For the past nine years, the talented siblings AKMU signed under YG Entertainment, consisting of LEE CHANHYUK and LEE SUHYUN, have risen to prominence with their continuous musical endeavors. They first caught the attention of the industry in 2013, when they won first place on SBS' reality competition show 'K-Pop Star 2.' Since then, AKMU has consistently released chart-topping hits like "How can I love the heartbreak, you're the one I love," "Give Love," and "DINOSAUR."

Since their debut in 2014 with the album '[PLAY],' AKMU has amassed an impressive discography, including four digital single albums, three full albums, one mini-album, and one collaboration album. Their latest release, '[Love Lee],' is a single album that follows their collaboration album, '[NEXT EPISODE],' which was released in 2021.

The album includes the title track "Love Lee," a clever wordplay incorporating their surname "Lee" and the word "lovely," as well as the B-side single "Fry's Dream." "Love Lee" is a delightful love song with a catchy melody, serving as a companion to their popular 2014 hit song "200%."

To celebrate AKMU's highly-anticipated comeback, allkpop had the privilege of sitting down with CHANHYUK and SUHYUN to discuss their 4th SINGLE '[Love Lee]' and their incredible musical journey. Read our exclusive interview with the talented brother-sister duo below!

Shout-out from AKMU to allkpop:

allkpop: Hi, AKMU! It's so nice to have you with us. First and foremost, congratulations on the release of [Love Lee]! It's a title that includes your name, Lee. Could you please walk us through the message you want to convey through the album?

LEE CHANHYUK: To introduce our single, “Love Lee” is a dance-genre track that can permeate your everyday life. The title itself has a dual meaning. It reflects our wish to be loved as “The Lee Siblings,” and it can also be read as “Lovely.” Just like how we “asked for love” on the title track “Give Love” of our first full-length album '[PLAY],' our heart and sentiments from that time were reflected in this single.

LEE SUHYUN: To tell you the truth, we were teenagers back then, and almost 10 years have passed since the first album, so we can’t always maintain the exact same mental attitude. Instead, we’ve accumulated a lot of experience, and mature sentiments have been added to create new impressions. Most of all, we wanted this single to make its listeners feel happy.

allkpop: I've watched the music video, and it seems so fun! The song itself gives lovely and cute vibes. Do you have any memorable or fun behind-the-scenes stories from shooting the music video?

LEE SUHYUN: We put a lot of effort in and had fun dancing and showing off our talents. We shot a scene with us running freestyle, but the fact that I could see how CHANHYUK was having so much fun startled me and made me stiffen up, so the shoot was discontinued for a while. It’s a cute and vivacious music video, so we’d love to have you enjoy it.

LEE CHANHYUK: Actually at first, we had prepared two characters who had each fallen in love. But since this was our comeback after a long hiatus, we wondered whether there was a story we could tell together rather than separately and came up with the idea that we should be in “a cooperative relationship.” SUHYUN played the role of Cupid so well that the result was very satisfying.

allkpop: Please tell us how the preparations for this album went! Did it take a lot of time for you to cherry-pick the songs to include in this single album? How did the overall preparations for this record go?

LEE SUHYUN: I told our composer CHANHYUK that we needed a song we could sing with a 100% joyful heart. It has been a meaningful experience to sing songs of various genres and concepts as AKMU, but I also like music that I can instantly immediately make an impression. That’s why I was all for “Love Lee” becoming the title track, and the whole process between recording and concept planning was easy.

LEE CHANHYUK: I remember how even on family trips, I would pack up my laptop and my guitar. I would stay behind at the hotel alone to work on music. I felt “uncertain” during the time of creating my first song, but each time I was feeling so, SUHYUN would encourage me by saying, “No, you’re doing really well!” So I could keep working enthusiastically because SUHYUN looked genuinely happy.

allkpop: I wanted to ask you, since you guys are siblings, how was your experience working together as a duo so far? Most groups and units usually have members that they don't know at first, but you guys debuted as siblings. Do you, sometimes, consider each other just as co-workers, professionally doing your job as a musician? Or do you do things just like siblings, but maybe in a more mature way? What's your approach to working together?

LEE SUHYUN: Frankly, things don’t seem to have changed much for us as siblings or as group colleagues. Especially during the preparations for this album, CHANHYUK stood by my side giving me the perfect advice or help. That’s why I felt like I wanted to further explore the fun of music activities.

LEE CHANHYUK: It’s a great advantage to be a team in which our lives and music can be combined and continued. Our career as AKMU is becoming more fun as we understand the changing situations and are able to help each other out when resolving issues.

allkpop: Last year, I saw you perform in Manila! You were so great! How do you usually prepare yourselves before taking the stage at a concert or festival? Also, do you have any plans on going on tour?

LEE CHANHYUK: Whenever I’m about to get on stage, I prepare myself by thinking, “Let’s show them everything I want to express through music.” Since this is an opportunity to intimately commune with our fans through music, I am looking forward to it with excitement. To reveal a little spoiler, we are in the process of preparing for our concert.

allkpop: It has been 9 years since your debut! Could you describe to us your experience in the music industry thus far? What do you love most about working and releasing music as AKMU?

LEE CHANHYUK: We are getting to know our intrinsic identity as AKMU much better. Although we’re siblings, we aren’t in the same positions, since one has a good voice for singing, and one has a flair for composing music. And although we have an independent image as singer-songwriters, we are affiliated with a major entertainment agency, which is a twist in itself. We’re grateful to be loved for AKMU’s own unique characteristics and music.

LEE SUHYUN: When we made our debut, we were very young, and 9 years have passed since then. It’s a great experience to be able to showcase music that grows along with us. In the future, we’ll continue to present a lot of music reflecting AKMU’s own sentiments, identity, and present images. 

allkpop: Before we end this interview, feel free to share with us the short- and long-term goals you're working to achieve! If you want, you can leave a message to our readers and your fans who have waited for your comeback!

LEE CHANHYUK: We would love to have people view our single as the first step taken toward our 10th anniversary. We also desire to release albums for easy listening starting with ‘[Love Lee],’ so we ask for your continuous love and interest.

LEE SUHYUN: We are nearing our 10th anniversary. And we are deeply moved by that. Actually, we hadn’t been active enough to live up to the love we had received. We also know that our fans want more, so we’ve been pondering over creating a window of communication through which we can get closer to our fans. We’ve also set up a new social media account for our comeback, and we are, like CHANHYUK said, preparing a concert, so please look forward to it!

Socials:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/offic...

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/official_a...

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/o...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akmu...

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@akmu

Individual:
Instagram: akmuchanhk

Instagram: akmu_suhyun
Youtube: Leesuhyun