Composer Yoon Il-sang Reflects on Singer Yoo Seung-jun's Past Choices and Career

Composer Yoon Il-sang recently reminisced about singer Yoo Seung-jun's past attitude and choices.

On October 10, the YouTube channel 'Producer Yoon Il-sang' released a video titled 'Yoo Seung-jun's Debut Era + Late Seo Ji-won + Baseball Cheer Song, Behind Stories You Love.' When the production team brought up Yoo Seung-jun, Yoon Il-sang jokingly responded, "Why bring that up? Do you want to go down?" He was then asked to share his first impressions and the popularity of Yoo Seung-jun's debut album.

Yoon Il-sang said, "I worked on 'I Love You, Nuna' for his debut album. Around that time, there was so much of my music on air that a so-called 'Yoon Il-sang quota system' was created. The original title track was 'I Love You, Nuna,' but it was changed to 'Scissors.' During the 'Scissors' promotions, his gaze, actions, and dance were intense. Yoo Seung-jun was the first artist I wanted to personally produce." He added, "The producer gave me the opportunity to oversee the overall concept, including tracks like 'The Love I've Been Waiting For.' Although 'Na Na Na' was the title track, we created it together."

Regarding his popularity at the time, Yoon Il-sang shared, "It's hard to compare him to someone like G-Dragon now. If it were today's era, the whole world would have been buzzing. The production company even went to the U.S. to meet Michael Jackson, who praised Yoo Seung-jun's dancing."

Yoon Il-sang continued, "Yoo Seung-jun worked hard and did well. He aimed for the rough West Coast rap style, while Korea was more East Coast-based at the time. Even if he had complaints, he followed along. He wasn't an outstanding singer, but he was decent, and his rap was excellent with overwhelming performances." He noted, "He was polite, but we were only close professionally. His heart seemed to be in America. He probably saw Korea as a business ground and thought of America as his home, which might explain his hard-to-understand choices."

He added, "Yoo Seung-jun made promises to the public. If he couldn't keep them, he should have sincerely apologized. Apologies should be repeated until accepted, but that never even started. That's why there was a strong sense of betrayal towards the country." He emphasized, "Personally, I don't hate him. However, as a celebrity, Yoo Seung-jun clearly made mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, but it's what you do afterward that matters."

Meanwhile, Yoo Seung-jun debuted in 1997 with his first album 'West Side,' producing numerous hit songs. He had announced his intention to enlist in the military but avoided mandatory service by acquiring U.S. citizenship, leading to a ban on his entry into Korea since 2002.