The music video for YEONJUN’s latest solo album, “NO LABELS: PART 01,” opens with the idol head to head with another man, the pair locking eyes from dawn till dusk. In “Coma,” he sings, “You’re in my zone, come and follow / Pupils wide and floatin’,” but here, he dances in a “zone” created by the backup dancers, and whether he’s rolling his eyes back or breaking into laughter on camera, it’s as if he’s entirely enamored by something. For an artist to compel listeners to “come and follow,” they must be so absorbed in their art—“pupils wide and floatin’”—that they transform the entirety of their surroundings into a performance. YEONJUN seems to be the only thing the camera can capture in its frame as he moves in front of a deep red background, but then he actually appears to be in the middle of an expanse of nature as far as the eye can see. And, instead of sticking to a chart of dance moves, YEONJUN has the cool aura of a true artist in “Coma,” making hand gestures as he walks backwards and swiftly twists his head to the beat. In the music video for “NO LABELS: PART 01,” YEONJUN looks to be engaged in an intense staring contest that lasts all night, almost suggesting it’s the goal of an artist to give himself over to his emotions entirely even when everyone’s got their eyes on him.
As “Coma” ends, YEONJUN falls from some scaffolding right onto a bed, where he locks eyes with KATSEYE member Daniela. “Let Me Tell You,” a love song featuring the KATSEYE member about the unstoppable power of love, begins to play, and the two singers appear in shots that alternate between black-and-white and color. In the color scenes, the two are on good terms, sharing smiles, glances, and dance moves as they move through the streets. In the black-and-white shots, though, they pass right by each other with nothing so much as a smile or a look, or their silhouettes dance ferociously in front of a floor-to-ceiling lightbox in a sparse room with nothing but a bed. The sight of YEONJUN and Daniela, two of K-pop’s hottest young stars today, dancing together evokes fantasies as vibrant as the color shots they feature in. In reality, though, the two remain focused on their respective endeavors rather than the fantasies they inspire. And in the end, the camera captures YEONJUN standing alone in front of the lightbox where he had danced with Daniela just moments earlier. Maybe, behind the lives of the stars who show us the kind of fantasies we’re most eager to see, there’s a place devoid of time and space—one where, like for YEONJUN, there’s nothing but blinding emptiness.
Alone though he is, YEONJUN starts swaying to the beat as another song, “Talk to You,” kicks in. A woman throws a punch to camera that lands right in YEONJUN’s face, but he keeps right on singing. “I don’t need to look to know what is on your mind / Even I can tell I’m quite so fine,” he quips confidently, but the women in the scene appear unimpressed. When he adds, “You want me / It’s obvious, don’t lie / I know it already / When I talk to you,” he gets hit again, this time by another woman. When YEONJUN looks down at the camera and the women look up at him, their eyes are shooting daggers. Given the women's clear reaction to what he’s singing, it would seem that YEONJUN’s confidence is unearned. Still, when he’s seen walking through a parking lot, YEONJUN plays it up for the camera and pours a bottle of water all over himself, revealing his figure. Then, gripping a microphone, he cruises through the city in the back of a car as a flock of followers gradually builds and chases after him. When he falls off the back of a truck, the people swarm around and over him, but YEONJUN leaps out from the crowd, singing, “Then louder, call my name.” Next thing you know, he’s hanging from wires over a crowd thrilled to hear him perform. In essence, the “NO LABELS: PART 01” music video appears to encapsulate everything about an artist, from how they deal with scrutiny and the kind of fantasies they construct, to the process by which they become a star.
“I’m so ambitious and eager that it outweighs any inconvenience,” YEONJUN said in an interview with “Weverse Magazine” back in 2023. “This job is my pride and joy.” YEONJUN put out a four-part series of behind-the-scenes videos on YouTube documenting his process for “NO LABELS: PART 01.” He spent late nights working on the lyrics for his solo album despite a jam-packed schedule that included contributing choreography ideas for TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s single “Beautiful Strangers,” performing at the Weverse Con Festival, and shooting ads. He also stuck to a strict diet and workout regimen in preparation for the shirtless album cover. He’s entirely candid on camera in the videos, showing, for example, his frustration/torment when the lyrics wouldn’t come to him. Even so, he handles everything down to the smallest detail, pitching in ideas for his performances as well as vocal parts he wants to rerecord to make them perfect. All his efforts encapsulate the core theme and story behind “NO LABELS: PART 01”—that of an artist putting in endless effort until they can be completely comfortable showing their truest colors onstage. It’s no coincidence that YEONJUN chose to break away from standards of song and dance with the album and instead focus on his personal aura as an artist. It all comes from translating YEONJUN’s personality—one centered on professional “pride and joy” while still maintaining his individuality—into his art. At the same time, by calling the album “NO LABELS,” it’s an attempt to capture the pure essence of the artist’s aura in his relationship with the public.
Just like how, in the track “Nothin’ ‘Bout Me,” YEONJUN sings, “What you want? I’m my own product / What you want? Rip off my label,” he refuses to define himself using any particular expression or genre at any point in “NO LABELS: PART 01.” Much like the album cover features nothing but the bare-chested artist, YEONJUN expresses himself openly through his song and dance, but the freedom to do so is something that’s hard-earned through persistent passion. At the end of the music video, the rope holding YEONJUN as he soars above the crowd during his performance snaps—but the last thing we see is him lying in the bed of a moving truck, heading who-knows-where. No matter where he is or finds himself, he turns it into his own personal stage. No matter what needs to be done, he keeps moving forward to new horizons. That’s the way the artist stands on his own—never mind labels or genres.
