Speaking with K-pop star Mark Lee, known simply by his stage name Mark, it’s easy to forget that he’s only 25 years old. The Canadian-born rapper, a member of the mega-group NCT (and its sub-units NCT Dream and NCT 127), has been in the public eye for over a decade.
In 2012, he auditioned for a Korean K-pop company called SM Entertainment, which was scouting for new talent in Vancouver. A year later, Mark had moved to Korea and was part of the SM Rookies, the company’s training team, a group of youngsters that featured several soon-to-be stars.
By the age of 16, Mark had officially debuted as a part of SM’s latest boy group concept, NCT, a 20-plus-member collection of singers who were frequently broken into smaller bands, called subgroups (NCT 127, NCT Dream, WayV among them). In the years since, Mark’s fame has exploded, regularly packing more than 15,000-seat arenas and releasing multiplatinum albums.
The K-pop star speaks with The Hollywood Reporter via Zoom from Paris after finding a moment away from the European leg of NCT Dream’s world tour, promoting their latest album, Dreamscape. “I’m pretty sure it’ll be the album that’ll take our team to the next level,” he tells THR.
Can you talk about the new NCT Dream album, Dreamscape? What have preparations been like?
It’s a full-length album, 11 tracks in total. If I were to talk about “When I’m With You,” the title track, it’s a song that’ll really make all of our fans feel like, “This is NCT Dream.” You know what I mean? I feel like a lot of our original colors and aesthetics are this concept, but we kind of took it to the modern level. I feel like a lot of our fans will really notice that, and I’m pretty sure that they’ll like it. I’m really looking forward to their response. The song itself is actually an easy-listening song, but also very hype at the same time.
There is this idea that you’re perhaps the busiest person in K-pop. You’re very busy. Do you have any thoughts on that? Do you feel that that’s accurate?
I think it’s kind of accurate. [Laughs] But I have a lot of other K-pop idol friends. Whenever I talk to them, they’re always like, “Ah, we’re busy too. How’s life?” They’re always just on tour. They’re always busy as well. My members as well, they’re always busy. Accuracy-wise, I am realistically, actually busy, but I think I get more of that credit because just on the surface, the fact that I’m in both teams [NCT Dream and NCT 127] makes it look like I’m even more busy just from that. I think it comes with that image and with actual accuracy.
Considering how busy you are, is there anything you like to do to relax and recharge on tour or when you’re rehearsing for a new album?
One thing that I really have to have every time is a song that’s just kind of heals me from my current condition. I need to have that. Whether I’m walking in the airport or going on the bus, that, let’s say three and a half minutes, would really kind of cool me down. That song changes every now and then. Other than that, I like putting on a sleeping pack for my skin before going to bed. I think that cools me down too.
NCT Dream and NCT 127 are often very different sonically. The solo music you’ve released so far is also quite different from both of those. Is there a genre you prefer or do you like that you can dabble in multiple?
I’m actually preparing for my solo album right now. The toughest thing about this was that I realized that there wasn’t a specific genre that I couldn’t really pull off. I can imagine myself doing so many different things, but that kind of made it harder for me to choose which ones I wanted to be on this album specifically. For 127, for Dream and for my solo album, they’re all genres that I really like to do. I think that’s one of the biggest talents that I have in a way, which is why I think the message of what I want to portray is what’s really important. I think that kind of helps me narrow all those genres down.
What do you find yourself drawn to creatively and musically?
I think I grew up on hip-hop music the most out of all the genres. I fell in love with music the most when hip-hop was the biggest genre. I think any 808 or just a hip-hop sound in the track really catches my attention almost right away. I think nowadays, just a hip-hop base with any other genre is what I’m kind of drawn to.
You debuted when you were quite young, and you’ve now had a pretty long career. How are you feeling at this point in your career versus when you started?
I’m not going to lie, I definitely feel more established. Back then, after my trainee life, I was like, “OK, I don’t think I’m confident, but I’ll just do my best.” I was always in that kind of mindset, but now I really feel like… I’m not saying that I became more confident, but I can say that I know how I want to portray myself more to myself too now. I kind of established my craft. In a way, I was shapeless before, but now I think I kind of know what my shape is. Now, it’s time for me to add on to that shape, but I got the shape now.
Do you see yourself as a role model to younger artists?
I don’t think anyone asked me this question like this before, but I have heard that… Because in a way, I’m kind of old now when it comes to that K-pop generation. I’m in between third and fourth generation in a way. The fourth-generation K-pop idol groups, I heard how some of them were saying that they really looked up to me and they admire my work. I was like, “Oh my God, I’m already at that point of my career where the next wave is coming, and I’m hearing this already.” But, of course, I really appreciate it. I think it makes me want to prove to them more that I’m worthy of their praise.
What are your kind of goals for this upcoming year as you close this one out?
There are a lot of things planned for this year and next year, but for now, I hope everyone really focuses on NCT Dream’s new album. I’m actually really, really looking forward to it. As it links with what we were talking about… I think as a leader of this group, I for the first time realized what kind of shape of a leader I should have with my members. I think this album is the album that really holds a lot of that influence the most. That’s for this year. For next year, I have a solo album coming out in February, and I am putting every ounce of my soul into this album, no joke. There isn’t a day that goes by when I’m not working on this album or not thinking about this album. It’s going to be an album that I’m not going to have any regrets on, but I’m just really, really working hard on it.
Touching on what you just said about feeling like you’ve found your shape as a leader in NCT Dream, do you feel added pressure being the leader?
I’m not going to lie, I think I do. More than from the fans, I think from my members. I just really have this passion to show them and prove to them that this new realization of mine and really help our team. As a leader of this group, I really want to really bring our team to the next level. I want to prove to them this change, which is why I’m trying to do everything that I can for this album. I guess it’s healthy pressure.
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