Tiffany Young Talks Over My Skin, Girls' Generation & One Direction

hello beautiful human you clicked on our conversation with Tiffany young and this is a really fascinating one she's about to take us inside the life of a kpop artist and what it's like to be an idol she spent ten years in Girls Generation she's gone solo kind of twice and she had a sub group TTS you're gonna learn a lot about her her music by the way new single of hers is out now it's called over my skin and just how the whole kpop universe works please leave your honest feedback in the comment section below if you could subscribe no pressure and we also have a podcast link in the description below okay enjoy this conversation with Tiffany young I think you're gonna like it this is Zach sang show we got Heather we got Danna we welcome to the studio I [Applause] am very excited to have you here because you correct me if I'm wrong you're kind of a kpop icon in a sense thank you that's very flattering Girls Generation has been around for a decade so I think we've we've had I've had enough years to say that we've kind of made a mark oh really big thank you you're one of the two members out of Girls Generation have a solo album you create a subgroup out of it and now you're back doing your own thing so we have a lot to dive into because I'm very fascinated by the entire kpop world and it's fascinating and can you agree that now more than ever it's at the forefront of a lot of people's minds yes I mean I kpop has evolved and is forever evolving and growing and it went from like we Girls Generation we had a year where we were performing at Madison Square Garden we were on the billboards with LG and like it was if we had our like amazing round going the YouTube Music Awards and winning and and then there was also Gangnam style that you know coming up style was such a huge I still think it's one of the greatest and right now at CP TSI I'm just always amazed and you know proud that I'm part of such a big happy to be part of it I'm kpop and that I'm excited to see where it's going to go has it always been I mean not always but since you've been a part of it mainstream like would you consider yourself as one of the people who brought it mainstream you and Gangnam style and obviously BTS is doing it now Girls Generation yes Girls Generation forever yeah I think so especially I'm very proud of how we brought it to where it was because we were weird that that generation where there wasn't YouTube when we started and then it happened so it just kind of blew up and that's when like the views and kind of taking it international and taking it all over the world wewe got I got to go to the Madison Square Garden to to the Staples Center to France to to just amazing places and and yeah pretty proud of being the only girl fan to do it to the introduced changed the reach of kpop yes I'm so happy about it and your story is really fascinating because you grew up in California right yeah and then at 15 you you kind of get pressured into becoming a part of a scene competition yes yeah I was growing I'm born and raised I born in San Francisco raised here in Southern California and then music was kind of my therapy and growing up that was like the only thing that made me happy and my brother was just like I think you should really do this and we didn't know there were gonna be a bunch of executive like labels in ours and like people who are scouting for new like kpop maybe a new girl and and I was auditioning and they were like I I got a bunch of business cards okay and I was like what yeah like I just came here to sing and they're like oh no we want you to audition for our label and then yeah that's it that's how it all happened but it all happens within three weeks three weeks so they hear you say do they make you an offer that same day yeah and then that weekend I went to an audition I went to I mean I met one of the casting directors and she was like yeah could we just tape everything you've got like what do you do or do you like tell me about you and then I saying I danced I gave them a little bit about me and then like a couple days later she caught the shoot flew back to Korea and then called me and said we want to sign you and yeah what why are they in America looking for k-pop stars I think they're always looking for I mean now more than ever there is always a korean-american member but there's also Canadian Korean or Canadian Chinese Chinese Canadian set it the wrong way the other way around but yeah they're always looking for an english-speaking member or a foreign member who can speak a foreign language so that it can reach more fans like so that we can start talking for ourselves not with the translator or not sure yeah it's convenient when we came to LA or New York because you're the only one in the group who knows English do you instantly become the leader no we we have a leader and it got you it's so seven us well like six of us are the same age so it became kind of like we were always we're all the same age and with other two or a year in two years younger so yes we have a leader my friend Han but in terms of like because it was so much so there were so many things to juggle I got to be really hands on in terms of the creative direction and like what kind of music and what kind of fashion and videos and I'm I just am very passionate and expressive and they're just like no one loves this more than you like no one loves us more than you we trust you and yeah I'd led to me kind of taking control and also being able to create a subunit out of it yeah and create the subgroup yeah it's yes yes so but from somebody on the outside I would