, but I learned that Mingyu and I really connect on a personal level, too. Our personas are on the same wavelength.

How would you describe that dynamic then? What do you agree on, and what do you disagree on?

S.COUPS: I don't think there were any difficulties or frictions when it comes to the production. There’s a track titled ‘For you’ and I think it’s the best description of our dynamic. Like, when I’d ask Mingyu what he’s planning to do day-to-day, the casual answers that he’d give me, those honest emotions, that’s what we really reflected in the lyrics of that song. It’s about the friends and members and family that we love the most.

I have to ask about the two little aliens that appear in the EP’s trailer…

MINGYU: We have a very cute little premise going on. These aliens – Kuute and Mante – came to Earth to conquer the planet but they had to hide for a while so they mingled with the general public and they happened to listen to our music. They’ve turned into K-pop fans.

Hide? One of them is sticking out of a giant billboard at the end.

MINGYU: They’re doing a crappy job of hiding. As time goes by, I hope they’ll get more K-pop-savvy so one day we could create a record together. We could have the world’s first alien feature in a song.

You recorded in Hawaii, Seoul and Los Angeles, is that right?

MINGYU: We didn’t record in Hawaii, we just worked on the songs.

So Hawaii was a bit of a working holiday?

MINGYU: [Laughs] Actually it was very busy because we had to do a lot of photoshoots and film for the record, from 10am to 10pm, then when we wrapped we went back to our hotel and worked on the songs. It was hectic but also a beautiful memory. On ‘Earth’ the lyrics read ‘Run away beyond the moonlight’ and that was inspired by the moonlight glistening on the Hawaiian ocean.

There are two mentions of the Milky Way on this EP (‘Young again’ and ‘Earth’), so is there a bigger meaning behind it? That, perhaps, the galaxy is infinite while, on Earth, we only have a finite amount of time to enjoy our lives?

MINGYU: If that’s your interpretation, then that’s fair. You’re a very imaginative person. But I don’t think that crossed my mind when I was working on that song. I just wanted to use a word that sounded really grand and limitless, and sounded something beautiful sonically.

I have to single out ‘Earth’ as my favourite track, not least because the drop for the chorus really threw me. It’s a big, big song.

MINGYU: When I first heard the hook, I was instantly like, ‘This is crazy, this is insane’.

S.COUPS: We actually finished the chorus part first, then, in Hawaii, we worked on the rest of the song. We wanted to go for a genre that we’d explored less as SEVENTEEN, but EDM is also one of mine and Mingyu’s favourites as well. We thought, if one day we had a concert together, what kind of exciting, uplifting song could we have to enjoy the moment with our fans? That’s where the idea began.

On ‘Young again’ you talk about having no regrets in youth. What would be your craziest memory of that time?

S.COUPS: The most insane, life-changing thing that happened was obviously debuting. It was the biggest turning point of my life and the wildest decision I’ve made so far, so it’s going to be hard to top that. But, as a new and emerging artist, it was hard then to savour those moments, so that’s how we came to write this song. We want to say that people should live in the present, and to the fullest.

The concept of this EP is to strip away the façade of celebrity and get back to the real you – why was that important for the here and now?

S.COUPS: I just believe that as a celebrity and an artist that there’s some parts of me that I’ve made up. It’s a face I have to wear as a public figure. But here I wanted to show my true colours and to highlight that for everyone – no matter what their job is, no matter what kind of life they’re living – who may have to wear a fake persona, how important it is to drop that. No façades, no frills, and go back to who they are and find their true self.

You’ve been famous for a decade, a long time to spend in the intense celebrity world. How do you balance that side – the moments where everyone’s screaming your name – with the unavoidable mundane, like taking out the rubbish or doing laundry?

MINGYU: That disparity might make some [artists] feel a little confused or lost but I’ve never felt that. Stars are also human beings so, for me, there’s no difference between finishing a concert and coming back to do the laundry or taking out the rubbish, to the way other people go to work then come home to do their daily chores. I think this is a healthy mindset that might help me last longer as a superstar.

Idols are beloved for their onstage/offstage duality but now you’re both involved with the fashion industry, have you found it presents a new, third world for you to explore and embody?

MINGYU: Of course! Lyric making, fashion, dancing, and dressing up are all different ways to express myself, and strangely enough I definitely think a third persona comes out when I’m dressing up. What’s even more interesting and strange is that when I go to a Dior show in Dior or a Calvin Klein show in Calvin Klein, or even just going out in a simple hoodie, I have different attitudes every single time. That’s the most fun part. If I were to perform the same song a hundred times but in a different outfit, my attitude or gestures would be different in each and every performance.

S.COUPS: Whether it be Hugo Boss or the outfits we wear onstage, I try to imagine the intentions of those who made the outfits, what they would have wanted the person wearing them to be like. So rather than having the costumes fit myself, I try to imagine the person who’d be the best fit for them. In a way, I'm acting as a persona of the clothes I'm wearing.

Given how long you’ve been making music, is doing a record like HYPE VIBES important to keep yourselves excited?

MINGYU: I think you’ve really understood us because it was exactly that. Working as a team of 13 members and creating an album isn’t easy, but these opportunities as a unit allow us to relieve our thirst and do music we'd been itching to do. The biggest goal I envisioned for this album personally was to do a concert with its songs. I kept on imagining what it'd feel like to sing each song on stage to the crowds, so I can't wait for that moment.

S.COUPS: For me, this EP felt like another beginning. [These days] we have a large group of staff and people helping us out, so there’s certain aspects or details that I don’t have to worry about. But for this EP, we really wanted to take it into our own hands, to go back to the beginner mindset and do everything for ourselves, and I think this will help me [long-term] as a musician.

MINGYU: We still believe there are things that we’re yet to do. And I also believe, based on what we’ve achieved and discovered as SEVENTEEN, it’s now time to discover what I want for myself. 

S.COUPS: I’d love to go to the Met Gala again, this time as the two of us, and Coachella, and Glastonbury. All the festivals on the face of the Earth, I’d love to hit every single one of those.

MINGYU: Even if it’s something we’ve done as SEVENTEEN, doing it as CxM is going to be a completely different experience, so if the opportunity allows, I’d love that, too.

CxM’s debut EP, HYPE VIBES, is out now.