Jaehyun
정윤오- Name
- Jung Yoon-oh
- Born
- 14 February 1997
Co-wrote the lyrics of "Smoke", the title track of J.
Their story
Two singles first
Jaehyun had been in NCT since 2016, singing with NCT U and NCT 127, when his first song on his own came out in August 2022. "Forever Only" was part of NCT LAB, a season of SM's digital SM Station project: an R&B track about wanting one person close while everything else fades, with lyrics he wrote himself. A year later "Horizon" followed in the same series. He wrote its lyrics and helped compose it, starting from the view he saw after a plane took off.
J
The real solo debut came in August 2024 with J, a studio album of eight tracks named after the letter he likes to write on his belongings. Two songs, "Roses" and "Dandelion", went out two weeks early. The title track "Smoke" is hip hop R&B built on a rhythmic bass, comparing a romantic moment in a car to smoke rising with the music, and he co-wrote the lyrics. In its first week the album entered the Circle album chart at No. 3 and "Smoke" topped the download chart.
Military service
Two months later he said goodbye on stage with his first fan concert, Mute, at the Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul. On 4 November 2024 he enlisted for his military service, and he was discharged on 3 May 2026.
Where he is now
He returned to the stage quickly. His fan-con tour Mono opened with two nights at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in June 2026 and moved on to Macau, Jakarta, Bangkok and Taipei. On 10 July he released "99 Degrees", a ballad that opens on piano, which he co-wrote and co-composed. The title is one degree short of boiling: love that is complete in its imperfection. On 15 July SM announced that he and the other six NCT 127 members had renewed their contracts, and he was part of the group's seventh album Blingy in August.