Who is this guy? Of course, it’s none other than Lee Taeyong! If you don’t know who Taeyong is, we will give you some brief information about him. He was born in 1995 and is a leader of SM’s latest boy-group, NCT. He is one of the members in some NCT units, such as NCT 127, NCT-U, etc. Taeyong also featured on SM’s newest boy-group collaboration that is doing a promotion in the west, Super M, along with other NCT members like Mark, Lucas, and Ten, and the seniors from other SM boy-groups, Kai and Baekhyun from EXO, and Taemin from SHINee. Even before Taeyong made his debut in NCT, he had already featured in one a song from one of SM’s girl-groups, Red Velvet’s Be Natural. Taeyong was in charge of the rap part, and also appeared in the music video along with the four Red Velvet members. That proves that Taeyong is not only handsome and has a gorgeous face, but also has an amazing talent for rap. As a rapper, he has participated in writing and composing the songs. That’s why SM gave Taeyong a chance to release solo songs that could show the world his precious rapping skills. How good is Taeyong as a rapper? What are his songs like? Well, you will find it all out if you just scroll down below!
NCT’s Taeyong’s Solo, Long Flight
The first of Taeyong’s solo songs that we’re going to talk about is a recent song that is called “Long Flight”. This song was released on July 18, 2019, on the SM Town YouTube channel. This solo song was released on behalf of SM Station, a weekly project from SM Entertainment, where they release a brand new song each week from various kinds of artists. Not all the artists are from SM Entertainment; it’s also possible for artists from different agencies to do collaborations with SM Entertainment artists. Finally, it was Taeyong’s turn to shine. SM gave him a chance to release a solo song called “Long Flight” in the middle of his preparation for the NCT world tour. “Long Flight” is a special song, since Taeyong helped create it. He wrote the lyrics and composed the song along with other composers and songwriters. Just like a long flight, “Long Flight” will lift you up just by listening to the song. In the beginning of the song you can hear the “airplane vibe”, starting with a bit of the passenger announcements before takeoff. The lyrics of the song are written as if as you, the listener, and Taeyong were in the middle of a flight. We can hear a little bit of Taeyong’s vocal, which we can’t always hear in NCT or Super M songs, since Taeyong is a rapper. In fact, this song has a slow, groovy, R&B vibe that you wouldn’t expect to be coming from SM Entertainment’s artist. Taeyong definitely showed himself to be a capable rapper that you can’t look down on! Let’s take a look at Taeyong’s solo song, “Long Flight”, in the music video below!
You can also listen to the song on Spotify or other streaming services. Share your thoughts about this song and Taeyong’s performance in “Long Flight” after you listen to this song! Taeyong’s Other Solo Songs If you feel impressed with how amazing Taeyong’s new solo song was, then you will definitely love Taeyong’s other solo songs! Other than “Long Flight”, Taeyong released other rap songs, where he either performed by himself or collaborated with other artist. Just like the ‘real’ rappers, Taeyong showed us his charm with his rapping ability. Let’s get to know more about Taeyong’s solo songs down below!
Open The Door
The first time SM Entertainment revealed Taeyong, people were wondering what his position could be. Looking at his utterly beautiful face, being a rapper would be the last thing that people would guess Taeyong would be in charge of. But then, SR14B, or SM Rookies 14 Boys, released a short video in which Taeyong did a solo rap. That was when everybody fell in even deeper love with Taeyong. Not only because he has an ultimate visual, but he also is a beast of a rapper. His rapping style is kind of different from SM Entertainment’s rappers in other idol groups! Let’s take a look at Taeyong’s solo song from before he debuted as NCT’s leader, a song called “Open the Door”!
What do you think about pre-debut Taeyong rapping in “Open the Door”? This song combined with Taeyong’s charm really open the door to our hearts, don’t you agree?
Cure
Taeyong participated in one of the songs that was released under the SM Station project. SM Station was the yearly project where SM Entertainment collaborated with other artists and to release a song every week. On August 4, 2017, Taeyong and music producer Yoo Young-jin released a song called “Cure”, where the music was produced by Yoo Young-jin himself. As for Taeyong, he had a hand in writing the rap lyrics, just like he did in some NCT songs, before. The music has a soft-rock vibe that really comes through in the music video. Taeyong became the main character in the music video, and talks a lot about the struggles of being a trainee and how he wanted to reach his dream. The lyrics are very well-written. Let’s take a look at Taeyong’s contribution to SM Station, with Yoo Young-jin on “Cure”!
What do you think about Taeyong’s solo performance in “Cure”? Just listening to his voice already cured our depression and sadness, right? Taeyong’s rap is really daebak!
Around
For another SM Station project, Taeyong and another musician, named Hitchhiker, did a collaboration called “Hitchhiker X Taeyong” on May 12, 2017. The song, called “Around”, has strong electric music from the beginning until the end of the song. Oddly enough, the music went really well with Taeyong’s rap. Both Taeyong and Hitchhiker wrote the lyrics for the song, and Hitchhiker composed and produced it. The music video for “Around” was also quite unique. It used a colorful video filter that showed a lot of the electric vibes. It also somehow has a bit of a retro feel when you watch it. Taeyong, who was wearing a hoodie, is shown in a colorful edited filter. Let’s listen and watch the music video of “Around”, with its swaggy style of rap!
What do you think about the collaboration between Taeyong and Hitchhiker? It was really good, right? Taeyong once again made us proud!
Love Del Luna
Who has watched the popular drama “Hotel Del Luna”? If you watched and liked the drama, then you must remember some of the original soundtracks for the series. Our precious rapper Taeyong lent his voice for OST of “Hotel Del Luna”, and collaborated with a female soloist called Punch. For your information, Punch also lent her voice on a soundtrack for “Descendant of the Sun”, the popular drama from 2016, along with Chanyeol of EXO. This time, the song used Punch as the vocalist, and the rap part was done by Taeyong. The song is called “Love Del Luna”, and was released in August 2019. Unlike the rest of his solo songs, Taeyong didn’t write this one, but his rap is still on point, though! Let’s take a look at the music video of Taeyong and Punch singing the song “Love Del Luna”! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR6pkDboP5Q What do you think about the song? Taeyong’s rap really matched with Punch’s soft and soothing voice, don’t you think? The song is describing “Hotel Del Luna” really well, and we can feel the chemistry between the two main characters coming out in the song. Taeyong once again did a great job!
