Kpopmap Fan Interview: A Dong-ari From The U.S. Talks About Her Favorite Group DKZ And Her Bias JongHyeong

Are you also curious about fellow K-Pop fans?! Let’s hear their stories and interests in Kpopmap Fan Interview Project.

There are K-Pop fans across the globe who share the same passion. But on online platforms, it is hard to know about each other’ stories and K-Pop life. Even if we are in the same fandom, it is hard to get to know each other.

So at Kpopmap, we started the Kpopmap Fan Interview Project to get to know more about K-Pop fans from different countries: more about their K-Pop life and tastes and to give them the opportunity to share with our readers about their favorite group(s) and bias.

 

Nikki is the next fan to answer our questions. She is from the U.S. and is a fan of DKZ, and particularly of JongHyeong. Check out how she entered the fandom, the songs and content she advises to new fans, and much more!

 

Can you introduce yourself? Where are you from?

My name is Nikki and I am a Dong-ari from the USA :).

 

How and when did you enter the fandom?

I entered the fandom in 2019, when DKZ was originally DONGKIZ. I came across their music video ‘BlockBuster’. When watching the music video, I loved how creative it was, and I loved how catchy the song was. I then started to look into the members and watch their performances. I loved their energy, and I was amazed by their performances on stage. I just immediately fell in love with them and saw just how incredibly talented they were as well as charming. Ever since then, I have just wanted to be there to support them.

 

What are the reasons why you love your favorite artist?

There are so many reasons; if I were to say everything, it would take hours.  To start, I love how passionate they are. They love being on stage and it shows so much. The amount of talent they hold and so much more that they want to tell their fans is just incredible. I love that they with share us their passions; their music is so catchy and so universal. They are a group that wants to showcase all different aspects and charms of themselves. They’re not categorized into one concept. They want to show many different sides of themselves, and that is one reason why I love them as well. They can be singers, dancers, rappers, and anything they want to do, they can do it, which is why there aren’t any real official positions in their group either. They also are genuine with every opportunity and are funny.

 

Who caught your attention at first and why?

The person who caught my attention first was KyoungYoon! The reason is because of his voice! The high notes he would hit on stage always impressed me, and his smile on stage.

 

Who is your bias, and why?

My bias is JongHyeong! JongHyeong is so talented and kind. He always tells us how much we mean to him every day. JongHyeong is so good at both singing and dancing. JongHyeong took the role of leader and is doing a great job. I love his stage presence and how much he loves the stage and music. JongHyeong also loves sharing songs and inspiring words with us.

 

Can you recommend a title track and a B-side track for new fans?

For a title track, I recommend ‘All I Need is You’! It was supposed to be their debut song, which is why they look younger in the music video than the one for their debut song, ‘NOM’. I want to recommend that song because I love how fun it is and the choreography.

 

Another song I recommend is their end of the year song DONGKIZ did called ‘It’s All Right’. It’s a song they did all themselves for fans. The lyrics are beautiful.

 

Can you recommend a fancam, V Live, cover video, cover dance, or individual content video of your bias to our readers?

I recommend his dance cover of ‘Don’t Call Me’ by SHINee. I also recommend his fancam from “Show! Music Core”.

 

 

 

Can you also do the same type of recommendation for the group?

I recommend “An Idol’s Night 2 Weeks Before Comeback [When Everyone’s Asleep]” on STUDIO V. It showed them getting ready for their comeback with the title track, ‘CRAZY NIGHT’. I love this video because it shows just how hard that they work, and I want all fans to see that.

 

I also love KyoungYoon and MunIk’s cover of ‘That’s Okay’ by D.O of EXO. Their voices in that song together were just so beautiful. I love that cover so much!!

 

I also want to recommend their first comeback as DKZ. It was on “THE SHOW” and it was with the new members SeHyeon, MinGyu, and GiSeok. It was also with KyoungYoon, JaeChan, and JongHyeong who hadn’t performed in a while, after a difficult time. It was the first time they were performing without former leader, WonDae and another member, MunIk. There were a lot of feelings I got from this stage and it is just really powerful I think. I had a lot of bittersweet feelings watching this stage but I was happy watching them perform after so long and seeing the new members debut.

