“I Grated My Soul”, the Reason Why We Look Forward to MINO’s Solo Debut in 4 Years [MUSIC WATCH]
[뉴스엔=황혜진 기자] MINO of group WINNER (YOON, JINU, MINO, HOONY) announced to release an album as a solo artist in 4 years since making debut.
On November 26 at 6 PM, MINO will release his album ‘XX’ through various music platforms. His album is receiving a lot of attention from music fans, since it will be his first official solo album being released in 4 years since he made debut. The title ‘XX’ includes MINO’s hope that his album will be interpreted in various ways without being limited to a single definition.
MINO is spending time with both excitement and tension with his release coming ahead. After YG Entertainment’s representative producer YANG HYUN SUK told him to work on his solo album, he’s spent approximately 2 months on his personal studio working on the song, except when he was asleep. He is known to have participated in the overall process of the album production including the songs, album packaging, MV concept, and promotion plans, raising the expectations on the album.
On November 22, MINO stated, “I feel like I grated my soul into this album. I invested everything while going back and forth from my studio to my house. It’s an album that represents myself”, through the direct message teaser clip revealed through YG.
▲ ‘Member and producer of WINNER’, the group you trust and listen to
MINO participated in YG Entertainment’s boy group survival program titled, ‘WHO IS NEXT:WIN’ along with YOON, JINU, and HOONY as group A and eventually beat group B to become the final winner. His group made debut with WINNER’s first solo album, ’2014 S/S’, back in 2014.
He did not simply present his live and performance capabilities, but also evolved as a writer, composer, and producer. He wrote his own rap parts within WINNER’s album tracks as the team’s main rapper, while participating in the composing and writing of ‘Love is a lie’, ‘Different’, and ‘Smile Again’ from WINNER’s first official album, ‘PRICKED’ from the mini album ‘EXIT : E’, ‘FATE NUMBER FOR’, ‘REALLY REALLY’, ‘OUR TWENTY FOR’, the title song ‘LOVE ME LOVE ME’, ‘EVERYDAY’ which was the title song of their 2nd official album, ‘and HELLO’, presenting songs written by himself with high quality.
▲Only active as WINNER? ‘All-around’ character active as a solo·unit
He also worked on his solo tracks. After listing his first official solo track, ‘I’m Him’ on WINNER’s first official album, he also presented his musical color through his solo track titled ‘TURN OFF THE LIGHT’, listed on WINNER’s 2nd official album. He presented his skillful rap and low-tone vocals through the Hip-Hop track ‘I’m Him’ which was produced along with TEDDY and CHOICE37, while ‘TURN OFF THE LIGHT’ written by himself and composed with FUTURE BOUNCE captivated the music fans with his ambient and sexy rap,
Beyond the boundaries of WINNER, he was active as a solo and a unit as well. He won second place on Mnet’s ‘Show Me The Money’ Season 4 back in 2015 by performing his solo track ‘Fear’ with BIGBANG’s TAEYANG as a featuring artist, along with ‘Okey Dokey’ performed with his friend ZICO. A year later, he formed the unit MOBB along with BOBBY of iKON and released an album. He proved his unrivaled sexiness by releasing his solo track ‘BODY’ as a member of MOBB on September 8, 2015, and consecutively released ‘HIT ME’ and ‘FULL HOUSE’ to reveal his differentiated charms.
▲ A ‘well-made album’ with devotion
His first solo album includes 12 new tracks including the title song ‘FIANCÉ’, ‘TRIGGER’, ‘HOPE’, ‘O2’, ‘ROCKET’, ‘UM…’, ‘LONELY’, ‘AURORA’, ‘her’, ‘AGREE’, ‘BOW-WOW’, and ‘ALARM’, MINO not only participated in the writing and composing of all tracks, but also produced them. Many hitmakers including KANG UK JIN, FUTURE BOUNCE, TEXU, 1105, MILLENNIUM, CHOICE37, Diggy, AiRPLAY, and HAE helped MINO raise completion of the album. MINO is planning to present the ‘real MINO’ with his album filled with a variety of new tracks.
The title song ‘FIANCÉ’ was written and composed by MINO, while FUTURE BOUNCE and TEXU participated in the composing of the song. The song adds familiar trot music along with fierce Hip-Hop in a trendy way by sampling ‘Soyanggang Maid’, a Korean hit-song from the 70s.
The agency explained, “The familiar melody and variations will sound fresh, while the catchy melody and lyrics of the hook will sound impressive”, while MINO explained, “It can sound familiar, or unfamiliar. That’s why there are many interesting elements. Please pay attention to the lyrics”. The teaser clip for the song revealed the lyrics of the first verse that stated, “knock knock, I miss you” in harmony with electric organs that were used as a lead source, raising anticipations on the upcoming release.
An unexpected featuring artist line-up is also a point that grabs interest. YG’s broadcaster and writer, YOO BYUNG JAE, participated on the no. 3 track titled ‘HOPE’ as a featuring artist, presenting perfect teamwork with MINO. The no. 6 track ‘UM,,,’ features Blue.D, a rookie artist from YGX that has vocals that match the song’s vibes perfectly. MINO also worked with YDG, an artist he has been a fan of since he was young, on track no. 11 titled ‘BOW-WOW’, creating an interesting track.
2018. 11. 22.
