South Korean singer songwriter Jeong Hwa, who goes by the stage name J.Fla, released her first full-length official album 'Burn The Flower,’ featuring 10 brand-new tracks, including “My Childhood,” "Invisible Me,” “Telecaster,” “A Four Leaf Clover,” “To Me,” “Bedroom Singer,” “The Hare,” “Before I Met You,” “Nineteen,” and “Sorry I Made You Wait,” inviting listeners to her autobiographical narration with a series of anecdotes about her journey she has taken so far.

Prior to her mainstream success, J.Fla rose to recognition on YouTube with her covers of well-known songs, which have amassed over 17 million subscribers and more than 5 billion views on her channel. Her covers have been praised for their quality, and her rendition of “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran has been particularly popular, with over 470 million views to date. J.Fla's ability and success have not gone unnoticed as seen by the numerous major prizes she has received so far.

In ‘Burn the Flower,’ J.Fla tells her own story through the songs, bringing her personal notes such as how she felt, what she was thinking, and the emotive sense that wrapped around her at some point in her past. For this album, the singer explores many musical genres while incorporating all of these different aspects of her personality into her compositions. Just by listening to the songs, ‘Burn the Flower’ will wake up your imaginary vision with sheer vividness.

To commemorate the release of her album, J.Fla caught up with allkpop to discuss the album, its creative process, and more. She also shared the musical genres she'd like to try in the future as well as the artists she'd like to collaborate with. Keep reading to know more about J.Fla!

allkpop: First of all, congratulations on the release of your new album! Before we start anything, could you please introduce yourselves to everyone? Tell us how you came up with the stage name 'J.Fla.'

J.Fla: Lovely to be here~ My artist name J.Fla came along when I was having just a friendly catch-up with one of my friends from church. My given name by my biological parents is Jeong Hwa. Jeong is where 'J' is from. While Hwa, in Chinese, means "flower." I didn't want to just go with "flower," so I did a little bit of tweaking to make it unique, so that's where "J.Fla" came from.

allkpop: Could you please tell us more about this studio album? How do you think this LP represents you as J.Fla?

J.Fla: I worked on this album by composing about 20 songs and amongst those 20 songs, I really cherry-picked all songs that really reflect my personal, real experience in my life. When I chose those particular songs to be presented in the official album, where they didn't need to have any addition or deletion. 'Burn The Flower' is just honestly, being truly who I am.

allkpop: You composed, wrote, and arranged all 10 tracks from the album! How was your overall experience working on this album? Please tell us about the creation process.

J.Fla: Going through this production entirely led by myself, as I have mentioned before, to bring my own thoughts and my feelings without any addition or deletion but convey exactly who I am to the listeners was the most difficult thing. When it comes to each stage of the process I had to manage, writing lyrics was the most tricky and very challenging one because I think of how to initially present what I want to convey or how I truly feel, and present these thoughts into songs. This process proved to be deeper than I initially thought. That was the hardest part, and then when I moved to making the melodies such as playing guitar, I tried to put the melodies that will go best possible with the lyrics I composed. Once that was completed, we went on to the production, and that is when the fun started. 

When it comes to production, I really enjoyed it. You know, it was almost like I made this skeleton and I put some skin onto it, then I needed to put some beautiful garment into it. This journey was taunting and not easy, but I have learned many things.

allkpop: Among all the tracks, which song is your personal favorite, and why?

J.Fla: It is very difficult for me to choose one because I literally created the songs from every single piece of my soul. So it's tricky to pick one up, but I must say, if I have to choose one, it will be "Sorry I Made You Wait." The reason why is that this is a song that I composed for my fans. Thinking about my fans makes me get a little bit emotional. They have been extremely patient. Some were saying, "Don't worry about it. Take as long as you need, J.Fla. We will be listening to your songs that are available at the moment." They try to not pressure me. For me, I want to say thank you for the endless love and attention you have given to me. It wasn't even close to how I can convey my gratitude, how truly I am thankful for my fans. I was thinking, "How am I going to say thank you properly to my lovely fans?" That's when I came out with, "Okay. I'm gonna convey my thanks message to my lovely fans by composing this song and putting on my voice that I want to present to my fans." "Sorry I Made You Wait" is a song dedicated to my fans I believe, just saying "thank you" with my words is not good enough, but at least it conveys how truly I am thankful.

allkpop: As you've participated in creating music. How do you usually work on creating songs? Could you perhaps walk us through how your day is writing songs, and what are your inspirations behind this music?

