[INTERVIEW] 'Daechwita' producer EL CAPITXN tells his own story through borrowed voices

EL CAPITXN, born Jang Yi-jeong, says his first full-length album, WHO KILLED EL?, turns the story of losing his singing voice and the life that followed into music. The 12-track album, due Nov. 6 through EMPIRE, spans rock, orchestral music, gospel, classical and pop. He said the album asks what makes a person who they are and leaves its central question open for listeners. Guest vocalists contribute distinctive voices, while EL CAPITXN produced the work through VENDORS Production to retain control of its direction.

EL CAPITXN debuted as the main vocalist of boy band HISTORY in 2013 after drawing attention on MBC’s Star Audition season two.

The illness that caused him to lose his singing voice was never clearly identified, and he later turned to producing and songwriting.

His catalog includes more than 100 songs, including BTS’ Telepathy and Take Two, IU’s eight, and PSY’s That That featuring Suga.

The prerelease hard rock single Don’t Say Love features Los Angeles band Beauty School Dropout.

EL CAPITXN said his years in K-pop taught him how to hold listeners’ attention and how small sound changes can transform a track.

Published Nov 3, 2026 12:00 pm KST

Former HISTORY vocalist, who lost his singing voice, releases 1st full-length album Nov. 6

Record producer EL CAPITXN / Courtesy of Elia Gabassi

For more than a decade, EL CAPITXN's music has reached listeners through other people's voices, from "Daechwita" by Agust D, the solo moniker of BTS' Suga, to IU's "eight." On his first full-length album, the producer, who lost his singing voice only a few years into his idol career, finally tells his own story, with other singers lending their voices.

"WHO KILLED EL?," out Nov. 6, traces the loss of his voice and the life that followed across 12 tracks spanning rock, orchestral music, gospel, classical and pop. It drops through U.S. independent label EMPIRE.

Born Jang Yi-jeong, EL CAPITXN first drew attention on the second season of MBC's audition show "Star Audition" before debuting as the main vocalist of boy band HISTORY in 2013. After losing his singing voice to an illness whose cause was never clearly identified, he stepped away from the stage and turned to producing and songwriting.

He went on to build a catalog of more than 100 songs, including BTS' "Telepathy" and "Take Two" and PSY's "That That" featuring Suga, and has worked with major K-pop acts such as BTS' Jung Kook, TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) and ENHYPEN. He founded VENDORS Production and has performed as a DJ at UMF Korea and Waterbomb Seoul.

This year, he stepped back into the spotlight with "Breaking Through," a single featuring TXT's Taehyun and American singer-songwriter Jeremy Zucker, and took his "WHO KILLED EL?" world tour to cities including New York, Mexico City, London and Paris.

Cover of songwriter EL CAPITXN’s single "Don't Say Love"/ Courtesy of VENDORS

EL CAPITXN said he had been telling his own story all along, even while writing for others.

"No matter how much a song is meant for someone else, it inevitably carries traces of my tastes, my thoughts and the time I've lived," he said in a written interview with The Korea Times. "Until now, my role was to deliver someone else's story as well as I could. This time, I wanted to apply that role to myself."

He said emotions he once thought of as separate, such as love, anger and loss, eventually converged into a single question — What makes a person who they are now?

"I didn't start because this was a perfect time. If anything, I felt that if I didn't start now, I would keep finding reasons to put it off," he said. "Maybe the most important moment for a creator isn't when all the preparation is done, but when you can no longer lie to yourself."

That question also runs through the album's title, which began as the name of his world tour. Asked whether he has found an answer, he said finishing the record made him rethink the question itself.

"Some events break us down, some people change us, and sometimes the choices we make ourselves turn our past selves into completely different people," he said. "So is that change a death, or another birth?"

Because tour audiences each took the question their own way, he said he does not want to settle on one answer.

"I'm the one asking ‘WHO KILLED EL?' but the people who complete the answer may be the ones listening to the music."

