#kai solo mmmh

[vanillakai]

dream boy <3

#kai #exo kai #superm kai #kim jongin #jongin #jongin edit #kim kai #kai solo #exo #kai london #peaches #mmmh

[hautelekai]

#kai #exo #jongin #exo kai #kim jongin #kpop #superm kai #superm #exo k #sm #mmmh #kai mmmh #kai solo

[sanstropfremir]

Hey! I hops life has been treating you well! And warning for a long and convoluted ask incoming (which is pretty par for the course for me). I’ve been going down a Yunho (U-Know Yunho to be precise lol) rabbit hole and I’m curious how you think he compares to other male SM solo artists especially Taemin (though I think it would be interesting to compare all SM solo artists like BOA or Taeyeon and Hyoyeon for the purpose of this ask im just thinking about the dudes). Cause I feel like him, Taemin, and Kai all fall on different ends of the same spectrum that’s distinct from some of the other SM solos like the other Exos (except I might add Baekhyun in there but I’m just not familiar enough with him) as they tend to tackle that darker sexier sound. I’ve been thinking about how when people say a male solo artists is making taemin lite music it’s usually actually closer to Yunho’s more recent stuff. Like taemin has kind of become short hand for dark male solo concept especially if it’s on the sexier or high concept side when that’s not always an accurate comparison. I’ve seen this especially with Wonho which is really interesting to me cause in my mind he falls way more on the Yunho end of the spectrum than Taemin (by like a long shot). And this could also be cause the kpop circles I run in are way less familiar with Yunho to make that comparison in the first place, I was just wondering if others like you that knew Yunho would agree with me. I also found it interesting that Taemin went solo before Yunho even though TVXQ are the older group so I wonder he affected Yunho’s music at all. Cause Yunho kind of seems like a more, I don’t want to say masculine, definitely more of a player, conventionally sexy foil to taemin’s more unhinged (satanic?? Fantasy? Horror-adjacent? I can’t really describe it accurately but I mean TVXQ has down their share of that too) sensual side and I can’t tell if it’s cause of the age difference between them, their group concepts (I mean TVXQ are the grown men of the kpop industry in my mind and I have no doubt they play a role in inspiring any “manly” or mature concept and Yunho’s concepts seems to follow pretty closely to TVXQ’s image in a way that Taemin doesn’t at all with Shinee), or their own artist personas and careers- taemin has always been viewed as the “feminine” one and you’ve talked a lot about how he’s both rejected and embraced that image overtime in his career. And to further complicate this I don’t really know where to put Kai between them cause he has the more overt sex appeal in Mmmh, and in his image over all, that Yunho has but also is more sensual and softer (subtle?) dance style that seems closer to taemin (or at least taemin’s image I’ll be the first to admit that my understanding of him as an artists doesnt always align with his actual output and the expectations I project on him) so I guess he goes in the middle. But peaches does really stand out as a sort of softer lighter storybook concept (which I love cause I feel like we don’t see traditional concepts that are more feel good) so that kind of throws a wrench into my theory and I guess thats what I get for treating artists’ output as a monolith and for comparing them😅. This ask is getting very very long and I’m late for class so I won’t continue but I did have some idea about where Xiumin’s recent comeback fits into this roster of artists but I’ll save that for another day lol. As always thanks for your input and I hope this makes at least some sense to you!

i stopped photo editing to answer this lmao bc i think this a very interesting question/thought experiment etc etc

firstly, most people will make the taemin comparison for male soloist because he is significantly more well known as a soloist, and part of that is that he's famous for being a soloist; an extension of which is the disparity between his solo work and his group work. now there are two points i want to fork off into from here:

-> the first is that it's a flawed comparison to place yunho, taemin, and kai on a spectrum because they're not derivatives of each other in the way that a spectrum would imply; what they all are is derivatives of rain. every dance-based male soloist is, via some lineage, a descendant of rain, whether it's through the skills line (taemin) or the 'masculinity' line (yunho) or a mix (kai). baekhyun doesn't factor in here because he's almost purely rnb based and therefore a kangta derivative.

-> the second is that it is valid for people to be making that comparison to taemin because most younger idols are going to be using him as reference, and because a lot of these younger idols are following his method of creating a separate solo persona from their group. yunho does not have that distinction. he is quite literally the face of tvxq, and therefore inextricably bound to the group's identity because there are literally only two of them. if they were, for example, still a five member group, he might have had more a chance to diversify himself a bit, but that's a bygone point because we don't live in that world. the reason tvxq made it through the split and maintained being an extremely successful group is very likely because of yunho's singlehanded determination. obviously changmin does care about the group, but as we've seen with his solo work, he's much more of a musical chameleon; he's more focused on dabbling in widely different genres that interest him. yunho's solo music however, is pretty consistent in sound and also not all that surprising of a leap from who he is in tvxq. so by that observation, i would say there isn't actually a difference between uknow yunho and uknow the soloist. his artistic identity is tvxq, in a way that he can't separate, unlike how taemin can separate from shinee. and following that point through, no younger soloist can really be compared to him because his history and group image are so integral to what he does. that's why there's like a negative number of young idols that every attempt to cover a yunho song, bc the vibes of something like follow or thank u would OBLITERATE anyone under the age of 30.

if you were to look at just aesthetics and music styles, sure on the surface there are some younger idols that unintentionally skew more towards some of the stuff that yunho has done, but in the end that's because they're all under the rain umbrella.

