Kai opened up about the emotional wounds he carried from his days as a popera singer.
On the afternoon of the 12th, a new episode of the YouTube series 'Jo Hyun-ah's Ordinary Thursday Night' was released, featuring musical actor Kai sitting down with singer Jo Hyun-ah.
During the episode, Jo Hyun-ah asked what had prompted Kai to move from popera into musical theater.
Kai said, "I actually started as a popera singer before moving into musicals. These days, shows like the competition series 'Phantom Singer' have made popera more familiar to audiences. But when I debuted in 2008, people reacted like, 'What kind of music is this? Does this even exist?' I faced a lot of rejection. It was tough."
"I turned to popera because I wanted to sing my own songs," he continued. "At school, where I studied classical voice, we were expected to sing Schubert and Beethoven. I didn't feel I could outsing the others, and I wanted to perform in my own style. But if you didn't follow the score exactly, it was treated as wrong," he said candidly.
Kai summarized his shift plainly: "I wanted to sing the songs I composed in my own way."
When Jo Hyun-ah mimed the likely reaction—"Popera? What's that?"—Kai said he still gets goosebumps because he experienced that exact response. He also recalled being hurt by gossip and behind-the-back comments, which drew sympathy from viewers.
