Jake of Enhypen
Belift Lab
SEOUL, February 10, 2026 — Enhypen member Jake is stepping into a new creative role, producing tracks for the group’s latest album, The Sin : Vanish, and discovering a passion he didn’t know he possessed.
A New Creative Outlet for the K-Pop Star
Enhypen’s new album, “The Sin : Vanish,” explores themes of societal escape and the complexities of desire, showcasing a deeper narrative through its concept and musical storytelling.
- The album, The Sin : Vanish, is a concept album with a continuing storyline from their previous release.
- Jake produced both a narration track and a full song on the album, marking a new step in his musical journey.
- The group emphasizes the importance of global fans in their success and aims to create music that resonates universally.
- Jake highlights the competitive nature of the K-pop industry and the pressure to constantly innovate.
The 23-year-old Korean-Australian singer revealed his newfound joy in producing, contributing a narration track and a full song to The Sin : Vanish. “Producing a song sparked something inside me that I didn’t really know that I had because being a K-pop idol, sometimes, it gets very repetitive,” Jake explained. The group’s rigorous schedule, with every minute planned, can be draining, but he found that producing offered a different kind of creative stimulation.
“We wake up, we have a very tight and set schedule down to the minute. We have to wake up at this hour, this minute. We end our schedule at this [time]. I used to enjoy that,” he continued. “I’m a person that really likes that because I’m just wired that way. I don’t know. But sometimes, without even me knowing, that gets very tiring, but producing and making music makes you think different and makes you think creatively.”
Jake described the feeling of working in the studio as “a different kind of adrenaline” and expressed his intention to continue producing in the future. He found the process invigorating and a welcome change from the routine of idol life.
Crafting a Narrative Through Sound
The Sin : Vanish isn’t just a collection of songs; it’s a concept album designed to be listened to from beginning to end, telling a story through its tracklist. The album builds upon the themes explored in their previous release, delving into a narrative of escape and desire. The title track, “Knife,” encapsulates the emotions of being on the run.
“You have to listen to this album from the start, in order. We planned it, and we put the songs in that particular order because it tells a story. From the beginning, the first track, which is called “The Beginning,” and it’s a narration track. It’s talking about the beginning of this journey right until the very end, which is the last narration track [“The Beyond”],” Jake explained.
The album features narration in multiple languages, with renowned actor Park Jeong-min lending his voice to the Korean version, and prominent voice actors contributing to the Japanese and Chinese versions. The group invested significant effort in these details, hoping listeners would appreciate the nuances of the storytelling.
Enhype for ‘The Sin : Vanish.’
Belift Lab
The Allure of Production
Jake’s foray into production began with a personal goal set at the start of 2025: to actively develop his producing skills and create at least two songs. He happily reported that both tracks made it onto The Sin : Vanish. He started working on the narration track almost immediately after finishing promotions for their previous album, sketching out ideas and even incorporating clips from the film Late Night with the Devil into early demos.
“I was thinking about how our concept film was based on the movie called Late Night with the Devil. I think I was rewatching it. It’s not an old movie, but the film style and the concept is sort of a really ’90s kind of film. It looks like a really old film, but it’s not. It was very interesting and the story was very interesting,” Jake said. “On the demo, there’s bits of the actual movie that I decided to put in, but it’s not on the final version. But on the demo, you could hear the clips of the movie inside the narration track.”
He also produced the song “Sleep Tight,” completing it shortly after finishing the narration track. He discovered a particular aptitude for crafting the instrumental elements of a song, a suggestion made by a close producer he frequently collaborates with.
Training and Future Aspirations
Jake reflected on the potential benefits of incorporating production training into the standard K-pop trainee curriculum. While some members of Enhypen, like Jungwon, Jay, Sunghoon, and Heeseung, received such training at BigHit Entertainment, his own time at the current label was shorter. He believes early exposure to music production can be incredibly valuable, even if it’s simply observing experienced producers at work.
“I think it is at the moment, or it was when you’re a trainee at maybe BigHit Entertainment, which is Hybe now, but it was called BigHit Entertainment. Jungwon, Jay, Sunghoon and Heeseung, they were all training at BigHit for a long time. I was only at this current label for about eight months, so I don’t think I was… Maybe I wasn’t at that level of being a trainee to practice producing a song, or I was just busy trying to dance and sing a little bit, but I feel like it’s very good to start as soon as possible. Start as young as possible, just interact with as much music as possible. Even if you’re not doing the actual production, I feel like it’s a good learning step to just be in the room and just see what people are doing. I think that’s how I started.”
What is the biggest challenge facing K-pop groups today? The competitive landscape of the K-pop industry is a reality every artist acknowledges, even if they’re hesitant to discuss it openly. With a constant influx of new groups and rapidly changing trends, maintaining a unique identity is paramount.
