May 6th of this year marks the 28th birthday of Baekhyun, main vocalist of the legendary boy group EXO!
As fans around the world celebrate the birthday of this talented idol— who is also an actor, songwriter, the creative director of a fashion label, and member of both EXO-CBX and Super M— they’re also celebrating his impending solo comeback this May. In fact, the first teaser for his upcoming solo album was just released on his website, making fans even more excited.
As we wait on more great music from this gifted singer, let’s take a look at ten of his most amazing songs and releases.
1) “My Love”
An OST from “Dr. Romantic 2,” this beautiful ballad shows off Baekhyun’s versatility with his breathy falsetto and high range. The emotional lyrics are delivered with soft feeling, lending a sense of longing to the song.
2) “Beautiful”
One of Baekhyun’s earliest solo tracks, “Beautiful” was released as part of the soundtrack from EXO’s hilariously fun drama “EXO Next Door.” However, the comedy of the series didn’t take away from Baekhyun’s serious attitude towards music when delivering such a beautiful song for the series.
3) “Cleaning (청소)”
When Baekhyun made his solo debut with his mini-album City Light, he appeared on the hit show “Yoo Hee Yeol’s Sketchbook” and impressed the audience and host alike with his easy vocals and charming personality. After chatting about what song he auditioned with for SM Entertainment, he was then asked to perform it. Starting at minute 0:45, you can hear Baekhyun’s effortless delivery of “청소.”
4) “My Turn To Cry” (Solo Version)
Although fans adore the acoustic version of this song performed by the entire EXO group during the EXO’rDIUM tour, we still have to include Baekhyun’s solo version of “My Turn To Cry” on this list due to his beautiful piano skills and superb voice control. It’s a short version, but it’s definitely worth watching!
5) “Like Rain, Like Music”
This song was originally sung by the late Kim Hyun Sik, but Baekhyun recorded his own version on the multi-artist mini-album 2015 Gayo Daejun Limited Edition. It is stunningly beautiful and delivered perfectly. There are not enough good things to say both about the song itself and how Baekhyun sings it.
6) “Take You Home”
Released as part of SMTOWN’s digital music project “SM STATION,” Baekhyun’s track “Take You Home” was one of the first tracks where his own vocal preferences began to really shine through. Despite being a non-promoted single that was only released digitally, the song hit number five on Billboard’s U.S. World Song Chart and also reached number 12 on Korea’s Gaon chart.
7) “Dream” (Solo Version)
Everyone in K-pop knows that Baekhyun recorded “Dream” with Bae Suzy, and it proved to be a massive hit! Although we absolutely adore this song, we didn’t want to include a collaboration on this list since it would open the door to include other collaborations as well (and Baekhyun has so many great collaborations that the list would grow too long!). As such, we chose to include the live, solo version of “Dream” that he performed on TV instead.
8) “UN Village”
This track is arguably the greatest one of Baekhyun’s career so far! While he first became famous for his powerful, high vocals in EXO, he then became popular for his smooth, velvet voice for ballads. However, with the release of his debut EP, he showed that he was very versatile, mature, sophisticated, sexy, and capable of so much more. “UN Village” is the ultimate track to show all of these things at once and impressed both fans and critics alike. His voice control was insanely perfect and his technique was great. “UN Village” was amazing upon first listen and only grows better each time.
9. “On The Road”
The newest song on the list, “On The Road” was recently released as part of the soundtrack for the drama “Hyena.” Ballad soundtracks can tend to blend into each other with no distinctive features, but this one is exceptionally pretty and Baekhyun does a great job on it, leading it to stand out even more. Both fans of Baekhyun and fans of music in general will love this song.
10. “Psycho”
If “UN Village” shows off who Baekhyun is as an artist at this point in his career, “Psycho” shows us what he is truly capable of becoming. An amazing track with dark undertones, it’s sultry and deep while still delivered in Baekhyun’s classic vocals and great style. It’s the perfect song to finish off this list and shows fans just how versatile Baekhyun truly is as an artist!
Although there are more great songs from Baekhyun— from soundtracks to singles— these are just ten of our favorite solo releases from this talented EXO member! Which of these tracks is your favorite? What else would you have included on the list?
Let us know your thoughts by tweeting to us @whatthekpop1! In the meantime, we wish Baekhyun a very happy birthday!
Media: As Credited
Featured Image: SMTOWN