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It’s not so often that you see a K-pop idol dancing on your office terrace. On a breezy, overcast, autumnal afternoon in Midtown, Manhattan, WONHO films a video where he effortlessly shows off his moves with a stunning view of the Empire State Building in the background.
Just the day before, WONHO stood atop the New York City landmark as one of his promotional activities in honor of his first full-length album, Syndrome. It was a jam-packed schedule with press and special fansigns, but the 32-year-old artist takes it in stride. “I’ve been here often, and it’s pretty familiar to me,” WONHO says. “But this time I got to do many new things, so it felt very special.”
It’s only been a couple of days after the release of Syndrome when WONHO lands in the U.S. During his spare time, he reflected on the hard work put into this album. “Overall musically, I really wanted to make an album that was of high quality,” WONHO reminisces. “I feel like I made an album that’s very easy and good to listen to, and I saw fan reactions that said that it was, even without a full performance or a video for all the songs.”
The lead single from the album “if you wanna” did have one of those alluring visual accompaniments, and the hypnotic choreography immediately went viral upon release. A sexy ’90s-inspired hook lures you in when WONHO uses his lower register to rap a swirl of lyrics that indulge in deep desires, intimacy, and luxury. Cue WONHO’s silky vocals in the chorus that flow side to side like the dancers’ arms in choreography.
It’s a memorable impression as an introduction to the album. To make the album appeal to audiences everywhere, Syndrome is almost entirely sung and rapped in English. When recording, it was sometimes difficult for WONHO to articulate, but he was always determined to get it right. “Just working on getting the pronunciation right and also just the process of recording all 10 songs was pretty long,” he acknowledged. In the end, the fruits of his labor were bountiful.
With every music project, WONHO’s creative process lies within a certain theme, and for Syndrome, it was the complex feeling of love. To anyone, love doesn’t pin itself down to only one meaning. “Before, my idea of love was more focused on just the happiness of the relationship between two people,” WONHO says. “But I think through this process, I was able to learn that there are many different types of love and there are many genres that I can show that with.”
Though exploring genres could be an exhausting journey and could be tripped up easily, WONHO put immense thought into deciding how the tracklist flowed for the right sound and vibe. “Scissors” delves into the timid heartbreak and betrayal of a loved one with steady beats in the chorus, and it immediately launches into “At the Time,” where the vocalist roars about the good times with a former flame with a country twang. Other standouts include the heartwrenching serenade of “Beautiful” and “DND,” which is teeming with rich R&B vocal runs.
Rounding out the album is “Better Than Me,” which is a song that could be plucked out of an NSYNC* discography (“Good Liar” does have a nod to “Bye Bye Bye” in the background vocals), but WONHO makes the declaration loud and clear: “No one does it better than me.”
After an intensely busy year of recording, WONHO feels like the album is complete as it is, and that he made it well in the direction he wanted. ”I do feel like a certain weight has been lifted after releasing this album,” he says. “I did feel some pressure because I wanted to really hurry and release this album for my fans who have been waiting for a long time, but the preparation process was pretty long. At first, I worried that my fans wouldn’t like it. But, I think looking back now, I wasn’t that worried because I believed that they would like it and I trusted myself.”
WONHO was set to perform the album on his Stay Awake tour in the U.S. in mid-November, but operational issues and unforeseen issues caused by the promoter caused the leg to be canceled. He’s been relishing time meeting up with his fans, WENEES, during hello82 fan signs in New York and LA. “ In the future, I want to do as much as I can to meet WENEEs more often,” he muses. “And after I met them at the fan signs, I’ve been really thinking and planning ways in which I can do that.”
Even though WENEEs will have to wait to see WONHO live again, the singer never misses an opportunity to keep in touch with his fans while showing off his true, authentic, silly self—whether it’s posting thirst-trap-like or adorable photos on Bubble, or even cosplaying as a scarily accurate Abby Saja from the wildly popular Kpop Demon Hunters.
Fans continuously see WONHO as a source of inspiration, and it’s a reciprocal relationship. He shifts his 2026 goals quite clearly: “I used to really rely a lot on visuals or the performance aspect part, but then I think more and more — I want to become a singer who is able to touch my fans with just the music and really reach them through my songs.”
With WONHO, he feels on top of the world with WENEEs, no matter what walk of life they come from. “In my eyes, everyone is the same fan to me and has the same thoughts,” he says while grinning. “I feel like all my fans look very cute.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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Lea Veloso
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