NCT Dream’s new K-pop album ISTJ borrows from MBTI to make music – what do the group’s members really think of the personality test?
- K-pop boy group NCT Dream’s third-full length album, ISTJ, was released on July 17 – and bases its concept around the MBTI online personality test
- The group’s members weigh in on whether they believe the results the test produces, and reveal the track to which they all contributed lyrics, and their goals
By Dong Sun-hwa
Young Koreans itching to explore their inner selves often look to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test for guidance. This online test is said to reveal if a person leans more towards introversion (I) or extroversion (E); sensing (S) or intuition (N); thinking (T) or feeling (F); and judging (J) or perceiving (P).
The test groups people into 16 letter-based personality types, and people in Korea will often use them when introducing themselves to others.
The album’s lead single, also named “ISTJ”, is a hip-hop dance track about ENFP-type boys who fall for the ISTJ-type girls despite their polar opposite characters.
“The MBTI test is so hot and famous in Korea, so we wanted to promote it to the global audience as well,” says NCT Dream’s leader, Mark. “We also thought we could tackle a new challenge by adding the MBTI elements to our music for the first time. In our song, NCT Dream members assume the role of the ENFP boys while our fans play the ISTJ-type girls.”
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Fellow group member Renjun says: “Through the lyrics, we question why we are attracted to our opposites. These lyrics are quite fun and fresh.”
Jaemin stresses that people should not judge others by their MBTI test results, adding: “The MBTI test is something very special, but I personally believe we should not solely rely on the test results to make predictions about others.”
Unlike his bandmates, Haechan says he has taken the MBTI test many times.
“I am so into it,” he says. “I belong to four different MBTI types including ENFP and ESFP. My type seems to change depending on my current status.”
Also included in the ISTJ album are nine other tunes: “Broken Melodies”, “Yogurt Shake”, “Skateboard”, “Blue Wave”, “Poison”, “SOS”, “Pretzel”, “Starry Night” and “Like We Just Met”.
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For the NCT Dream members, “Like We Just Met” is particularly meaningful because they all helped to write the lyrics.
“It was the first time that all seven of us have written lyrics for our song,” Chenle, who is Chinese, explains. “It was also my first time to write lyrics in Korean. I am satisfied with my work.”
NCT Dream racked up a whopping 4.2 million pre-orders for ISTJ, but the septet believe they still have a long way to go.
“We contributed a lot of ideas to make our album this time,” Jaemin says, adding that their meetings often lasted more than three hours a day. “I think this is a testament to our growth. But I always believe that we are just at the beginning stage.”
Jisung adds: “Many people lose their passion as time goes by, but we are more passionate and enthusiastic than ever right now. About seven years have passed since our debut, but all of us are still striving to do better.”
Jeno says: “We always want to promote our group and our songs to people worldwide, so we will continue to contemplate different ways to do so.”
