Collaboration on music was a natural fit for MAX and Huh Yunjin.
MAX released his latest album Love in Stereo on Friday, and the 12-track pop project features the Le Sserafim member on the single “Stupid in Love,” which marks his latest collaboration with the K-pop idol.
The track was created while the 31-year-old singer-songwriter (whose real name is Max Schneider) was in South Korea to work with a producer on music for BTS, having previously written 2022’s “Yet to Come” for the group and collaborated with Suga on several songs. During the trip, one of BTS’s team members brought up the idea of collaborating with Le Sserafim.
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MAX and Huh Yunjin.
Warner Records
“I was like, ‘Wow, I’m a huge fan. Yeah, I’m going to make it,'” MAX tells PEOPLE over lunch in New York, before recalling the meeting where they first discussed the collaboration.
“I showed up and they gave me this gift, which is a really nice thing in Korea — a lot of times you give your gift like an album and write a letter. Yunjin wrote me a letter, and it was like, ‘I hope we meet and work together,'” he said. “It was very cute, so I made the trip to see her live.”
After meeting in person, the “Lights Down Low” singer learned that he and Yunjin, 22, both hail from New York — a similarity that made the prospect of working together even more exciting. “I felt good,” he says.
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MAX.
Annie Noelker
The lyrics to “Stupid in Love” were inspired by MAX’s relationship with his wife Emily, whom he married in a courthouse wedding in 2016, so featuring a female vocalist on the song was a natural fit.
“For some reason, I tend to have so many love songs with guys,” he says. “I never do duets with girls, so it was great that it happened naturally.”
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MAX.
Annie Noelker
MAX’s penchant for working with K-pop musicians stems from his immense adoration for the genre. “There’s such a humble kindness in the music culture there. I think I aspire to that,” he explains. “Nobody ever acts like they’re above you. We’re all equal and everyone’s part of the team, which I appreciate.”
Love in Stereo is out now, and MAX wants fans to connect with themselves while listening to the album. “If you have a side of you that is unapologetically a dreamer and a romantic, I hope you bring that side out. I think I really embrace that side of me and I want people to feel that love for themselves,” he says. “Why hide from it? Life is too short.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education