<aside> <img src="/icons/note-sixteenth_gray.svg" alt="/icons/note-sixteenth_gray.svg" width="40px" /> It’s time to learn about the members! We’re starting out with our fearless captain Kim Hong Joong (김홍중).
I’ve also started a **Concert Prep Spotify playlist** that we’ll be adding to, for those who prefer to listen instead of watch 😊
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Hongjoong is the leader of ATEEZ, although he is referred to as ‘Captain’ instead due to their pirate concept. He is the main rapper and is also one of the songwriters and producers for their music, with over 110 KOMCA (Korean Music Copyright Association) credits to his name.
His emoji is usually a squirrel 🐿️. They just launched their Aniteez merch, which are animal characters attributed to the members. Hongjoong’s is a squirrel named JJOONGrami.
Hongjoong’s rap signature in songs is that he often laughs before his verse.
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Friendship Dynamics and Fan Lines
ATEEZ really is one big chaotic family, but here are some of the more notable duos/member dynamics you may encounter that include Hongjoong!
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Have some memes! 🙌
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Each week in this section we’ll be taking a look at a couple of songs that are likely to be on the concert setlist, which also feature the member prominently! This week we’ll be watching or listening to Say My Name, BOUNCY, and MATZ.
This song is iconic for a lot of reasons. It’s from their 2nd mini album TREASURE EP.2: Zero To One **(Jan 2019) and is actually a prequel song to Pirate King, talking about how the members all came together to form the group. It starts with the “ATEEZ present!” introduction [be ready for this fan chant at the concert! 🎉], declaring that they have arrived. Hongjoong is also sporting his fan-favourite mullet in this era. Additionally notable is that Hongjoong’s second half of his verse in Say My Name is an acrostic poem using "에이티즈” (ATEEZ):
에워싸 두르고 지켜봐 이름 딱 네 글자 여기다 티나게 남겨놔 Zoom in here, ‘cause I’m the captain
In the MV below, Hongjoong is featured with the trumpet in the intro, and his main parts are at 0:42, 1:42, 2:01, and 3:38. [Also, a special shoutout to the sports horn at 3:25 because I couldn’t stand it at first and now I unironically love it]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKU4OVH18mE
<aside> <img src="/icons/script_gray.svg" alt="/icons/script_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Lore Primer
We’re not getting too much into their lore (the ongoing storyline or themes between MVs/content) since it is deep and complex [and I truly do not understand it LOL], but the main thing to know is that there’s a dystopian future/alternate world, where they fight against the government who prevents people from self expression and feeling emotion. We’ll notice this theme through many of their music videos (and at the concert)!
You may hear ‘HALATEEZ’ come up - this is referring to their alter-egos who exist in this timeline [HALA refers to their song HALA HALA, meaning Hearts Awakened, Live Alive, and TEEZ is from ATEEZ]. In Say My Name, you can see these ‘black pirates’ throughout.
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Welcome to their cowboy era! It was great. 🤠
This is one of their more recent title tracks (June 2023) and it will definitely be on the setlist! Hongjoong sings the choruses at 1:15 and 2:30.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0G5OA6ZH5w
‘Matz’ is taken from ‘mathyung’ (맏형) meaning the oldest in the group; both Hongjoong and Seonghwa were born in 1998. They are often lovingly referred to by the fandom as the Mom (SH) and Dad (HJ) of ATEEZ.
Together they released this unit song MATZ on the THE WORLD EP.FIN : WILL album (Dec 2023), along with this music video ****earlier this year. Hongjoong is in the hat and his verses are at 0:40, 1:24, 2:08, and 2:50.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PA5FG1NX9U
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