This is written by Zhang Youhe:
"I" is friendship.
After winning the prize, we participated in the shooting of the 3D film "Peaceful Times" co-produced by Japan and South Korea. After returning home, we settled down to make our fifth album, which is our first self-created album, so we put in more efforts than before. In this album, each of us has a creation, which is just like our children. When it was born, we cried and laughed wildly. Just as we are standing in the clouds, indulging in a great sense of accomplishment and thinking that a beautiful day is coming, the real suffering has just begun.
I said that God is fair, and when it makes you get something, it will also make you lose something. This, I realized again. With the rise of fame, the next day, thousands of fans filled several rooms of the company with letters, and we were too busy to read them, let alone reply. Eating nutritious meals ordered by the company's nutritionist every day, although it looks delicious to others, we are tasteless. In the past, we didn't feel the little happiness of sitting around eating sausages when we were tired. ...
The new album had to be reviewed by music critics before it was released, but they only listened to it once and reached a conclusion, so our nine-month efforts were devalued by them. Two more songs were banned. Kontha's Dreamland is said to have a tendency to induce teenagers to take drugs, but this song is obviously written for drug control, and Tony's Born Black Boy is also said to be unconscious and has a bad influence on teenagers. I really don't understand what these people think. If a song can teach bad children, the world would have been out of order. More unfortunate things are yet to come. 2000. 1 1 Kontha had a car accident, and the other party put all the responsibility on Kontha. The company thought that this incident had brought bad influence to the company, so it suspended and cancelled most of the publicity activities in the future, and even disqualified us from recording SM Christmas albums. The plan to hold a concert in China and Japan was delayed and finally forced to cancel. Kang shut himself in his room every day, smoking and crying. He thinks he caused all this. No matter how much we tried to persuade him, he just wouldn't listen and kept saying he was sorry. Because the promotion of the fifth album was suspended, the sales of the record were greatly affected. Of all the albums released by HOT, only this fifth album has not sold more than10 million. The company has always been indifferent to all this, thinking that success or failure lies in itself. A few days later, Kontha rallied, and we decided to rally, not for anyone, but for the fans who have always supported us. We applied to the company for a concert in China again, but we were rejected again because the company asked us to concentrate on preparing for the Seoul concert in February. We are completely heartbroken. We don't talk about it, but we know very well that our proposal to hold a concert in China in March has no conflict with the domestic concert.
At this time, the company began to change the dynasty, trained a large number of new people, and packed our brothers with blood. For us ... maybe the company thinks that we have grown up and don't need to sell a record to our ordinary Korean singers at 100 won, but we only sell a record of 20 won (RMB 0. 16 yuan) and then reduced to the official tax excluding royalties, leaving only seven won (five cents RMB). Of course, we work for the company, and it is right for the company to earn our money, but I don't know what we get in return for such efforts, respect? Money? Still concerned? I don't understand why the company is like this now. Maybe they think we have grown up, so everything can be solved by ourselves. Maybe they think we are old and useless.
We filmed VTR for the fifth season of HOT, and everyone chose their favorite way to express their ideas. Finally, we walked on the railway together, and then jumped up and high-fived. I hope that time will stop and our hands can be held together forever. ...
On February 27th, 20001,we held HOT's fourth big concert in the Olympic Stadium.
God seems to be making things difficult for us, and it's raining sleet. We are all worried that fans will not arrive on time. Surprisingly, fans arrived two hours before the concert, and many fans who didn't buy tickets were waiting outside the door. The uneasy heart was finally put down, and we made up our minds again to give the best to these lovely people. This concert is different from the past and more relaxed and casual. We try our best to show the most cheerful side to comfort the fans who are troubled by the rumors of dissolution. We promised loudly more than once: "heat will not dissolve!" " "Hot FOREVRE!" This is not only to reassure fans, but also to appease ourselves, because the biggest crisis has come-my contract with Jae-won, Tony and SM expires.