#kpop questions #tvxq w #tvxq #yunho #taemin meta #i know i've talked about this before in a post somewhere. but yunho's only comparable peers are literally like. junsu and rain #both them COULD cover a yunho song if they wanted to. but again. their vibes are wrong. they don't have the same desperation #to be completely honest i actually think it's unimportant to compare the literal aesthetics/music style of solo artists #and instead you need to compare HOW they approach those aesthetics styles etc etc #like you could say that taemin kai yunho and baekhyun have all done dance based 'dark sexy' concepts within a relatively close timespan: #criminal (sept 2020) mmmh (nov 2020) thank u (jan 2021) and bambi (march 2021) #but that doesnt take into account the fact that all of them approach the concept of 'dark sexy' totally differently #and each according to their own contexts #i dont think you can put all of sm's soloists on a big scale of similarity of music and aesthetic #i mean. you can bc duh theyre all gonna look and sound similar bc they share resources #but that's not seeing the forest for the trees in terms of actually analysing and understanding a soloist's work #this is basically just a very longwinded way of me saying that i dont think there's anyone that makes solo work like yunho #i guess you could argue that kai is actually the most similar to yunho since he doesnt have a real distinction between solo kai and exo kai #but again its different bc he's got a wider array of genres he's willing to try and exo is not the same as tvxq #but again again its not about relating them to each other. its about relating them in comparison to rain #answers #text #like when i say taemin is more popular i mean like. 1.2 million monthly spotify listeners vs 30k. its not an insignificant difference

[mybiasisexo]

the closer we get to november the closer I can feel Kai about to do it again!

#November solo king #the weather is getting colder and mmmh has been on repeat #come my fall prince #Kai #exo #mine

[moonjiwoong]

Y’all think we’ll get another Kai solo release this November 30? 👀

#sm please I’m begging!!! #I need it!! #it’s a crime that he only gets a solo cb once a year #kai #exo #peaches #kai mmmh

[nuwuna]

Redacted Bois and Which K-pop Groups They’d Stan

Idk if there are a lot of K-pop+redacted fans there are out there but I made this for funsies 😋🫶🏼

David is more of a casual listener, but whenever he’s working out or doing yard work, he listens to EXO. He got really into it when he was younger and bought one of their albums. He then played it for a whole month. Angel was trying not to laugh when he accidentally played Monster on the speakers near the pool (they secretly liked it tho).

Asher definitely listens to Block B. He likes to blast their music anytime, anywhere. On the way to the grocery store? Absolutely banging to Very Good. Cooking? Accidentally burning the food to Nalili Mambo. Trying to get Babe’s attention? Passionately singing Her. He just gets really hyped when he listens to them.

Milo is secretly an aghase and could talk about GOT7 for hours if you ask him about it. He's really passionate about them and their music. Sometimes he uses Teenager or If You Do as entrance music, like sitting on the bed waiting for Sweetheart to come in. He was pretty upset when they announced that they won't be actively making music together, but he still enjoys all of their solo projects/music.

Vincent is a huge ENHYPEN stan. Their whole concept is vampires but despite that, Vincent really likes their music. He and Lovely started watching their survival show and then became obsessed with them once they debuted. He knows the point dance from each title track and learned the Bite Me partner choreo with Lovely.

Sam listens to Girls’ Generation as a guilty pleasure. He accidentally clicked on the music video for Gee back in 2008 and has followed them ever since. He was pretty embarrassed when Darlin’ caught him listening to it, but he was able to convince them to listen to it with him.

Gavin doesn’t really stan a certain group but likes a lot of solo artists, specifically Taemin, Kai, and Hwa Sa. He just feels so connected to their music and actively follows their releases. He was listening to some of their music one day, Freelancer asked what he was listening to, he showed them and they liked it too. They've definitely listened to Mmmh by Kai while making out. he is mr rover and he is coming over

Lasko doesn't listen to really big groups in the industry and instead likes the K-bands more, specifically Day6. He gets into his feels when he listens to them (especially since i hc that hes a hopeless romantic). He learned Korean just so he could sing Congratulations and Zombie even though theres an english ver.

