Four years ago, I was interviewed by the one and only ScopeY for the 2020 User Interview series, and I had an incredible time. So, four years later, I want to continue the tradition by interviewing a member of a new generation of Genius users, fazers.
An incredible user, I interacted with fazers for the first time two years ago, when they transcribed a samplе in a Korean song. I spent the bеtter half of last year mentoring fazers for editorship and got to read some of their remarkable annotations. If you ask anyone within the Genius Korea community, they'll recognize fazers for their impressive knowledge of Korean Hip-Hop music and K-Pop fashion.
In the time I have known fazers I have been constantly impressed by their remarkable breadth of knowledge across various subjects. It's been an honor to have witnessed fazers' growth and their dedication and professionalism.ssaa10dec: To start off, I have a silly question: one movie you watched that you would never recommend to anyone, and for what reason?
fazers : I had to consult my letterbox for this one, but literally the most recent one I've watched. it's this Bollywood flick called Stree: 2 and it's a mix of horror/comedy? For some reason, it's the highest-grossing Bollywood movie of all time, but the plot, dialogue, acting, CGI, and generally everything is so atrocious I wouldn't recommend it to anyone
ssaa10dec: I have seen clips of that movie everywhere but you are now the third person to say this about the movie 😂Thanks for the heads up!
ssaa10dec: You have been on Genius for quite some time now, do you remember what brought you to the website the first time?
fazers: I think I would've used Genius as a viewer a couple of times for lyrics which I now don't remember 😢
ssaa10dec: Do you remember the first artist or song or album you worked on when you joined Genius?
fazers: What brought me to the site to actually contribute was EPIK HIGH's Strawberry EP and Kali Uchis' "NO HAY LEY"
ssaa10dec: Your sample transcription on "Yun" by RM was actually two months before EPIK HIGH's Strawberry was released 😄
ssaa10dec: Since we have mostly interacted with each other through Genius Korea, I want to know your favorite moment with this community. It can be something funny or emotional or whatever.
fazers: Love the general time of the year when we're formulating best-of-the-year lists. I'm quite out of the loop with K-pop most of the time (other than aespa) so, I get to check out lots of new M/Vs, and it's really fun to get down to ranking too.
ssaa10dec: Next up, I have a few questions to get to know you!
fazers: Let's goo 😼
ssaa10dec: Do you have a guilty pleasure? A TV show perhaps?
fazers: Yesss! I have no time to do other things, but I can find time to rewatch Brooklyn Nine-Nine ALWAYS. I'm on my third rewatch, and I've watched the last season twice already. I have no idea what it is about that show but it's so so rewatchable. I love Gina so much. otherwise Veep, which is so perfect for the fall.
ssaa10dec: What’s the first and latest concert you have been to and what was the favorite concert you have been to?
fazers: I haven't been to any concerts yet 😭😭😭 I have some sort of academic nazar on concerts, I swear. I was supposed to go for Travis Scott in Melbourne, but I couldn't go because of my exams, then I managed to get tickets for Coldplay, but that was too close for my exams too, and I was offered tickets for Coldplay in Abu Dhabi, but still near my exams 💀 and the one time I was actually free to go for an AP Dhillon concert the tickets just vanished in under a minute 😭 so no concert yet but the one I'm looking the most forward to is definitely a KAYTRANADA one!! someday!!
ssaa10dec: Manifesting a concert for you in 2025! Maybe even a K-concert 👀
ssaa10dec: At Genius, we listen to so many songs on a regular basis, but if you could listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
fazers: Ahh, that's so tough because I'd get sick of songs really quick if I overplay them. I'm listening to a lot of UK-Garage lately, so "Sober" by KiLLOWEN. Otherwise, "Id" by keshi
ssaa10dec: If you were stuck on a deserted island, which fictional character, and if you wanna make it GK-related, which idol would you wanna be stuck with?
fazers: I'll do both GK and in general. in a GK sense, I'd want to be stuck with DEAN. He's so unlike any artist out there; I respect his creative process so much, so I’d love to know WHY HE’s NOT DROPPING AN ALBUM??? 😭 generally, Kendrick Lamar. I’ve been a Kendrick fan since untitled unmastered., and it’s been such a joy to see him grow as an artist because as I’m growing up, his albums are such beacons of different ages and stages in life. I love the era he’s in now (see Harper’s Bazaar interview with SZA), and he’s a real inspiration to me. Always will be.
ssaa10dec: What is the Korean song which you can sing along perfectly like you somehow become fluent in Korean lol?
fazers: “Trivia 轉: Seesaw” for sure. I was obsessed with it as soon as it was released, and Yoongi and ADORA clearly put CRACK in it because I can go bar for bar as soon as that opening beat plays, even though I haven’t listened to it in a while.
ssaa10dec: Thats an impressive pick! 👏
ssaa10dec: Since we are doing this interview, I wanna ask a couple of deep questions.
fazers: help! I’m scared. I feel like I’m going to read back this interview in like 6-7 months and internally cringe like!!
ssaa10dec: What is your biggest fear in life?
fazerss: A fear of failure. I have big goals in my life, and I know things won’t fall exactly into place as I want them to all the time, but as long as I achieve the larger goal somehow, I’ll be happy. conversely, I’m terrified of falling short of it.
ssaa10dec: What would you like people who interact with you to remember you for?
fazers: My sense of humor. Being silly and laughing about things is truly the best way to get over things, since you can’t cry about it forever.
ssaa10dec: Okay, now back to Genius stuff, how do you manage your time between Genius/Genius Korea and irl stuff?
fazers: As a rising senior in high school, my workload and schedules are crazy, and because of that, I was initially quite overwhelmed – I’d go inactive a lot and end up missing releases I was looking forward to ☹️ (see: EPIK HIGH’S Pump), but this year’s taught me so much about managing my time & prioritization, so I’m managing my irl commitments much better now. I treat genius as my lil break in between academics 😁
ssaa10dec: Have you ever used a skill you learned in Genius Korea in a different job?
fazers: All the time!! I’ve been writing a lot of essays lately, and I often struggle with putting a full stop to sentences, so I regularly imagine the short-form style of genius tates while writing to make my stuff more readable and understandable. #keepitsimple as for Genius Korea in particular, other than the basic Korean words I can recognize now, I’ve become much more of a stickler for formatting because of keeping all that in check while working with GK.
ssaa10dec: As you know, we interview lots of artists in Genius Korea, and we always ask for song recommendations from them in our interviews! So, to end our incredible conversation, I wanna ask what you have been listening to that you'd like to recommend to others.
fazers: Skepta and flo milli's "Why Lie?", "COUNTDOWN" by BELLE of KISS OF LIFE, and "Claymore" by Isiah Rashad ft Smino.
ssaa10dec: I can tell you that you do an incredible job on site, and it’s been a pleasure to get to know you over the years and through this interview.
fazers: Aww, no thank you 😊 I wouldn’t be the editor I am on Genius today without your mentorship ssaa 😁 Thank you for working with me over the years! Here’s to more with GK ❤️