J.Fla: As I have mentioned before, working on the lyrics was the most difficult thing because it needed to come from my own story. I needed to elaborate on my own story about music from the beginning of the moment when I decided to dedicate my life to music, and I had to keep looking back at how I felt at that certain moment. So I had to revisit those times of my life and put it all together into this album. 

My daily routine was, once I've worked on those lyrics and obviously worked on the melody, then the latest stage, we will go for the production process. What inspired me is my life story, my real experience. I do remember now and then that during the whole process, I was fully engaged a hundred percent. I mean, you know, there were some silly moments that I won't even be thinking about... The songs in my dreams, waking up for no time during the night, trying to jot down something that I came across. I would even try to record my voice on my mobile phone when I wake up during the night. The point I'm trying to make here is that I was a hundred percent into making this album.

allkpop: You're a famous YouTuber with over 17 million subscribers! From covering songs to, now, releasing your own self-produced music. How does it feel to experience that transition in your career?

J.Fla: This is a background of my career that not everyone knows, that I actually started my career as a composer. In Japan, I used to sell my songs to other artists. Then I decided to present myself via a YouTube channel where I started to cover other artists' songs. Now, moving on from there, I am starting to compose songs by myself with my story embedded in them. In a way, it's completely different. It's definitely on another level... the weight on my shoulder, the way I feel when I'm working on it. Looking back, I think I really wanted to do well and I wanted to make sure everything is absolutely perfect. Yet again, singing my own song to my fans, I felt a little bit cautious, a little bit concerned about how it would be delivered. Because of my desperation, I want to do really, really well as a songwriter. Delivering these songs... I feel almost hungry like a hedgehog — you could tell greediness. Looking back, I think I pushed myself too much. From the previous things, I've moved on and I'm now dedicating myself to delivering my own song to my fans, that's what I've been focusing on now. I really want to do exceptionally well, and I want to do everything possible to deliver my story, and my own music to my fans out there.

allkpop: Speaking of that huge number of followers, I know this was also one of the factors that pushed you to take on the challenge of releasing your very own music. Did you expect this kind of fame, the amount of support you've released for covering songs?

J.Fla: No. Never. (laughs) I never expected this enormous support. I think I have always been in a position where while I was working on creating my original album, I have always been seeking any kind of stage to sing and to be with my fans. The YouTube platform turned out to be one of those possible platforms where I can be connected with my fans. That was the humble start I had with YouTube, and it was part of that. While I was working on my album, I didn't want to sort of wait until it was all completed. I wanted to do so much and just keep going. I wanted to engage in that perspective fully, so that's why I used Youtube — not knowing how many people will follow and what kind of enormous support I would then receive from that. It blows my mind. I didn't really try very hard to accumulate those followers. For example, I don't necessarily make eye contact with the viewers. I don't try to add any charming elements to promote myself or to drag more people to follow me. It was almost like I was going in the opposite direction. The enormous support is definitely not something I have predicted or expected. But again, without a doubt, I am extremely thankful for that.

allkpop: Since you've covered a lot of songs, I wanted to ask if there are songs you'd love to cover in the future.

J.Fla: In the future, I don't have any particular song in my mind. But I spent a bit of my time in France last year, and I have gathered such fond memories while I was there. So I'm thinking, perhaps, one of those French songs that people want to hear. I also might consider Japanese and Indian music. I am starting to get very interested in them. But all in all, I am open-minded in trying to get to know various songs in various languages all around the world. I actually have got plans to cover a couple of songs in the very near future, so you'll get them soon!

allkpop: Are there any specific concepts or music styles you want to try for your future releases? Any musical genre that you've heard, say from a group or any artist since you're also covering songs, and are interested in trying because you think it fits you?

