Hwang Chi-yeul drops first-ever summer album 'I LOVE SUMMER', reflects on BTS and Cortis

Hwang Chi-yeul has released I LOVE SUMMER, his first summer album since debut, led by the title track 우리, 여름 (Our Summer).

The five-track album also includes 숨 참고 네 이름 (Breath), 여름에 말할게 (Love, Summer), 여름이 불어와 (Summer Drive), and 너를 아프게 하던 내가 제일 미워지는 밤이야 (Unsaid). "My songs have usually been sad songs," Hwang said. "This album contains songs that people can sing along with and that will make audiences smile a lot." The shift was intentional.

The 우리, 여름 music video was filmed in Gangneung. Hwang told the director he wanted "a refreshing summer feeling like watching Japanese animation." The director nailed it. One scene almost got cut entirely—Hwang pushed several times to remove a shirtless moment, but the director refused, insisting it was essential fan service.

Hwang previously competed on the Chinese edition of I Am a Singer 4, finishing with the highest score among foreign participants. That experience shapes how he sees K-pop's reach right now. He watched footage of Cortis on an overseas schedule and saw foreigners on the street taking photos and singing along. "I got goosebumps," he said. "When I was active, I never even thought of such a situation."

He ran into BTS during their US breakthrough while working in China. "Even though they could have gotten proud about their popularity, they didn't." That told him everything. The world would recognize them wherever they went.

On the current generation, Hwang—a former dancer—was blunt. Junior singers today are so strong in both vocals and dance that he actually needs to learn from them. "In the past, we grew our dreams watching Billboard," he added. "Nowadays junior singers are already naturally entering Billboard. I think that's amazing."