EXO's Chen Talks About Building Up Courage To Release Solo Album, Favorite Songs Of All Time, And More

EXO’s Chen appeared on KBS Cool FM’s “Lee Soo Ji’s Music Plaza” on April 2 to talk about being the first EXO member to make a Korean solo debut, his favorite songs of all time, and more.

While talking about his solo debut, Chen confessed that he had to work up a lot of courage to go ahead with it. He explained, “It’s been seven years since I made my debut as EXO, and we’re in our eighth year now. I felt like I was still too lacking to create an album on my own with my own songs. I hold myself to very high standards, so I was thinking of waiting longer before releasing a solo album, but I felt like waiting may not turn out well so I mustered up the courage and went for it.”

Having previously talked about the support he’d received from the other members, he continued to express his gratitude to his fellow members as he said, “They would saw nice things to me whenever we met so I wouldn’t feel intimidated. It was nice hearing so many words of encouragement and praise from them. It helped a lot.” He gave a special shout out to Xiumin, who made an appearance at his music presentation showcase as a MC. Chen said, “It was a surprise to me when Xiumin showed up. I was so nervous in front of all the reports, and he gave me so much strength. I’m grateful to him, but I’m also sorry.”

Chen also picked his best songs of all time and went with Bruno Mars’s “Versace On the Floor,” Park Hyo Shin’s “Breath,” and his own “Cherry Blossom Love Song,” his OST for tvN’s “100 Days My Prince.” He explained, “I’m such a big fan of Bruno Mars. This song is sung at quite a high pitch but I still want to try singing it because I look up to him as a vocalist. And Park Hyo Shin is also someone I wish to emulate. I look up to him so much that I could pick three of his songs as my top three songs of all time. He had a big influence on my solo album.”

On why he picked “Cherry Blossom Love Song,” Chen explained, “When I first received an offer for the song, our agency asked me for my opinion on whether I wanted to sing the song or not, and I said yes. Without this song, my solo album would not have existed.”

Chen released his solo debut mini album “April, and a flower” on April 1 and is currently promoting the title track “Beautiful Goodbye.”

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