Shruti Mishra (Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh), Kaamaakshi Bhat (Zirakpur, Punjab), Khushi Vaid (New Delhi) and Nikhat Parveen (New Delhi)

DRIPPIN is a 7 members boy group under Woollim Entertainment that debuted on October 28th, 2020 with the 1st mini album ‘Boyager’. The members are Lee Hyeop also known as Hyeop, Hwang Yun-seong also known as Yunseong, Joo Chang-uk also known as Changuk, Kim Dong-yun also known as Dongyun, Kim Min-seo also known as Minseo, Cha Jun-ho also known as Junho, and Alexander Vincent Schmidt also known as Alex. 6 out of 7 members were first revealed during Produce X 101. They were earlier known as W PROJECT 4 and Woolim Rookies. They recently released their first single album “Free Pass” on 29 June, 2021 and have gained 600K views on its official MV on Youtube. The Fans were surprised when famous host Ms. Sakshma Srivastav posted on her social media about an interview with Drippin. She has taken interviews with several K-pop groups such as BTS, TXT, Bling Bling, TRI.BE. The interview was broadcasted on Mirror Now and Zoom on 24 July, 2021 2:30 PM IST and is also available on Zoom’s Youtube channel. 

The interview started in a warm and friendly way. The group introduced themselves and greeted the audience with an Indian greeting “Namaste”. The 7 passionate Drippin members introduced themselves amicably and seemed so much at ease with Sakshma Srivastav during the whole Interview session. She has always asked questions that are very in-depth and gave us another perspective about K-pop artists’ daily life challenges as idols, their will for working hard and achieving the goal by walking on the same path with each other. As Drippin debuted on Indian Television for the first time, their fans who are recognised as Dreamin (Fandom name of Drippin) were so amazed with their lively interactions. Dreamin from all around the world praised Sakshma Srivastav for her hard work and research that truly showed her sincerity and dedication towards her guests. By praising the members from time to time for their Good looks and hair colors, she made the interview lively and friendly. 

The interview gets kick-started with Sakshma asking about their first single album Free Pass to which Yunseong (Leader) replied saying “the album is based on the concept of Amusement Park Theme.” He also revealed that they never went to an amusement park before together as a band but while shooting for the MV as well as jacket shoot, they went together and rode Viking, which was an amazing memory for them.

Stirring further Sakshma asked individual questions from all members, opening with Main Vocalist Hyeop to whom Sakshma addressed as “An amazing vocalist whose high notes can give goosebumps to anyone”. As we all know, great effort is required to keep stability in voice when we hit high notes and Hyeop is responsible for the same. The question asked to him was in which area he thinks he needs to give most attention and what is the biggest challenge he faces as vocalist while practicing. In response Hyeop explained, every single song demands a different vocal style and he tries his best to match with the vibe and concept of every song. He also gave an example of their previous concept which was very powerful and so the vocals were too, whereas Free Pass has more of a fresh and youthful vibe. So, his focus is always on delivering contrasting vocals in relation to various concepts. As an applause to this wise answer Sakshma quoted, “Giving variety to the audience is a mark of a great artist.”

Main dancer, Vocalist and Leader Yunseong, is the youngest in his family and hence brought up with a lot of pampering. In context to this Sakshma enquired whether being leader is a tough shift because Drippin is also like a family and as a leader you have to be a mature person to take charge in a lot of public situations at the same time taking care of your members. Adding to it she asked how did he embrace himself for this responsibility as it’s still new to him. To this thoughtful question he replied very honestly, that indeed he’s the youngest in his family and never experienced anything such as ‘Leader Experience’ before. He elucidated “When I first came into the company, I felt quite nervous and contemplated on how to best execute myself as a good leader. Thankfully, I can now sense that the members have faith in me. As I’m leading the team, with time the goals that have been set for the group are also becoming clearer to me.” He also added that now he gained a firmer vision of how exactly to lead his team properly and responsibly, he’s getting comfortable with his role of a true leader. 

“He’s a great vocalist, the world needs to watch out for him” exclaimed Sakshma referring to the Lead Vocalist and Lead Dancer Changuk, to him she reminisced all the moments from their reality show ‘WE ARE DRIPPIN’ where the members had to go through many missions and journeys which led to their debut, experiencing all sorts of ups and downs. Discussing the same she raised the question, if he had a chance to go back at that time and give a message or piece of advice to himself, what would that be as now that face is over and he has made his debut. To his understanding he stated, there are a lot more massive things that need to be accomplished in the coming future, along with a lot of enjoyable and joyful moments as well. When it comes to going back in time he said, he definitely wants to go back and say to his past self, “There is no need for you to be nervous or scared! Just continue to enjoy while doing what you truly love the most.”

