EXO-L, the wait is finally over! On November 30, 2020, KAI released his debut mini-album KAI (开). SM Entertainment made the announcement on EXO’s official Twitter account on November 11, stating that KAI would be showing fans a “new world of musicXperformanceXstyle,” and that’s exactly what his mini-album and music video for title track “음 (Mmmh)” deliver. Featuring six tracks with a heavy R&B influence throughout, KAI’s solo debut is nothing short of brilliant.

“음 (Mmmh)”

While the album was dropped at 6 p.m. KST on November 30, the music video for “음 (Mmmh)” was released six hours earlier. Described on the EXO Twitter account as a “charming straightforward love song” that captures KAI’s confident attitude, “음 (Mmmh)” is infectious from the first listen. The R&B influence is heard right from the get-go, but it’s the pop twist that makes this track so good. Like their Twitter account mentioned, the lyrics are very straight to the point, with the line, “Even if I’m already fascinated and stagger, girl I just want more. What have you done to me? I only miss you,” leading into the final chorus and the background line towards the very end, “‘Cause you know you’re my love,” hammering in the fact that KAI’s world revolves around this girl, as does all of his love.

The music video doesn’t feel like it goes with the track upon first watch, but after a few listens and a few read throughs of the subtitles, you start to see how the two come together. There are three main world-building locations in the video: the futuristic city that KAI overlooks from the edge of a skyscraper, what appears to be an empty parking deck, and a deserted highway outside of the city. Using his EXO power of teleportation to switch between the locations, KAI jumps from one spot to the next and performs the choreography along the way. There’s a portion in the first chorus where the teleportation comes into play to create a really interesting dance visual, but the coolest instance is in the final chorus, where the teleportation ability leaves crystalline versions of KAI that shatter when he jumps to another spot. 

A choreography highlight and part of the point dance is seen when a shirtless KAI and his female background dancers are in a blue room, performing an incredibly sensual salsa-esque dance move complete with body rolls. Honestly, at this point, if there was a part of you that wasn’t expecting the sheer sensuality reminiscent of labelmate and friend TAEMIN to also be seen in KAI’s solo debut, we don’t know what to tell you.

The Album

Leading up to KAI (开)’s release, the genres of the six tracks were revealed in two tweets on the EXO Twitter account. The first tweet gave the genres for tracks “Nothing On Me,” “Ride Or Die,” and “Reason,” describing the first two as being PBR&B (also known as hipster or alternative R&B, with the “PBR” referencing the American beer Pabst Blue Ribbon) while describing “Reason” as a progressive R&B track. In the second tweet posted a day later, they described title track “음 (Mmmh)” as R&B pop, “Amnesia” as R&B trap, and “Hello Stranger” as progressive R&B. 

Listening to the album, “Nothing On Me” has a slight ‘80s twist to it as well, opening with a slow synth beat before it explodes in the chorus, complete with a drop. There’s also a groovy bass line that you can hear during the second bridge and leading into the second chorus. “Amnesia” also opens with a synth beat—in fact, the synthesizer is about as noticeable as the R&B influence in the album—with the lyrics describing how KAI has forgotten the past after falling in love and how he only wants to have memories that include that person.

“Reason” starts out with an interesting 808 beat that flows through the rest of the track, giving the song a club vibe. “Ride Or Die,” the second of the two PBR&B tracks, includes guitar notes that give the track a dreamy quality, making it feel like you’re floating and getting sucked into the jet stream mentioned in the lyrics. The synth solo at the end is especially surprising but fits the dreamy vibe of the track so well. The final track is “Hello Stranger” and also includes a guitar in the track, though it’s much more noticeable here than in “Ride Or Die.”

Overall, this is a really enjoyable, smooth listen for KAI’s solo debut. The lyrics and music pair together perfectly to create a sensual world that KAI has created for his fans. And while we still don’t have an album release for “Confession” that isn’t a live version, we can only hope that a future release will include it.