We have made many representations with the company and put forward the lowest terms. Renew 300 million won (RMB240,000) per person to increase the income of HOT per record. We thought that the money was nothing to SM, the largest record company in Korea, and we could stay in SM to increase the income of our brothers. You don't value me, we value ourselves, you can't let us develop, we can make better music at our own expense. I don't think our request is too much, even not up to the standard of ordinary Korean singers. We thought the company would definitely compromise. However, it turns out that we were so naive that the company didn't accept our proposal at all. Our hearts are cold. We can't say that we brought Korean music to the world, at least we let the world know about SM. After five years of hard work, what have we got? Why don't you leave us even the most basic dignity? The only lucky thing is that we have countless fans who love us, and we have been accompanied by ups and downs for so many years. I made a decision, the only major decision in five years. After consulting with Kontha and Hejun, Kontha cried again. HEEJUN patted me on the head and said, "You have to decide for yourself when you grow up." I gently knocked off his hand and cried, crying in front of my brother for the first time in five years ~ ~ ~
Fans will scold us, the music industry will scold us, and the company will scold us, but I have decided to go my own way. I made my own decision when I came to Seoul. I don't think I can go wrong this time ~ ~
On 2001May 13, 13, I, TONY, held a press conference in Yuan to announce my official resignation from SM. 500 million won signed a contract with an art communication company. From beginning to end, we all said "leave SM", and all the entertainment notes were written as "exit fever". At the press conference, the three of us looked gloomy and scary, and we couldn't help laughing. I even breathed a sigh of relief after the press conference.
Through the internet, the whole world knew about it that night, and we made the headlines of entertainment newspapers and music magazines for the n th time. Moreover, under the explanation of SM, all entertainment organizations and music critics began to accuse us, saying that we only recognize money but not people, and kick down the ladder. I don't want to explain, because we are used to this kind of attack that reverses right and wrong.
My worst fears have finally happened. Spicy fans all over the world cried and shouted, "Give us back the spicy food!" Protest with hunger strike. Please scold me, don't torture yourself, my heart is as uncomfortable as being pricked by a steel needle. Jae-won drugged himself by drinking. I tried to persuade him, but it was useless. You can't go out these days, or you will be squeezed to death by reporters outside. Finally, I have time to read fan letters.
I want to calm myself down. I didn't expect to deepen my remorse every time I read a letter, but I still want to read it. This almost masochistic behavior may make me feel better.
Finally, an unsigned letter gave me new hope. ...
"I like this kind of hot, I have the courage to make my own decisions. If the heat gives in, it won't be hot ~ ~ Although I am very sad, I know you have your reasons, because I love you, so I respect your choice ... No matter whether you will be together or not, no matter how far apart you are, or not in this world, you will always be our heat, and no one can replace you. ...
Brother, don't regret the road you chose, just like when we chose to love you, we never regretted it and never will ... "
I am very touched and ashamed. A fan can actually look at this matter with this mentality and restrain his inner pain to comfort me and encourage me, while I hide in the house to make useless confessions and escape from reality. Now that you have chosen, go on bravely. TONY and I are actively involved in familiarizing ourselves with the operation of the new company and preparing our first solo album. At the same time, we haven't interrupted contact with HEEJUN and KANGTA. Seeing that their contract period is up, we can't go out to meet, so we can only talk on the phone. Because at this time, we can attract more attention than at the height of the fire.
"Elder brother, I listen to you, Kontha said seriously on the phone.
"Xian, when you grow up, think about it and don't be impulsive."
In fact, in SM, Jae-won, Tony and I belong to the kind of people who are not very good at making friends, so good friends are just Yu Hui. But HEEJUN is different from KANGTA. Kindness, gentleness and humor make people very willing to get close to them, so they have made many good friends except us. They are creative talents and often write songs for other singers. This kind of friendship established at work is not better than the hot brothers, but it is also very valuable. Most importantly, HOT is the pillar of SM, while HEEJUN and KANGTA, as captains, are the core of the pillar. Most of the company's annual income is created by HOT, and three people have left their jobs, which has caused great losses to the company. Therefore, they will not be easily let go. SM will be satisfied and do everything possible to keep them. Besides, even if they transfer to our company, Yi Chuan may not agree that we are still a five-person group. Because now we are in the same company as God. We were the strongest opponents before, and the fans were also very antagonistic. If two groups suddenly coexist, there will be many problems, so I say they won't agree, at least not now. And we don't have the strength to start a big company like SM.
