Falilou and Ousmane, who had different personalities but had the same likes, lived together in California and began producing YouTube content. The two are currently under the team name "FO Squad" and run the "FO Squad Kpop" channel. They say that K-pop encompasses love, positivity, happiness, and achievement. Their top goal as creators in the future is to spread the energy of love and positivity widely. Meet the FO Squad, full of pleasant energy.

1. [RSK] Hello FO Squad nice to meet you! Before we begin, please introduce yourself and say hello to Rolling Stone Korea.

Hello! We are FO SQUAD. Which stands for our names Falilou and Ousmane.

FO SQUAD KPOP is our community-focused channel based on discovering and appreciating K-pop's unique and creative culture. 

2. [RSK] I'm curious about the beginning of FO Squad. Can you explain you two’s relationship and the beginning of the team?

We first met in Senegal - West Africa attending the same bilingual grade school. Falilou was a new kid at our school and I was the first to befriend him and we eventually created a brotherly bond. We became the best of friends and have supported each other through thick and thin since. Even though our personalities are different, the things we love are the same - which helps us mesh perfectly. After the 10th grade, we convinced our parents to let us live together in California where we started creating content on YouTube and now here we are. 

3. [RSK] What made you interested in K-pop for the first?

We both love music. We grew up on a mixture of hip-hop and discovered K-pop together, and the first thing we loved about kpop was how these artists brought a different level of energy compared to what we're used to seeing. K-pop put more effort into perfecting visuals, elevating creativity, intensifying choreography - they leveled up the entirety of Hip hop in a way we didn’t expect and we really appreciated the art. 

4. [RSK] You two are currently creating various contents as creators of the "FO Squad Kpop" channel, so it would be nice if you could explain to readers what the main contents are.

The majority of people know us for our reaction videos, but we're doing so much more these days! We launched a new show called Taste of Culture where western culture meets east asian culture. Our focus for the show is to bridge the gaps between the two and promote love and unity. We enjoy hanging out with K-pop idols and every time we bring a new face to the show we allow the fans to receive a new feeling about the person that they probably haven’t seen in the past and it's always fun receiving guidance from our fans before we meet the idols! Ultimately, our content will always focus on HAVING FUN. 

5. [RSK] You often upload K-pop music video reaction videos. What do you focus on when you film these videos?

We focus on just having a good time and appreciating the art as it is. Our goal isn’t to judge or critique, rather it’s to share the love and passion with all K-pop enthusiasts and fans around the world. Music is ultimately love - a universal language. Everyone takes it differently, whether a song is good or bad it’s all subjective so we learned not to bash on anyone's art, and we find ourselves around these artists more often than not and when they tell us that they watched our videos and found laughter and joy from it, it motivates us and validates our intentions of the video. 

6. [RSK] If there is a song that you listen to often, please introduce it with the reason.

We’re on the road a lot and every time we’re together we share music and alternate our songs, and the song we’ve been listening to the most is Blue by Jackson Wang. The song just makes us feel alive. The first time we watched the music video we felt the emotion Jackson was trying to convey, and he did an amazing job describing that feeling. 

7. [RSK] Is there a way to overcome burnout?

It's real. Every hardworking person has experienced burnout once in their life. For us, we get tired from time to time - and have to recenter by taking time off and reminding ourselves how important it is to be good to yourself. Mental health is a crisis that we can't ignore and that's also another reason why we love K-POP - the constant message is “loving one’s self”, which was always viewed as being weak from where we’re from. 

8. [RSK] What's your goal as a creator?

Our number one goal as creators is to spread love and positivity. To spark happiness and fulfillment but also create a sense of community, hope, and belonging. FO SQUAD covers K-pop because it encompasses all those things: love, positivity, happiness, and fulfillment. There are too many people crippled by negative feedback, and end up doubting their own beliefs. We want to be the voices for those people, and show that anything that can be thought of can be done. 

9. [RSK] 2022 is just around the corner. How are you going to spend the rest of this year?

We're going to keep creating content and eat a lot of Jajangmyeon - our favorite. We're planning the full year of Taste of Culture and spending time with family and friends through the holidays. 

10. [RSK] Thank you for your long interview with Rolling Stone Korea. It was a time to learn more about FO Squad through the interview. Lastly, please tell us how you feel about the interview, and say goodbye!

Humbled and grateful that you guys would want to chat with us. We love to speak to people. We love to share our love for KPOP. We can go on forever about FO SQUAD and KPOP but don't want your audience to fall asleep reading. So, if you are still reading, love yourself - love others - and try new things. 

<Photographs by - FO Squad>