 

Another video is this video they did for Genie Original, where they danced to different songs, including some of their own.

 

I also want to recommend their first comeback as DKZ. It was on “THE SHOW”, with the new members SeHyeon, MinGyu, and GiSeok. It was also when KyoungYoon, JaeChan, and JongHyeong performed after a long time. They performed Cupid, and it was the first time they performed without former leader WonDae and member MunIk. There were a lot of feelings I got from this stage, and it was just really powerful. I had a lot of bittersweet feelings watching this stage, but I was happy watching them perform after so long and seeing the new members debut. Seeing how joyful they looked on stage was so exciting.

 

Can you share with us one of your favorite lyrics?

One of my favorite lyrics is from ‘CRAZY NIGHT’. It is:
“MAMA에겐 못 간다 빌어
신데렐라 통금 24 빠꾸
Coming Coming I just stay
Look at this keep my way, yeah~”
It says,
“Please say that we can’t make it to MAMA
Cinderella curfew for twenty-four
Coming, coming, I just stay
Look at this keep my way, yeah”
Jonghyeong sings these lyrics, and I love them because it symbolizes the group to me- that they are going to keep going and strive to do whatever they want. It’s pretty ironic because now they are gaining a lot of popularity that MAMA doesn’t seem out of reach at all. It was like saying to the people that don’t believe in them that they can do it.

 

What kind of influence has your favourite artist had on your daily life?

Seeing them work so hard with smiles on their faces everyday, when they weren’t receiving as much love back then as much as they should have, they never made it seem to fans that they were struggling. To see how determined they were was just always so heartwarming. It was inspirational to see how strong they are. They brought me such joy for so long, and I will always thank them for that. They really have been through a lot. They never stopped believing even through all difficulties.

 

Can you recommend a cute or funny video/gif of your bias to our readers?

Here is a cute gif!

 

What’s your favorite 2022 moment involving your bias?

When it was JongHyeong’s birthday, and at the end of one of their ‘Cupid’ stages on “Show Champion”, the members surrounded him and said happy birthday. It was a really cute and fun moment. It happens at 3:12 in this video:

 

Name a variety show/content show that you would love to see your bias on? Tell us why.

A variety show I would love to see JongHyeong on is “You Quiz On The Block,” because he said he would want to go there one day. That would be super cool to see.

 

What is your favorite side of fangirling/fanboying?

When they would mention parties! I would freak out every time they would answer me! I would also fangirl over when I would get answered on V Live. When they perform, I fangirl. I would get so happy because they are so talented and energetic. They always make me laugh when they are on variety shows and on live.

 

Do you feel there are any misunderstandings, things that are not well known, or any prejudices about your favorite artist from other fans (non-fans)?

They really have been through a lot. Seeing them have around 1,000 people to watch their lives and few albums being sold a day, at one point, to their albums being sold out and 50k people watching their lives. As a fan seeing them not receiving that much love and not being able to do anything about it was discouraging. They gained a lot of popularity after JaeChan’s acting in “Semantic Error”, and I am grateful that more people got to see just how great they are and gave them a new chance. Seeing them doing so well without members WonDae and MunIk hurts, I will not lie. I love them forever and am happy for them. I want them all to be happy and healthy—all eight of them; seeing all the things they talked about wanting the group to do and seeing that happen now is surreal and so beautiful. The new members are so talented and amazing. I hope everyone will be respectful to all of them, both new and old members. I hope the seven-member group DKZ will shine for a very long time.

 

Nikki’s message to DKZ:

To DKZ, you have all gone through a long journey, and I am really proud of all of you. This new adventure awaits, and many good opportunities will come. I am always going to support and be here for you. Thank you so much for bringing me happiness; I want the same for you all always. Please never feel like you have to force a smile on us; we will be here as Dong-ari for you for a long time. May you continue to reach more people with your smiles, personality, and talent. It’s finally happening for you, and I couldn’t be any more prouder.

Thank you for answering our questions, Nikki.

 

If you are interested in joining Kpopmap Fan Interview Project, please get in touch with us at fan@kpopmap.com. Everyone is welcome to participate.