TAEMIN 태민 'Guilty' MV | REACTION 

In 2019, SM collaborated with Capitol Records, USA, and assembled a group of seven of the best artists in KPOP to debut in the USA: SuperM. In fact, they even collaborated with Marvel after having been dubbed the Avengers of KPOP. Of course, Taemin was the first chosen and helped pick the other six members. Though not the eldest member, he is the senior member of the group due to the length of time he’s been in the industry. As such, he would have been leader, but he deferred that task to Baekhyun of the group EXO (who’s slightly older than Taemin). Taemin has been the maknae of SHINee his entire career and didn’t feel he would be best suited to lead the others. However, he is the center of the group and they ALL (including Baekhyun) defer to his experience and take his advice to heart. He is very caring towards his dongsaengs (juniors) and was nicknamed Taemresa (inspired by Mother Teresa). Baekhyun is an incredible leader, by the way…don’t want anyone to misunderstand my intentions behind what I’ve said. With the debut in SuperM, Taemin became the first idol to ever debut in three generations: 2nd with SHINee, 3rd as a solo artist, and 4th Gen with SuperM. The second (and only other) artist to achieve this did so a year ago, Taeyeon of Girls Generation. Taemin recently discharged from his mandatory military service 04 Apr 2023. Taemin is one of the most active members on SNS: he messages on Bubble (text, pix, and voice…including him playing piano and singing to us), frequently goes live on IG, posts pics, and resumed his unofficial job of SHINee’s Spoiler Fairy. He’s also the member who mostly treats his fans like we’re in a parasocial relationship-acting and talking as though we’re his significant other. Taeminnie calls his fans Jjakgoongs (a name meaning best friends/buddies/partners) and Taemints (Taemints being the name of his Shawol fans, based on the fact SHINee was a total secret and not marketed at all before their debut so Taemin would hand out mints and candies to tempt people to listen to their music and attend their debut-which not even their families were aware they were debuting until they were on stage in front of them). Another important thing to know regarding Taemin has to do with his beloved hyung, Jonghyun, whom you know we tragically lost in 2017. Jonghyun was Taemin’s biggest fan and supporter, even rescheduling his own concert to attend Taemin’s. They were inseparable. Considering SHINee was back on the stage less than two months after his passing, the group did not have very long to grieve. (They returned after much consideration and at the behest of Jjong’s mom and sister.) Taemin is a well-known workaholic…he never takes breaks and hasn’t since he was a child. He’s in the studio every single day-not even taking off for Christmas. In fact, he went live on the day of his military discharge from the practice room and was renting dance studios while he was enlisted because he HAS to dance…it’s part of him. His jump from nonstop working and perfecting his abilities into military life, plus dealing with depression and anxiety, truly hit him hard. Thankfully, he appears to be doing much better now. He looks and sounds happy and healthy, which is honestly all I could ever hope for. Taemin and SHINee are all fluent in Japanese and release just as many Japanese albums as Korean. They are so popular in Japan, many do not consider them foreign artists (which is testament to the love and respect the Japanese people have for them). They even have an entirely separate crew of dancers and staff in Japan. Most artists have to request to hold concerts at Tokyo Dome (it’s an unspoken rule you need to be able to sell out the 55,000-seat arena to perform), but they actually reach out and request SHINee and Taemin because they know they’ll sell out in seconds (whether as a group or Taemin as a solo artist) and have to host multiple days to accommodate. The guys host the entire concert in Japanese and do not need translators. I mentioned SHINee being trendsetters-that includes Taemin, of course. Besides introducing new music styles and breaking boundaries with his concepts, he has also worked to break other boundaries, as well. Early in his career, SM took advantage of his prettiness and exaggerated it-he was often mistaken as a female (especially during the long-hair era) and would frequently clear his throat to “discreetly” let others know he’s male. He absolutely hated it, and understandably so-he was a teenager. Later, he embraced some of the socially-viewed “feminine” qualities and has worked hard to showcase that music has no gender. Taemin made waves with his song, “Move”, which he performs with his Girl Gang (all-female backup dancers). The choreography blends masculine and feminine energy like no one but Taemin can do (so many tried to imitate it, it was dubbed “Move Disease”, but none come close). He also lends that androgynous aspect to his fashion choices. Taemin has many facets to him-when the camera is on (filming MVs, music shows, etc), he is a true professional. With his SHINee hyungs, he’s a mischievous crackhead who lives to torment them. They raised him, so they spoil him, but don’t misunderstand-his love for them is unmatched and it goes both ways. With SuperM, he’s silly, but caring-he took them under his wings and is their mentor. He also has his Padding Squad (friend group consisting of Kai from EXO, Jimin from BTS, Ravi from VIXX, Timoteo of HotShot, WannaOne/HotShot’s Sungwoon, and a non-celebrity friend). They’re named the Padding Squad, or Padding Friends, because Taemin bought and designed matching customized jackets with their own unique logo. For me, personally, I can appreciate someone’s musical abilities…but to become a true fan (or “stan”), they have to be really special and have qualities setting them apart besides simple talent. Taemin, SHINee as a group, and the other SHINee members as soloists have my utmost devotion (they’re all five incredible soloists-in fact, SHINee is the ONLY group in which ALL members have hit #1 on the Worldwide iTunes Chart as soloists). They’re incredibly talented in ways far beyond musical abilities and are kind, fun, and caring humans. TAEMIN’S BACK!!! SHINee’s BACK!!!