K-pop sensation xikers is making waves with their latest single “ICONIC”. Debuted in 2023 under KQ Entertainment, the 10-member multi-national group recently released their 5th mini album, “House of Tricky: Spur”. Their newest single, “ICONIC,” marks the group’s first all-English track. In addition of releasing new music, xikers also opened for ATEEZ during their “In Your Fantasy” tour in Los Angeles and Arlington.
The Movie Couple had the honor of sitting down with the group to chat about their latest single, opening for ATEEZ, and some of the iconic goals they have set their eyes on.
Opening For ATEEZ
xikers members include Minjae, Junmin, Sumin, Jinsik, Hyunwoo, Junghoon, Seeun, Yujun, Hunter, and Yechan. Though it’s only been two years since their debut, their on-stage presence is impeccable. During their opening stage for Ateez in Los Angeles, the group performed “We Don’t Stop”, a mash-up of “Breathe” and Ateez’s “BOUNCY (K‐HOT CHILLI PEPPERS)”, and their latest song “ICONIC”.
The members took about a week to prepare their opening stage, and while they may have felt a little nervous to perform at large venues such as BMO Stadium, xikers delivered with great energy and precision.
Hunter: “BMO Stadium, as everyone probably knows, is a really huge stadium, so it’s been such a long time since we performed at such a big place, we were quite nervous. We took around a week or so to prepare for the three songs. Especially since this was a very great opportunity for us, we worked really hard for it.”
On Their Latest Single “ICONIC”
Released on August 1, “ICONIC” has a blend of trap and electric guitar riffs, combined with empowering song lyrics like “They’re gonna hear me roar, got that animal. Live my life so iconic, they’re gonna think I’m ironic“. Aside from its powerful message, this single also marks xikers’ first all-English track.
Seeun: ” ‘ICONIC’ is, I think, the most powerful song in xikers. The Iconic performance is really cool and insane. It’s energetic. This song is all-English, so we practiced hard.”
Speaking more about releasing an all-English track, xikers leader Minjae speaks to releasing more music in different languages.
Minjae: “Recently, we just released a Japanese album also. So we want to try to release our albums with different languages. We want to try a first all-English song, and that’s why we released ‘ICONIC’. “
Atiny and roady (fans of ATEEZ and xikers) were in for a treat as the group performed their latest single live at BMO Stadium. With intricate choreography and incredible vocals, xikers wowed the audience. When asked about how it felt to hear the fans sing the song back to them, Junmin mentioned that it’s been a while since they performed on such a large stage, but the fans were cheering so loudly that he forgot about feeling nervous beforehand.
ICONIC Visualizer
The visualizer for their new single is a fully animated video with bright neon colors and graphics. It’s almost as if xikers jumped into the “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” world. The animation shows a character jumping, freerunning, and diving between buildings, much like a video game. The flashy visual matches the song’s high-energy beats, “This song makes you feel mighty, powerful, and makes you want to conquer the world,” said Hunter.
Setting Iconic Goals
Even though they only debuted in 2023, xikers have already released 5 mini albums as well as two Japanese albums. Their debut EP, “HOUSE OF TRICKY: Doorbell Ringing,” ranked at No. 4 on the Billboard World Album Chart and No. 1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artist Chart. The group talked about some of the goals they’d like to achieve. “I want to try to do some OST,” said Sumin. With their first EP reaching over 100K in sales during the first week of release, it’s clear fans are loving their music and want more of it.
To find out more about xikers, watch the full interview here:
About xikers:
xikers is a ten-member multi-national boy group under KQ Entertainment from South Korea. Their debut shook up the K-pop scene on March 30, 2023, exploding onto the charts with their first EP and hitting sales of over 100k in its first week of release. The debut EP ‘HOUSE OF TRICKY: Doorbell Ringing’ ranked them at No.41 on the Billboard Artist 100 and landed at No.4 on the Billboard World Album Chart and No.1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists Chart, collecting placements on a total of seven charts. Their following releases also pulled multiple placements on the Billboard charts, earning xikers the title as the first 5th generation K-pop boy group to land two albums in the top 100 of the Billboard 200 charts within just one year of their debut.
