K-Pop Corner: SHINee’s Key and Winner’s Mino drop solo albums

Mino and Key, members of popular K-Pop boy bands, released their first solo albums on the same day and still both managed to top the iTunes chart in the UAE.

SHINee’s Key, whose real name is Kim Kibum, showcased a new side with debut album, ‘Face’. It landed him on the top spot of the local iTunes Top Albums chart for two consecutive days.

Additionally, the 27-year-old star topped the iTunes albums chart in 11 other countries.

‘Face’ is Key’s first solo album after having been in the industry as a member of SHINee for almost a decade. With lead track ‘One of Those Nights’, featuring R’n’B singer Crush, the album is packed with EDM, a genre that SHINee hasn’t tried, but it works. It truly shows Key’s music taste and his ability to pursue a burgeoning solo career.

Mino also vented his creative energy in his solo album ‘XX’, which was a hit in the UAE. The rapper’s local fans, Inner Circles, showed support for the member of K-Pop band Winner by getting the album to number one on the iTunes Top Albums chart locally and in 15 other countries. It was soon overtaken by Key’s album and dropped to third place. With fans’ efforts, ‘XX’ climbed one step above on the local music chart the following day.

However, title track ‘Fiance’ was a winner on the Top Songs chart the day it was released. Followed by hip-hop track with elements of retro Korean beats, his other songs ‘Aurora’ and ‘Rocket’ took 6th and 11th place, respectively, on the popular music platform.

Mino’s 12-track album dominated the major real-time charts in Korea.