Damien got really into SHINee in high school. He was kind of a toxic stan though 💀. He would get into fights on Twitter and (almost) physical fights at school. He would stay up until 3 am to start streaming music the moment the MVs would drop and then yell at people online to start streaming. But don't worry, he's calmed down now. He gets pretty nostalgic when Sherlock plays on shuffle.

Huxley really liked GFRIEND and supported them in any way that he could, such as streaming, buying albums, and voting them for MusicBank. He tried to show Damien their songs and played Rough but Damien wasn't really into it. He was devastated when they disbanded and Damien had to comfort him for a whole week. He's just such a wholesome girl group stan, it's adorable.

Caelum likes to dance and sing to a lot of PENTAGON and SEVENTEEN songs, even though he doesn't know what the lyrics mean. His favorite songs are Naughty Boy and Pretty U, respectively. Both groups have a lot of members, but he doesn't know all of them. He likes to watch the MVs with Freelancer and point out the few members he does know.

Elliott likes TXT's more chill songs like Fairy of Shampoo and Ghosting. He's a very relaxed fan when it comes to them. He knows all the members and their songs but isn't super active in the community or when it comes to buying merch. Whenever a new album comes out he'll listen to it for about a week and then put his favorites into a playlist. Sunshine started liking them because of him and probably asked him to make a dreamscape that was a TXT concert.

Blake isn't really into it but randomly listened to Love Scenario by iKON and cried to it after looking up the lyrics. He had it on repeat for a whole week.

Guy fell into the “I just want to know their names” trope with TWICE and BTS. He thought it would be funny if he randomly/ironically knew the members’ names and ended up being a HUGE stan of both. Bought every album, lightstick, and a lot of official merch. He’s been to a lot of their concerts and literally screams the fan chants. He biases Jin and Dahyun and has their photo cards in his phone case, as well as an RJ sticker.

Geordi saw NewJeans in a Coca-cola advertisement, decided to check out their music, and ended up really liking their music. It introduced him to K-pop and he casually listens to a lot of groups, but NewJeans is his ult. Their songs are really catchy so they end up playing in his mind 24/7, sometimes somehow mixing with the Tetris theme. He likes all of their songs but his current favorites are Super Shy and ASAP.

#redacted asmr #redacted audio #redacted david #redacted asher #redacted milo #redacted vincent #redacted sam #redacted gavin #redacted lasko #redacted damien #redacted huxley #redacted caelum #redacted elliott #redacted blake #redacted guy #redacted geordi #redactedverse #redacted hc #redacted headcanons

[dailyexo]

EXO - 230101 Official EXO-L Japan website update

"'SMTOWN LIVE 2023 : SMCU PALACE@KWANGYA' is complete"

"本日2023年1月1日に、オンラインコンサート『SMTOWN LIVE 2023 : SMCU PALACE@KWANGYA』が全世界に配信されました！ご覧いただいたみなさん、ありがとうございました！

今回のコンサートは、EXOからはスホが参加した、ウィンターアルバム「2022 Winter SMTOWN：SMCU PALACE」のタイトル曲『The Cure』のMVでスタート！

EXOはクリスマスの雰囲気溢れる『The First Snow』、そしてキレッキレのパフォーマンスでお届けした『Love Shot』のステージでコンサートを盛り上げました♪

ソロステージでは、スホが『Let's Love』、チェンが『Last Scene』のステージで心にぐっと届くような歌声を、シウミンは『Brand New』、カイは『Mmmh』をそれぞれの個性あふれる魅力的なパフォーマンスを披露しました！ チャンヨルとセフンはEXO-SCとしてもパフォーマンス！スホを迎えて『Fly Away』を、そして『Rodeo Station』もお届けしましたがいかがでしたか？

さらに、普段はなかなか観ることのできない、さまざまな組み合わせで特別なステージが観られるのもSMTOWN LIVEの魅力のひとつ！ 今回も、SMファミリーの先輩後輩とのコラボレーションで、特別なステージをお届けしました♪

まずカイが、Red Velvetのスルギ、NCTのジェノ、aespaのKARINAと息の合ったパフォーマンスで『Hot & Cold』を披露！ スホは、KANGTA、SUPER JUNIORのイェソン、NCTのテイル、ロンジュンと『Happier』をしっとりと歌い上げました♪ チャンヨルは、Raidenとの楽曲『Yours』をNCTのマーク、aespaのWINTERとのスペシャルパフォーマンスでスイートにお届け^^

「SMCU PALACE」にアーティストが集まり、2023年の始まりの日に開催されたスペシャルなライブ♪みなさん、お楽しみいただけましたでしょうか？

パフォーマンスを終えたメンバーから写真が届きましたので、EXO-L-JAPANのみなさんに公開します！ 「2023年はEXO-L-JAPANのみなさんと直接会える機会がたくさんあるといいね」と話しながら、いつものようにぎゅっと集合したメンバーたち^^

そして、「EXO-L-JAPANのみなさんへ一人ずつご挨拶もしたい！」ということで、セルフィーも届きました！

2023年、EXO-L-JAPANのみなさんとEXOが一緒に過ごす楽しい想い出がたくさん増えることをメンバーもとても楽しみにしています^^ みなさんも楽しみに待っていてくださいね！"

Translation: "Today, Janaury 1st 2023, the online concert 'SMTOWN LIVE 2023 : SMCU PALACE@KWANGYA' steamed worldwide! Thank you everyone who tuned in!

