HANRORO

In a music scene as vast and varied as South Korea's, HANRORO has carved out a territory that is entirely her own: indie rock with the emotional weight of a confession. Since her debut in 2022, she has built an audience through the oldest mechanism in music – people hearing something that sounds like their own inner thoughts played back to them, and needing to tell someone else about it.

That word of mouth has travelled further than anyone might have predicted. Among those who found their way to her music are some of K-pop's most prominent names – including TXT's Soobin, who named her as his favourite artist in 2023. That kind of endorsement, offered as a genuine personal admission, says something about the reach of what HANRORO is doing. Even artists with devoted fanbases and packed schedules are listeners first, and that good music finds people regardless of where they are. That kind of crossover doesn't happen by accident. It happens when an artist is saying something true.

It speaks to what makes HANRORO's music so disarming. Korea's music scene is, by any measure, stacked with technical brilliance. The infrastructure that produces its performers is rigorous to the point of being legendary – years of training, meticulous production, a standard of polish that most scenes can only approximate. HANRORO's artistry lives in a different space, turning deeply inward. The songs she writes reach people because they sound like something actually felt and worked through. In a landscape where the bar for musicianship is extraordinarily high, that quality of emotional intimacy becomes its own distinct discipline – and it's one that cuts across genre lines in ways that can surprise even the most genre-loyal listeners.

HANRORO debuted in March 2022 with "Let Me Love My Youth," a song about uncertainty worn as something close to defiance. The Korean Music Awards noticed almost immediately – a Rookie of the Year nomination, a Best Modern Rock Song nod – and the critical attention hasn't let up since. A second nomination in the same category at the 22nd Korean Music Awards in 2025 confirmed what her audience already knew: she was building something beyond a breakthrough moment.

Three EPs have arrived across the years – Take-off in 2023, HOME in 2024, JAMONG SALGU CLUB in 2025 – each one extending a world rather than reinventing it. The thread running through all of them, as she describes it herself, is a wish for collective survival. A sincere, almost stubborn insistence that music can be the thing that holds people together when everything else feels uncertain. She has a rare ability to locate the feelings people tend to keep private – the vulnerable ones, the ones that feel too small or too messy to say out loud – and frame them in a way that makes listeners feel less alone for having them.

That’s precisely what keeps her audience coming back. Her fourth solo concert, JAMONG SALGU CLUB, sold out roughly 10,000 seats. The size is notable; the reason it sold out is more so. Every ticket represents someone who found something in her music that felt personal enough to want to be in the same room as it. Close to a million monthly listeners on Spotify at the time of publication – the majority concentrated in Seoul – suggest a fanbase built close to where she plays.

In April, she returned with LOVE&HATE – two tracks, two opposing emotional states, one argument about the cycle that connects them. "GAME OVER ?" on one side, "1111" on the other. It feels like the natural next move from an artist who has never been interested in easy resolution.

"Let Me Love My Youth" came out in March 2022. Looking back now, what do you remember most about that moment – and does that song still feel like you?

I most vividly remember the mix of excitement and anxiety I felt up until the very day before the release. I kept thinking, "My first work under the name 'HANRORO' is finally beginning!" while at the same time constantly wondering, "Will people enjoy listening to it? I really hope they do." The song "Let Me Love My Youth" expresses a sprout that blossoms even while knowing the future is uncertain. Since I feel that my own path ahead is still very much like that, I believe the song still captures who I am right now.

You were nominated for Rookie of the Year almost immediately after your debut. Did that recognition feel exciting, or did it add pressure at a time when you were still finding your footing?

I’m actually a much simpler person than people might think. At first, I was a bit taken aback, thinking, "Wait, me...?" but that feeling quickly turned into a sense of pride. I told myself, "There must be something in my music that made them think I’m worth this recognition!" It gave me the confidence to keep making music that stays true to who I am.

You've released three EPs in a row: Take-off, HOME, and JAMONG SALGU CLUB. When you look at those three together, what story do they tell about where you've been?

If I had to sum it up in one sentence, I’d say it’s "a story HANRORO offers to help people survive this world." Since my debut, my EPs have always carried my sincere wish for peace and love to touch everything that makes up this planet. In the end, I think I’ve been constantly saying the same thing: "I hope we can all make it through this life, safe and well together."

