
In an exclusive interview with GMANetwork.com, Filipino artist August Rigo revealed the story behind "Eighteen (End Of My World)," the song which he wrote with and produced for SHINee's Key.
"The story behind it for him is him speaking to himself, his former self. I think he is 30 now. And he's talking about the things that he's gone through and if he can go back at that time and talk to him, talk to his former self, The things that he would say," he shared.
The Filipino-Canadian shared that he tried to write the song before the pandemic. And when he was writing it, the pandemic gave the song a new life.
"I wrote it about watching the end of the world with somebody you love. Like, it doesn't matter what's going on around me if I'm with you, I'm fine, and I'm going to be okay.
"The original line was, 'I'll stay and watch the end of the world with you.' That was how Key was able to take that part and kind of made it his own. I like his story about it though because he's bringing it back and talking about the end of his world. It's like the end of his world and he's in a new phase," August said.
Released on September 27, "Eighteen (End Of My World)" is one of the six tracks in Key's first solo mini-album 'BAD LOVE.'
In the interview, August also shared what makes "Eighteen (End Of My World)" special and different from the other songs he produced.
"I think what makes this different from a lot of the other things I've done is that it's kind of retro future pop-ish. I usually lean more towards contemporary pop, contemporary RnB. This one is kind of a departure from me production-wise because it's kind of futuristic but it also has a retro feel to it."
August revealed that he didn't hear Key's final version until the album was released. He was so proud and grateful to hear the song he produced from a great artist.
"I didn't actually get to hear his version of it until the day it came out, and I'm just so happy that I made it to album. I was really impressed with his singing ability. Obviously he's got a great voice, he's got a great range. I was just so excited to hear somebody sing that song.
"I always thought that song had a very special thing to it. To finally hear it come out from somebody like Key, it's always awesome to hear your song from an artist of that caliber. Definitely, just very grateful."
August is a recording artist, songwriter, producer, and musician. He was born and raised in Canada by Filipino parents. He started his music career in the United States in 2003 and had made songs for Justin Bieber, One Direction, Chris Brown, and other K-pop artists like BTS.
Watch August Rigo's two-part interview here:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Meanwhile, know more about legendary K-pop group SHINee in this gallery: