Music is an ever-evolving art. Musicians need to always seek out innovation, creativity and new ways to express themselves.

Young Ill, a Korean hip-hop artist, is doing just that. Working on a variety of projects, he develops his own music and shows his vision of Korean music to the world.

KAvenyou met up with him during Japan Expo 2025. We asked our questions and even could get an extra answer from Sonikem, the french producer he is working with. Discover Young Ill with us!

Can you introduce yourself to our readers?
Young Ill : Hello, I am Young Ill. I am a Korean rapper, nice to meet you. I am also the leader of Stardust.

What message do you want to convey through your music?
Young Ill : Most of my songs are about dreams, hope, and imagining a bright future.
So it’s like — I want to do this, I want to become a better version of myself. That’s the kind of message I often write about.
I also think of music as a kind of diary.
Just like writing a diary, I try to capture the emotions I feel on a given day and express them one by one through music.

3/ You work in several countries. How does it influence the way you work?  
Young Ill : My music has mostly been influenced by the UK.
There were just so many things I liked from there — like UK drum and bass, UK drill, and UK garage. Those genres really influenced me a lot.
As for the way I work, Japan has been a big influence. I have been learning a lot there through doing live shows, selling merch, or selling CDs.

Now that I’m in France, the biggest influences here have been fashion, the general vibe of the people, and their approach to life.
In Korea, it always feels like people are constantly working — but here, it feels like family comes first, more than career, and I learned about the weight of that freedom in France.

4/ You sing in Korean even for your international projects. Is it because you can express yourself better in this language or are there other reasons ?
Young Ill : The reason is pretty simple — I’m Korean.
So I should rap in Korean and make songs in Korean — that just feels right.
It makes sense for Korean people.
So that’s honestly the only reason — because I’m Korean, and using Korean feels the coolest and most natural to me.

If I love UK music but try to rap in a UK accent or style — that would sound fake, right?
That’s the reason. Nothing more. I just think I sound best in Korean.

In France, you work with Sonikem. What can you tell us about this collaboration ?
Young Ill : First of all, Sonikem reached out to me online asking if we could work together.
He sent me three beats — one for Friday, one for Saturday, one for Sunday — like one for each day.
And I just said, “Sure!” and started working on them.
So we made those songs, one by one.
Those became the tracks on our first collaborative album.
After that, we finished up and I thought, “Oh, that’s it!” and I was just chilling…
Then suddenly, he told me to come to France.

At first, I thought maybe he was a shady person — you know, because the situation felt a bit strange.
But then I saw that he was already doing a lot of work with other Asian countries, Japan, and so on — and I realized, “Wait, this is legit.”
So I said okay and came over.
My first experience in Paris was Saint-Ouen. That’s all I’ll say for now.

Sonikem : I have been working with international artists for a long time now. I am a rapper, a producer and a DJ. I wanted to create a sort of crew for international artists. I already worked with artists in Japan, in the USA, in Africa, in Europe… 

Currently Korea is at the top-level in Asia in terms of music production, contents, music videos… Both music companies and the Government invest a lot into it. So I reached out to Young Ill online, and we started working together. He came to Paris once and our collaboration went well. So he came back and we worked on a new album, and a 2nd time, and a 3rd time…
I really wanted to work with Korean artists because he and I feel like most people have a misconception of what K-Pop is. People see K-Pop as a genre, while to us it is a culture. K-Pop artists can do either hip-hop music, or rap, R’n’B, house music,… 

When you say “K-Pop” many people think of a specific genre, but any K-Pop artist can do the same genre as either Bruno Mars, or Chris Brown, or Jay-Z… This is what we want to promote, there are independent artists in Korea who are really talented, and this is how Stardust and the collaboration between Young Ill and Sonikem came to be. And we’ll have a new album released in January.

6/ You are the leader of Stardust, a crew of Korean artists.  Can you tell us more about the project and about your role as the leader?
Young Ill : First of all, we’re a collective, and Sonikem is the producer while I’m the leader. My job is to constantly scout for new people. I’m the one selecting the members.
That means I’m the one choosing who joins, which honestly makes it a bit tough. Finding both good musicians and good people is actually really hard.

7/ You also worked with other musicians like Sean Kingston. Who would be your dream collab, and why ?
Young Ill : My dream collaboration has always been with DJ Khaled.
Ever since I was 16, in my first year of high school, that’s been my dream.
I still dream of collaborating with DJ Khaled.

8/ Can you tell us what your next projects are?
Young Ill : Yes — I’m currently working with a Japanese producer named Tayo — 81 Tayo — I’m using his beats.
I’m also working with other artists from RAWLA LITTLE CITY.
So I’ve got a lot going on with the Japanese scene right now.
I’m also planning to organize some events in Korea — it’s a way for me to stay active there, promote my work, and share what I’ve learned and created. On top of that, I’m working on my first full-length LP, which should be released sometime in August.

It’s taking a bit of time to finalize everything, but I’ll definitely be back soon with a brand new album.

9/ It is your first time at Japan Expo, and performing in Paris. How is it going?
Young Ill : I’m having such a great time.
I mean, I’m performing on the other side of the world — and yet, there’s that saying, “music is the first language.”
And just like that, people here understand, they vibe with me, they enjoy our music and our stage with Sonikem. That made me really happy and gave me even more motivation to work harder.
It is a truly joyful experience.

We would like to thank Young Ill, Sonikem and Japan Expo for this interview.

Photo credits : Lea Lempereur & Lucile Theffo Defaudais