think or I think the stereotype is that if you're a member and of what groups and you work for the company you actually don't have much control you might not have a ton of control the first couple of years yeah it seemed I was I was learning all the rules so that I can make new ones it's like you know they say learn the rules to break them but it's like you don't need a break don't you just learn to make new ones and I think I I hope everybody yeah I hope I don't look too much like a rebel because I'm starting to look like one cuz I'm the only one that's here is that scary yeah it can be scary growing up I was the I was 15 I didn't have parents around me in Korea I didn't speak Korean fluently at the time so yeah I've i was scared like being trying to kind of blend in but still have my own opinions and be around kpop parents which are a whole new that's that's a new term kpop parents yeah I was the only one in the meeting but cuz like I'm representing me and then it was all kpop fair and said what will do the kpop parents actually have like are they can they speak on behalf of their kid yeah of course in in terms of like my bandmates were at the label starting at 10 so we are their lives are based around like going to practice and rehearse and then going to school and kind of maintaining it all at the same time in as ten-year-olds yeah you do need parents yeah she managed I and I yeah I came at fifteen thinking not that I I was in charge and yeah that made me um girl grow real fast and I'm here now we're your parents nervous no they said no and then I was like you should be thanking me I should be moving out at 17 or 18 I'm saving you three years yeah I was like it Wow but I mean and and I didn't come back until I was set to debut so I was determined like there were times that I just cry and want to give up because it's intense like I've never been said that before but I'm here like I was passionate about having being an artist and having a story and and making others feel better because I felt better through music and I thought that was magical who made it intense who put the pressure on the members was it each other was it the executives I think it's the system itself it's like you have to be able so obviously we we take vocal lessons dance lessons language lessons acting lessons and then on our downtime like we'd get scripts from like radio shows like that our seniors go to or like or the other artists go through go to and we'd take the like scripts and we'd like practice reading each other I know saying yeah and it's intense but yeah it's kind of made me who I am and it can be crazy but yeah it's it's I took it in a very positive way do you think that system is necessary and vital to creating a superstar yes and no because at first like when I was there when I was younger I was like okay yeah I need it this is me being responsible this is me learning like I need to do this this is what it takes versus now that I am out of it and I am kind of the only one out of it right now I'm blessed who I love I love my family it's thank you for supporting me yeah I'm I do believe it but their needs change and that I hope that means being here and kind of do my own thing and that's what it is nowadays like you get to do what you want on your terms and and kind of do all the things you want it's not just you can only do this or you have to be here you can't say things I think the beauty of now is having a voice and speaking up and saying you know what it was great but there can be change in do you think that the rules have changed a little bit for the people currently in the system or do you think it's just as intense this is always best um I think there's an in there isn't in-between going on like it does still seem like pretty intense and obviously all the things that I grew up doing like language lessons and dance lessons and the new the younger a newer artists seem like they're as polished and and doing the intense a training program but there is a new underground scene where there are a lot more independent artists that are trying out new things and different styles and it's working and people are really reacting to it because that's the truth that's truth and I think that's why I'm here like the truth is I wanted it to I'm at this place where I want it to be about the craftsmanship of what it is to create a sound and I'm really just kind of going back into the studio and figuring out what I want to say what I want it to sound like and yeah Here I am and obviously everything you've been through it's kind of all turns into inspiration for music yes I'm sure you have stories for days was it hard to get out of the contract yeah I mean I'm not gonna lie yeah of course it was a big decision especially when the label is one thing in my band mates are another thought I think that's the confusion that was going on we are blessed that we do get to stay together as a band but I did leave the label so I think that's the confusion there so you you can still be in girls generation-tts yeah no yes okay yes because when I'm at this place where I said if you guys want me there I can be there like it's actually you guys were busier than I am I'm like kind of taking my time and and yeah it's it's it's they're there this is a new chapter for everyone it's never been done before and it is scary I don't lie you can see it in my eyes but I'm happy I'm and and I feel I feel confident and supported and there's a level of trust from both my bandmates and my fans that we this when I was getting ready to leave and move back home everyone was like remember this is what you always wanted and that felt like I was like