It’s fifteen minutes past midnight in South Korea and I.M has no signs of tiredness and still exudes an unmatched cool energy. After a busy press day promoting his latest EP Off The Beat, I ask him over Zoom how he unwinds after work. “I listen to music that makes me comfortable without any lyrics just to clean my mind—my complicated mind,” he says. “Or, I just go home and drink. However, humans are all like this, aren’t they?”
Stress is very imperative to I.M’s stream of work. He’s emphasized it in previous interviews and thinks about songwriting wherever he is, whether it’s right before sleeping in bed or at the studio. As the youngest member of the influential K-pop group MONSTA X, he’s been rapping, singing, and producing songs since their pre-debut in the survival show No.Mercy. Fast forward nine years after their 2015 debut, he’s become a sophisticated artist who has seamlessly explored genres with his group and solo endeavors.
Both songwriting processes live close to his heart, and with his new EP, he’s settled on how to shine with his personal work. “When I work as a team, I know what the members are good at. I know their skills and abilities. It’s like a puzzle where you need to match all of them in the right position. You also need to talk to the company and think about the fans,” he explains. “When I’m working on my own music, it’s just me, myself and I. So, it’s simple.”
Off The Beat is I.M’s second release with Sony Music Korea—his third overall EP after Duality and Overdrive. The EP is a culmination of all his influences—from Latin flair guitars, soul, to his home base of R&B. Though, he still manages to tie all of that back to his own personal style. The first single “Lure” is a sultry invitation for a lover that swirls endlessly around temptation. “Tell me babe is it a crime? / One bite, I can’t satisfy / keep it on the low / But I want’em to know for sure,” he sings in the hypnotizing chorus. The song stemmed from a straightforward beat that his producer sent him and over time, his imagination bloomed.
“Bust It” is another standout track for him, and he describes the process of it becoming a surprise hit. “I always like to put an unknown language when the song starts as a demo. Then, I started putting some lyrics and it started getting into a good shape,” he reflects about the rap song. “I didn’t expect it to be much better than the demo version.” Structured with delicate trap beats, I.M embraces his strong suits and calls out the haters: “Ain’t no time to hate, why you mad? / I feel so blessed / I’ll be bussing with my brothers / Do I have to know you?”
The rest of the EP is teeming with rich contemplations of love that most young adults go through. Tracks like “X0” grasp the concept of yearning for someone desperately, but in contrast, “MMI” relishes in alone time from everybody else. “Love is really hard to define,” he said. “I think that’s the real reason why artists sing about love and relationships all the time. I think love is the best thing we can do. Of course, that gives me a lot of inspiration—including the love that I get from my fans and my family.”
With four out of six members of MONSTA X in enlisted in the South Korean military, he still makes time to bond with them whenever they’re free. He laughs about how he just worked out with Shownu, the eldest member who recently returned from the military. “We’ve been together for more than 10 years, so it feels like we’re more than family,” he says proudly of his members. “We still talk about silly stuff, and we go to our favorite restaurants and drink.”
Monbebes are also at the forefront of I.M’s mind whenever he’s doing promotions. At every mention of his fans, he smiles. “I want them to feel free when they listen to my album,” he beams. As for what the rest of 2024 has in store, he teases, “I’m planning a concert and lots of activities that I can’t say in detail. I hope they’re gonna love it.”
He’s also not stopping with his growth any time soon. He describes Off The Beat and his earlier EPs as the “best of me and the best quality that I can make at that time” of his life. He also acknowledges that he’ll put even better music out in the future as his creativity is boundless. “I believe I’m gonna change. Maybe next year or even maybe tomorrow.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
