Being a hungry artist, you don't have the luxury of buying whatever you want. There were years of me doing a lot of odd jobs, this and that just to make ends meet.

I think representation is something that's absolutely needed. I felt like with K-pop being so hot, we could leverage that to potentially do something bigger with music in the States that people could latch onto.

I love BTS, they're my friends.

People around me tell me that I need a bigger persona and to act a little more A-listy because 'that's where you are but you don't act that way, so people undervalue you.' But that's not me.

Even within K-pop, there should be more representation. It's not just groups, and it's not just incredibly produced, highly choreographed pieces. There are vocalists, there's R&B, there's hip-hop, there are other types of people and voices. There's space for all of that to be shared and to be appreciated.

I'm the type of person that if I feel strongly about something and if I really want to do something, I'm just gonna do it. And if it works out, amazing, and it's like 'I told you so,' but if it doesn't work out, that's fine.

I'm active on social media because that's such a big reason why K-pop and Korean music performs the way it does.

Oftentimes you're breaking out because your face is lacking moisture or hydration.

The coolest thing for me now is when I'm in the States and I meet other Asian-Americans who are like, 'Dude, thank you so much for doing what you do. I love your music, I love whatever. But whatever you do, we're gonna support you because there aren't many Asian faces doing music.'

Asian-Americans are fighting for space and fighting for visibility and for acceptance.

Even throughout college and post-college, I've always been incredibly hyperactive. Even at Boston College, I was involved in so many different organizations and initiatives.

I know people are going to be like, 'why do you have so many songs with the word 'you' in it? 'Idea Of You,' 'Into You,' 'Like You,' 'You-Who'... Well, sorry, but it just works out that way.

In the States I might be an Asian face, look different from everyone else in TV and in music, but in Korea I look like everybody else, in Asia I look like everybody else.

I think Korea is so focused on just the charts, and what's going to chart and what's not, and I'm sure it's like that way in the States as well, to a certain degree. But I enjoy working in the States a little bit more. Because it's more about making music that is the right sound and the right fit to me, not so much just chasing the charts.

I had always wanted to pursue music. It was always a dream, but it was always a dream in the sense of, when you're young, 'I want to be president' or 'I want to be an astronaut and fly to Mars.' That's what it was to me.

I think there are probably ghosts in the world. I have not seen one but I feel like I felt the presence of one. In Korea there's been a superstition that ghosts love music, so they're always in a studio or a dance-training place.

I would be criticized, like, 'You don't talk Korean enough. You sound very American. You sound very white in your music.' And I'm like, 'Whoa.'

A lot of my peers, be seniors or juniors, they'll text me or they'll call me and they'll say, 'Thank you for doing the music that you do because it pushes the genre forward in different ways.' It's a very rewarding thing to hear.

I've always been very passionate about trying to have Asian-Americans or Asian faces be more prominent in mainstream media.

I was criticized a lot when I was singing in Korean. The producers and people from my agency would point out my accent and tones, and would tell me I sound too American to fit the local market.

When you think of Gallant's music and his voice, you don't automatically think, 'Oh, Eric Nam would be great a fit' or 'Hey! Tablo would be an amazing fit.'

We recognize that there have been acts in the past that are Asian or Korean who tried to go, 'Hey, I'm a huge star in Korea, I'm a huge star in Asia so you guys need to respect me for being a huge star there.' But I don't know. As much as we may be big, we have to be very humble and start from the ground up in the States.

On any collaboration, you want to respect your music and the other's music.

One of my first interviews was Robert Downey Jr. for 'Iron Man.'

I feel like I've always been drawn to a very diverse range of music and I've always enjoyed experimenting, so I'm not quite sure where exactly my music will go.

You know, we never grew up with Asian American role models in the entertainment industry, unfortunately. I'd never seen an Asian face singing on TV.

I think one thing I wish would be a little different, and it'll take time, is yes BLACKPINK, BTS, these teams are taking over the world and they're everywhere, but I think at a certain point we need to really push for other artists as well, and really help bring them up further, for this to be a sustainable industry, a sustainable genre.

I was part of the Atlanta Boy Choir probably like fourth and fifth grade. I personally didn't enjoy the type of music that we were doing. I was more into like whatever was on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.

I have a very complicated relationship with my skin. It is sensitive, I think, to just changes in water, particularly because I travel so much.

I thought it would be so cool to be a musician, but I always thought it was impossible, because I would never be accepted in mainstream media. The fact that I'm able to tour North America and around the world is an incredible blessing, and I am thankful every time I do it.

I feel like people have stereotypes and notions about Latin America that aren't necessarily accurate or aren't particularly positive. For me, Latin America is a place that I personally really love and enjoy visiting and going to, and I wanted to be able to show it in a light that was very different to an Asian, Korean viewer.

Yes, I speak English 'cause I'm American.

You've just got to believe that people will see and appreciate the value in the music and the artistry that we bring when they hear it.

One way I deal with stress is when I feel a certain way, I just do it. It's like, I want a hamburger, so I'm just going to eat a hamburger. I don't want to answer your phone call right now - I'm not going to answer your phone call. Just be able to say, 'This is how I feel. This is the way it is, deal with it.'

Sunbae-hoobae seniority is a very tricky, weird kind of thing.

I think up until the 'Honestly' album it was very much label-company lead, of 'this is a sound that we need, this is what you need to do. You need to do ballads, you need to do a million different types of love songs,' and I hate ballads and I hate love songs.

I am so excited for where and what K-pop is doing and how it's growing. In the music industry it's not a trend, it's not a quick 'oh this is cool for a minute,' this is a full genre, which is exciting and cool.

It's easy to talk about how great love is or how you feel heartbroken after a breakup, but it's not as easy to talk about the process of going through the end of a relationship.

I think I'm just doing me, my music, my shows, and my stories.

I'd love to do some collabs or music with Latin artists and in Latin America - we're working on it! I just really love Latin America and the language, culture, foods, people, and it's a place I grew up visiting pretty often.

Korean-Americans, Asian-Americans are so unbelievably underrepresented in the U.S. entertainment and media industries and I don't think we are given a real shot.

What works in the States doesn't easily translate to the Korean market.

I know people love Supreme. I never got on the wagon.

So I don't have a normal, regimented schedule at all, but on a normal day, I'd say I wake up around 10 A.M.

Nobody looks good getting out of bed.

I look like a 'Sesame Street' character in real life when I wake up. But not like the cute ones, like kind of like the ones that look a little rough around the edges.

It's become hard for me to trust people and though I'm the type to go, 'everybody is born good,' you come to question that.

I think K-Pop is something that sucks people in because it's open. I can do pop, EDM, rock, R&B and it doesn't matter, K-Pop embraces them all.

It was a dream to be a singer/performer, but I never thought I had a chance or had a real shot; I never thought I was good enough.

I view myself as a musician and I focus on music - other people may try to focus on the music, but the emphasis is heavily on visuals and performance. They're both equally valid, but different.