Each of your solo concerts has sold out. JAMONG SALGU CLUB filled around 10,000 seats. What does it feel like to stand in front of that many people who came specifically for your music?

First and foremost, I feel incredibly grateful to all. I believe music can only create true synergy when there’s an audience responding to the person singing. Through my music, I’ve found my fans, and thanks to them, I don’t feel lonely or deeply afraid anymore. There is honestly nothing more overwhelming than knowing that my music and I are the reason so many people gathered in one place together.

Your music has found fans in many places, including several well-known K-pop idols. Have you ever had a moment where you found out an artist you admire was listening to your work? If so, how did that feel?

Oh, I honestly can't pick just one person! Every single time I find out that an artist I’ve admired for so long actually knows me and listens to my music, I’m filled with the same sense of wonder and gratitude. Moments like those really hit me, making me realize all over again that "music truly is a channel of communication that transcends time."

K-pop and the kind of music you make don't always sit in the same conversation. Why do you think your music connects with people who come from that world?

I think it’s because, regardless of the genre we put out there, we’re all just human beings living in the same world. My music captures many of the emotions that any human being has felt at least once, and I try to be quite honest about them. I’d like to think that people find a sense of comfort in those lyrics and the overall atmosphere of the songs. At least, that’s my humble guess! [laughs]

You've now been nominated for Best Modern Rock Song at the Korean Music Awards twice – in 2022 and again in 2025. What does it mean to you to be recognised specifically for rock music in Korea right now?

These nominations have given me the certainty that the message I’ve held onto since my debut, and the genre I use to deliver that message, are the perfect fit for me – like a tailored suit. I think most people turn to rock music when they want to let out a burst of pent-up emotion or when they feel like shouting something at the top of their lungs. Being recognized this way makes me feel like I’m doing a good job of creating music that provides that refreshing sense of liberation. It constantly reinforces my resolve to keep going and shout out my messages even louder.

When you're writing, how do you know when a song is ready? Is there a feeling, or is it more of a decision?

I think it’s a bit of both. There’s always a specific moment when "the feeling" hits me and the people I’m working with at the same time. When that happens, I make the decision: "This is it, right here!" I’ve realized that if I keep adding more layers, I eventually find myself circling back to that very first moment of certainty. Once I understood that, I started to trust those intuitive sparks and make bold decisions to stop exactly there.

JAMONG SALGU CLUB is your most recent record and your biggest concert yet. What does it feel like to be at this point – and is it what you imagined when you started preparing that era?

The core message I wanted to highlight in JAMONG SALGU CLUB was "an eternity promised between people who are all crying out their will to live." In a way, I thought of it as a desire that's almost impossible to fulfill, yet it was a dream I didn't want to give up on. So, I remember focusing entirely on providing the kind of love that helps us face tomorrow. Fortunately, so many people resonated with the message I poured into this album, and I think that’s what naturally led us to my biggest concert yet. It was such a happy era for me – to the point where it still feels hard to believe. At the same time, it was a period where I deeply realized that there will be an even greater sense of responsibility attached to every word I put out into the world.

You released a two-track single in April. What made you want to put out two songs at once rather than leading with one?

The title of this single is <LOVE&HATE>. You can think of it as each song representing one side – one for 'Love' and the other for 'Hate'. I felt that having these two tracks with completely different moods playing on loop within the album would be the perfect way to express the 'love-hate' cycle we experience in life. By releasing them together, I wanted to remind listeners that our lives are a constant cycle of love and hate, while also offering them the courage to love and the strength to be hated.

A single with two tracks can sometimes feel like two different moods or ideas. What do these two songs say about where you are right now?

In the title track "GAME OVER ?", I poured in a bit of my own "fighting spirit" – it’s like saying, "I’m going to overcome the hatred that stabs at me and pay it back with love, no matter what!" On the other hand, in "1111" – which is actually my birthday [laughs] – I tried to express the complexity of being someone who has been unable to escape the cycle of love and hate since the very moment I was born. In both songs, I really made an effort to honestly capture the "yin and yang" in my thoughts.

Three years into your career, what do you understand about yourself as an artist that you didn't know when you started?

I’ve realized that I’m capable of being much more honest in front of a large audience than I ever imagined. Even those "petty" or "vulnerable" feelings I used to timidly hide away – I feel like I can just throw them out there now without overthinking it. I’ve come to understand that being that open is the only way to create music that truly reaches people and offers them genuine comfort.