As one of the participants in the conert, Suho was featured in the latest MV 'The Cure' from the SM winter album titled '2022 Winter SMTOWN：SMCU PALACE'!

EXO put on a glittery show with their song 'The First Snow', giving viewers a wonderful Christmasy performance. They also turned up the heat with their performance of 'Love Shot'.♪

For the emotional solo stages, Suho performed 'Let's Love' and Chen performed 'Last Scene'. Xiumin and Kai showed off their unique charms with their performances of their two solos, Xiumin with 'Brand New' and Kai with 'Mmmh'!

Chanyeol and Shun took the stage as EXO-SC! For their song 'Fly Away' they invited their leader Suho as a featured guest before performing 'Rodeo Station'! What did you guys think?

SMTOWN LIVE featured not only groups that everyone is familiar with, but also some entirely new matchups of artists that normally do not perform together. This was what made the concert so special! Taking the stage this time was a special collaboration between senior and rookie idols.♪

First up was Kai who took the stage alongside Red Velvet's Seulgi, NCT's Jeno, and aespa's KARINA to perform the song 'Hot & Cold'! Suho performed alongside KANGTA, SUPER JUNIOR's Yesung, NCT's Taeil and Renjun to perform 'Happier'.♪ Chanyeol gave a sweet performance of his Raiden collaboration song 'Yours' alongside NCT's Mark and aespa's WINTER!^^

All of the artists gathere at the 'SMCU PALACE' to give a wonderful performance to kick off the start of 2023!♪ Did everyone enjoy the concert?

To celebrate the end of the concert, the members got together to take a group photo for EXO-L-JAPAN! 'We hope 2023 is the year we will get the chance to see EXO-L-JAPAN again!' The members said with grins on their faces as they all squeezed together for the photo.^^

To finish off this post, the members also took individual selfies. 'Let's all give our individual greetings to EXO-L-JAPAN!'

The members are so excited to make even more memories with EXO-L-JAPAN in 2023!^^ Look forward to more EXO this year, but until then please wait a little longer!"

Photo links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Credit: Official EXO-L Japan.

#EXO #EXO K #EXO M #230101 #221215 #exo im #exo k im #exo m im #221215 smcu #official update #website update #p:official #p:concert #comeback:Fight

[exoplanetupdates-blog]

[ENG] EXO Music Show Promotions Masterpost

History + MAMA

Wolf (XOXO)

Growl

Miracles in December

Overdose

EXODUS + Call Me Baby

Love Me Right

Unfair + Sing For You

Lucky One + Monster (EX'ACT)

Lotto

The Eve + Ko Ko Bop (The War)

Power

Tempo + Ooh La La La (DMUMT)

Love Shot

Obsession

Don't Fight The Feeling (*No Appearance)

Cream Soda (EXIST)

UNIT

The One + Hey Mama (CBX)

Blooming Days (CBX)

SOLO

Xiumin

Brand New

Suho

Let's Love

Hurdle + Grey Suit

Lay

Lose Control

Baekhyun

UN Village

Candy

Chen

Beautiful Goodbye

Shall We?

I Don't Even Mind + Last Scene

Kai

Hello Stranger + Ride or Die + Mmmh

Domino + Peaches

Rover

#EXO #MASTERPOST #music show

[theboytatu]

ok time to beat each other up in the tags and reblogs so let's settle this once and for all

#exo #kai #baekhyun

[st4rdom-if]

I'm not too up to date w/ K-pop groups but I have some songs that could interest you!

LOONA - Hi High, Love4eva

EXO - Miracles in December, Lotto, MAMA (EXO-K), Call Me Baby

Girls' Generation/SNSD - Gee, Oh!

Super Junior - Super Girl, Bonamana, MAMACITA, Lo Siento

BIG BANG - Fantastic Baby

Taeyang - Ringa Linga, Wedding Dress

2NE1 - I Am The Best

Jungkook - Still with You

Twice - What is Love?, Heart Shaker

Weeekly - After School

NCT U - Make A Wish (Birthday Song)

BTS - Dynamite, Mic Drop, Black Swan, Fake Love, Boy with Luv, Not Today, Lights, Idol, Fire

KARD - You in Me

SEVENTEEN - Left & Right

Stray Kids - God's Menu

Jennie - Solo

Kai - Mmmh

Blackpink - Kiss & Make Up, Forever Young

Block B - HER

Momoland - BAAM

I just read Call Me Baby as Call Me Maybe, please— 😂

OHHH Weeekly's After School is one of my favorites!! Spotify recommended it to me and now every day I make it a point to listen to the song at least once. It may be a problem of mine, but I honestly am in love with it.