The album brings in guest vocalists, beginning with prerelease single "Don't Say Love," a hard rock track featuring Los Angeles band Beauty School Dropout.

EL CAPITXN said he chose vocalists for their individuality rather than technical polish.

"More than perfect pitch or technique, it's the things unique to a person — the way they pronounce a word, the moment their voice cracks, the timing of a breath — that can make a song special," he said, adding that "Don't Say Love" needed the band's raw yet emotional delivery.

"This project wasn't just a collection of features," he said. "It was closer to different actors completing a single work together."

Behind those voices is a production approach he credits to his years in K-pop, which taught him how to hold a listener's attention and how a small change in sound can transform a track.

With rock, however, he wanted to preserve the musicians' energy and the unpredictable moments of live playing.

"I don't see these two approaches as opposites," he said. "Instinctive energy can live inside meticulously designed music, and very delicate production is possible even within raw rock music."

The same desire to shape the work on his own terms guided his choice of label. He said it was important to produce the music himself through VENDORS Production and keep control over the album's direction, adding that he holds Korea's music industry in high regard, having learned and grown within it, but wanted to build a structure that fits him.

"The biggest meaning this choice has given me isn't simply a chance to enter overseas markets. It's being able to take responsibility for, and ownership of, the work I've made," he said.

"Freedom comes with just as much responsibility, but I believe that responsibility is part of an artist's life, too."

本名张艺正（Jang Yi-jeong）的EL CAPITXN表示，他的首张完整专辑《谁杀了EL？》（WHO KILLED EL?）将他失去歌喉的经历以及之后的生活谱写成音乐。这张包含12首歌曲的专辑将于11月6日由EMPIRE唱片公司发行，涵盖摇滚、管弦乐、福音、古典和流行等多种音乐风格。他表示，这张专辑探讨了“是什么造就了一个人”这个问题，并将核心答案留给听众思考。专辑中邀请了多位歌手献声，展现了他们独特的嗓音。EL CAPITXN通过VENDORS Production公司制作了这张专辑，以确保对作品方向的掌控。

EL CAPITXN 于 2013 年在 MBC 的《明星选拔赛》第二季中崭露头角，并以男子组合 HISTORY 的主唱身份出道。

导致他失去歌喉的疾病一直没有明确诊断，后来他转而从事制作和歌曲创作。

他的作品目录包括 100 多首歌曲，包括 BTS 的《Telepathy》和《Take Two》，IU 的《eight》，以及 PSY 与 Suga 合作的《That That》。

先行发布的硬摇滚单曲《Don't Say Love》邀请了洛杉矶乐队 Beauty School Dropout 参与演唱。

EL CAPITXN 表示，他在 K-pop 领域的多年经验教会了他如何吸引听众的注意力，以及微小的声音变化如何改变一首歌。

发布于2026年11月3日韩国时间下午12:00

曾是HISTORY乐队主唱、如今已失声的歌手将于11月6日发行首张完整专辑。

唱片制作人 EL CAPITXN / 由 Elia Gabassi 提供

十多年来，EL CAPITXN 的音乐一直通过他人的歌声传递给听众，从 BTS 成员 Suga 的个人化名 Agust D 的《Daechwita》到 IU 的《eight》。这位在偶像生涯开始几年后便失去歌喉的制作人，在他的首张完整专辑中，终于讲述了自己的故事，并邀请其他歌手献声。

《谁杀了埃尔？》（WHO KILLED EL?）将于11月6日发行，这张专辑收录了12首歌曲，涵盖摇滚、管弦乐、福音、古典和流行等多种音乐风格，讲述了埃尔失声后的生活。专辑由美国独立厂牌EMPIRE发行。

EL CAPITXN 本名张艺正，在 MBC 选秀节目《明星选拔赛》第二季中首次引起关注，之后于 2013 年以男子组合 HISTORY 主唱的身份出道。在因病失去歌喉后（病因不明），他离开了舞台，转而从事制作和歌曲创作。

