INTERVIEW INFINITE's vocalist plays the devil on his solo anniversary album
Nam Woo-hyun of K-pop boy band INFINTE / Courtesy of BILLIONS
Nam Woo-hyun co-wrote all 16 tracks, traces album's dark turn to hardest stretch of his life
Nam Woo-hyun, the vocalist of boy band INFINITE, could easily have marked his 10th year as a soloist by returning to the ballads that launched his solo career. Instead, the title track of his new album casts him as a devil, a character he traces back to the hardest stretch of his life.
“2X8,” his second full-length album, drops Wednesday, and its title fits several milestones into three characters. Two plus eight makes 10, for his years as a soloist. Two times eight makes 16, matching both the number of tracks and the years since INFINITE debuted in 2010, and the two numbers together form his birthday, Feb. 8.
Nam co-wrote the lyrics and music for every track on the album, which took about a year to complete and moves from an orchestral intro through pop rock and R&B before closing on a ballad.
“The tracks span a lot of genres, and they’re the result of 10 years of making music,” Nam said in an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Gangnam District, Seoul, Tuesday. “This album gathers everything from the past decade in one place.”
Nam Woo-hyun of K-pop boy band INFINTE / Courtesy of BILLIONS
Nam debuted in 2010 as the main vocalist of K-pop boy band INFINITE, a group known for its powerful, razor-sharp synchronized choreography.
The singer launched his solo career in May 2016 with the ballad EP “Write..,” steadily widening his range into dance, EDM and rock. His first full-length album "Whitree" came in November 2023, which also took him on an Asia tour through Macau, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Hong Kong.
He will follow the new release with a 10th-anniversary concert, “EVER GREEN,” at KBS Arena in Seoul from Nov. 6 to 8.
INFINITE singer Nam Woo-hyun performs in front of a tree prop in a teaser for the music video of “DEVIL,” the title track of his second full-length album, “2X8.” Courtesy of BILLIONS
Evergreen motif
Trees have followed Nam throughout his solo career, beginning with his name.
Spoken aloud, “Nam-woo” sounds close to “namu,” the Korean word for tree, and “Namu” became his nickname early on. The imagery has carried through his album titles since, from his first full-length work to “Tree Ring” in 2025.
The new title track, “DEVIL,” turns that symbol on its head. In the music video, an apple tree gradually burns down, completely consumed by evil in the end.
He chose the song as the lead single because it had the album’s most intense concept and performance, and said he drew on the biblical story of Adam and Eve and the serpent’s temptation. Nam helped create the choreography himself.
The pop rock track runs on a fast dance beat, but Nam said its message is gentler than its imagery.
“Everyone has good and evil inside them, and both are still you, so don’t be shaken and live by your own convictions,” he said. “It’s a message about loving yourself.”
His own good side, he said, shows most when he is with fans and turns into “a boy, like a child, laughing and crying.” His darker side comes out when he sees his fans suffering or being sad.
Nam Woo-hyun of K-pop boy band INFINTE / Courtesy of BILLIONS
Beyond ballads
Ballads remain, by his own account, what Nam does best, and they are what fans have long loved most from him. Still, he has spent the decade refusing to be confined to them.
“I debuted as part of INFINITE, not as a ballad singer,” he said. “My solo debut was a ballad, but fans loved seeing me sing and dance, so I couldn’t give that up.”
His goal, he said, is to be an artist who can handle rock, dance and ballads equally well rather than settling into a single genre. As a trainee, Nam had two left feet and could only copy what he was taught, but he has since grown to the point of pitching his own choreography ideas.
“If you put in the effort, it eventually works out,” he said.
He also directed his own vocal sessions and describes himself as rarely satisfied. He re-recorded songs three or four times, once because a cold left his voice sounding too nasal for his liking.
“I’m happy with the finished product, and I’m confident,” he said. “Every song could be a title track.”
Nam Woo-hyun of K-pop boy band INFINTE / Courtesy of BILLIONS
Nam described the past decade as one he lived “fiercely, even harshly,” and he said the hardest stretch is written into the new songs.
After undergoing a surgery for a gastrointestinal stromal tumor in 2023, he developed an intestinal obstruction a year later and spent months unable to eat. His weight dropped severely, and he said photos from that period are still hard for him to look at.
“I gritted my teeth, got through it and then made music out of it,” he said. “I think this album exists because I got through that time. Maybe that's when the devil you see now was born.”
Asked what he has achieved as a soloist, Nam pointed to becoming a singer who can headline his own concerts, now over three days at a sizable venue. He hopes to “move” with his fans to a bigger one, and said filling KSPO Dome on his own remains a dream.
He is also already looking ahead. Nam said his next project will likely be a remake album of songs by singers he has loved since childhood, and he is in talks with composers. He also hopes to release a ballad album eventually.
INFINITE, meanwhile, also has something in the works. Nothing is confirmed, but Nam said the members may return sometime next year. He credited the group’s longevity to senior acts celebrating their 20th and 30th anniversaries, who paved the way for younger acts to follow.
“Being solo is good, but it gets lonely,” he said. “When I meet the members, I finally feel happy.”
For now, his focus is on Wednesday’s release.
“If people come away thinking, ‘So this is the music he makes and the message he wants to share,’ I couldn’t be more grateful,” he said.