AKMU’s Lee Chanhyuk is once again shaking up the K-pop landscape, but this time, it’s not just about spectacle.
In particular, on July 22, Lee Chanhyuk delivered his first live performance of the new track “Endangered Love” through a KBS “Open Concert” stage, which was pre-released on YouTube. What unfolded was more than just a musical act, but a bold and chaotic blend of performance art, parody, and emotional release.
Dressed in a Michael Jackson-inspired outfit, which included slicked hair, sunglasses, and a fedora, Chanhyuk opened his set in typical enigmatic fashion. But what came next left viewers stunned: from kneeling mid-song and gazing soulfully at backup singers, to abruptly transitioning into lunges and push-ups, he delivered a truly unpredictable stage.
Viewers flooded the comment section with awe and disbelief, leaving mostly positive and reviews like, “Chanhyuk’s doing whatever he wants, and it works,” “It felt like Michael Jackson possessed him,” “I’ve never appreciated backup vocals this much before,” and “I was already shocked at the lunges, but then he even did push-ups.”
But this isn’t Lee’s first brush with experimentalism. His unpredictable stage antics and eccentric image previously led some to dub him a sufferer of “GD Disease”, a label accusing him of imitating G-Dragon’s eclectic style.
In 2022, during promotions for his 1st full-length solo album “Error”, Lee Chanhyuk read a newspaper on a sofa placed in the middle of a street and stood motionless inside a transparent box, mimicking a figurine. He once sang with his back to the audience and even shaved his head live on stage. These stunts birthed the meme where people said, “Chanhyuk, please stop doing whatever you want.”
Yet over time, these “strange experiments” have matured into a recognizable artistic identity. From his line “hip-hop isn’t cool anymore” on Show Me the Money to the retro-futuristic reinterpretations in his 2nd full-length album “EROS”, the AKMU member has proven that his ideas aren’t just bold, but also meaningful.
Now, rather than mocking terms like “GD Syndrome,” fans and critics alike are re-evaluating his work through a more respectful, artistic lens. His relentless self-expression, once divisive, is now seen as a courageous redefinition of what a K-pop artist can be.
Naver