Which NCT member do you think has bigger solo potential?

Taeyong, his producing skills, all rounder qualities, stage presence, and likeable personality; makes him a great candidate for a successful solo artist.

I would love a japanese Yuta solo

Jaehyun

Renjun

What do you mean by "bigger solo potential"? Purely sales?

A few things indicate Jaemin and Jeno as of now.

Quote from NEO

What do you mean by "bigger solo potential"? Purely sales?

A few things indicate Jaemin and Jeno as of now.

while this is true fanbase wise - I am not particularly excited to hear solo music from either of them. They do not have a skill set that lends itself well to solo music work......

I mean no will chart considering the performance of nct solo songs so far unless one get into acting and get the attention of the gp

physicals will be there, but that can take so far as a soloist

Taeyong, Mark and Jaehyun

Quote from kpopnewbie32

while this is true fanbase wise - I am not particularly excited to hear solo music from either of them. They do not have a skill set that lends itself well to solo music work......

I'm Haechan-biased and I think not even him is ready to go solo.

I think it's between Taeyong and Ten (if we don't consider PMN an official ''debut'') in terms of skills. They're the most complete Neos IMO.

Ten and Taeyong

Let's see Dreams in a few years

Quote from MakotoNijima

Both, skills and success wise

Ten and Taeyong for me then.

I think there are several members who have clear cut paths and several members who have the talent and fanbase, but I’m not sure how they’d carve careers.

It ought to be Taeil (and I think he can have a solid Kyuhyun style career) but realistically I think Jaehyun and Haechan are the biggest solo potential to me. Both are all rounders who get lots of attention, both have very distinctive voices in the Kpop landscape - I think their path is clearly r&b/r&b pop albums. I think Haechan would be more high energy, while Jaehyun would lean more into the vibe-y kind of feel. I think both would do very well as soloists - not only can they sing and dance well and have charisma but both are capable of managing the interviews and stuff that go with it. (Jaehyun can definitely turn in the charm when he wants to..and has experience from hosting Inkigayo. Haechan is Haechan.)

Taeyong and Ten would be more in the Taemin lane: dynamic performers creating idiosyncratic albums that are always interesting to hear and see. I think they could do well but they won’t do as well as Jaehyun and Haechan.

Mark is the head scratcher for me. He is indeed fully capable, but I don’t see him doing an album of what he’s known best for (his rap). If it’s an album of something else, it may disappoint or not be as interesting to people. I mean I suppose it could be something in the Kai lane?

After that, I think there are people capable of solo success but there are some things that have to be worked out - like Jaemin is tremendously popular but what would he do on a full mini? I also think Xiaojun could really do well as a soloist.

Quote from killingtime1934

I mean no will chart considering the performance of nct solo songs so far unless one get into acting and get the attention of the gp

physicals will be there, but that can take so far as a soloist

They’ve only had SM Station songs and OST songs tho? But why let facts stand in your way.

Quote from the101

I think they could do well but they won’t do as well as Jaehyun and Haechan.

What do you mean by this?

Quote from the101

Jaehyun would lean more into the vibe-y kind of feel. I think both would do very well as soloists - not only can they sing and dance well and have charisma but both are capable of managing the interviews and stuff that go with it. (Jaehyun can definitely turn in the charm when he wants to..and has experience from hosting Inkigayo. Haechan is Haechan.)

People are forgetting that a collab Jaehyun did with an artist who is not very well known for SM station (d.ear), which was released in 2017 (!!!), way before NCT got more popular recently, is STILL pulling huge numbers on Spotify. Before Taeyong with ZOO, Jaehyun had the highest amount of monthly listeners every month, despite only having that song available, and they keep increasing.

Also, this cover he did is sitting at 74 MILLION views.

He's the most followed Neo on IG after L*cas despite not being very active.

The demand is definitely there and his potential is insane, though commercial success in Korea will mainly depend on what his solo debut will/would sound like.

Taeyong, Haechan, Doyoung, Jaehyun

maybe ten

Quote from NEO

What do you mean by this?