that's that's everything like to hear that from my bandmates instead of them going no you can't go or like you need to stay it's like you always wanted this and go after your dreams and it's genuine support yeah you know that's for you yeah but so while you were in the groove you always wanted to be a solo artist yeah of course we originally all of us dreamed of being solo artists and I think that's what was kind of amazing about Girls Generation we always kind of made each other be the best of each other's the best version we can be at the time and it was this like okay she's good at this and she's good at this and just kind of made all of us hyper focus into being the best versions of ourselves so how scary was it when you finally made the decision to be like alright guys this is what I'm gonna do now oh yeah I remember I sat the girl sat and I was like so what do you got what I said what do you want to do like where are you guys at because it's it's not about like what's best for like the group it's like in the end we are all human beings what do you want like because I care for you as a human being and I want you to feel the same way and everybody was just like yeah I think some of my some of my families wanted to go into acting full-time so my bandmates wanted to take a break and I wanted to go back to I wanted to go to acting school so I went to acting school as soon as I got here last September for a year and yeah I it was scary but it's it's a it's a great decision it feels it feels like when I was moving to Korea it all happened so fast but I was just like really determined and my heart is in a good place so I hope that's my truth so I know the truth will and you acted in Korea you were in the Korean version of Fame yes I was musical but I haven't done any like film or TV yet yes I've been going auditions and taking class and lessons so I mean they say it takes 10,000 hours to make him a master at your craft and I'm new to acting so I'm taking my time how different are the acting classes that you take now compared to the ones that you took in Korea um I can actually understand without a translator and at the time I had to carry a dictionary around I it wasn't on an average yeah I really had a book that I had to carry around this is like mm mm mm six or five oh yeah but not yeah I'm I'm not that old but I yes I have a good amount of years and I'm that I'm but yeah being back here and I decided to study the my C technique and yeah I'm glad that I got to know what types of and what styles of acting there was and go like okay I'm read different and research about it and go okay I think this is the one I want to want to study and yeah but before it was just like okay I'm going acting class but I'm like also looking up what they're saying at the same time and yeah it's I feel like yeah I can I can do it better now that I'm don't have to filter through it twice what did you what was like the biggest thing that you learned about yourself through Girls Generation and that whole workshop experience there's so much there's like ten years is it I think the the biggest thing that I really loved about Girls Generation still love about gross tradition is that you can find togetherness but also find individuality like you you don't have to be alone to be this you know like find yourself and be a solo diva or you know like and also being together should make you a better person as a personal loan not just you know oh you're just part of another group like but but and I think 10 years has really proved every to everybody that it's not like oh they were just together or I bet that girl wanted to leave or yeah but that's the lesson that togetherness also created individuality for me that's by the way like I think a lot of people can take that and use it in so many different ways but isn't that like our world it's our community yeah I have your individual individuality to actually like be a part of a bigger group yeah but that's exactly 2018 seems to be that that that's what I should be telling everybody yeah I don't know much about it like how big was or is Girls Generation yes we're garden bro I know that but how big was it even over there cuz it was big here how big was in Korea it is yeah it we've had ten consecutive years a minimum of an album each year I think five for five consecutive tours we have four tours that are in the top ten grossing female in concerts of all time I was like we are we're next to the Spice Girls and mrs. child and yeah but that's a little bit of what what I did before I just can't be helped it actually was yeah and and oh and we we did sell a million copies in Japan as well yeah and that's still something I'm very proud of him like we sold a million copies of one album that's him yeah thank you and yeah things I've done who decide to leave is it like Zayn quitting One Direction yeah I mean I I think it was shot but we I didn't quit so I just left the label luckily yeah that is kind of tricky me saying it out loud too but yeah I think it's cuz that's how like active we were like we were always together and it was always all eight of us and everyone's like oh my god she's not gonna be there but it's so untrue because they're visiting every other month and I have like Demi it's coming in every other month and they're like oh this is nice like they're spending quality time now that you know yeah yeah you know have the pressure of work and every actually be friends nice and now they have a place to say in Los Angeles they do it that's what there's that's what thank you saying they're like we should just all crash at your place and like let me know what and how many of you four