Thai Idol TEN Talks SM Entertainment Departure & Forming His Own Agency: ‘I’m Starting Again From Zero’
Categoria: Musica
Following his exit from one of K-pop's most prominent labels, the Thai superstar is taking a big solo step with his 14-city U.S. tour.
Por Billboard | 13/11/2026
TEN has ambitions that span all over the map — but this fall, the global superstar knew he had to get himself out west. Since exiting prominent K-pop label SM Entertainment in April, the Thailand-born idol has hit the ground running. Over the summer, TEN celebrated a full decade in the entertainment industry with a three-day residency in Bangkok. Now, building off the momentum of his new English-language EP OUTWEST , which the multilingual artist co-wrote, he’s crossed the Pacific Ocean for his first U.S. solo headlining tour. Before wrapping up on Tuesday (Nov. 10), the trek brought him to 14 intimate venues across the country — and he already has plans to return in 2027 as part of a more expansive world tour. Because even with everything TEN has accomplished as a member of sprawling boy band NCT , its Chinese subunit WayV and special crossover project SuperM , he feels that there’s always more ground to cover. “It’s like I’m starting again from zero,” he tells Billboard during a sit-down conversation in L.A. “I’m trying to make a new journey, my own journey, starting from the beginning to find who TEN really is.” For an artist as mercurial and multihyphenate as TEN, that’s an evergreen question. But while he’s content to sit with uncertainty, founding creative agency ILLIMNT — which supports his projects across Korea, Thailand, the U.S. and beyond — has pushed TEN to trust his own intuition. “I’m more comfortable with giving out my ideas, my vision,” he says. “Before, I was like, ‘Should I give out my ideas? Is this the right direction?’ Now, I’m not afraid to be wrong.” As he stepped into a fearless new era, his music had to follow suit. Along with OUTWEST ‘s bold tech house title track, chiller counterpart “IRL” sums up TEN’s mentality through a turbulent year. His favorite line — “Jump out the window because I want to fly” — doubles as a mantra. “The road in front of you might be scary. You might trip and fall, and never be able to stand up again. But if you don’t do it, you never know.” “I’m fine to be silly,” he adds. “I can make mistakes. I can fall. But as long as I enjoy my life in the moment, get up after I fall, then everything’s going to be fine.” Below, he talks more about life and art after SM Entertainment. Why did you want to kick off this new era with a showcase tour in the U.S.? I haven’t really gotten to meet my U.S. fans up close — I did during SuperM, but I didn’t really get to talk and connect with them like this. So this tour, because it’s very close up, I want it to be like a party. You mentioned that you don’t have the rights to perform some of your old songs. Do you think we’ll get to see some of those songs eventually when you launch a full-scale tour? Oh yes, we solved that problem, so we get to perform any song we want now. I’d love to see “Dream in a Dream.” Okay, next