It’s rare to see an artist raking in their personal best numbers eight years into their career, but K-pop boy group ATEEZ shows no signs of slowing down.
“With every comeback, honestly, our results keep growing and it keeps getting better,” says Seonghwa, the eldest member of ATEEZ at just 27 years old. The group just had their biggest unit debut on the Billboard 200 in February with the release of their 13th EP Golden Hour : Part 4, landing on the chart with 200,000 equivalent units. Of those, 195,000 units came from pure sales, marking their biggest sales week as well.
“That comes in part from our efforts — we do work hard — but a lot of that also comes from the people that recognize and acknowledge our efforts, which is our fans, Atiny,” he continues. Atiny, the name for the group’s dedicated international fanbase, seems to always be at the top of mind for the eight members of the group, bringing up their fans several times during this conversation.
It’s nearing late afternoon in Singapore, when ATEEZ gathers around a camera for this Zoom conversation. The group — consisting of members Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho — is in the midst of the Asian and Australian leg of their In Your Fantasy tour, which kicked off with two nights in Incheon, South Korea, along with an entire North American leg, last summer.
The group is fresh off Golden Hour : Part 4, and its single “Adrenaline,” and they’ve been going nonstop — as they have since their debut in 2018 — from promotions to touring. But the members of ATEEZ, as their fans have come to know over the years, always seem to find moments of laughter and joy even when their schedules are packed. When Yeosang, 26, explains how he sings his part in their latest single, the group erupts into giggles as the staff member translating tries to mimic him. Later in the conversation, Mingi, 26, elicits fond laughter from his group members as he stresses how close they are and his latest desire to take a trip with his teammates.
THR caught up with the group to hear about making their latest album, why they love the B-side “NASA,” how the tour’s going and what message they want to send to Atiny right now.
Can you tell me a bit your new album or what you were thinking about going into it?
SAN Before we released the new album, we talked and thought, “What does ATEEZ do best?” Ultimately, singing and dancing, but we [put] our heart [in it]. That’s it.
I feel like you guys try a lot of different genres, but “Adrenaline” feels a little more out there, sonically speaking. Did anyone find any particular challenges with that?
YEOSANG Actually, while recording the studio, there’s this part that we’re basically yelling, “We’re pumping adrenaline.” That part, I think, really, it was the loudest that I’ve ever used my voice. I really strained myself in order to really push that. I think that was one of the hardest things in my life.
ATEEZ for ‘Golden Hour: Part 4.’
KQ Entertainment
With this album, you charted at No.3 on Billboard. It was obviously a tough week against some really large acts, but you still had your highest sales week ever. That’s pretty rare for someone at this stage in your career. You only seem to keep growing. Does that excite you still?
SEONGHWA With every comeback, honestly, our results keep growing and it keeps getting better. Yes, that comes in part from our efforts — we do work hard — but a lot of that also comes from the people that recognize and acknowledge our efforts, which is our Atiny, our fans. Honestly, when we see that kind of acknowledgement and recognition for us, it makes us think that it only makes us want to work harder. It gives us motivation to do even better for the next album.
To go off of that. As you know, I’ve been following you guys for quite a few years now and something about this album does feel a little different. You’ve won a lot of music shows, and it’s obviously your highest sales week on Billboard. Does it feel different to you, or does it feel like just another album?
MINGI It’s actually the first album that we’ve made since renewing our contracts. We worked really hard. It’s really all thanks to Atiny that we were able to have this album recognized [on charts], and we were able to win so many awards. Obviously, we’re very happy about that. If I think back to the process itself, we made so many memories as we were working on it, and it only makes us want to put in even more effort. The enjoyment of the actual process itself gives us motivation.
It seems like over the years, you guys have gotten more involved creatively in your albums. San, I know, you helped choreograph. Hongjoong, I know you did a remix, but can you tell me about why it’s important to be involved creatively for you?
SAN Since it’s an ATEEZ album, honestly, being involved should be the foundation, the basis for it. Technically, doing a remix for it or choreography are little parts and segments that are part of the whole picture, so every part of it is a part of us in a sense. I’m very thankful that the members perform the choreography that I made on stage very well.
HONGJOONG These days we feel like [the work] isn’t finished [even though] we just released an album. We have to promote that album with our talent. We really [get] into how to show our performances to the audience and Atiny with our talent. For me, that’s a remix and San made choreography. We took so many videos with that. But every member is always thinking a lot about how to promote our new albums and new songs with their own skills. That’s why we did a “NASA” performance video, and that was our choice too.
I’d actually love to talk about “NASA” and the performance video. The song seems to be a favorite amongst you guys. Why did you want to promote it as well?
SEONGHWA For the song itself, to be honest, we’re always wanting to try new things. When we first listened to the actual guide, the demo of the song, we each sort of had a vision of ourselves. When we listened to the actual song, we thought it was amazing. We wanted to show ourselves doing the actual choreography. When we were working on the choreography, we loved how it fit the song. Once we were at that stage, we thought it was great and realized we wanted a video to really show ourselves with it. Then we did the performance video and actually wanted to also perform it on a live stage — so there were several steps that went into this process. Each time we were like, “Great, now we want to see it on an even bigger screen, on an even bigger stage.” A lot of different people came together to really help us bring this vision together.