weeks notice I'll let you know all right and obviously you speak Korean fluently no yes now I do after 13 years yes if I can say I'm pretty good at it that's a pretty cool thing I'm still learning though why was over my skin the right song for you to release for because I mean it is a it's kind of a second wave of your solo life right yes it is why was that the right record I have been writing in the studios since last October so that song was written May and I was finally really getting comfortable in my skin like I know it sounds kind of cliche in a way but yeah from where I stand like being in a girl band for 10 years I wasn't able to be super expressive and say like I have I have I've had issues or I've had like it takes it takes a lot to break out it's just always like polished ready to go go go go and this song for me was like finally I'm ready to just write and have fun and just kind of break out of the mold so that that song definitely felt like the opener for me but it takes you to be comfortable with yourself and in your own skin to actually create something like that I am a lot more I think being 29 versus being 17 yeah you're you're mature yeah yes I sound like I'm a lot older I'm not that old I'm 29 now so being 29 and I also from I mean there is a pressure of female musicians having to be young not just in Korea but all over the world and I am someone that's proud to be growing up and being happy I'm in being a woman being you know just growing up and I think nobody else is talking about it and I was just like you know what I want to talk about it like I know the song isn't literally talking about it but you know I have so much I have more music - sheriff soon so so this is just one of many what you do look like you're like 21 you look very yeah you look very young but I'm gonna take that as a compliment yeah it's very cool to see all like to see everything and what you've done and kind of like the path you set because a few people from k-pop groups end up going solo but very few stick with it and there's like it's it's a it could be a really dark world after it's all done yeah is there any part of you that regrets taking part in the system not at all not I mean when I but as I was mentioning when I was younger there of course when you're younger you think about I wish I would I didn't do that or I did do that but as you know luckily I stayed rooted in what I was doing and and being where I am now I wouldn't be here if if I wasn't there or didn't go through things because yeah there were days that I made mistakes or or I wanted to quit where I wanted to give up or perfectionism got the best of me and and luckily I'm I've had the time a good year to kind of step back and see if this is what I really want to do and this is what I really love to do and I'm taking it that's a privilege all over again and yeah I wouldn't change a thing do you think they need to redefine the word Idol yes they yes they do I really do think so because when I walked in as a 15 year old girl saying I want to be an artist nobody took that seriously and locally ten years in and and a few accomplishments they take a lot of a lot more idols seriously over the time but I just hope that one when they look at a k-pop idol there that there more people will see somebody that's passionate about music and wanting to tell a story why isn't it a kpop artist what do they feel like the world wants to see perfection looking back when I was doing at seventeen I was in this headspace of you know what positivity I can make everything like if I push through and myself it's gonna be okay it's gonna be okay so at the like looking back at it that was my truth at the time at 17 I was I yeah things were hard as hell and and sometimes I would cry in my room but in the end my heart was that I'm gonna try my hardest and smile through this and make my make myself feel better make other just feel better but I think when we see it now it's like why is everybody displaying perfection so at the time I didn't know that I was displaying perfection but who knows there there are a lot more there's a lot more different styles and different sounds of that artist k-pop artists are experimenting with these days okay but the company wants idols the company wants perfect they do they don't want you straight out of a relationship they don't want you to dress a certain way yeah they see you you gotta look good sir I mean everything is meticulous but it's I mean they create the definition because they for some reason think that people want to see perfection but I can make the argument that in 2018 people want authenticity yeah that's what I love about 2018 and that I get to kind of say that out loud now where whereas yeah I get to say it out loud now hello k-pop artists 2018 is about authenticity it's about who you being real and your truth and here yeah you're absolutely right I think I think over time it has changed that social media has become such a big platform and it is about having a voice in an opinion versus let's be perfect like remember one for instance I mean social media first started and still till this day people are still kind of trying to portray it to be perfect and no lie me too like sometimes I'm like wait is that gonna be cool am i red and there you know the you get to go through it but in the end now it is about authenticity it's about like the moment like I'm here let me snap a picture let me say hi yeah I'm here and speak your self yeah I'm glad I'm happy and I can't even make the argument that BTS is success is due to a level of authenticity that's in the lyrics of their songs right cuz I think about things that