CHANMINA on How Having Three Focuses in Life Changed Her Outlook: Interview

CHANMINA took to the stage as guest speaker at the YouTube Japan Women in Music event supported by Billboard Japan, a conference focusing on “the empowerment of women” hosted by the video sharing platform. The rapper and singer addressed the numerous music industry workers who had gathered to hear her speak, sharing her views on the recent No No Girls girl group audition that she worked on as producer, her own music career, becoming a first-time mom last year, the current state of society and the music industry and more. Her perspectives on various topics gave the audience many things to think about and elicited a big round of applause.

Through her signature track “Bijin,” she helped people suffering from lookism, and in “RED,” she turned the hatred she felt after facing racial discrimination into love. The 26-year-old artist, who is seen as a voice of the times, took some time to chat with Billboard Japan after the event. 

How do you currently feel about Japan’s music?

I’ve written music with people from many different countries and Japanese creatives are very distinctive and subtle. They’re really like artisans in spirit. I think a lot of very unique music is being created as a result.

Has your mindset changed in any way after becoming HANA’s producer from being the producer of No No Girls? 

I’m so busy working on the things in front of me right now that I don’t know if there’s been any change. But I have started to clearly say more important things to HANA’s members. I tell them about the stance and awareness necessary as professionals a little more strictly than I did at the auditions.

When someone becomes a professional artist, what do you think they need to change the most?

They should look people in the eye and express their gratitude. I think that as professional artists, there are certain hardships you should experience and those that are best not to. I don’t want (the members of HANA) to experience the latter, but I do want them to go through the former. When I first made my debut, I only earned about 50,000 yen ($340) a month, so I borrowed money from my mother and other people to buy my own costumes and the ones for my dancers. I also did my own makeup, so when it kept coming off because of the sweat, I fixed it myself. Thanks to that experience, I came to truly appreciate my stylists and makeup artists.

The members of HANA have stylists and makeup artists from the beginning, but that’s not something to be taken for granted. I often tell them about the importance of being aware that everyone around them is working hard for them. There are only a limited number of times when you can express your gratitude to someone. Even if it’s someone who has done something for you, you never know when you’ll see them again. So you should make sure to look them in the eye and say thank you each time. By doing this, you can also reduce the regret of not having expressed your gratitude to someone.

I take it you currently have three central focuses in your life: being a producer, artist and mother. How has your lifestyle changed compared to a year ago?

I haven’t been getting any sleep at all. [Laughs]

I’m not surprised. What do you make sure to keep in mind when working out your schedule?

The priorities change accordingly. For example, if there is something I need to do regarding my daughter’s nursery school, I’ll prioritize that, or if it’s HANA’s debut month, I’ll prioritize that, or if my own tour is approaching, I’ll prioritize that. It’s hard because everything is high priority, but I manage to do it somehow by shifting the timing as much as possible.

I’m the type of person who decides on long-term goals and schedules, so I share a vision for the next five years with everyone in HANA, and we decide on the schedule by working backwards from there. After doing that, I organize my own work schedule and take time off when I think I’m not spending enough time with my daughter, maintaining a good balance.

I can’t work hard unless I have some kind of reward for myself. I call that reward a “carrot,” and I can’t run unless there’s a carrot dangling in front of me. [Laughs] In the past, my hobby of traveling was often my carrot, so I used to ask my team to try not to contact me about work while I was traveling. Recently, my carrot has been getting a good night’s sleep. The other day, when I went to Osaka for two days to attend HANA’s pre-debut event, I was able to sleep without interruption for the first time in a while. My husband and I are planning to go on a trip together at the end of this year, so I’m looking forward to that carrot.

Has there been any changes in the music you make in response to changes in your life?

It’s been like, “Go back to basics.” After becoming a mom, I’ve been surprised at how my thoughts about “What CHANMINA is” has become clearer. In the past, I thought that having a baby would make my life more mundane and that I wouldn’t be able to write songs anymore. But that’s not the case at all. My perspective has become much clearer, and the things I need to express and the things I need to convey to society are becoming more and more apparent to me. I’m also in the mood to write songs, so I’m going to take my time and work towards the album. And now that I’ve also been able to create another output in the form of HANA, I’m really enjoying facing music.

Thinking back now, before I got pregnant, I was pretty exhausted with my life. I was like, “I’m not being rewarded for my efforts, so what’s the point?” But after I became a mom, I thought, “I’ve got to keep going,” and through No No Girls, I’ve been able to look back at my past and feel rewarded, so it feels like I have new energy.

At the additional show of your AREA OF DIAMOND 2 tour in April last year, there was a part that seemed to recreate your childhood when you used to spend your days at the piano. Did that represent a kind of struggle to recapture the pure, passionate self you had when you were into music?

I think so. That performance was created before I found out I was pregnant, so it was probably a sign of my desire to meet myself from back then, when I simply loved music and had a clear idea of what I wanted to do. But I was able to meet that “me” after becoming a mom.

So your daughter was born at a very good time for you. Is your vision as a solo artist and your vision as HANA’s producer clearly separate or closely linked?

That’s a good question. I wonder? I don’t think I’m fully aware of the difference. There is a clear difference between what I put out as HANA and what I put out as CHANMINA. So maybe I’m switching between them unconsciously.

In NHK’s Close-up Gendai program that aired this year, you said, “The days of others deciding whether something is beautiful or not is over.” Why did you think so?

There are so many different standards nowadays and things change so quickly that even if you decide something, the standard can be overturned immediately and you can’t keep up. The other day, when I was having Korean barbecue with the HANA girls, we were talking about something called “bone structure diagnosis” and how there are various names for different bone structures, like “dramatic,” “romantic” and “classic.” I told them we shouldn’t get caught up in such standards. [Laughs] I don’t know who comes up with these things, but new standards really do come out one after another.

You’re so right. What do you think was the biggest influence on you becoming an artist that creates songs that reflect society, like “Bijin” and “RED”?

G-DRAGON was definitely influential. Looking back now, spending time with music had become a matter of course before I knew it, and I was a music-loving kid who vaguely thought she’d become an artist someday. But after coming across G-DRAGON, I started to feel a sense of urgency. Like, “Since G-DRAGON is doing it, I have to write lyrics and compose music, and I have to think about choreography and stage production and producing myself.” Even after I made my debut, I still felt impatient and felt at one point, “Maybe the place that G-DRAGON was pulling me towards was hell.” It’s true that being an artist is a very tough career and it can be hellish, but after becoming a mom and doing No No Girls, I now feel that it can also be heavenly. G-DRAGON came back at this timing and I was able to experience his new music again, and I thought, “I guess I really missed seeing him again.” The fact that he came back at this time means a lot to me. I’m planning to go to his show in Japan in May, so I’m going to tell him “Thank you!” from the audience.

What do you look forward to most in your life now?

Spending time with my daughter and husband. I also feel really alive because I’ve been getting a lot of work. I feel rewarded when my daughter smiles even just a little bit.

I hear she looks just like you.

Yeah, she looks exactly like me when she laughs. But she also resembles my husband. I’m looking forward to seeing who she resembles more as she grows up.

—This interview by Kaori Komatsu first appeared on Billboard Japan