J.Fla: I believe when it comes to trying new musical genres in the future, it doesn't need to be in the long term, because I believe a minute after this interview will be the future, tomorrow will be regarded as the future. So 'Burn The Flower,' has got the concept and style for my future concepts. The one thing that I'm focusing on is to create music that when one listens to it, sometimes somewhat presents the future. It's almost like if one turns on my music as background music and they start listening to it. It will make me feel like, "Oh, they're listening to the song of my own story." That's the kind of connection that I'm seeking. I'm trying to make that happen, and I'm trying to sing that. Even if a total stranger listens to my song, that person will seem to be connected to me through my song, like almost having a private chit chat or a little bit of talk. To make that possible, I'm really working hard and I'm trying to find a way to make it happen. I want the listeners to start to feel that way when they listen to my songs for this moment and for the future to come.

allkpop: Do you have any artists in mind you'd like to collaborate and work with in the future?

J.Fla: There are too many. There are just so many talented artists all around the world, and they're absolutely stunning. If I'm going to start giving you names, we are going to stay overnight here. (laughs) What I can tell you is I want to work with an artist working on hip-hop and EDM. The reason why is that, in the past, I did a cover song by Eminem. I tried to do rap, and this, for me, was a huge challenge, but my fans absolutely loved it! I'm always open to trying various types of challenges. I welcome those ideas and try some new things. And because my fans are very interested in me trying to rap, they wanted to hear more and more, so I would like to fulfill their request. To answer your question, artists working on hip-hop and EDM might be my next possible collaboration.

allkpop: Do you have any goals, be they music-related or personal ones, you'd like to achieve, maybe with this album or for your future releases?

J.Fla: The personal goal that I wanted to achieve as a musician is that when people — whoever they may be — listen to my music, my songs will comfort them. Something that makes them recover and makes them happy. That kind of therapeutic power is what I wanted to deliver. You asking this question made me think of one comment I read from one of my fans. I think it said something like, "Because of you J.Fla, I can pause and breathe." It touches me and hits me hard. It made me realize what the power of healing my music can bring to anyone, including myself. I definitely want to be one of the musicians who deliver that sort of music that can comfort and heal people, that can tap on the back of people who are going through difficulties. For me, music is definitely the pivot of my life. It's very important in my life. The reason why I'm doing music is because it makes me happy. My goal is to be happy and make other people happy with the power of music. Going back to the goals I have set, I think I have achieved those goals in a way. It wouldn't be true if I say I'm not interested in charting on Billboard charts, to have that performance of being worldly known and having a bigger fame. Some sort of numbers or figures that can present how successful I may become in the future. If I say I'm not interested in that, I will be a liar. But then, what really is important are my listeners, their happiness, and my own happiness. That's the most important goal because without that I wouldn't exist. Referring to this particular album, 'Burn The Flower,' I must make a confession that I have not been happy because it has been such a hard time going through the process. But the album came out, I completed it, so I'm very happy with that. For my next album, I'm sure I'm going to be much happier this time. All the songs' lyrics that I'm going to put in my album are already set and ready. All I need to do is to record the songs and go through the editing and production process.

allkpop: Lastly! Please leave a message to your listeners and soon-to-be fans reading this interview!

J.Fla: This hasn't been easy coming out with my official album, 'Burn The Flower.' As I described in the very first part of this interview, it was almost like creating every single piece of my soul into it. It was pretty hard. I know I love music, there's no doubt about it. Through this album, I've gone through quite a lot of learning. I understand that I have more to learn than what I know about music. I do feel the lack in my capacity as a musician. I have so much more to learn as I move forward. Such that lacking, I think it will be compensated when people actually listen to my music even though it's not perfect. Even if I try to make some sort of a masterpiece, a decent song, if no one out there listens to my music and if they listen but don't feel anything about it, then it's really not complete. In this album, I have put everything I could into it, but it only will become a hundred percent complete if you guys start to tune into it and feel what I'm trying to convey. The listeners bring life into my songs. It's you who can do it. Lastly, I want to wish good health to my fans and everyone reading this interview. I wish you all happiness, and I mean it. Thank you for having me!