Hailing from the idol survival show I-Land, members Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo and Ni-Ki debuted in 2020 under Belift Lab and HYBE LABELS. The group has been receiving lots of love and support from their fans, ENGENES since the beginning of their idol careers and continue to have a steady growth within just 2 years in the industry!
We got to know more about ENHYPEN during the presscon that happened last Dec. 3 at the Marco Polo Hotel, hosted by Sam Oh. The group answered questions about their music, musical influences, places in the Philippines they want to visit, and more!
Korean-Australian member Jake expressed how his favorite part of being an artist is getting to visit different places around the world, including the Philippines. He mentioned they would only be staying in Manila for one day, but they have already booked MOA Arena for their Manifesto Tour, February of next year! “Next time we’ll be back, it’s going to be for our shows! So I’m very excited for that.”
The boys of ENHYPEN embarked on their first world tour last September, starting in their home city Seoul. Following that, they did shows in the US and in Japan. They will resume their last show in Japan around January of next year and continue on with their Asia Tour with Thailand and the Philippines as their stops. Touring different cities and countries can be very fun but can also be quite hectic and these guys always keep their health a priority! Eating and sleeping well and taking their daily vitamins are their top ways to stay healthy despite their schedules. “I think it’s working because you guys look fantastic!” Host Sam Oh complimented the group, and we couldn’t agree more!
In terms of music, Sunghoon mentioned how they want to dive more into different genres for their future releases. He also expressed how experimenting with music is one of ENHYPEN’s strong points and hopes to have the opportunity to show this to their fans soon. Sunoo referred to BTS as one of their influences in terms of music and performance. “We’re going to do our best [and] exert more effort to have such influence and good musical performance.”
What makes ENHYPEN stand out? Leader Jungwon explained that even though they have their individual style in the way they sing and dance, they still become one when they get together to perform. That’s the biggest strength ENHYPEN has as a group.
Of course, the press couldn’t miss the chance to ask ENHYPEN on where they want to go for a vacation around the Philippines. Jay exclaimed that he wants to travel around Cebu with his family. Jake grabbed the opportunity to ask everyone in the room for vacation recommendations and Boracay, Palawan, Siargao were the most mentioned! The members got excited when they heard Boracay; even Sunghoon said that he knows about the island, while Jake added that maybe they’ll have the chance to visit the next time they come back to the PH. Who knows, Filipino ENGENES might spot the ENHYPEN members at Boracay someday!
Eldest member Heeseung expressed how they will work harder to get more opportunities in the future! "I hope I get to meet more Filipino ENGENES more often in 2023,” youngest member Ni-Ki added. We’re positive ENHYPEN’s dedicated Filipino fans will patiently wait for that day!
Jungwon felt grateful that they have been meeting their fans in person recently, after a year of just interacting with them online. “We will do our best to get more cheers from our ENGENES moving forward as well.”
ENHYPEN’s future is looking perfect and we are looking forward to more music and performances these icons will bring to the table!
Shortly after the presscon, ENHYPEN proceeded to Araneta Coliseum for their first ever ENHYPEN PH Fun Meet with their Filipino fans! Here’s a recap of what went down:
The event started with P-pop groups VXON and G22 and singer Darren Espanto’s stunning performances! Not long after ENHYPEN came out for a day of fun with Filipino ENGENES.
The fun meet started out with games to get to know the members and ENGENES. Seven lucky ENGENES who found stars under their seats got a chance to play charades with the members! The boys looked so adorable trying to act out the words assigned to them.
Charades was followed by a new game where beach balls were passed around the venue and fans would attempt to catch a beach ball until the song playing would end. Whoever caught these beach balls got an opportunity to teach the members to say a Filipino phrase. One lucky fan taught Heeseung the phrase “Masaya kami kasama ang mga ENGENES ngayon.” but almost gave up, saying “Too long!” Heeseung still managed to push through and the fans cheered him on!
The fun meet continued on with the fans singing a Happy Birthday song for Sunghoon and Ni-Ki who will be celebrating their birthdays on December 8 & 9, respectively. ENHYPEN ended their Fun Meet in Manila with a killer performance with one of their latest releases, ‘Paradoxxx Invasion’. Even after the Fun Meet had finished, some ENGENES were spotted dancing along to the group’s songs as it was still being played throughout the venue!
We hope Filipino ENGENES got to know more about ENHYPEN through the presscon and had the best moment hanging out with them at the Fun Meet! ENHYPEN will be back in Manila next year for their Manifesto Asia Tour 2023.
Huge thanks to Wilbros Live for the invite!