I think that Jaehyun and Haechan will turn in more mainstream albums that will probably sell and chart better. Taemin, for instance, has a solid solo career but he’s not the top selling male soloist. He’s usually 4 or 5. He is still very successful and he continues to make very specific choices with his musical style and has a very clear artistic POV. I think both Taeyong and Ten are more in that lane if given a solo album..

jaehyun or taeyong probably

Quote from the101

They’ve only had SM Station songs and OST songs tho? But why let facts stand in your way.

have u see how any sm solo male chart?

like google its there, the ones that survive and are able to get cfs do it bc 1) the got an acting career to back them up or a heechul that do variety

fans dont want to face reality then wonder "Oh my, why my bias dont get cfs or deals, or get invited to show yada yada"

Quote from MakotoNijima

A Mark album would be very musically diverse imo, we are talking about someone who can write his raps and have amazing delivery, can dance insanely well specially on Hip/Hop, and can also sing with such a good voice although we haven't heard him do it that much, he keeps being NCT's hidden potential monster imo to a point that even some nctzens aren't aware of how good and how much of an all-rounder he is.

Mark is very talented but that doesn’t still get at the point I was making: for example, he seems to like the songwriter acoustic stuff, which is great and all for him and his artistic expression, BUT is the average person looking to buy a Mark album looking for that or are they looking for hot bars (and is the person looking for hot bars enough to drive those album sales? Hip hop is certainly popular with Show Me The Money and hip hop inflected albums can do well in Korea). Or are you saying you think that Mark’s fanbase is large enough to drive sales over the top, regardless of the style of the album?

Quote from the101

I think that Jaehyun and Haechan will turn in more mainstream albums that will probably sell and chart better. Taemin, for instance, has a solid solo career but he’s not the top selling male soloist. He’s usually 4 or 5. He is still very successful and he continues to make very specific choices with his musical style and has a very clear artistic POV. I think both Taeyong and Ten are more in that lane if given a solo album..

I don't think neither Taeyong nor Ten are musically comparable to Taemin at all. Visually? Maybe, they are all very artsy and like putting their own 'unique' identity in their works, but the comparisons don't go as far as that IMO.

Blue? Long Flight? Monroe? Rose? They're all very RnB-oriented and very tamed. And he can do so much more.

Ten released PMN, which is another very gp-friendly song. I could see him going for a Love Talk type of song, which is very popular among non-fans. And as a fan of him, I did not expect him to release something like PMN.

----

To be honest, it's a very gray area when it comes to solos because none of them haven't been given a realistic solo opportunity. We can only talk about skills and make some limited assumptions about their sales power through fanbase observations because at the end of the day it all depends on what type of music SM will be willing to give them. And regardless of what any of them decide to do, everything boils down to good promotions in order to help the said fanbase grow.

Quote from the101

Mark is very talented but that doesn’t still get at the point I was making: for example, he seems to like the songwriter acoustic stuff, which is great and all for him and his artistic expression, BUT is the average person looking to buy a Mark album looking for that or are they looking for hot bars (and is the person looking for hot bars enough to drive those album sales? Hip hop is certainly popular with Show Me The Money and hip hop inflected albums can do well in Korea). Or are you saying you think that Mark’s fanbase is large enough to drive sales over the top, regardless of the style of the album?

His solo music (both at SuperM concert and the 127 concert) are very hip-hop-oriented. I think what OP is trying to say is that Mark can do a lot of different genres.

Quote from MakotoNijima

A Mark album would be very musically diverse imo, we are talking about someone who can write his raps and have amazing delivery, can dance insanely well specially on Hip/Hop, and can also sing with such a good voice although we haven't heard him do it that much, he keeps being NCT's hidden potential monster imo to a point that even some nctzens aren't aware of how good and how much of an all-rounder he is.

Taeyong and Ten are the two we can all agree are the most artsy and have the more "It" image yeah

Jaehyun could be insane successful, and Haechan lowkey could also do very well because he's insanely talented both vocally and dance-wise.

Hmm... without thinking too much then I'd say haechan and Jaehyun - like there is a set kpop rnb/pop boy of the moment lane they both easily fit into ala baekhyun......

However, despite not being sure about what a mark lee album would sound like - I'm much more excited to hear his solo.. I don't know why that is? - he's a very talented guy and I'd just be very curious to hear his music.