everybody is going through I told you a k-pop artists are trying new things and experimenting no life so I don't know if people want to see people they can be friends with like they don't want to see like perfect hair and everything meticulous but then again like I am just looking at it from like an American consumer maybe no I think all the fans feel the same way we we're all human beings like we have bad days and good days we make mistakes we cry we have snot endears and we have days where we want to laugh and joke around and be free and and yeah we're over if I'm finding I'm finding that space nor are the male k-pop groups expected to be as perfect as the female yeah they wanted the females like I don't know who was the tree everyone's treated the same oh yeah yes pretty much they want everybody want it's a level of perfection right like here's this thought just enter my mind as you're describing what makes a human being a human being thank you you described things that like another human being grows attached to that human for right yeah you cry you laugh you share wisdom when you do those things like through social media people then feel attached to you and you build a relationship but if you're looking at it from the company's perspective right mm-hm why do they want there they don't want human beings they want vehicles for music because then their audience is attached to the music and not to human being so then you last forever regardless of their involvement and then they just want to be able to take you out and plug somebody else in yeah that represents the same ideals well I was just I was like you did and I'm so glad I was there for 10 years cuz that's what changed it it isn't it isn't just a blank space to be filled with we are all human beings and there's something special and there's a story behind every artist not idle and and I think that you know what you crack the code where I'm gonna say that a lot more and it's it's it's it's about really kind of showing that over time like I'm not gonna show my snot in tears the first go but no but eventually you build a relationship absolutely love your music and then you just you open up there's a connection yes yeah thank you for letting me open up about this I've never even talked about this like this thank you for being so open about it because it's been a John room usik that I've been very fascinated with as of last maybe a year and a half or so and it's it's an interesting world and honestly like there's artists that I've played on the radio that are k-pop artists and when I play their music I get feedback from fans and the feedback from the fans like they'll tell me not to place or an artist based on the way the company treats those artists and based on the way that whole relationship works out yeah I'm very visual about it yeah and I'm super happy that the fans I've become so strong and opinionated where it was just like they were kind of and you know what it is for the fans like my music and us performing and us being on stage like we've created a relationship we've created a relationship and I'm so glad that even the fans are finding authenticity in opinions and and kind of really yeah and they should I mean to be honest with you I look at it like this they're the ones giving everybody money so it doesn't have money unless the fans end up buying the album to the shows so if the fans are gonna be the ones calling them on their Bull squash they should listen because both squash ultimately it's them they're the ones paying the bill doesn't matter how great the artists are if they don't have fans to support it yeah absolutely on thank you I need to take you to Korea yeah we can start a revolution about them seeing what you have to say now no I'm I'm comfortable I'm planting my feet down and I hope that I can set an example for a kpop artist to want to try new things and you know stay in a group and still keep their dreams and passions and you know dude do things when the time comes it's not about like oh it's too late it's never too late like I thought about that sometimes too like because it's like you think you'd want you would have thought about doing it earlier or later or you know you always think about timing and yeah that's another thing but we've that I feared like what about sometime yeah I know but time is what you make it and and I I do believe that I hope that I am being an example planting my foot down by the way quality are in a great story will always no matter what thank you that's just the truth thank you I just wanted answers your first solo album yes it was and do you have an album ready to go now like your next one or you have singles I I am the EPS in the works it's almost done yeah and I'm kind of aiming towards early 2019 and would you say the biggest difference is between I just want to dance and this new album is the fact that you've with people I want to be in the studio at because it gets very specific it's like okay I know this writer is awesome at this and this producer is awesome at this and it's just so amazing that you get to work with the best and you get to choose and curate about you yes that's that's exactly it's curated by me versus like an idea and like waiting on demos and yeah that's what it was I'd be like I want to be a solo artist and then it took I I came out at year 8 I know at what point did you actually release something like you're eight and a half yeah at the end of it yeah I came ready later and I mean I'm glad I got the experience but um yeah there was a lot of fear behind that too and now it's just like you know what it's about really kind of curating trying and experience and