KARD members honestly open up about co-ed group competition + 'survival' in the harsh music industry

Set to make a comeback on May 23 at 6 PM KST with the release of their 6th mini album 'ICKY', the members of KARD recently took part in a roundtable interview with the press.

One of the representative co-ed groups in the Korean music scene alongside Koyote and AKMU, KARD honestly opened up about the scarcity of co-ed groups in the industry, as well as the existing competition.

Somin said, "There's a greedy part of me that hopes that there will be more co-ed groups after KARD. We were able to promote actively thanks to the road that our sunbae co-ed groups paved for us. In truth, there are many risks to a co-ed group. But if we can continue to clear away the path for the next co-ed group, other artists may have opportunities to try the co-ed structure in the future." 

What are the pros and cons of a co-ed group? Jiwoo replied, "The pro is that we can express a variety of sounds through our music. A song can sound great with both male and female voices, but all four of us each have our own unique sounds as well. So however you match us up, there will be a different combination of sounds each time. The con is that during our early debut days, we had trouble in the dressing room. But now, we have grown used to it. But it seems that co-ed groups also have less appeal to the general public. We've found it difficult to maintain and grow our fanbase." 

The KARD members then joked, "It would be great to see a 'Best Co-ed Group' category at the year end awards," but also pointed out, "It might still be difficult for us to beat the real sibling duo AKMU though (laughter)." 

Next, KARD named their short and long term goals as artists. B.M stated, "My dream is the same as it always was. To be a Billboard-charting artist and a Melon-charting artist. I'm curious to know what it feels like to win #1 on a music program." J.seph also commented, "I would like to earn the title of '#1 winning artist'." He also added on, "I've always wanted to have a long and lasting career, but these days, I also feel that being successful is important to me. It's come to a point where rather than being 'players', we are more like 'survivors' in this scene. So I have a feeling that we need to do more than just 'survive'."