Taeyong
이태용- Name
- Lee Tae-yong
- Born
- 1 July 1995
Wrote the lyrics for every song on TAP and WYLD.
Their story
A single before the album
Taeyong has led NCT 127 since the group's debut in 2016. His first song on his own followed: "Long Flight", released through SM's SM Station project. A full solo record took longer. When SHALALA arrived in June 2023 it was the first solo album by any NCT member, and its video sent him hacking into a game world where he beat all comers at bowling and poker.
Writing every line
The second mini album, TAP, followed straight after his first solo concerts, TY Track. This time he wrote the lyrics for every song and helped compose each of them. Two months later he enlisted. He spent his service in the Navy band and the honour guard's promotion unit, and came out at the end of 2025.
Instinct
On his own he leans toward hip-hop. WYLD, his first studio album, moves between hip-hop, rock, jazz, electronic music and hyperpop. Its title track stacks heavy bass and hard rap on an idea about wild animals that act on instinct. Before the release he said he had spent two years looking back at his earlier work, and that he hoped the record would wake up the listener's own musical instincts.
Where he is now
He went back on stage within weeks of his discharge, opening TY Track - Remastered in Seoul in January and taking it on through Asia. "Rock Solid", with Anderson .Paak, came out in April, then WYLD in May, with every lyric his. In July he renewed his SM contract with the rest of NCT 127, and in August he was back with the group on Blingy, its seventh studio album.
