iKON’s Jay Marks His Place In The K-R&B Scene With ‘Blue Moon’

Days before his military enlistment iKON's Jay, also known as Kim JinHwan, made his much awaited solo debut after 8 long years with ‘BLUE MOON’ in a 2-part mini-album release. Not only is this solo debut a long-time dream come true for fans and Jay himself, but also an avenue for Jay to explore a genre and style different from iKON’s musical color.

With the EP release, Jay introduced to fans his color and style as a soloist showcasing his strengths as an artist. Jay, as expected by longtime fans, made his debut in the R&B genre, playing his cards well as his vocal tone, fluid style of dancing, and prince-like visuals always suit the genre.

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The R&B EP kicks off with ‘BLUE MOON’, the title track of the same name. ‘BLUE MOON’ sets the mood of the whole release with Jay serving smooth and sexy vocals accompanied with aesthetically pleasing choreography and filmography, completing the package. The track, music video, and whole production is overall an aesthetic experience that carries on to the rest of the release.

Jay continues to mesmerize with his breathtaking vocals and amazing dance skills with ‘PARADISE’, an R&B-infused dance-pop track. The track is stunning in itself, wrapped in playful singing and personality, smooth instrumental build-up, and the coos and whistles as the icing to the cake.

The mini-album then transitions to ‘MAGNET’, an acoustic pop-ballad featuring another R&B singer, Moon SuJin. The duet is an easy listen (which aims to do so) in its cute and sweet feels and falsetto singing.

We then take a turn as Jay showcases his playful singing once again in the EDM-infused track ‘GOOD GIRLS’. The track is playful overall, with a good mix of percussions and synths on top of smooth vocals and melodic rapping.

A heartfelt ballad track, ‘WAIT FOR YOU’ wraps up the release in a more vocal note after a series of dance tracks, now showcasing Jay’s main vocalist prowess. The iKON singer sings his heart on the emotional yet beautiful production closing the album in the best way.

Needless to say, ‘BLUE MOON’ is a solid debut album for an artist like Jay, whose whole skills are greatly framed and portrayed—his playful, skillful, and emotional singing as well as his equally amazing dance skills through the tracks. Though it’s a shame that it will take some time to hear his next material as he has to complete his military service, the singer leaving behind an album as good as this for fans to get by is a total boss move, to which he deserves the praise.