EXO’s Baekhyun Reveals What Helped Him Get Through A Slump After Debut

In a recent interview with W Korea, EXO’s Baekhyun talks about his next solo album as well as what helped him overcome his slump after debut.

It will be EXO’s 8^th anniversary since debut very soon. Please tell us a bit about the beginning of your debut. How did it feel to have to learn dance although you were a vocal position?

“I just sort of had this type of ambition that I didn’t want to be remembered as someone who couldn’t dance. Thankfully, the other members stayed until late into the night teaching the dance moves to me and Chen. Kai helped Chen while Sehun helped me. We would have battles to see who taught better and who memorized the choreography better. I improved a lot during those times.”

Has there ever been a time you have been caught in a slump, music wise?

“It happened during the beginning of our debut as we were transitioning over to “Wolf” from “MAMA.” As our debut became a reality we began to receive a lot of attention, and the confident person I was suddenly lost the confidence and was scared to sing. I doubted myself thinking that my singing was strange. I gained interest in vocalization and began to study a lot about it. After a while, I began to fear less about my singing and could now predict what kind of voice I would have while singing live. I would try to even change it up a bit and try different techniques. If I liked my tone in one song, I would apply to it another song as well.”

During this radio interview from 2013, Baekhyun reveals that he always wears this bracelet given to him by a staff member from the training team. The bracelet has the word ‘fearless’ engraved in it. He fell into a rut before their comeback and was fearful of what people would say about him. This is when he received the bracelet from the staff member. The nuna told him that he was originally someone who had no fears and that she wished he would return to being the fearless person he once was.

130714 두려움이 없는 백현 pic.twitter.com/VOfJBRefwJ

— n년전 오늘의 백현 봇 (@timetobbh) July 14, 2016

Since then, many photos of him wearing the bracelet were seen, especially from 2013 to 2015.

This is the word ‘fearless’ written in Baekhyun’s handwriting. It was one of his favorite words so naturally all the fans began to love it too. He was later seen not wearing the bracelet anymore as he had overcome his fears.

Fans were relieved to see that he had gained his confidence back and was proud of him for improving his vocals. However, in an Instagram live last year, he revealed that he was taking vocal lessons in order to be able to sing a very long time. He expresses that singing is what makes him the happiest and he hopes to do it for many years to come.

발성에 대한 호기심도 갖고 있었고 제가 부족한 부분에 있어서 너무 잘 알고 있었기 때문에 너무 해결하고 싶었는데 제 가수 생활을 길게 만들어주실 저의 선생님을 만났기 때문에 앞으로 정말 오래오래 노래할 것 같아요 노래가 너무 즐겁고 가장 행복한 일인 것 같아요 저한테는 pic.twitter.com/znu9t4p8gV

— 구이 (@LuvitB) December 14, 2019

In the last part of his interview with W Korea, he admits that it was very hard to change his style of singing. He reveals he has been taking vocal lessons for about a year now and is grateful to his teacher for teaching him not only vocal skills but also ways to cope with mental health.