I really love Dynamite and Boy With Luv, actually! I think I got invested in the songs after I got the Just Dance 2023 edition and got Superstar on both (I'm still trying to go for Megastar). I just listened to Boy With Luv an hour ago on repeat until I realized I put it on a loop 😂😂😂

Everything else I have not heard of, though some of the bands I recognize! Thank you Anon!

I'm going to add the second ask you made too! You know, I was like man I swear I have heard of something like that title and when I looked it up I realized you were talking about Mystic Messenger, the otome game! While I never picked up the game, I do play an otome game and so I have heard of the game in passing.

I can't believe it took me such a long time to realize that Mystic Messenger is a Korean game! I guess I never really thought about it.

Also the music is a banger; I am reporting this as I listen to it right now in Korean. Thanks again for the recommendations!

#answered #anon #st4rdom #kpop recommendations #music recs

[hautelekai]

kai

#kai #exo #jongin #exo kai #kim jongin #kpop #superm kai #superm #exo k #kai solo #mmmh #kai mmmh

[calciumcryptid]

Calcium's List of K-Pop Worth a Damn Pt.2

Hello my beloved mutuals.

It is I, Calcium, who has consumed way too much K-Pop and has opinions on which songs (and by extension artists) are actually worth a damn.

This is part two because there was so much K-Pop to sort through, and this part is going to cover the male artists whether groups or soloists. I do not expect you to enjoy every single one on this list, but I do think these songs are worth at least one listen.

In Case This Breaks Containment: Please understand this list was made for my mutuals and my mutuals only. Just because a song or artist is not on this list does not mean I think the song or artist is bad. Except for BTS, with all due respect I think their solo work outshines their group work by a margin which is why two of their members are in the solo area listing but there is no group song listed.

Important Language Note: When Romanized, the word 'you' in Korean translates to 'nega' and the word 'I' in Korean translates to 'naega'. When said very fast it sounds like the n-word. I promise it is not the n-word, they are saying 'you' or 'I'.

Without further ado, let's finish these recommendations.

Boy Groups

Goblin (Favorite Boys) by A.C.E.

Bouncy by Ateez

Halazia by Ateez

Wave by Ateez

Bang Bang Bang by BigBang

Fantastic Baby by BigBang

Sober by BigBang

Movie Star by CIX

Save Me, Kill Me by CIX

Adrenaline by Cravity

Shoot Me by DAY6

Young Blood by DRIPPIN

Dangerous by E'Last

Drunk-Dazed by Enhypen

Fever by Enhypen

Bite Me by Enhypen

Electric Kiss by EXO

Growl by EXO

Love Shot by EXO

Not By the Moon by GOT7

You Calling My Name by GOT7

Dive by iKon

The Chaser by Infinite

Medusa by Just B

RE=LOAD by Just B

Crush by MCND

Ice Age by MCND

Beautiful Liar by Monsta X

Hero by Monsta X

Boss by NCT

Kick It by NCT 127

Simon Says by NCT 127

Perfume by NCT Dojaejung

Baggy Baggy Jeans by NCT U

Face by Nu'Est

Come Back Home by OneUs

Same Scent by OneUs

Valkyrie by OneUs - Rock Version

End of Spring by OneWe

Gravity by OneWe

Rain to Be by OneWe

Jump by Ph1Harmony

libidO by OnlyOneOf

Fall in Love Again by Ph1Harmony

Daisy by Pentagon

Do Or Not by Pentagon

Shine by Pentagon

Hot by Seventeen

Rock With You by Seventeen

Super by Seventeen

Good Guy by SF9

Atlantis by SHINee

Lucifer by SHINee

Sherlock (Clue + Note) by SHINee

Case 143 by Stray Kids

God's Menu by Stray Kids

Voices by Stray Kids

Jopping by SuperM

Get a Guitar by Riize

Red by The Rose

Anti-Romantic by Tomorrow X Together

Crown by Tomorrow X Together

Sugar Rush Ride by Tomorrow X Together

Mirotic by TVXQ!

Energetic by WannaOne

Love Talk by WayV (I recommend both the Korean and English version.)

Designer by VAV

Mayday by Victon

Test Me by Xdinary Heroes

Male Soloists

Daechwita by Agust D

Bambi by Baekhyun

Sacrifice by Han Seungwoo

Moondance by Jeon Woong

Mmmh by Kai

Peaches by Kai

Another Life by Key

Bad Love by Key

Killer by Key

Daddy by Psy

Gentleman by Psy

Gangnam Style by Psy

Criminal by Taemin

Guilty by Taemin

Move by Taemin

Love Me Again by V

Lose by Wonho

Feel Like by Woodz

Overall Artist Recommendations

Ateez: They are very hard hitting and all their songs feel like cinematic experiences. My go to boy group, and I don't think there is a song of theirs I don't like.

