Like many other 20-somethings living in LA, Stephanie “Tiffany” Young Hwang enjoys going to bars and pursuing her dream of being an actress. It’s quite different from the whirlwind of the past decade or so for her, when she was more used to seeing her face on everything from food packaging to billboards as a member of one of the most popular girl groups in the world. “I’m just thankful for that experience,” says Hwang, who is rebranding for the U.S. as “Tiffany Young." “But also thankful for the experience of being able to kind of step out of that spotlight for a little bit and not see myself on TV or juggle things and just kind of focus on this project.“
A member of the iconic K-pop act Girls’ Generation ever since its start in 2007, Young moved back to her hometown in September after releasing a 10th anniversary album with the group, and leaving her long-term agency SM Entertainment. "The fans and my girls knew, it was no secret,” she says of her desire to always return Stateside to try her hand at acting. “Over the years I mentioned taking on auditions and wanting to pursue the American industry.” She’s doing exactly just that, with the release of her first single under the moniker "Tiffany Young" while on summer break from her acting classes. Her new stage name draws on both her professional and personal lives, allowing her to expand on her K-pop identity with the addition of her second name, which is written with the Chinese character that means "forever."
Set to be released on Thursday, “Over My Skin” is a smooth, funky summer pop song that revels in Young’s womanhood, and draws on both the music she grew up with in the States –she cites Madonna, Donna Summer, Justin Timberlake Britney Spears, Pharrell and Cher as inspirators– and her K-pop roots. “Obviously being older and coming back home, I was embracing all of the really, really- my inner Carrie Bradshaw and all the divas that I wasn’t really, really digging my claws into before but I find a lot more relatable because I am a lot older now.”
Young’s very aware of how her time in Korea has enabled her to pursue a career back at home in a way that would have been impossible years ago. “Over the years, we had so many amazing chances to come and perform at The Staples Center, to perform at Madison Square Garden, go on late night TV, do amazing promotions,” she recalls. “The amazing part was that we had so many amazing seniors that have paved the way for the market. Not just in Asia but all around the world. I remember last summer when I was saying bye to BoA," the first K-pop artist to land on the Billboard 200 chart back in 2009. "I was like, ‘I’m going back home and I’m studying acting. I’m going to write music.’ She was laughing because the girls were like, ‘You did that!’ She was like, ‘‘You’re doing that because I did that too, huh?’ And I was like, ‘Huh. Yea, I’m pretty sure I was influenced.’ I think SM made such an amazing platform for artists even who I’m working to want more and dream for more, and the fans and my bandmates have just been so supportive of that over the years.”
At 28, Tiffany Young views the career she’s pursuing in her hometown as the maturing of everything she’s done as a member of Girls’ Generation. And even all of those releases were just in-line with her growth as an artist and a woman. “Luckily, I have been pretty open in putting myself into my music while in Korea,” she says, recounting how Girls’ first single “Into the New World” was the perfect soundtrack for a 17-year-old with her whole career and life ahead of her. “At the time I was like, ‘Is this what I really want to say?’ But I think about it now & it’s everything that we all wanted to say.”
“Into The New World” has become a popular protest track in South Korea in recent years, particularly in regards to now-imprisoned former president Park Geun-hye; it also makes regular appearances at Seoul’s Pride Parade. “I think it’s amazing to watch what’s happening. And that every time, that of all the songs, it is ‘Into The New World,’ because that song meant so much to us and it was our truth at the time. It’s amazing to see that that song is still chosen throughout this period of time for any context for anything. I think it’s a huge honor.”
Each step of her career was similarly related to coming into her own under the spotlight, with each single aligned to a new stage of growth. “Twinkle,” a song from Girls’ Generation’s TTS subunit of which she was one-third of, was “Glittery and fabulous” to match her being in her 20s. “Party,” released be the main team in 2015, was a bright electropop summer anthem that featured shoutouts to drinks like soju, tequila and mojitos. “I was like, ‘Are you sure we can talk about alcohol?’ ‘Of course! That’s what we do at this age.’”
“I think everything was very, very age appropriate and I’m thankful that Girls’ Generation was about growth,” says Young. “And just that gradual change where everybody can grow with us. And now I get this is me. I think the difference is that if Girls’ Generation had a part of me in it, this is fully me.”
“Over My Skin” is similarly matched to where Young is in her life at the moment, a sleek anthem based around the idea of feeling comfortable with one’s femininity and desires. "Love me, respect me/ love me, touch me/ I want to feel you on me/ I want you over my skin," she belts over the brassy melody. In the works for only a month and a half, Young prepped the song with summer in mind as she worked with collaborators at at Transparent Agency, which is headed by The Far East Movement and Jon Yip of The Stereotypes. Movement's Kev Nish and Khwzi produced the track, while Young, Nish, and Rachel West co-wrote it. She teamed up with Yanis Marshall to create choreography for the music video to match the song’s empowering vibe.
“It’s about showing skin,” says Young. “I realized that sometimes you show skin or you do things not for the sake of others but for yourself, and it’s about owning it and really being comfortable in it. I think that comes when you are this age. I’m pretty sure– I’m sure, I wouldn’t have come up with this last year or the year before.” She cites her acting classes, especially her time studying the Meisner Technique, as the primary reason behind this change. “That really has helped me open up into digging deeper and thinking things, in that sense where the story of the music and the message speaks to me and I present it in the most truthful way I can.” According to Choi Sooyoung, the only Girls’ member who has heard “Over My Skin” as of yet, the single is immensely true to who Young is. "'This song, it’s so different but it’s so you, the you that we know,’” Young recalls Choi telling her. “‘And that’s it. Nobody can give that to you.’”’
Though she’s still figuring out how to maneuver through the American market on her own rather than as one among many Girls', Young is very optimistic about both of the career paths in front of her. “I’m pretty confident in what I do with music because 10,000 hours makes a master, and I’m pretty sure I have more than 10,000 hours with music. I’m gradually breaking into my 10,000 hours with acting, hopefully, over time.”
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