Next was the turn of purple colored hair band member, Dongyun who Sakshma exclaimed as a “good performer whose attitude on stage as a rapper is spot-on”. Since Dongyun wasn’t initially used to rapping, the question asked to him was if it was scary to debut as a rapper. Dongyun, in reply, acknowledged the fact that he wasn’t into rapping much but the hard work, practice and writing verses all alone really helped him in becoming a good rapper. Dongyun wishes to continue working hard and further enhance his skills. Sakshma herself seemed impressed with the answer and insisted that he’s really good at his part. 

The next question was asked to Minseo and he had to share his way of dealing with rejection and failure and his coming out of it stronger. Minseo proved to be a bit more emotionally mature than his other teammates. He replied that he tries not to think much of these things for which he either goes for a jog or listens to music a bit more than usual. He also believes that with every chance of failure and rejection, there’s a scope of growth and improvement. 

Next came “an extremely handsome man” (as Sakshma addressed him), Jun-ho’s chance. The question asked was, what does he find most difficult among the responsibilities that come with  being a K-Pop idol which include being good at everything including singing, dancing and rapping, taking care of one’s body and image or even while saying something. Jin-ho replied quite smartly and said that instead of finding himself in a hard position, he tries to introspect and study the situation while striving to be a better person. 

Last was the turn of the only foreign member of the K-pop band Drippin, Alex whose name gave a sense of “royalty” to Sakshma. He was asked if he felt left out in the group when he joined the group as the other six members already had a journey together as they all were a part of reality show “Produce X 101” before their debut and created a strong bond among themselves. Alex denied and said that wasn’t a single instance when he felt alienated in the group and the members were “kind brothers” to him in his journey. 

The group members were also asked how they manage to resolve minor issues or conflicts and make sure a cordial and healthy environment is always maintained. Junho answers that they all have come from different places and have completely different backgrounds. Although their age difference is not that wide, they all have very different personalities and ways of thinking. He agreed to the fact that as we live together naturally, there arises some differences of opinions and they try to consider it as a process that they are in. He also insisted further, now they always discuss the particular issue among themselves by letting each other know, with time it became a very natural process, while no one no more gets offended if pointed out by other members rather than admitting their faults and moving on. This is what helps them to improve themselves. Sakshma complimented him for being this utterly honest.

Being idols is not an easy career, the future in this industry is quite topsy-turvy. Reflecting on the same Sakshma asked about the support each member received from their parents when they told them they want to become idols, did any of their parents apprehend about taking this career path. To this Changuk revealed that his parents never really asked him about choosing a particular career path, rather he himself tried various activities and gradually found interest in singing before joining Woolim. He also admires how his parents always support him and advise him to enjoy each and every moment of what he’s doing i.e., performing on stage and living together with his members. Further Yunseong also explained how his mother sensed his lack of motivation in studies and asked him when he truly felt happiest and he honestly answered, “That time in my elementary school when I used to perform on stage.” That’s the time and today is the day when he’s truly doing what he loves whilst repaying all love and support he gets from Dreamin in his own ways as advised by his mother.

K-Pop has become a global phenomenon and is creating a remarkable spot in each and every nation. In relation to this Sakshma asked, do they as a group feel lucky that they’ve made their debut in an era where K-Pop is getting global recognition. Hyeop answered saying, they definitely feel blessed, although the current situation doesn’t permit them to travel overseas believing in the fact that as soon as the situation improves there will be better opportunities to showcase their potential and show a variety of their performances to know more about K-Pop as a whole. Next, she picked Alex asking about one thing that he would want to do when he finally has freedom to travel again after the pandemic is over. He gracefully replied that he would like to go on a trip and catch up with his grandparents, family and relatives residing in Germany whom he hasn’t seen in a very long while and wants to hold some joyful conversations with them.

Lastly, the most anticipated question which every Indian Dreamin wants to know is, “When is Drippin coming to India for a concert?” Junho replies to this with “We as Drippin have not had the chance to visit our Indian or overseas fans, so we truly want to show better sides of ourselves as soon as possible. We have been working very hard on each of our albums and songs. We wish to perform all that we have prepared in front of our Indian and overseas Dreamin.” Adding to it Minseo said “We do fansigns quite often with our Korean fans but it is upsetting how there are not as many chances to interact with our overseas fans. I truly want to meet them all when the pandemic heals.”

The interview couldn’t have been wrapped without following the tradition of Sakshma’s Interview. She made them say “Indian Dreamin Hum apke hai aur apke rahenge” (Indian Dreamins, we are yours and always will be yours). She made them speak a sentence in hindi and they sweetly obliged. This was an incredibly positive and engaging interview. The interview ended with tranquility and Zest. We are sure indian dreamin are left with joyous and cheery memorable moments from this interview. Dream of Drippin Interview on Indian Television came true for Dreamins.

Please share your thoughts regarding this interview in the comments!