really doing it and you know writing 30 songs and then choosing three verses not even writing any I've been kind of being scared how do you read in songs alone during your old generation like yeah I had a few friends that I wrote with I wrote like five or ten songs and and this is another issue I was like I turned in my music ah you know hope they're like oh it's good girl they just gonna use one though so like the whole time because you don't have another perspective you're like okay my songs are not that good like only one of them got placed and like you know you're already like over analyzing yourself when in the end it was it wasn't really it wasn't calculation or anything it was just my feelings there it's scary you know like you was my raw feelings out there and they're just like let me take one of your one of your emotions and then get rid of the rest I know yeah so true Here I am taking those songs that didn't get picked up and using them now no no no no those were the early days so I'm like I'm I'm glad I'm here learning from amazing producers I was just it's just the young girl moaning and yeah now I'm here and I'm just like okay those are cool words that's a cool sound that I'm just picking up on things yeah cool do you feel like you're starting from scratch almost yeah I do even though you have millions of fans yeah and I think that's rare and I'm at first I was like oh my gosh I'm not play playing but I think that's when anything's possible so I'm just keeping a positive mindset and luckily my other my fans who have been with me they're amazing they're just like the fanny packs oh my gosh I haven't decided on them I know I've seen you say it but I see a lot of them are starting to call themselves that oh no no no no I did not I'm still thinking about it there are some strong contenders there was a fan there was fanny packs there was like fantastics and then another one I recently read was young ones like young that's cool but also young one means forever and Korean oh so like I think that's special yeah I think that's better than fanny bag see you know what Thank You sacks I'm gonna push young one it sounds cool it Ben it means forever yeah it sounds cool and has a great meaning I do like the branding and merch potential of the fanny packs oh yeah that's chair but by the way nobody's really where in the fanny pack around their fanny anymore like a back thank you you know what's in yeah I see people in the airport looking cool okay then I'm just here my slippers so yeah thanks Zack for a young one I've Annie paxil was a strong contender all along I'm down with how far from kpop is your solo work gonna be are you just moving completely away from it no I when I got back and we're at this time where it's about identity and you know embracing who you are and you're you know being Korean American Asian American like it's such a beautiful time I realized I wanted to create something that was everything I loved about kpop and everything I loved about pop which was the early 2000s Britney and Justin and Pharrell if you can hear it from that yeah I was gonna say it sounds like a little Pharrell Missy Productions exactly the inspiration into your phone and then right before I wrote that song I was watching Justin Timberlake at the Forum and I was like super inspired so you can say that um all the things I love about kpop and pop are kind of infused in and I think everybody's grabbing a little nostalgia yes will there be Korean lyrics I hope so in some of the songs because I was thinking about that the other day with with my team like there's Spanglish versions of like yeah create a English and Latin songs and I love I've I cryptic cuz I mean I loved Christina Aguilera's album in the earlier days and she had like yeah lots of collaboration I would love like a Korean in English and I've been singing on both languages and it doesn't it sounds cool like you should do and and there are yeah hi I'd love to and I hope there that that's a good opportunity for every all the musicians to kind of collaborate whether it's like a English Korean song a Korean Latin song like I've been singing things and people talking about it so I hope I can be one of the first do you ever do it he'll Korea let you release music well the companies allow you to release music there oh yeah I'm on my own I don't have anybody in Asia I mean I'm with like a distribution label which is kind of that's the difference in Korea it's just one management label distributed yeah I'd yeah I only thought that was it they also control the scene you could say that but hi hi and I like that I said I keep going back to it I feel blessed like I've girls generation has become my family and I'm just so thankful that whoa and it was hard leaving the label but well I was rereading some of the press stuff but that when I was leaving and they're just like you know what girls generation isn't disbanding we're all kind of confused right now but we're not disbanding so I was really thankful for that but it this is a first time for everybody so let it let the tables turn cool hey One Direction says they're getting back together and I just don't believe in it breaks my heart are they I do did you like my face I'm like I know they say they're gonna get back together they are like to the fans like other fan just waiting for you guys eventually get back together yeah but when I say that I mean it and I'm pretty sure they meet the gentleman mean and it's just it I'm it's it's so intense to get everybody scheduled on the same time and and it's like one of my family's car into this amazing movie and then she this other or one of my other bandmates is