Zelo: No More Misconceptions

The former B.A.P member gets candid about life after being in a boyband, the release of his first solo album in May and building his own brand

- Riddhi Chakraborty

Before meeting Choi Junhong–best known by the mononym Zelo–I take a moment to walk down memory lane and re-watch one of my favorite music videos by his former group B.A.P. It’s their 2012 debut track “Warrior,” and all the six members are blonde, confident and embody the term ‘swag’ quite literally. Zelo (just 15 years old at the time) comes onscreen halfway through, spitting fire at a speed that most other idol rappers in the scene couldn’t really compete with.

“Warrior” was about the injustices of a corrupted society and set the tone for what the band would come to mean to their fans: a symbol of revolution and the representatives of the power of the youth. They shot to fame rapidly by tackling taboo topics like mental health, societal pressure, and politics in their lyricism– which some of the members, including Zelo, were actively involved in writing. B.A.P and Zelo have both been a part of my life for several years now and it takes a moment to absorb the fact that I will be meeting him face-to-face.

When we meet in Seoul a few days later for his photo shoot for Rolling Stone India, the honesty and raw truth in his lyricism are one of the first things we talk about. “At one moment, I’m telling myself to be careful,” the now 23-year-old rapper says when I ask if he had any fear around taking on these topics over the years. “But then afterward, I feel like I have to tell the story that I have inside.”