Saying that - group work is as good as it gets for most kpop artists so I'm not out here begging for it.. for the most part they can keep it...lol

Quote from killingtime1934

have u see how any sm solo male chart?

like google its there, the ones that survive and are able to get cfs do it bc 1) the got an acting career to back them up or a heechul that do variety

fans dont want to face reality then wonder "Oh my, why my bias dont get cfs or deals, or get invited to show yada yada"

I liked the way you moved the goalposts. So now instead of addressing the fact you were wrong about NCT solo work, now you’re throwing all of SM under the bus.

Yes. Google does exist.

SM male soloists that charted with singles - some charted high and some charted low. The highest charting people didn’t necessarily have an acting career or variety. Now if you want to make the argument that no one charts well that doesn’t come out of a tremendously successful group, that is indeed a fair point, but for instance, Baek and Kai didn’t get cfs behind an acting career or variety show (there are other examples here..).

- Taemin

- Baekhyun

- Jonghyun

- Changmin

- Suho

- D.O.

- Kai

- Key

- Chen

- Kyuhyun

Quote from the101

I liked the way you moved the goalposts. So now instead of addressing the fact you were wrong about NCT solo work, now you’re throwing all of SM under the bus.

Yes. Google does exist.

SM male soloists that charted with singles - some charted high and some charted low. The highest charting people didn’t necessarily have an acting career or variety. Now if you want to make the argument that no one charts well that doesn’t come out of a tremendously successful group, that is indeed a fair point, but for instance, Baek and Kai didn’t get cfs behind an acting career or variety show (there are other examples here..).

- Taemin

- Baekhyun

- Jonghyun

- Changmin

- Suho

- D.O.

- Kai

- Key

- Chen

- Kyuhyun

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most if no all of those have back up from hits their groups achieve, what hit nct have

look, u have denied it all u want but whe nct solo happen and they underperform digitally like I said u can go beg sm to "try" and promote them

Quote from killingtime1934

most if no all of those have back up from hits their groups achieve, what hit nct have

look, u have denied it all u want but whe nct solo happen and they underperform digitally like I said u can go beg sm to "try" and promote them

Lol girl why do you sound so pressed under every NCT post.....

Realistically it's jaehyun

But I think ten and taeyong have bigger potential as artists, meaning they are already releasing solo music and have learned a lot, plus the experience behind the scenes will always help them

Haechan and Jungwoo imo have the biggest potential as performers, they just need to trust on themselves more and get out of their box

Quote from killingtime1934

most if no all of those have back up from hits their groups achieve, what hit nct have

look, u have denied it all u want but whe nct solo happen and they underperform digitally like I said u can go beg sm to "try" and promote them

Hey, the goalposts moved again. What are the chances?

I don’t get the impression that SM really gives a shit how something performs digitally if it sells 500K units. (As evidenced by the messy Spotify set-up. If NCT is selling millions of albums + merch + tours, I don’t really think SM gives a shit what happens digitally, tbh.)

I also think the most likely members to solo have shown they know exactly how to promote and get attention. They don’t have to “beg” to promote when they can just post a dance practice and go viral or be in a skit in Subway to go viral, when they can get a million followers off of one song or 74M views on one cover song.

Jaehyun all because his aura is a strong and clear vibe. Energy is a big thing for me. I think SM's influential soloists have a certain level of energy.

Quote from the101

Hey, the goalposts moved again. What are the chances?

I don’t get the impression that SM really gives a shit how something performs digitally if it sells 500K units. (As evidenced by the messy Spotify set-up. If NCT is selling millions of albums + merch + tours, I don’t really think SM gives a shit what happens digitally, tbh.)

I also think the most likely members to solo have shown they know exactly how to promote and get attention. They don’t have to “beg” to promote when they can just post a dance practice and go viral or be in a skit in Subway to go viral, when they can get a million followers off of one song or 74M views on one cover song.

that its where its gets funny, bc sm stans think anything outside aespa goes viral in sm nowadays

they thought kick it was viral, they thru a peaches was viral

nothing a man has put in sm is viral or a digital hit

aespa is, next leveal was, savage to some length and dct along with it (even the got song could fit there) and all that go back to the gp caring more sm female idols

U all dont know what viral is