“I feel like the fact about K-pop that every K-pop artist knows but doesn’t want to talk about is that [the] K-pop industry is very competitive, right? We all say we don’t want it to be, or we want everyone to do their own thing… Every K-pop artist is different.”
Enhypen strives to be at the forefront of innovation, consistently pushing boundaries and challenging expectations. They prioritize originality and conceptual depth, aiming to deliver something truly distinct with each release.
“Like I said [in] yesterday’s [session], no one really puts out the songs before the concept as we did with the concept films. I think that’s very rare in this K-pop industry. We always tend to wait until the last minute, almost. We don’t do it now, but we used to hide our hair colors until the very last day. I think that’s very K-pop culture, almost. Everyone wants to wait until the last minute and surprise everyone with this new thing. We used to always do that, but we decided every single song in this album is too good to hide.”
The group’s global fanbase, cultivated through the international program I-Land and nurtured through consistent engagement, plays a crucial role in their success. Jake emphasized that Enhypen’s appeal extends beyond Korea, recognizing K-pop as a global phenomenon.
“I think if I’m being 100 percent honest, the base of Enhypen… I feel like the reason Enhypen was able to come to this world was because of our global fans, and that includes Korea, as well, when I say global. I’m saying that it wasn’t just in Korea that we were able to start almost because we had I-Land, which was a global program and the voting was global, as well. Right off the bat, we knew in our heart that there were people outside of Korea that were very interested in us or in K-pop. But at the time, because of COVID, we couldn’t really see with our own eyes. As time went on — and we were able to go overseas and perform and interact with fans all over the world — we realized that K-pop is not Korean pop. It’s this whole genre that is loved globally.”
Maintaining a balance between catering to fans and staying true to their artistic vision is a delicate act. Enhypen aims to create high-quality music with meaningful concepts, hoping to connect with listeners on a deeper level.
“We don’t really put an album or make an album or make a song that is liked by this region or this group of people or this group of people. We might have different styles… Like on this album, we have a Latin-style song that we know that Latin Engenes would enjoy more. There’s things like that, but we never plan to target a certain group of people. We just put out albums or songs that we know are good quality, first of all. I think that’s what I really like about Enhypen or this company is that we don’t put stuff out to almost… we don’t put out albums just because of our fans. I want to elaborate on that because it’s very important to make an album that the fans like, but also, I feel like a very thin line to keep is that you need to know what you want to do or you need to keep grounded and have a meaning behind the album.”
Finding Balance in a Demanding Industry
Jake acknowledges the demanding nature of the K-pop industry and the importance of self-care. He finds support in connecting with fellow artists like Felix and Chris from Stray Kids, who understand the unique pressures of the profession. He also emphasizes the importance of enjoying one’s work and finding motivation in the connection with fans.
“The first thing that comes to mind is you have to talk to people about it. I feel like K-pop idols are very different to normal people — you can’t really expect to have a normal life, so I feel like it’s important to talk to other K-pop artists or other K-pop seniors that have been doing this for longer than me. They know what I’ve gone through. They all went through the same thing. I feel like it’s important to share what you’re feeling because if you want to ask advice for anything related to your life or my life as a K-pop artist, there’s no one that can relate to it other than the same people that are doing it. I don’t really know a lot of people, to be honest. (Laughs.)”
“Internally, I feel like this goes for every job, but you’ve got to enjoy what you do. I certainly enjoy what I do, and everyone in the group enjoys what they do. We enjoy performing in front of our fans, and I think that’s what motivates us during the hard times, which is before we come back, before we put out an album, the few months or the half a year that we have to put in doing the music videos, recordings, making the album, that’s the hard bit. Just the thought of putting this album out and singing this song in front of our fans is what helps us get through the few months.”
The relentless pace of album releases in K-pop is a topic the group often discusses. Jake acknowledges the challenge of maintaining such a demanding schedule but emphasizes the positive pressure it creates and the importance of cherishing rare moments of downtime.
“I don’t know how K-pop artists put out so many albums. [The other members and I], but also our company, sometimes talk about how the other groups do it. How they put out so many albums, because we know how long it takes to make an album. It takes a long time [and] takes a lot of work to put out one album. But I feel like every single K-pop artist usually don’t have downtime. If you’re doing a promotion for an album, you’re doing that. If you’re not, you’re working on the next album. It’s almost like you don’t ever stop, or you’re on tour. So it’s pretty hectic, but you definitely get used to it. You find little bits of rest in between, and you get to cherish that rest or the days off that you have rarely; you really cherish those. I’m used to it. It’s fun. You have to work hard because a lot of people, a lot of fans, are really expecting a lot from us, which is a good pressure. It’s a positive pressure, if you know what I mean. It helps us [stay] motivated.”
