SHINee’s Key asks Conan Gray to join K-pop agency SM Entertainment

nme.com:

Conan Gray recently journeyed through K-pop agency SM Entertainment’s building with a tour led by SHINee’s Key.In a new video released on SHINee’s official YouTube channel, Gray paid a visit to the K-pop agency’s headquarters while he was in South Korea for the Haus of Wonder Festival last month.

The ‘Maniac’ singer met up with SHINee member and soloist Key, who led him on a tour of SM Entertainment’s building.“I’ve heard about [SM] obviously, so many of the greats have been created here,” said Gray, who shared that it was also his first time in South Korea.“Please do sign a contract with our company,” said Key, gifting the singer with a key pass to the building before commencing their tour.

The idol first showed Gray to a room called the “artist’s house”, where SM artists hold their livestreams before heading to the agency’s in-house photobooth, cafe and music rooms, along with its recording and practice studios.“It’s nice, I’m gonna move in,” comments the singer at one point, to which Key responded by asking him to join the agency again.At the end of the tour, Gray compared the K-pop’s agency’s process to his own music-making experience in the US. “It was so different from the way I make my music, so it was interesting to see the way you guys made such a gigantic world of K-pop over here,” he said, promising to return to South Korea “hopefully very very soon”.Key later gifted Gray with a vinyl copy of his 2021 mini-album ‘Bad Love’, which had been his last release before his second studio album ‘Gasoline’ arrived late last month.In a four-star review of the record, NME’s Tanu I.