"Let's talk about it when the time is ripe ~" After repeated consideration and consideration, HEEJUN and KANGTA decided to renew SM until 2008.
We left SM, and the rumor became a fact, which cannot be changed. Fans naturally put all their hopes on HEEJUN and KANGTA, which is not so much a hope as a desperate desire. I've been in that mood, too So I know what fans will do when they renew their contracts. I understand, because I know they love us deeply, sometimes love will break through reason, but after I calm down, I will find that I still love the person I love.
I carefully asked Kontha out and told him that no matter what the fans do, they can't be impulsive. Kontha smiled knowingly. In fact, I know I've done more than that. He is born a perfect person, not only in appearance, but also in understanding and tolerance that is extremely inconsistent with appearance. To tell the truth, sometimes I think, how can there be such a perfect person? His appearance, heart and talent are all masterpieces of God. Sometimes I joke, "I wish I had a son like you!" " Instead of being angry, he smiled sweetly: "It will be better than me, because I am fine ~" He is such a good boy. From the first concert in 1998, I went to see him almost every time and gave him a push intentionally or unintentionally. He looked at me and smiled sweetly. A small detail reveals the intimate feelings between brothers. Looking at him, I remembered that I would not stand together and sing the same song two years later, and my chest was full of inexplicable sadness. I got up from my chair, walked over to him and gave him a push. I didn't realize I had put so much effort into it. His chair shook, and soon, the slightly wrinkled brow spread out, and the puzzled expression turned into a sweet smile ... At that moment, I returned to the first day of joining the team. ...
Finally, Kontha and HEEJUN invited the press conference to renew the contract with SM at a fee of10.05 billion won (per person). Ironically, Kontha's contract renewal is the sum of the three of us. If the company can provide 10.5 billion won, we will stay. I don't understand what SM means by doing this. But I know that even if SM can't pay that much money, Konta Hejun will stay, but SM used money to cover up this fact.
This further aroused the anger of fans, and began to scold them for only knowing money. More excited fans smashed cars and were taken to the police station by the police more than once. Kontha felt very guilty about this.
One night, Hyun came to my house, and the blood oozing from his forehead made my heart ache. "Brother, hold this for me so that my mother will be worried when I go home." He said with a forced smile. My trembling hand picked up the cotton wool and carefully wiped it on his wound. It must be very painful. His brow wrinkled, my hand shook, and my heart jumped with this rhythm. "I started it, it's none of your business." I bit my lip and squeezed out this sentence. "It doesn't matter, they are all my' favorite people' like you." The cotton wool in my hand fell to the ground, and today I discovered that HEEJUN is not the only one worthy of my admiration. I want to exchange my life for the happiness of him and the people who love me so much. What I can do now is to let him lie on my shoulder with open arms and cry firmly, and release all the thoughts and grievances he has suffered for so long.
After we left, the myth of my brother became a five-person group because Andy was going back to America. Inadvertently, SM began to let myths take our place. I am not afraid, because I think heat is irreplaceable. It's not that myth is inferior to us, but that heat is heat. Even if others are better than us, they are not spicy. Wen HEE Jun, JANG Youhe, An Chenghao, An CHIL Hyun and Li Zaiyuan are the real spicy. SM made greater efforts to publicize Kontha and HEEJUN, let the best producers make new albums for them, and let Kontha go to China and France to shoot a photo album combining ancient and modern Chinese and foreign. Soon, Kontha released his first solo album, Polaris. Later, HEEJUN also released his album Loneliness. I like the song Our Story best. Jun sang this song in the VTR of concert 227, as if telling our story.