ATEEZ attends the press conference for the group’s 13th mini album ‘Golden Hour : Part 4’ in Seoul, South Korea.
HLL/Imazins via Getty Images
I love that. Does anyone else have any other favorites on the album that are not those two songs?
WOOYOUNG I like “On The Road.” It honestly has a different vibe depending on the atmosphere — whether you listen to it during the day or if you listen to it at night. Every time it has a different vibe to it. It’s very charming.
HONGJOONG I like the song “Choose.” It was a pre-release song that we put out just for Atiny. The lyrics and the vibe are all for the fans. We’ve spent seven years with our fans, and we were able to send them a message with that song. That means a lot to me.
I feel like you’re always being asked what other genres you want to try, but is there any genre or style you’d like to revisit? Any kind of vibe you’d want to go back to?
YUNHO I want to try something like “Wave” and “Illusion” again.
HONGJOONG [It’s] the tropical vibe.
JONGHO I think I want to try rock.
SAN You want to try rock?
JONGHO Something like “Guerrilla.” Honestly, when we perform “Guerrilla” at concerts, there’s this energy that I really like that comes from the eight of us.
Speaking of concerts, you’re currently touring Asia on another leg of the world tour you started last year. How’s that been going?
WOOYOUNG It’s been a while since our last Asia tour, and we’re honestly so thankful that everybody always welcomes us so warmly every time we come here. It gives us so much strength to work even harder.
Do you guys have any specific goals for this year? Anything you’re working towards?
MINGI Honestly, we’d love to chart again on the Billboard Hot 100. We’d love to, of course, win many awards. We’d love to go to award shows. We’d love to attend many festivals. We want to go to all of these places and do these things so we can be an artist that our fans can be proud of.
Do you have any personal goals for yourselves as artists or even just small goals for yourself?
MINGI I have one! We’re all really close. We’re all super friendly [with one another], but honestly — it could be just the two of us or the three of us — but I want to go on a journey or a trip together somewhere. And [just] be together, make memories and have a good time.
SAN Wow.
I like that goal.
YEOSANG Honestly, for me, my personal goal is to be able to see the growth that I am making within myself this year.
ATEEZ for ‘Golden Hour : Part 4.’
KQ Entertainment
Is anyone finding inspiration from anything in particular this days?
YEOSANG I did a dance challenge with Yoseop from Highlight, or Beast. When I went to do the dance challenge with him, it made me think back to, I guess, their prime. Their best moments, when they came out with songs like Shock or Fiction, Breath, famous songs that we’re all very familiar with. I went back and actually looked at those music videos — I got a lot of inspiration from them.
SEONGHWA Obviously, I get a lot of inspiration from movies, books and dramas. But recently, when I watch fashion shows, I get a lot of inspiration. They tell a story with their outfits and the materials that they use, the same way that we would tell a story with our own music, which I find very interesting.
As you get older in this career, you seem to get the opportunity to do a lot more yourself. When you were younger, it was very much all about the group. How do you stay grounded when trying to balance everything?
WOOYOUNG Honestly, the best way is to find ways to release your own stress. There’s ways to keep yourself grounded. Yes, our schedules are busy with everything that we do have going on, but there are ways for you to release stress like maybe traveling or playing games with the members because they love playing it together. Or maybe I’ll go eat something really good with San.
HONGJOONG For the work side, we try to keep a balance between ATEEZ’s group schedule and our own individual schedule. It’s really hard trying to balance [everything], but we communicate with each other a lot. We try to make time [in the schedule] if someone has something interesting [come up]. Or if it’s their dream [to] work [on that project], we try to make time for them.
You’ve been with each other for more than eight years counting your training. This is something I’d ask a younger group, but I’m curious to hear your perspective on this now. Do you feel you’ve learned anything in particular from one of your fellow group members?
SAN The members inspire me in many ways. Technically speaking, [I’ve been inspired by] the way they learn things or the way they take on performances. Yes, we’re friends, but professionally speaking, there’s so many aspects of them that I find inspiring and can learn from. The way they perceive things really inspires me too.
What do you think people should know about ATEEZ this year? Who do you want people to see you as in this moment in time?
MINGI When I think about it, it’s honestly about the idea that this year we worked so hard. When people look at us, I want [them to] know that we’ve worked so hard, that the effort is there [and] that our passion outdoes everyone else. When someone asks, “Hey, for 2026, is there an artist that you think of?” [I hope it’s] us. We’d love to be seen as memorable artists.
I think you’re already there.
MINGI Please, I hope so.
Is there any message you want to send to Atiny right now?
YUNHO Always and forever, thank you for all the love and support you give us. We’ll make sure that we give you all the happy memories and love that we can this year too. Please take care of us and yourselves.