Enhypen: Can I just say supernatural concept and be done with this section? Yeah, I think I will.

Taemin: Honestly I was just going to leave it at his name, but I cannot explain how sexy his voice is. The man is known as The Idol's Idol for a reason.

Tomorrow X Together or TXT: They honestly have a little bit of everything from more chipper music to darker music. My personal favorites are the moments where they sound like an actual band like Run Away, I Know I Love You, and Loser=Lover.

Stray Kids: A little grab bag of everything when it comes to the 'love yourself' message. If that isn't enough for my mutuals, not only do they have my seal of approval but they also have my mother's seal of approval so uh take that as what it is.

Bonus Recommendation

KARD's music is wonderful, but since they are a co-ed group I was unsure where to put them. In terms of their songs I adore Gunshot and Red Moon as it was the song that got me into them.

@insomniac-jay @opalofoctober

#calciumlistens #music

[a3day]

A3DAY Extended Commentary: KAI "Rover" (2023)

DISCLAIMER - An Album a Day is my exploration into the Korean music scene. This blog, just like my podcast, will cover mainstream, indie and some underground artists within the scene and provide both factual and opinionated commentary. The biggest benefit to sharing my thoughts this way is that it will hopefully expose you to more great music and exploration of your own.

When assuming membership in one of South Korea's most well-recognized idol groups, I'm willing to believe that creating solo work is not only a deeply desired opportunity, but a rites of passage. Clearly, it's allowed Kim Jong-in a.k.a. Kai to break away from the mold (or "colors," as K-pop often refers to the energy, styling, and expectations) of SM Entertainment's EXO with two mini-albums.

With this third outing, "Rover," sounds unexpected. There's some familiar deliveries, but you damn near can't put your finger on which EXO album clued you in that he could do what he's going to do on this project. You can't even fully place it on the same shelf as "Peaches," his second mini-album birthed 16 months before this one. If his debut mini-album was sexy-sexy-dance-dance-smooth, then the second was tongue-in-cheek-sweet-sweet-vibes... and this one is grown-grown-borderline-AOMG/H1GHR Music.

You can't just jump around like that, Kaihonetta... don't do me us like this... it's dangerous. (And yes, that is pronounced Kai-ho-netta.)

SM used far better words than I have to express the variety of this album, stating,

KAI has presented different concepts for each solo album released so far, such as 'Mmmh' with a restrained sexiness and 'Peaches' with a sweet vibe, proving that he is a 'world-class performer' who will never let you down. Expectations are rising for the unique music and performance that he will show through this album.

Let's get into the breakdown of what we're hearing, feeling *clears throat* and sensing on "Rover," track by track.

Rover - Bulgarian pop done Kai's way

You've read that right: this song is a reinterpretation of Bulgarian pop star Dara's song, released on Virginia Records. SM embraces covers and the fact that Kai's production team stayed true to the original music and arrangement is a win.

At bare minimum, the chorus is catchy enough to get a little body movement from its listeners. In my case, I keep mixing parts of it in my head with another track on the album, which we'll get to soon enough.

EDIT: Since writing this on album release day, I've come across several conversations on Twitter about this song and how Kai "copied it." We know there are instances of blatant plagiarism in South Korean pop entertainment but this is not the case here. Permission was sought, granted and publicly acknowledged.

It takes so little to search the Internet for reputable reporting and notations about major and indie label work. This was a perfect opportunity to use those keyboarding skills to find the truth.

While I understand that not everyone is engrossed in music to the point of wanting to know who's who and what's doing what, these arguments against Kai's reinterpretation are ignorant. Checks and cheques have cleared.

Listen to my reaction to this song below

Black Mirror - "Boomerang~~ boomerang~~" A song produced with the sounds of its time for mid-trap music, the track wins because it's not overwhelming the auditory experience. Kai plays with pitch and tone throughout the entire track as he speaks about watching someone with provocative angles and enticing interactions. It's easy enough to ignore the music in favor of his delivery. He sounds comfortable yet arrogant and it works. It works very well, indeed.

Slidin' - This man is talking about adult extra-curricular activities

The mood is set as soon as the song comes on. It's a mellow tempo that encourages the body to loosen up and one's head to bob to the beat. Thus, I thought the title was about sliding into one's DMs. It seemed right and my ass was wrong. Kai said, "Slidin'/Strip it down, take it off/Slidin'/You can leave it all to me/Come wrap me up, closely."

It's easy to get lost in the melodic experience but if you take the time to familiarize yourself with the lyrics in the language of your choosing, then you'll find this song to be a solid statement of adulthood without giving too much away.

