Get ready to walk through Dante's World with CIX

Complete in X. Or better, CIX. Whenever you hear their name get ready: the five members boy group under C9 Entertainment is really one of a kind. BX, Seunghun, Yonghee, Bae Jinyoung, and Hyunsuk debuted in 2019 and have been producing one bop after the other since then. The group recently released their new EP "'OK' Episode 1 : OK Not," with the lead single "458". The EP includes four tracks, "Without You," "458," the title track, "Bend the Rules," and "Drown in Luv." Each song, as the member said, shows their "mature side with love." But that's not all. Listening through the album tracks, even if you are not an avid CIX fan, you'll be delighted by the variety of emotional nuances that the group has been able to narrate in one mini-album.

Wrapping up their U tour, they took a moment on their crazy busy schedule to chat with Panorama.

Nice to meet you, boys! Can you please introduce yourself to the Italian public?

BX: Hello! I'm CIX's oldest member and leader, BX!

SEUNGHUN: I'm SEUNGHUN, the main vocalist of CIX!

BAEJINYOUNG: I'm BAEJINYOUNG, the center of CIX!

YONGHEE: I'm YONGHEE, the vocalist of CIX.

HYUNSUK: I'm CIX's youngest, HYUNSUK!

Let's start with something great that happened to you: your first world tour. How does it feel to perform in front of all your fans

BAEJINYOUNG: We weren't in a situation where we could meet international fans freely before, so we were all excited after the tour was confirmed. It was nice to get a lot of happy and passionate energy when we met our fans in person!

This was huge for you, you must be excited. But... who was the most emotional of you?

BX: These days, I cry over really small things and get immersed in emotions even while watching romance movies, so I think I'm the most emotional member these days!

HYUNSUK: I think it's SEUNGHUN! I thought so when I saw him talking to FIX in a comforting and warm voice tone.

Did you celebrate at the end of the show?

SEUNGHUN: We couldn't celebrate properly because there still were COVID-19 restrictions. But after the tour, we communicated with our fans through streaming applications and celebrated the tour finale together.

CIX has their own universe and a storyline you boys are writing songs after songs, at what chapter are we now?

BX: Following the 'HELLO' series, the 'OK' series is happening right now. We've reached about half of the first universe story within the three years since our debut. In short, five friends who are in a hellish situation for their own reasons are on their way to finding their fundamental reasons to be saved.

Your storyline is based on the well-known Italian Dante's Divina Commedia. How is this concept born and what do you think your highlighting with your music?

BX: I think the story of Dante's process of writing the Divina Commedia and the overarching theme of the entire Divina Commedia are connected to the worries of our generation today. Also, the fact that the Divina Commedia is a classic story that everyone can relate to is the reason why the Divina Commedia was set as the main reference story of the universe.

CIX's music seeks to be unique in the K-Pop scene. We respect all the other great K-Pop groups, but we're working hard to show our own colors.

In your first song MV's, there was the phrase ""Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch'entrate"... you should be now in Purgatory. What is purgatory in real life?

YONGHEE: Hell is the place of those who commit crimes that will not be saved, whereas purgatory provides at least a small hope for sinners to wash away their sins and go to heaven. That is why purgatory is often said to be similar to the real world.

So, you toured in South Korea, USA, what about... Europe and Italy?

BAEJINYOUNG: If we have a chance, we want to be there, especially because Italy is Dante's country. We hope we have a chance to meet our fans!

You are busy bees. You also released ‘OK’ Episode 1: OK Not". How did you change from the last release one year ago?

HYUNSUK: In the previous album, we showed a refreshing and bright side to the concept. In this album, we are showing a lot of mature sides of our skills and atmosphere. We're showing various sides of us with a new concept for each album and we feel that we're growing along that journey.

Which one of your songs do you think describes you the most and why?

SEUNGHUN: We think in this album we showed CIX's unique charms through the title song <458>. Besides this album, I hope you listen to our debut album title track <Movie Star>. We think it's the song that opened our beginning and defined CIX.

Do you have any role models in the industry or someone you are looking to collaborate with?

SEUNGHUN: My personal role model is TAEYANG from BIGBANG. I want to resemble his diligence and vocal skills. And these days, I've been listening to a lot of songs by the band called LUCY. I hope we have a chance to collaborate together!

Who are CIX now?

BX: CIX is a group of young people who are worried, conflicted, and sometimes frustrated because they can't find an answer, but are still slowly moving forward at their own pace to find hope. Just like everyone of our age.