Once September rolls around, the heat starts to die down, school starts again, and the summer memories start to fade away. September is always a bittersweet month for me. While I am ready to start off a new school year, I don’t want the relaxing, fun summer feeling to go away. Last Friday though, I was able to forget about my September blues for a bit. That is all thanks to Junny, one of my favourite Korean R&B artists, who came to Calgary as part of his “Blanc” tour. For those of you unaware, Junny released his first ever full-length album, “Blanc”, and is currently on tour to promote it. He is Korean-Canadian, having grown up in Vancouver and then kicking off his music career in Korea. He uses both English and Korean in his songs, and the lyrics portray an image of a Korean boy growing up in Canada. Since I am also Korean-Canadian, I feel like I can relate to Junny on a more personal level.
When I first learned that Junny will be coming to Calgary a few months back, I was equal parts ecstatic and shocked. Unlike major cities in Canada such as Toronto or Vancouver, not a lot of artists come to Calgary. However, because of his Canadian roots, I think Junny included more Canadian cities to perform in. Thank you Junny!
Anyways, Junny performed last Friday in Calgary at MacEwan Ballroom, located at the University of Calgary. Although the concert hall itself wasn’t very large, a surprising amount of people showed up. What shocked me, even more, was that the crowd sang back all the Korean lyrics of Junny’s songs. I think Junny himself was quite surprised and pleased too. Out of all the concerts I’ve been to (a lot), this one felt the most personal. It could be because I got to stand right in the second row, or because I found Junny very relatable. It also felt like I was transported back into my summer break in Korea because I had attended lots of music festivals and concerts then. Even though the entire concert was only about an hour, it gave me an escape from the reality of schoolwork and upcoming college applications.
If you guys haven’t listened to Junny’s new album yet, what are you doing?! Go do yourself a favour and listen to all the tracks– his sweet voice and soulful lyrics are just what you need to get through the September blues. My favourite track from his newest album is called “Not About You”, and I find that it portrays Junny’s style of music very well in just one song. You can check it out here. My all time favourite song of Junny’s though, is something that was released three years ago. It is called “Aura”, and features pH-1, a Korean rapper, whom I love. I will link the song here. Junny has also composed many songs for the K-pop industry, including some tracks off NCT Dream’s “Hot Sauce” album. Go check those out as well!
You can find the original posting here