Bomba - Reggaeton and redundancy

I must preface this by saying that I'm a member of a reggaeton household. I can't escape it when I hop in the car nor can I run from it when my partner is lounging around the house. It takes very little effort to identify its typical instruments; and it's not that I don't enjoy it, but that I am burned out on it.

Now that my truth has been revealed, this song would not work any other way. "Bomba" is on trend, gives a few words in Spanish to make it feel authentic, and has ear worm capacity that syncs with "Rover" (unintentionally?) well.

Say You Love Me - The hip-hop soul track that fits multiple vocals

Let's look at this first from the artistic styling before my fangirl antics surface. The team behind this track must hide behind the mild description given by SM for the song to avoid pearl-clutching behaviors. The label gives us this:

''Say You Love Me'' is a hip-hop R&B song, which directly expresses the wish to have love confirmed in precise words.

Call it a nice way of saying what one with certain life experiences could pick up on: this song isn't playing around with words but seeking physical confirmation. This isn't uniquely Kai's, per se, not in the way we think of "Confession," for example. This track could have found a home with the deliveries of GOT7's Yugyeom and/or Jay B, Bluewoods, or even Dean if he felt like coming back. Any male artist willing to ride the lyrical cadence could have done it, but it's nice to have Kai challenge himself in this way.

Where's the fangirl antics, you say? I scream, you scream, we're all screaming, "Kai, PLEASE." PLEASE! What the hell do you mean, asking me to wake up and feel the mood and "just feel when I move"?!? HUH?!?! BLANKET THREATS, SIR. You're throwing around blanketed threats!

Sinner - A powerful close to a literal phase in an entertainer's life

We've heard Kai use music before to (allegedly) process feelings of heartbreak and loss as a member of EXO but this felt like it was seeking retribution and forgiveness with his fans. After all, we know that sooner than later, his time to serve his country through military service is coming. Could his pleas for punishment with an immediate re-embrace be thoughts about the inevitable next thing? Regardless if this interpretation is true or not, the song rests on a simplified beat and contemplative piano. The baseline and kick drum could deliver more, as it feels a bit apprehensive soulfully, but it doesn't diminish the message.

MY OFFICIAL RANKING

K-pop fans, on a scale of 1 to 5 where 5′s essential listening and 1′s not worth mentioning, the A3Day ranking for Kai's third album is 4. He's provided three albums that have captured the colors of three periods in his life and this one feels like a man on the cusp of new experiences away from the limelight. I enjoyed it and look forward to what's next to come.

#a3day blog #a3day extended commentary #exo kai #kai rover #music commentary #kpop imagines #kpop moodboard

[sanstropfremir]

I remembered an ask you got talking about how exo got really successful so quickly they didn't really get a chance to branch out and develop artistically, so I wanted to ask you about your thoughts on the members as solo artists since they all have atleast a solo album out (you might as well include exo sc since they got to put their own ideas in everything) and all of them were allowed to have a say in things creatively from lyrics,concept and packaging if they wanted too, especially since all their music except for the ballad singers is so different from each other

also wanna know if you were completely surprised with a member like a performance or a concept was something you'd never imagine them doing

omg did i???? i don't even remember my own asks anymore at this point sldkfsdlkfjl. i don't even know if i agree with my own statements there in the first place since exo has done a pretty wide variety of concepts over their lifetime as a group. ....WAIT i think this is about the kai v taemin ask re: image, where i said that kai hasn't been a solo artist for as long so there hasn't been the same type of exploration of image the way taemin has done. i think that is a fair point to extrapolate across to the rest of the exos, since none of them (except for yixing, he's a bit closer to taemin) have been soloists for very long, comparatively, and they all started as adults. personally i think it's a lot more apparent with their solo endeavours that they're confident in their artistic personas and personal tastes, and that comes across in the ones who have multiple releases. yixing is the one with that's shown the most variation, because he's been a soloist the longest, but i do still think that his stuff has some pretty obvious artistic fingerprints and consistency on it. he's matured a lot and in a very specific direction now, but you can see the genesis of a lot of his style early on.

as far as my personal opinions of all of their work goes, i do like that sm chose to debut them solo later in life. i'm sure it was an annoyance to the members themselves, but i think there's a benefit to being older and having a clearer sense of artistic identity and a long time to sit on ideas. it's hard to churn out solo work at the speed to match kpop turnovers and sitting on something so it can be exactly how you want it is good, actually. i like that kai's debut was really delayed bc it meant that there was a LOT of work put into it, and it shows. and i like that he took a full year for the first cb too. it was really clear to me that suho sat with grey suit for probably the entire time he was in the military, bc he came out rip-roaring with an incredibly well put together cb. the exos that have put out more solo work pretty clearly want to and care about what they're putting out, which i think is exactly how it should be. i don't listen to all of them equally, but the ones that get the most plays for me right now are baekhyun, suho, and xiumin. and then sc, probably.

