WHIB is an eight-member rookie boy group under CJes Studios. Composed of members Jayder, Haseung, Jinbeom, UGeon, Leejeong, Jaeha, Inhong, and Wonjun, they burst onto the K-Pop scene in November 2023 with the single album 'Cut-Out.' 

Six months later, WHIB made its return with another refreshing single album 'ETERNAL YOUTH : KICK IT' that makes you feel the youth vibes while jamming to the songs "KICK IT" and "IN THE MOOD." The release also includes the group's first official English song, "KICK IT (English ver.)."

"Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and to Friday / We're keeping them, keeping them vibes / And riding, riding the high," the members sing in the track's post-chorus.

allkpop caught up with the members after their press conference in Manila. Check out our exclusive interview with WHIB below!

WHIB's shout-out to allkpop readers:

Here's our interview with the group last year for their debut in case you may have missed it.

allkpop: How has your 2024 been so far? And how do you plan to spend the rest of the year?

Jayder: During the first half of 2024, we were able to perform in Korea, then we got the opportunity to go to the Philippines with all 8 members for our first comeback promotions. We received a lot of energy from our fans here. We had a lot of fun performing, so I was really honored. We’ll do our best to release more content for our fans. I hope we can come back with another good album in the second half of the year.

allkpop: Could you tell us more about the message you want to convey with your latest album, 'ETERNAL YOUTH: KICK IT'?

Jayder: Just like its title, which is ‘ETERNAL YOUTH,’ we wanted to showcase the motif of eternal youth. It’s an album that we did a lot of work on to show our fans a variety of colors, each of the 8 members’ individual colors.

allkpop: Which track is your favorite: "KICK IT" or "IN THE MOOD"?

Wonjun: “IN THE MOOD”

Haseung: “KICK IT”

Jaeha: “KICK IT”

Jinbeom: “IN THE MOOD”

Jayder: “KICK IT”

Inhong: “IN THE MOOD”

Leejeong: “KICK IT”

UGeon: “IN THE MOOD”

allkpop: In the song "IN THE MOOD," there's a lyric where you talk about childhood memories. Are there any memories from your childhood or in the past that you think you won't forget?

Jinbeom: One of the pure and fresh memories is when we were together as trainees with all 8 members before debuting. We didn’t expect us to debut as a group in the first place. Debuting is a bit of an uncertain thing, so we wanted to make sure that it's a memory that we worked really hard and sweated for. That is one of our unforgettable memories.

allkpop: What was the preparation for the album like compared to when you prepared for your debut album? Was it smoother, and do you think you were able to fill in the gaps from your debut?

UGeon: To be honest, compared to our debut album, our preparation time for this album was short. As the time we were given was not enough, we had a lot of conversations about this album. Whenever we release something, we always monitor ourselves and talk to each other about what we can improve. So, I believe that’s why we were able to prepare for this album smoothly even with the time constraints. I think the reason why we were able to do it in such a short period of time is because we monitored a lot after our debut activity and practiced a lot of our skills.

allkpop: There's also an English version of the title track. How did the recording for that song go? Were there any difficulties, and how were you able to overcome them?

Leejeong: First of all, because we had a hard time pronouncing in English, we had a lot of takes and we repeatedly recorded the song for the English version. We wanted to differentiate the Korean and English versions, so we really focused on the pronunciation and blending so we could come up with a different result from the Korean version. We paid a lot of attention not only to the pronunciation, but also to the nuances, intonation, and other vocal parts to make it different from the Korean version.

allkpop: There are 8 members in the group. I was wondering if you have common interests or hobbies you do together to even strengthen your bond with each other.

Jaeha: [in English] We usually eat dinner together, go out to eat something. And we just talk about a lot of things.

allkpop: You mentioned in our interview last year that BTS, Seventeen, NCT, and Stray Kids are your role models. Do you remember the moment you decided to challenge yourself to become an idol?

Inhong: My idol group is INFINITE because like them, I want to be a cool artist and I also wanted to show them our performance, dancing and singing both at the same time one day, so our fans will be able to enjoy as well. I want to make people happy. Watching the INFINITE inspired me to dream of being an idol.

Wonjun: My role model is BTS. One of their albums, the moment I heard it, that was the moment I decided to become an idol.

Haseung: At first, I really wanted to just sing, but after liking singing for a long time and after I started listening to BTS’s songs, they became my role model. I have another new role model and it’s ATEEZ. I have a lot of favorite singers these days. I think my dream grew as I gradually got to know more idol seniors.

allkpop: Could you share with us your short- and long-term goals for the group?

Wonjun: For our short-term goal, we want for us to stick together as WHIB. As for our long-term goal, we hope to visit more different countries so we can spread our name more. We want to become a group loved around the world.

Leejeong: First of all, we want to thank our fans who support us. We are so grateful that it has been such a great memory for us with such great cheers. We would like to say that we would definitely like to come back to the Philippines when another album is produced in the near future. Thank you!

Socials:

Instagram: @whib_official
X (Twitter): @whib_official
TikTok: @whib_official
YouTube: WHIB
FaceBook: WHIB