Source: Cosmopolitan (October 2019 issue)
Translation: incessantbeat | Transcription: btcp77
Twenty-four. Age where there is more to be achieved than what has been achieved. But Kang Daniel‘s 24 is different. There is a lot achieved and a lot to be achieved. This is why Kang Daniel focuses more on this moment than anyone else.
Q: The topic of today’s pictorial was “celebrities” backstage. And you’ve tried putting on lipsticks of different colors. From a man’s point of view, what would you choose as the prettiest lip color?
A: Men or women, I like natural colors the best. Among the lip colors that I put on today, the red lips were definitely the best. Whether it’s something natural like it was today, or a stronger color, I think they’re all attractive.
Q: You’re always on stage with colorful lights. Seems like your skin will be overworked because of the strong lights. So what’s your beauty care (routine) on your days off?
A: Beauty care? What’s that? Something you can eat? Haha. I try to take care of it but it’s not so easy.
Q: Did you know that people call Kang Daniel “Ma-bo Di-fa” because you have a “Marvel body, Disney face”? Besides how you were naturally born, I wonder how you usually manage your physical strength?
A: I think that it’s amazing that I can work out just by practicing my choreography. My physical strength gets better with that. Usually, I do a lot of bare-handed exercises at home, so I think I naturally take care of myself. Rather than doing short and heavy exercises, I prefer light exercises that I can do consistently.
Q: ProduceX 101 ended not long ago. Not only the trainees who participated but also the audience can’t help but be reminded about Kang Daniel, who participated in Produce 101 Season 2. It’s been 2 years since then.
A: We’ve always longed for that one dream, and I think it’s a beautiful thing to try to achieve it. I don’t think that’s just for the trainees. I hope that I could bring hope to many people, just by watching me having walked, and walking right now.
Q: When I heard your first solo debut song “What are you up to?”, I thought it was quite unexpected. Kang Daniel has always been strong in dancing and I expected you to come up with a strong, powerful and fast song.
A: I wanted to show an image with a different color. As you’ve said, “What are you up to?” is slow in tempo, but if you look at the performances alone, the choreography is very complicated and difficult. To me, while it’s important to meet the parts that people expect of me, and like about me, in this album, I think I wanted to show a variety of images the most.
Q: Not only did you make a name for your own company, but you also wrote lyrics for your solo album, and choreographed yourself. For Kang Daniel, who is a perfectionist, time and fitness must have been more important than ever.
A: To be honest, I have such big desires that I developed a concentration I never knew about. Especially when I practice the dances, the energy that I’ve never thought of came to me. Of course, I’ve worked hard even before, but this time was a particularly intense period of concentration and passion that was much needed.
Q: How does it feel to be such a one-of-a-kind icon?
A: I’m always thankful. I feel more responsible to repay the fans’ support. Thank you for always showing me your positive outlook towards everything, and I’m happy.
Q: You’ve made a lot of records that it became such a reputation. Recently, it’s the record of 450,000 pre-orders for a solo album, the highest number of votes for 74 consecutive weeks on idol chart, the shortest time to reach 1 million Instagram followers, those kinds of records. Among those, what’s the most memorable record to you?
A: The fans who have always been by my side, watching over me, finally had a name. With the meaning ‘every moment of Kang Daniel and fans together is special’, we combined my name Daniel with ‘-ity’ and made the name ‘DANITY’. During the past 6 months, my fans have been no-names, but they finally got a cool name now. I think it’s the most special record to me.
Q: When reading news articles about Kang Daniel, I often see comments like “How does Kang Daniel’s name even be Kang Daniel?” It feels like Kang Daniel was born to be a celebrity from the beginning. If you didn’t become a singer, didn’t come to dance, what would you be doing now?
A: I’m not sure…The “If you didn’t come to dance” supposition is too difficult for me? Haha. I haven’t thought about anything I like other than dancing, but I think I am trying to find it too.
Q: There’s a saying “You don’t know youth when you’re young.” What’s a 24-year-old Kang Daniel like?”
A: I think every day that I am living now is my reality and my dream that I’ve long dreamed of. I’m spending my days being that happy.
Q: You’ve been receiving a lot of praises from many people since your debut. Among those, is there anything that drives you to work hard and do your best?
A: Sayings like “As expected of Kang Daniel!” When I hear those words, I can’t help but work hard. I get motivated a lot by that.
Q: If you were to describe yourself as an artist, what kind of artist is Kang Daniel, do you think?
A: I think rather than simply someone giving joy, it’s someone who can have positive effects on people. Perhaps, I can say it’s something I aspire to do.
Q: What would be a good modifier to your name?
A: Do I need another word? DANITY is enough!