2015 began in a very unusual way. While the beginning of 2014 was marked by the huge amount of sexy comebacks and debuts that got more and more vulgar until the government had to take action, this year began with something that we started to call the “Solo Wave“.
Never before in K-Pop we had seen so many talented group members debuting solo at the same time. Only in January and February, we’ve had a total of six solo debuts, and many others have been already announced for the rest of the year.
But who do you think that was the best among them? Now that the “Solo Wave” seems to have come to a stop, it might be the time to vote on that. For this reason, we from Officially Kmusic decided to organize and review the six solo debuts from the beginning of 2015 and let you decide who will win.
Well, shall we start?
1. SHINee’s Jonghyun
Jonghyun debuted on January 12th with the mini-album “Base“. Prior to that, he pre-released the track “Deja-Boo“, which was named as one of the best of his album and raised everyone’s expectations.
This was one of the most awaited debut, since Jonghyun had previously teased some of his self-composed tracks back in 2013, during an episode of “SHINee’s One Fine Day“. Since then, fans had been asking over and over again for his solo debut, and even got a bit disappointed when Taemin debuted before him.
In “Base”, Jonghyun collaborated with lots of artists, including Younha, Wheesung, Zion. T and Iron. However, while Jonghyun’s album itself was musically amazing, the title track, “Crazy“, along with its music video, didn’t get fans so hyped up. The chorus reminded a bit of Taemin’s “Danger” and the concept of the MV wasn’t new at all.
Still, “Crazy” was the most watched K-Pop video in America and in the world in January, and it managed to get the 5th place on Gaon‘s charts. The album, on the other hand, was able to get 1st both in Gaon’s Weekly Chart and Billboard‘s World Albums. Check out the music video of “Crazy” in order to remember it before making your choice:
2. CNBLUE’s Yonghwa
The second solo debut of the year was also a much awaited one. Yonghwa released his first solo album “One Fine Day” on January 20th and he released so many music videos that I find it difficult to choose from which to judge his debut.
Before the release of his album, Yonghwa revealed the music video for “Mileage“, featuring Yang Dong Geun, and impressed everyone with a concept that was totally different from the one he showed in CNBLUE. The MV quickly got a huge amount of views and raised the fans’ expectations.
Just like Jonghyun, though, the main track, “One Fine Day“, didn’t receive as much love from the fans as the pre-release one. In fact, the other songs from his album were much more complimented than the title one.
Also like Jonghyun, Yonghwa counted with lots of special participations in his album, including not only Yang Dong Geun, but also Yoon Do Hyun, Verbal Jint and JJ Lin, with whom he later released a music video for the song “Checkmate“.
His album also topped Billboard’s World Albums chart, and the competition between him and Jonghyun was fierce in the end of January.
Although I like both the songs and the music videos of “Mileage” and “Checkmate” better, we’ll count “One Fine Day” as Yonghwa’s solo debut music video, since it was the official one. Make sure you check it out below:
3. Afterschool’s Lizzy
The first female solo debut of the “Solo Wave” came in a very unusual way. Afterschool‘s Lizzy, known for her dorky side, chose to debut with a gender that fits her very well: trot.
She had her debut stage on “National Singing Contest” on Jarnuary 17th, but her official debut and the beginning of her promotions was on January 23rd, with “I’m Not An Easy Girl“.
Trot started to become popular among K-Pop fans in 2014 after the drama “Trot Lovers“, which featured A-Pink‘s Eunji. For this reason, it was the perfect time to debut Lizzy as a solo singer, and the predictions turned out to be right, since the single’s peak chart position was 38th, a very high rank for a trot song. The dance version of the music video was also much complimented.
Check out the music video for “I’m Not An Easy Girl”:
4. MR.MR’s Tey
The last solo debut of January was rather unexpected. MR.MR had, indeed, announced during their press conference in Brazil that one of their members would go solo in 2015, but hadn’t said which one, or when it would happen. For this reason, we were all caught by surprised with the announcemente of Tey‘s solo debut.
Tey released the music video for “Dangerous” on January 30th, and it was strongly well received by MR.MR’s fans, but not that much by other k-pop fans. The concept was very similar to Taemin’s “Danger” from the outfits to the scenario and the name of the song.
However, in my opinion, among the solo debut singles from January, Tey’s song is the best one. Yes, the MV is similar to many others and it isn’t musically unique like some of the other debut songs, but it’s the most catchy one and that kind of music that pleases even non-kpop fans. Check it out:
5. f(x)’s Amber
Amber‘s solo debut had been announced months ago, but since we’re talking about SM (Troll Master) Entertainment, an official date had to be revealed in order to let us raise our expectations.
Once the official statement was made, the topic became a trend. Which concept would she go for? Would she look girlish or boyish? Which artits would she colaborate with? There were so many questions, and we bit our nails until they were all answered.
At first, some fans were sad to see that she would go for the same boyish looks that she uses in f(x), but Amber made sure to shove that disappointment away with the pre-release of her self-composed song “Beautiful“. The song talks about her dreams and liking herself the way she is.
Her official debut came only one month after Jonghyun’s, on Feberuary 12th, with the music video for “Shake That Brass“, which featured numerous Korean artists that were Amber’s friends. The song didn’t top the charts, but go excellent ranks and was praised worldwide by many famous websites.
Check out this awesome music video:
6. TEEN TOP’s Niel
The last but not least, this solo debut also caught us by surprise, but as soon as it was announced, it became a trend. TEEN TOP‘s main vocalist Niel was going to have a solo debut? That was some good news!
Niel teased us for a very long time before finally releasing his first solo mini-album “oNIELy” (Only+Niel) on February 16th. With a Michael Jackson-like choreography and a catchy melody, his debut music video for “Lovekiller” soon received many views.
His mini-album full of “baby-making songs” (as one of our writers likes to call them) features Dok2 and two TEEN TOP members, L. Joe and C.A.P. It topped Hanteo Album Chart, “Bugs album chart top 100” and Gaon Album chart.
Check out his solo debut music video:
After reviewing all of theses amazing solo debuts, which one do you think that was “The Best of The Solo Wave?” Vote below and let us know:
Edited by: Alona Sass
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