going to this huge television series so it's just like when the timings right the Stars will align I think that's what we're waiting for because we've had 10 years and we've had like two two years where we didn't have like a group project on nervo d was focusing on their own things and that's where I created the subunit and we find our space to be together but also apart and I think this space apart right now will get us back together even stronger that's it you gotta build into anticipation thank you speaking my language I'm on like one direction like I want to own a few years on that like I want it I what it happens yeah I love that Rican animal of course so do i I'm the biggest One Direction fan I just don't see them actually getting back together I'm a huge fan I believe that they will like I mean do you remember when I was watching um that was it the VMA performance or Justin Timberlake fraud and think back and I was like and the Destiny's Child at Coachella come on but everything quick reunion that's not like a full-on like album oh yeah but that's a ridiculous thing to expect in one direction you want to do an album together I want yep yeah that's why I like one direction for one direction of like yeah it would be fun to see them perform together again I think we might get a performance I don't know over any get an album like would Girls Generation - an entire album we were actually yeah we thought about it cuz we were just like you know we have to you want to talk after like a year or two and it's already been a year I'm like time is flying so I think maybe after the loop everybody's done with their like film productions we might get together and start talking because I'm I think by that time we're all gonna be like yeah let's do one yeah yeah and I think that's what's changing like over over the course of time there are very big there were labels controlling and you know gatekeepers gatekeepers but now it's just like it's on us like if we want if we decide we're gonna do this like we can just stream live and say we're gonna write music and just like do it yeah the power of social media awesome Tiffany young yeah well I just want to ask two questions can you explain professor T quickly professor T professor T I mean came up during an interview where they asked me if you could have one superpower and I was like mind control wait does that make me professor eggs but and then came then call me professor T and then I realized I am always especially coming back home I'm in this place where I'm learning and I'm new to things so I will forever be a student but also people are like you're the guru of kpop now ten years are near about your fro like you I was like you can call me professor and like what before I going into this video I wanted a channel that I am a pro like I am becoming this raw like mmm kind of unpolished getting my hair my ponytail out in the video like human being but I'm also very very focused and kind of gonna teach you through what I do and how I do it and just show you the process which is what a professor does you kind of break down what your process is and how it's done whereas before it was all neatly packed and you never got to see anything and Professor T is definitely my alter-ego of being this that this bad what do you say full squat squat okay like a bull she's okay well what was the craziest rule that was imposed on you I couldn't swear ever we never saw her and then it slowly got to like my feet start saying things and I'd like casually like flip them off and it's like oh wait okay no cursing yes always being ready like photo-ready like there's a lot of press and paparazzi that started happening when we started promoting so I remember having like one terrible picture and I was like oh my gosh this means we always have to be ready and like we have to get up at like 4:00 in the morning they go to their poor hair and makeup oh yeah always and did they have somebody do it for you yeah of course okay good I mean I I've tried doing it on my own but I'm already half asleep which would make me leave it to the professionals they control your communication outside of the group so when we first started there was no social media whoa yeah so different world it was it didn't matter like and because they were like yeah social media can always be a desire like online platforms can be such a disaster you should you guys should never do it so we were actually pretty late to the game like I started my Instagram really late like 2004 late 2014 yeah we came in pretty late so that was the pressure of not like of of the label saying yeah social media is a mess and then I found out social media means you can have a voice hi did they affect your relationships they keep you from having relationships yeah when we were younger yeah we weren't a lot to take till like in Korea it's like legal ages twenty yeah twenty-one twenty yeah and they're just like yeah they're like okay they're in a lot today we the first year and a half was it year we didn't have cell phones so I went to pay phones - you could call your parents and I had like calling cards because back then that's yeah international calls I had yeah a call I step out of my apartment and go to the phone booth and we yeah we didn't have phones at all so we were just really focus it was it fun work like going onstage and performing yeah but if I think about it now I'm pretty sure it was miserable yeah and luckily there was I had a fun group of friends girlfriends are my family now and we we made the best out of it like we were never bored because there were so many other huh did you ever fight back no I just thought that that's what