他创作了超过100首歌曲，包括BTS的《Telepathy》和《Take Two》，以及PSY与Suga合作的《That That》，并与BTS的柾国、TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT)和ENHYPEN等众多韩​​国流行音乐巨星合作。他创立了VENDORS Production，并曾以DJ身份在UMF Korea和Waterbomb Seoul等音乐节上演出。

今年，他凭借与 TXT 成员 Taehyun 和美国创作歌手 Jeremy Zucker 合作的单曲《Breaking Through》重回大众视野，并带着他的“WHO KILLED EL?”世界巡回演唱会来到了纽约、墨西哥城、伦敦和巴黎等城市。

词曲作者 EL CAPITXN 单曲《Don't Say Love》封面/图片由供应商提供

EL CAPITXN 说，他一直以来都在讲述自己的故事，即使是在为别人写作的时候也是如此。

“无论一首歌是为别人而作，它都不可避免地带有我的品味、我的想法以及我所经历的时代印记，”他在接受《韩国时报》的书面采访时说道。“此前，我的角色是尽我所能地讲述别人的故事。这一次，我想把这个角色应用到我自己身上。”

他说，他曾经认为彼此分离的情感，如爱、愤怒和失落，最终都汇聚成一个问题——是什么造就了现在的这个人？

“我并非因为时机完美才开始创作。恰恰相反，我觉得如果我现在不开始，我就会不断找借口拖延，”他说。“或许对创作者而言，最重要的时刻并非所有准备工作都已完成之时，而是你再也无法自欺欺人之时。”

这个问题也贯穿了整张专辑的标题，而这个标题最初是他世界巡演的名称。当被问及是否找到了答案时，他表示，完成这张专辑让他重新思考了这个问题本身。

“有些事会击垮我们，有些人会改变我们，有时我们自己做出的选择会把过去的自己变成完全不同的人，”他说。“那么，这种改变是死亡，还是新生呢？”

他说，由于巡回演出的观众对这个问题都有不同的理解，他不想给出一个统一的答案。

“是我在问‘谁杀了艾尔？’，但能给出答案的人可能是那些正在听音乐的人。”

这张专辑邀请了客座歌手献声，首先是先行单曲《Don't Say Love》，这是一首硬摇滚歌曲，由洛杉矶乐队 Beauty School Dropout 演唱。

EL CAPITXN 表示，他选择歌手的标准是他们的个性，而不是技术上的精湛。

“比起绝对音准或技巧，真正让一首歌变得特别的，是那些个人特有的东西——比如他们发音的方式、声音破音的瞬间、呼吸的时机等等，”他说道，并补充说，《Don't Say Love》这首歌需要乐队那种原始而又充满情感的演绎。

他说：“这个项目不仅仅是一系列功能的集合，更像是不同的参与者共同完成了一部作品。”

这些声音背后是他独特的制作方法，他将其归功于多年在韩国流行音乐界的经历，这段经历教会了他如何吸引听众的注意力，以及声音上的微小变化如何改变一首歌。

然而，对于摇滚乐，他希望保留音乐家的活力和现场演奏中不可预测的时刻。

“我不认为这两种方法对立，”他说。“本能的能量可以存在于精心设计的音乐中，即使是原始的摇滚乐，也可以进行非常精细的制作。”

正是这种想要按照自己的意愿塑造作品的愿望，促使他选择了唱片公司。他表示，通过VENDORS Production亲自制作音乐并掌控专辑方向至关重要。他还补充道，他非常尊重韩国音乐产业，因为他曾在这里学习和成长，但他希望建立一个更适合自己的体系。

“这个选择带给我的最大意义不仅仅是进入海外市场的机会，更是能够对我所做的工作负责，并拥有所有权，”他说。

“自由与责任并存，但我认为责任也是艺术家生活的一部分。”