The talents of the two brothers are fully displayed in the new album, and the album sales are also good. I am happy for them from the bottom of my heart, but there is one thing I don't understand. Kontha's style has begun to turn to jazz style, while Jun has a strong electronic and rock flavor. Why did SM transform them so thoroughly, or in the opposite style? There is only one reason "no longer let them combine". If we are together again, it will be too difficult. This is the only explanation.
Whether we can reorganize or not, we are all working towards this dream. Tony and I try our best to push out activities that we don't participate in. Fortunately, the company understands us very well and creates good conditions for us. Tony and I are worried that his stomach trouble will recur and affect our work. We always prepare a lot of food around him. When he just cried hungry, we forced him to stuff it. We write our own songs day and night, and we transform foreign folk songs into HIPHOP style. There are actually more than 300 songs, so we started to choose, which is more difficult than writing. It takes a lot of time to listen to these more than 300 songs repeatedly, and these songs are carefully made or modified by us, so we can't bear to remove any of them. After eight months of creation, our first album was officially born. Tony is the lead singer, and the name of the band is JTL, which is taken from the first letter of our surname. The title song "Beautiful Day" is adapted from a foreign folk song. The three of us fell in love with this harmonica at first sight, and after the revision of the Yuan Dynasty, it became a nostalgic HIPHOP. To my surprise, the cover of our album with KANGTA and HEEJUN actually says -HOT! This is the brother, without too many words and actions, no matter how far apart, the heart has always been together and never separated.
After the song was finished, we went to China and Shanghai to shoot MV, just in time for SM's concert of the Four Kings in Shanghai. We asked the staff to buy tickets and watch the brother's performance as an audience. Looking at the radiant HEEJUN and KANGTA on the stage, I don't feel sad. It feels like a solo performance at our hot concert, except that "I, Tony, will not appear in Jawon". Surprisingly, Kontha sang Hope. This song called Miracle has brought hope to countless people. We HOT also won numerous awards for this song and successfully produced the most successful fourth series.
It can be said that this song brought good luck to HOT, but today this song has uncovered the old scar of someone in the place. The fans cried and sang, shouting "It's always hot!" Kontha's rap, which he is not good at, sounds so weak. I really want to run up and sing with him, but I can't. When I closed my eyes, I seemed to see Hee Jun with pigtails, depressed Tony, Jae-won crying when I thought of my mother, and myself with a chestnut cover ... When I opened my eyes again, Kontha's performance was over, and his eyes were searching in the audience. I know the lights under the stage are dim, and he can't see anything at all. Finally, he lowered his head and bowed deeply. I didn't want to see other people's performances, so I pulled Jae-won and Tony out.
We were both excited and nervous when the new album was released. Finally, what we were most worried about happened: four songs were banned because of vulgar language and poor consciousness. There are usually five judges who vote for or against this song. If the "yes" is more than three votes and the song is passed, Tony and Jae-won will be banned by a narrow margin of 2: 3, while my "abandoned child" will be completely rejected by 0: 5. I am speechless. If it was before, I would be very angry. But now I'd rather understand that my songs can resonate with people so much!
We feel so tired, in the wry smile of self-deprecation, I actually found the feeling of being hot that year.
Brother, just show up when you need it and stand by you! When SM and MBC banned us happily, Kontha and HEEJUN stood up, and Kontha publicized our JTL CD. Still a sweet smile, this smile may be the most deadly and terrible weapon for SM, but it is the most firm belief and the most precious friendship for JTL.
Thank you, my good brothers, for giving me the courage to stand up again. I know there are many twists and turns waiting for us in the future, testing our friendship, but I am not afraid, because my friend is you. Maybe there are various reasons to stop us from being together after a year, but I will continue to stick to it. One year, two years, forever ... even if we can't be together forever, we have been through thick and thin for five years. Although these days have passed, but now has become the past, will never change, will always be the best memory in my life ~
At least, our hearts will always be together. Hot, our story continues!