it was and like this is what this is what it required and I think when you're that young then you you're just so set and focused on I remember I was like I wanna make a difference I wanted to get artist of the year or Best New Artist like I was both get told I got there and I was just like if that's what it takes yes take take my life away it's crazy the whole idea is like perfect perfect perfect yeah so it realistically it's the complete opposite yeah nah that's why perfectionism is something that I keep coming back to it's a real issue and I guess it's deeply rooted but it's only perfect because they can replace perfect you can't replace human do you understand yes you you don't form a relationship with a perfect robot you form a relationship with some of the somebody has a pulse and independent thoughts and like experiences and can share emotion and talk to you about things that's gonna create I can translate for you see I mean whatever it takes like I'm down yeah hundred percent in yeah I find the whole thing you know I had my first interaction with a k-pop group back in maybe 2010 2009 it was the Wonder Girls yeah I only came here to compete whatever they thought they were going to try we yeah we started at the same year yeah I remember like and they had the Jonas Brothers back yes they do when you find that out like are you like I was like what am i doing with my life yes I remember we had some we've had some healthy competition during those years the first cuz there when we first started when Girls Generation first started there weren't that many girl bands and then came this huge like era of girl bands after which is I'm proud to say Wonder Girls Wonder Girls and Girls Generation started yeah yeah I mean would you say they started because of you guys or in response to Girls Generation I think it became kind of everyone was like okay I guess girl bands can work through what we were doing and we worked our we worked our butts off you can say you worked we worked hard and I think that's what it is being a human being it's part about really working hard and not sharing your process yeah that's the story so you can sear them competition when we were younger yeah we're all friends now we're so cool yeah they were I they were really I never dealt with a harder team than the Wonder Girls because it was dude it was really regulated it was perfection and like that's what that was the thick of it you're right it was about me and dance and because they felt like that what was neat that's what kept the brand afloat that's what made the brand unique we weren't allowed to where we were at Thailand this one trip and they're like okay you guys can't go out and swim because we don't want you to be babies yeah that just popped into my head like there would yeah and at the time you didn't think anything of it I was just like okay put on a t-shirt yeah I don't know what's you yeah seriously right but yeah that was it was really strict but I mean we started at 17 so I'm I'm gonna understand a bit Wow Tiffani young I have covered a lot one more question now that your solo you're back in America why has it been so hard for Asian Americans to break into like mainstream America I think at most they were I think most of the other artists entertain as entertainers well the friends that I have like the Wonder Girls or or when we were here promote when Girls Generation was you're promoting we weren't here full-time so we just come by and make stops versus like really kind of figuring out what our identity or what our sound or what it is we want to say to America at the at that time when we were promoting like yeah I'm here full-time and I'm always just thinking about and watching and just taking in culture and and learning and and I think it does take it did take me to live there I live in Korea South Korea and train for three and a half years and we also live like part time in Japan when we were going full-time in the Japanese market as well and maybe it is full-time and I think more and more Asian entertainers are like you know what I really want to start storytelling there's also amazing Asian like writers and directors that are coming to the same but Asian Americans I I think it's a wonderful time and there are a handful of amazing artists right now in films and yeah I'm I'm just kind of learning and observing with you and you're soaking in the cultural media now last question what advice do you give to feature idols future our Korean artists yeah he's very in pop artists learn the rule so you can make new rules don't break any just learn and make new rules and always like turn to a you know friend a colleague a senior do somebody there that's always gonna be able to talk and just hear your opinion out and continue to find a voice while doing it and you know still be passionate and have dreams while you're doing things like it's never too late cool Tiffany young appreciate this this is a real real interview thank you so much I have to take you to go over my skin deserves your ear so up thank you listen thank you to be now I really hope you enjoyed that conversation if you did please subscribe and also check out our podcast there's a link in the description and also comment and like and do things other interviews are on the screen somewhere so click them thanks for watching

Channel: Zach Sang Show

Views: 856,655

Keywords: Tiffany Young, Girls' Generation, One Direction, Over My Skin, Kpop, Idol, BTS, Gangnam Style, Wonder Girls, Radio, Interview, Zach Sang Show, Zach Sang, Dan Zolot, Heather Connor

Id: 1McYk39AnvI

Length: 51min 2sec (3062 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 23 2018