Youngtак on Im Young-woong: "Competing is impossible" — but they share demos and work out together
영탁 opened TAK SHOW 5 in Seoul and spoke candidly about his friendship with Im Young-woong, their September album overlap, and his long road through trot.
TAK SHOW 5 kicks off in Seoul
영탁 (Youngtак) wrapped the Seoul leg of his TAK SHOW 5 : TAK TO THE FUTHURE concert series on October 5, having run three nights at Korea University's Hwajung Gymnasium from the 3rd. The tour continues in Jeonju, Daegu, Incheon, and Busan.
When asked about Im Young-woong (임영웅), Youngtак didn't hold back:
"Competing with Young-woong is impossible. But because we're so close, we listen to demos and mixed tracks together in each other's cars."
The two exercise together. When Young-woong plays him something new, Youngtак tells him straight: "woong, wow, this is crazy." September brought all three—Youngtак, Im Young-woong, and Kim Hee-jae (김희재)—releasing albums at the same time. That timing stopped feeling like coincidence a while ago.
From a Hidden Singer tip to Mr. Trot
Youngtак traced his trot pivot to a Hidden Singer participant who showed him how the genre works. One song. Promoted for three years. The logic: consistent effort on a single track means you only move forward, never backward. That framework shaped everything that came next.
He released "Nuna ga Dak-i-ya" aiming to be the Lee Seung-gi of trot, then followed with "Ni-ga Wae Geogi-seo Na-wa." Each song ran for roughly two to three years before he entered Mr. Trot.
He placed in the final selection (善) on TV Chosun's Mr. Trot in 2020. His reason for entering was straightforward: he had been active in trot since 2016, Im Young-woong and Jang Min-ho (장민호) were already close friends, everyone was going, and he wanted to play along too.
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