[Interview] 2Spade Talks ‘H₩OARANG’ EP, Asian Identity, Upcoming US Tour

2Spade releases his second EP ‘H₩OARANG’ under K-Pop major SM Entertainment’s electronic imprint, ScreaM Records, as the talented artist continues rising through the global EDM and dance music scene. 2Spade first took the bass and trap scene by storm, making a name for himself through his prolific output and releases with labels such as Sable Valley, Dim Mak, and Circus Records, culminating in his debut EP ‘Shadow’ to tell the story of “becoming 2Spade”.

With his second EP, 2Spade showcases his musical range with a much more vibrant dance and groove focused sound, while keeping his signature sound blending influences across hip-hop and dance music. The EP features distinctly Asian influences along with influences from the OG SoundCloud trap a decade ago, notably following 2Spade’s releases earlier this year of Asian-inspired anthems, such as ‘Patala’ with past12 on Yellow Claw’s label Barong Family and ‘Dragon Dance’ on UZ’s label Quality Good Records, as well as official remixes for K-Pop stars such as aespa and NCT 127. The EP also follows 2Spade’s tours across Asia in countries such as Japan, Thailand, and Myanmar and his Ultra Korea debut this year.

With the premiere of his ‘H₩OARANG’ EP, we sat down with 2Spade for an exclusive interview:

The Interview

First off, congrats on the release of your second EP! Could you tell us more about the story that you wanted to tell through it?

Thank you! Before starting the story, I want to talk about the name “2Spade”. 2Spade represents two “spades” each with their own identities “Hwoarang” and “Asura” – where Hwoarang represents a hero and Asura represents a shadow. This world-building through these identities originate from my duality as a person, which I wanted to channel into my artistry. I chose “Spade” because I thought the single Ace of Spades looked cool before deciding to base it on the 2 of Spades as the strongest card in the Asian poker game “Big 2”.

Can you tell us more about the Hwoarang identity and sound?

So throughout my life, I’ve felt like I had to “fight to survive” – you know, to just take on all of the hard things in life that you need to in order to reach your dreams. But I also learned that I can “live to thrive” – to also enjoy life, have fun, and good vibes. So this is reflected in the two personas of 2Spade, and Hwoarang represents my lifestyle. I listen to a lot of music genres such as hip-hop, R&B, pop, world music, and jazz. I also attend a lot of techno, tech house, and hip-hop music parties, because there’s not many bass music shows in Korea. So through Hwoarang, I wanted to incorporate my lifestyle into my music and express my artistic desires in a way that I couldn’t fully do through just bass music. Even before the EP, I’ve been releasing a lot of music through my ‘HWOARANG Hypeboi & Loverboi” flip series to showcase this sound.

Your EP features a lot of Asian influences, can you tell us more about that?

Of course, through my Hwoarang persona, I really wanted to define myself to the world as Korean and as Asian. The name Hwoarang means “Flower warrior” and refers to a group from the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla, of handsome young warriors who trained their minds and bodies, wrote poetry, and sang songs (essentially ancient Korean warrior idols). My interest in Hwoarang grew after I learned one of my ancestors was the leader of thousands of Hwoarang warriors, which made me proud and inspired to integrate my Korean roots into my music identity.

As an Asian artist, even though so many people in Asia listen to electronic music today and there are so many big EDM festivals, usually headliners are all from US and Europe, never from Asia. I’ve been touring a lot around Asia and many Asian fans often tell me how they are proud to see someone from Asia like me doing what I’m doing and taking my music to the world. This inspires me to achieve my dreams so that others can believe that they can too.

You released your EP with SM Entertainment, can you tell us about working with a K-Pop major?

Even though there are few international Asian music stars in EDM, there are many through K-Pop. SM Entertainment is one of the biggest K-Pop music companies and also has the most focus on electronic music through their label ScreaM Records. ScreaM Records has released a lot of remixes of K-Pop songs by really dope artists like Nitepunk, ZHU, Habstrakt, and Valentino Khan through their iScreaM remixes. ScreaM Records has also been focused on rising Asian electronic artists too, and I’m really grateful to the ScreaM team for all their support in my vision. I’m excited to be joining them for the first ScreaM label tour in December!

OK back to the EP, could you tell us about the story?

So H₩OARANG is the first chapter showcasing my Hwoarang identity. To capture the Hwoarang lifestyle, I drew inspiration from five distinct times of the day – morning, noon, evening, night, and dawn – and translated that into music. I imagined what I would want to listen to when I wake up, leave my house at noon, meet up with friends in the evening, partying at a club at night, and finally going to sleep at dawn – a day in the life of Hwoarang.

Last question, post EP what’s next for you?

I’m really excited to be flying to the US next month for a SM Entertainment / ScreaM Records label tour. It’ll be my first time touring North America, and I’m excited to meet fans in each city and to showcase my Hwoarang sound on tour.

Also I know many of my long-time fans miss the bass music I used to frequently upload on SoundCloud. I’m still making bass music and will be back with my best yet. My next release will be a full “2Spade style” EP on Barong Family to continue my story, and I’ll also plan to showcase the full “Asura” sound in the future too. My journey as an artist is really just beginning, and I hope many people can join me on this journey and enjoy following my story. Thank you!