B.I Shared His Secret Technique of Creating Hit Songs Like BTBT
You will never guess what helps the genius songwriter create such poetic lyrics.
Different creators draw their inspiration from various sources, unique for each. The same goes for the ways musicians try to unblock their inspiration when they're stuck on a particular part while producing a new track. Kim Hanbin, also known as B.I, shared his songwriting tips during Idol Challenge, the show dedicated to raising funds for good causes, in Hanbin's case – to help kids get education.
B.I met Baekho, Idol Challenge' MC, on a kids playground right outside his studio building. When asked why he chose such an unusual spot to introduce his working routine, Hanbin answered he often comes out to ride the swings. He even shared another TMI: one day Hanbin wasn't in a good mood and the weather was gloomy, so he ended up playing on the playground, riding seesaws with his producer friend for a whole 3 hours.
As a fellow songwriter, Baekho was curious to know about the working process and wanted to exchange tips and tricks with B.I. He complained that all songwriters get stuck sometimes during creating new tracks and asked Hanbin for advice on what he should do if he got stuck. To that, without hesitation Hanbin pointed to the seesaw again. Seeing Baekho's confusion, the artist explained it helps him unwind and see his work with fresh eyes. Somehow, hanging out on a playground does help Hanbin continue working on a song when he returns to his studio. Hearing that, Baekho joked that his studio doesn't have a kids playground outside so that had probably been the reason why he often got stuck while writing songs.
Who would've thought that carefree swinging was a secret behind creating viral hit songs by a "genius songwriter", B.I's informal title in the industry.
Sharing more tips on how to write great lyrics, Hanbin mentioned how after riding a seesaw a couple of weeks ago, he happened to go for a walk and buy a bunch of books. When he showed them to Baekho, it became obvious that wasn't anyone's typical reading choice. Some of the books Hanbin bought he had already read, but most of them were unfamiliar to him and were ordered to broaden his horizon.
Among those books that caught B.I's interest, Nietzsche's words could be seen, 'The Forest of Philosophy', a book about "thought seeds hidden in fairy tales and myths", and 'Who knows what is good and what is bad' by Shiva Ryu, Korean poet and literary critic.
Hanbin also bought Simon Sinek's 'Start with why', a non-fiction book about examples of great leaders communicating and inspiring others, and 'The Big Picture' by Douglas Kennedy, which is a fast-moving thriller novel. Overall, B.I's bookshelf next to his studio equipment has more than 10 books, including novels about love and various poetry collections, for example, 'A century of world famous poems'.
Anyone who paid attention to B.I's songs can tell that the artist loves to incorporate poetry and philosophy in his lyrics. For example, the viral song Love Scenario that most likely any K-pop fan has heard at least once in their life, B.I wrote for the K-pop boy group iKON. This song was also partially inspired by him loving the work of Korean poet Mot Mal he saw on Instagram, and the lines "We were in love, and that is enough" are now some of the most remembered ones in Love Scenario. B.I's wording was always praised for being extremely poetic and metaphorical. This is one of the reasons listeners are attracted to his songs, the other one – catchy choruses that earned him the 'Master of Hooks' title.
As a true poet, Hanbin also prefers writing lyrics with a pen in his notebook given by fans as a gift, instead of typing them on PC.
His latest single BTBT had also become worldwide popular in 2022. Hanbin has released this song as an early sneak peek of his two-part album Love or Loved, and recently he announced the pre-order of the first part of his L.O.L. global project.