There had been much anticipation from Nam Taehyun’s fans since the announcement of his departure from the YGE group WINNER over how long it would take before he were to release new music again. For those who were familiar with the singer and his unique vocals, there was a period of speculation over Taehyun posting songs on his SoundCloud account during the group’s hiatus since their last 1st Mini Album ‘EXIT:E’ in February 2016.
Following an official statement from YG last November, it revealed that he was leaving WINNER and also 2NE1’s disbandment in one-take. While it was cited that the reason behind the decision was due to mental health issues, it may have just been a light way to sweep the matter under the carpet. Though in a recent interview with Dingo Music, Nam Taehyun addressed the topic by referring to his departure as a “good compromise” and that himself and the other WINNER members had “different paths to walk“. Nevertheless, it remained to be a difficult parting as he talked about the label being “a place like home“.
From the online interaction he’s had with YG (Yang Hyunsuk) himself, who promoted South Club’s single ‘Hug Me’ on his IG account which was released in May, shows there’s no bad blood between them. He also briefly talked about expressing his condolences to his former CEO over his father’s passing in the interview video he took part in below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUksFAtAQMh/?taken-by=fromyg&hl=en
Once the new year rolled in, he started looking for musicians to join his band in early January. It’s clear that from this decision (and from his releases on soundcloud), that music has always been a passion for the singer. And that he didn’t want to waste any time dwelling on what could have been and instead chose to live his life and continue to produce music. By February, he had enlisted all the places for his new bandmates, which consisted of Kang Kun Ku, Solomon Kim, Jang Won Young and Choi Yoon Hwi.
He had successfully launched his band around the end of March as they performed for a 30 minute guerrilla show at Pet Sounds Bar in Korea. Around the same time, his music label “South Buyers Club” has officially been registered which acted as the green light for the band to get ready to release their music. They released their debut mini album ‘90‘ on June 27 with the exception of the pre-release single ‘Hug Me’ being available since May.
You can check out some of their M/V’s below and get a feel for the kind of artist that Nam Taehyun is currently striving to be and the music that he now has the freedom to create with his band. Make sure you watch this space as with the potential they have, they’ve definitely one to watch, which is also the reason why they were picked to be UKP’s Weekly Idol!