i think my most dramatic surprise was by hurdle, actually. in hindsight it makes a lot of sense with where he's arrived after coming out of the military, but i wasn't expecting something so stylized from him, since he was tending towards the sort of artsy ballad type. tbh suho's discog is very artistically consistent and i can trace the things he's interested in visually, which i didn't even realize until i went back and watched the let's love mv and the dinner station. his stuff tends towards a more melancholy tone so that's why hurdle surprised me so much, because it's much more upbeat, but i think it stylistically matches with grey suit in a weird way (it's probably the colour matching). maybe next would be peaches? but that was mostly because i didn't like ANY of the songs on the album, which i'm still kinda disappointed about bc i really liked almost everything off mmmh. i wasn't that surprised by any of the visuals. sc is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin, chen's ballads are pretty typical also. i wasn't that surprised by kyungsoo's solo even though a lot of people were, because i was already kind of expecting him to do a ballad solo so rose wasn't that far off (and kind of preferable, personally). xiumin's was exactly what i wanted from him and i have zero complaints. uh who am i forgetting................oh baekhyun. nothing surprising about his discog, although i WAS surprised by how good bambi was. like he did not have to do that kind dance performance and nor was i expecting him to, but damn. honestly i'm still surprised every time i watch the mv.

#i think chanyeol maybe has the most 'unexpected' music since he's the rapper. but he's obvs interested in music so im not surprised per se #although the raiyeol stuff has been EXTREMELY funny to watch and i hope it results in actual music #and not just whatever the hell he keeps doing at raiden's house sldkfjsdlkjf #also very funny to me that raiden just picked another idol to dote on like he was down HORRENDOUSLY bad for xiaojun for like a year #kpop questions #exo w #on the whole i actually like a lot of the exos solo music #my baekhyun playlist is called 'real life incarnation of loki (derogatory)' and it does get regular play in my house #and i listen to a lot of tomorrow and break your box bc im an emo bitch #tbh i think it makes sense that most of them don't make 'idol' music as soloists #bc they really care about being 'idols' that much sdklfdfjk #like i think i would probably only consider xiumin's to be 'idol' music and the rest of them are just doing genres that they like #but as idols #text #answers

[the-strange-world]

Ranking the solo debut songs of idols in kpop groups 💖

TWIT - Hwa Sa

On The Ground - ROSÉ

Drive - MIYEON

magnolia - EASY - Whee In feat. Sik-K

Mystery - HYOYEON

Chocolate - MAX CHANGMIN

Forever Yours - KEY feat. SOYOU

The Baddest Female - CL

TAKE OVER - Do Han Se

SOLO - JENNIE

LALISA - LISA

VOYAGER - Kihyun

Danger - TAEMIN

Let’s Love - SUHO

BEAM BEAM - JEON SOYEON

Black Eye - VERNON

Ninano - Minzy feat. Flowsik

Ruby - WOOZI

Dream In a Dream - TEN

Gone - LEE CHANGSUB

POP! - NAYEON

Sunflower (P.E.L) - CHOI YOOJUNG

Brand New - XIUMIN

UN Village - BAEKHYUN

Rose - D.O.

I - TAYEON feat. Verbal Jint

Chase - MINHO

Spit It Out - Solar

Spider - HOSHI

Side By Side - THE 8

Crow - JUN

Face - WOOSUNG

Selfish - Moon Byul feat. SEULGI

Mmmh - KAI

Like Water - WENDY

28 Reasons - SEULGI

Hello - JOY

Get Set Yo - MJ

Over My Skin - Tiffany Young

One Way Love - Hyolyn

Lonely - HYOLYN

Sacrifice - HAN SEUNG WOO

Beautiful goodbye - CHEN

No One Knows - EUNKWANG

Blue - ONEW

Voiceless - WONPIL

Dear Diary - YERI

YA - LEE MINHYUK

#ranking #kpop #solo debut #mamamoo #nayeon #twice #blackpink #jennie #soyeon #gidle #miyeon #red velvet #lisa #rose #shinee #key #monsta x #girls generation #exo #seventeen #btob #victon #astro #max changmin

[kfans-writerblog]

First exo story

S/O do a duet song with them

Suho- when he was on stage preform his solo song self portrait you prepared a suprise and you join him on stage

KAI - he had a new release song mhmm

So while dancing you jumped on stage and rap to lyrics that you made up then both of you started a duet stage his reaction was basically the gif 😂

CHANYEOL - was suppose to sing with punch the original singer he duet with while the music start he got nervous cuz he doesn't see her but when he turn his back you started singing goblin ost

(The gif was his reaction in his brain )

#exo #kai #suho #music #imagine #SoundCloud #Spotify