On October 20, music producer JINex released his latest EP, Fairy Tale.
The release features six new R&B tracks built around the “emotional sensibility of Korean R&B Ballads from the 1990s and 2000s, telling six different love stories that unfold across different moments in time.”
According to JINex, “the title Fairy tale does not simply refer to a fantasy or fictional tale. It comes from the idea of looking back on love and memories that remain in the heart long after they have passed—moments so precious that they once felt almost too beautiful to be real, like a fairy tale.”
While each song in the release tells a different story, they share a “cohesive sonic texture and emotional atmosphere” while leaving space for each singer’s own personality and warmth to shine.
Through this approach, JINex brings forward the raw sentimentality, late-night melancholy and deeply felt yearning associated with Korean R&B ballads of the 1990s and 2000s, while reshaping those qualities through a more contemporary sound of his own.
JINex’s Fairy Tale “brings together six artists with distinct voices, backgrounds, and musical identities: MRSHLL, JUE, Lil Summer, 이제, Slowly, and JINBO the SuperFreak.” Each artist comes from a different background, both musically and sometimes linguistically, but they are able to meld in JINex’s world of “sonic texture and emotional atmosphere”, each while retaining their unique personality.
This is a perfect tie-in with the EP’s title. “In Korean, ‘동화’(童話) means ‘fairy tale,’ while the same word can also be written as ‘동화’(同化), meaning assimilation—the process of different things becoming alike through contact with one another.” This mirrors JINex’s approach to the EP whereby instead of shaping the tracks around each specific artist, he intentionally created the music but left space for each artist’s voice to find a natural place within the track, allowing six powerful and unique voices to meld into a “single sonic texture, completing Fairy Tale like a storybook whose narrators change from one story to the next, while the texture of the pages remains the same.”
About JINex
JINex describes himself as a South Korean producer creating music rooted in a wide range of sounds “including hip-hop, R&B, soul, and funk.” Originally a font designer, he decided to leave the field to establish himself in music where he could build and create music expressing his own artistic identity.
His portfolio has grown through collaborations with artists spanning both different genres and generations. Featured artists include Choi Yena, Mad Clown, Untell, Horim, Lee Ki-chan, Ra.D, Bumkey, g0nny, and The Deep. Both of his earlier releases, Butterfly (2023) and ETERNAL (2025) received recognition from the Korean music media and the R&B community.
JINex has been featured in several prominent music publications including Melon Magazine in Artists to Watch in 2026, Rhythmer as one of their Top 10 Korean R&B / Soul Albums of 2025, Magazine Y as one of their Album & Rookie of the Year Nominees and the 2025 MUVE AWARDS Album of the Year Nominee in 2025.
“He is carrying on the musical legacy left by Korean star producers of the 1990s” including Lee Hyun-do, Kim Hyun-chul, Lee Hyun-jung, Shin Jae-hong, Shim Sang-won, and Kim Hyung-seok, while reinterpreting it for the modern era
— Melon Magazine, 'Musicians to Look Forward to in 2026'
Today, he continues to build his distinct musical footprint through continued collaborations with artists in and outside of Korea to push and explore new sounds and continue developing his musical identity.
For more information on Fairy Tale, including previews of tracks and links to streaming services where you can enjoy Fairy Tale, visit JINex on YouTube.
Music Producer JINex
Source: Images and promotional materials provided by JINex for the release of Fairy Tale.