On March 24, 2016, DEAN released 130 mood : TRBL. While this wasn’t his debut—that would be his single “I’m Not Sorry” featuring Eric Bellinger—it was his first, and so far only, extended play. As fans of DEAN know, the K-R&B artist derived his stage name from popular ‘50s actor James Dean; however, that’s not the only nod to the long-deceased American film star in this release. The “130” in the title comes from James Dean’s racecar, a Porsche 550 he called “Little Bastard,” that had the number painted on it. With wanting to portray the actor’s “strong, rebellious spirit” in his music while also creating a love story told in reverse, DEAN’s 130 mood : TRBL still stands as one of his most impressive and eccentric releases to date.

The Music Videos

Ahead of their inclusions on 130 mood : TRBL, DEAN released an image video for track “I Love It” featuring Dok2 on October 21, 2015 and a music video for “풀어(Pour Up)” featuring ZICO on November 4, 2015. Even though the image video for “I Love It” is roughly only half the length of the actual track, it is an aesthetic masterpiece and sets the bar for the music videos that followed. While “I Love It” is from the beginning of the love story, DEAN’s “풀어(Pour Up)” is from the end. The video for “풀어(Pour Up)” is still just as beautiful and artistic as his image video, and the section featuring ZICO shows just how experimental DEAN can be with his music videos.

Another pre-release, the music video for “what2do” featuring Crush and Jeff Bernat was released on January 27, 2016, though a separate Vevo upload for the music video on the DEANTRBL YouTube channel shows an upload date of April 29, 2016. The video opens with a woman laying in the middle of a snow-covered field as snow continues to fall around her, and the rest of the video shows as she explores the areas around the field. “what2do” is from the middle of 130 mood : TRBL and the lyrics call to the unknowing feeling of where this relationship is going, with the chorus stating that the female’s love is a memory and he is unsure of where to go from here.

The music video for “bonnie & clyde” was released on March 21, 2016 as well as a Vevo upload on April 21, 2016. On the extended play, “bonnie & clyde” falls right between “풀어(Pour Up)” and “what2do” and signals the sharp descent toward the end of this troubled love story, and what better way is there than to use real life lovers and criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow as the inspiration? Yet another artistic music video from DEAN, the plot-driven video shows the crooner and his very own Bonnie as they drive around in an older model Jaguar. Toward the climax of the track, DEAN is shot in the head by the VHS version of himself. He tries to rewind to go back to the better times of the relationship, when there was still love instead of lust and awkward silences, and the video ends with an acid trip-like sequence (where there is yet another nod to James Dean and “Little Bastard”).

DEAN released the video for “D (half moon)” featuring Gaeko on March 23, 2016, and again, a Vevo version was uploaded to his channel on April 19, 2016. On the 130 mood : TRBL tracklist, “D (half moon)” falls between “what2do” and “I Love It,” so we’re now back to when the love was fresh and good still, though we’re now treated to the beginnings of the relationship’s end. Throughout the music video, DEAN shows us halves of different things to reflect that he only has half of his love’s heart now, like half a burnt incense stick, half a pizza, half a clock, half a set of chopsticks. This music video also features a change in music video style when Gaeko’s verse comes in, transitioning from live-action to animated, showing even more just how experimental DEAN can get with his music and the various formats in which he can present them.  

The Performances

While not necessarily comeback performances, DEAN performed at KCON LA 2016 and Mnet uploaded performances of “bonnie & clyde” and “풀어(Pour Up)” on their YouTube channel. At the beginning of his “bonnie & clyde” performance, a video package played featuring some of the artists he’s written tracks for in the past, including Baekhyun and Chanyeol of EXO and LEE HI. Even though he was still a relatively fresh face in terms of releasing his own music at this point in his career, DEAN’s perfect live vocals for both performances were a highlight of the KCON concert for many, and his performance of “풀어(Pour Up)” with ZICO was the cherry on top.

The Legacy

130 mood : TRBL debuted and peaked at No. 10 on the Gaon Weekly Album Chart. It also peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard U.S. World Albums Chart and No. 22 on the Billboard U.S. Heatseekers Albums Chart. Upon its release in 2015, “풀어(Pour Up)” debuted and peaked at No. 96 on the Gaon Weekly Digital Chart. That same week, JUNGGIGO’s track “일주일(247)” charted at No. 35, which features DEAN, Zion.T, and Crush. In 2016, “21,” “what2do,” and “D (half moon)” also appeared on the Gaon Weekly Digital Chart, peaking at No. 82, No. 41, and No. 15 respectively. "bonnie & clyde" did not chart on the Gaon Weekly Digital Chart, but it did enter the Billboard U.S. World Digital Songs Sales Chart at No. 12.

As well as releasing his first EP in 2016, DEAN also helped write, compose, or arrange multiple tracks for other artists, including writing and composition credits on LEE HI’s “비행 World Tour” featuring MINO and “Video” featuring Bobby as well as writing, composition, and arrangement credits on Block B BASTARZ’s “Make It Rain.” 2016 was also a big year for DEAN in terms of features, with the K-R&B artist working with a multitude of incredible artists, including Taeyeon’s “Starlight” and two tracks on HEIZE’s And July mini-album, “And July” and “Shut Up & Groove.” Later that year, DEAN worked with friends Crush and ZICO to release the track “BERMUDA TRIANGLE.” This is widely considered to be the first release by crew FANXY CHILD, which also features rapper penomeco and producers Stay Tuned and MILLIC, and the trio performed it at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards.

In 2016, DEAN was nominated for a slew of awards, including for his work as a featured artist. Both “And July” and “Starlight” were nominated at the Gaon Chart Music Awards, and DEAN took home the award for “Discovery of the Year — R&B” that night. “풀어(Pour Up)” won “Best R&B and Soul Song” at the 2016 Korean Music Awards, and at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards, DEAN was nominated for “Best Vocal Performance Male Solo” while “D (half moon)” was nominated for “Song of the Year.” The track was also nominated at the 2016 MelOn Music Awards for “Best R&B/Soul Song.” 

In 2017, “BERMUDA TRIANGLE” was nominated for “Best Rap/Hip Hop Award” at the MelOn Music Awards. 130 mood : TRBL and its track “21” were nominated at the 2017 Korean Music Awards for “Best R&B and Soul Album” and “Best R&B and Soul Song,” and at the 2017 Korean Hip-Hop Awards, DEAN was nominated for “Artist of the Year,” while 130 mood : TRBL and “D (half moon)” were nominated for “Album of the Year” and “R&B Track of the Year” respectively. Two of DEAN’s 2016 collaborations—“And July” and “BERMUDA TRIANGLE”—were also nominated, with DEAN taking home “R&B Track of the Year.

While it’s been a hot minute since DEAN has released any music of his own, with his last releases on Spotify being 2020’s “Breath” featuring Rad Museum and Mokyo and 2019’s “Howlin’ 404,” he has remained active with his features, including most recently on “Troll,” a track from IU’s album LILAC.