I have no idea how I'm going to do this video. But here we go.
Well, all I want to talk now is about Jonghyun, the artist that he was and
the incredible artistic legacy he left to us.
Kim Jonghyun, his full name, was not only the lead singer of SHINee –
and that's already a lot because SHINee is one of the most important groups of kpop.
Jonghyun was one of those rare cases of complete artist.
He was a singer with a genuinely amazing voice.
He was astonishing on stage.
Also, he was a hell of a composer, intellectual, a well-read guy with good taste and sensitivity.
Jonghyun had a Master's degree in Music and Cinema.
He liked to listen to Prince, jazz, indie music,
and Jonghyun enjoyed reading Haruki Murakami, which is a Japanese writer
and one of the most respected contemporary writers in World Literature.
And I think all of this helps to explain why Jonghyun was who he was: one of the most important composers
in kpop and a constant presence in Korean and Japanese music.
Jonghyun was discovered by SM Entertainment Company when he was only 15 and
he was discovered by a scout from SM while he was playing in a concert with the school band.
with the school band.
He was playing bass.
A few years later, he started with SHINee in 2008, and since the beginning Jonghyun had
a very important role in the band.
Because in addition to the lead vocal, Jonghyun wrote some of the most
important songs of SHINee.
Just to give you an idea, on The Misconceptions of Us, which is one of the most important
albums in SHINee discography and released in 2013, Jonghyun wrote
five songs.
For example,
the amazing song Spoiler.
Also, it was Jonghyun who composed View, which is on the album Odd and, by the time it was released,
in 2015, was new and original because it rescued this electronic beat
to kpop.
There's also the song Symptoms, which is on the mini album Everybody, from SHINee, and was written
by Jonghyun and so acclaimed by the time it was released, in 2013.
Jonghyun didn't use to write only for the SHINee.
He wrote, for example, for IU.
He composed the beautiful Clock Gloomy, for her album Modern Times.
For EXO, he composed the music Playboy, which is amazing.
And Jonghyun played this song in one of his concerts.
And Jonghyun also composed for some solo works of Taemin.
The first song he wrote for him was Pretty Boy.
This song is on the album Ace and its lyric shows how sensitive Jonghyun was,
because he turned into verse what Taemin wanted to communicate about being an artist
that had grown.
And it wasn't just the fact that Jonghyun knew Taemin so well that helped him to write
such an amazing lyric as Pretty Boy.
The fact that you know someone very well doesn't give you, as if by magic, the right words
for you to explain what the other person is feeling and thinking.
Actually, it was Jonghyun himself that really was so tender and sensitive to the point
he practically "embodied" Taemin, so he was able to say what
his friend was trying to say, and the way he wanted to say.
It's amazing how Jonghyun is able to give such a Taemin touch to the song,
bringing his pinch of joke and irony. It's amazing.
Still in Taemin solo work, Jonghyun wrote the song Already, which is on the album
Press It.
Jonghyun was a really great composer.
And he talked about many subjects in his songs.
He talked, for example, about meeting your beloved one after a tiring day in the song
End of the Day, in which Jonghyun describes how cozy it is to cuddle the one you love.
He talked about a strong attraction for a woman in Cocktail.
He also talked about missing someone, friendship, and dedicated some songs
to the fans.
Just to have an idea of how Jonghyun was recognized as a composer, in March 2016,
he surprised everyone with the news that had participated on Lee Hi comeback.
on Lee Hi comeback.
He composed and wrote the lyrics to one of the lead tracks from the album she released.
This partnership between Jonghyun and Lee Hi was very remarkable,
because it was the first time that an artist of SM Entertainment officially collaborated
with a singer of YG Entertainment.
And the music is just wonderful.
You can realize all the tenderness and sensitivity of Jonghyun in the melody and lyrics.
And Lee Hi voice singing what Jonghyun wrote is almost like you're peeking
behind the door and listening to a piece of heaven.
In January 2015, Jonghyun released his first solo album.
Actually it was a mini album that he called Base.
It actually has this name because Jonghyun said this would be the base work of his solo career.
It was the beginning.
Base hit the first place in two important lists: on Billboard World Albums Charts,
which ranks the best-selling albums in the world, and Gaon Album Chart, which ranks
the best-selling albums in Korea.
The first single of this album was Deja-Boo, which Jonghyun recorded with
no one other than Zion T, one of the finest artists of kpop
that has some jaw-dropping songs with a groove of bossa nova.
And that's exactly why I think him and Jonghyun couldn't be a better matchup.
Jonghyun's first work, Base, drew a lot of attention for a single reason:
because it was truly good.
Jonghyun, on this first album, doesn't sound like an artist who is starting a solo career,
groping to figure out which path to follow.
He was already a complete artist when he debuted in solo career.
The album has a consistency that only an experienced musician and composer
could provide.
All the songs of this album were composed by Jonghyun.
And Jonghyun style is more soul, R&B, with a groove and sensuality that,
on this album, is a little more mysterious, as we see in Crazy Guilty Pleasure video.
Jonghyun was also the man of the ballads, the more romantic songs.
And beautiful, without that cheesy soap opera thing.
No.
It's all very refined, all very sophisticate.
And the vocals, of course, are just perfect.
Jonghyun's voice was of high quality.
When he sang, it was almost like if he was sculpting something.
It was a very versatile voice.
Actually, versatile isn't the right word.
It was a voice without barriers.
Like: "Oh, you can reach this far".
The impression I always had is that Jonghyun could do whatever he wanted with his voice.
Because he actually could get anywhere, and the way he wanted.
He simply could.
Another thing about Jonghyun's voice is that it has a kind of swing
that I love.
He was a total kick-ass!
Oh, and a very cool thing to talk about the album is that it has some sort of connection
with Ace, which was Taemin debut album.
Despite being utterly different, they have a very similar aesthetics.
And Jonghyun mentioned it once in an interview.
The two albums have a connection, yet they are totally different,
because Taemin makes great pop music with dances and performances, while Jonghyun work
has this touch of soul and R&B, sometimes even something of jazz, and has more
passionate songs, with so emotional lyrics that you have the feeling
Jonghyun is talking about something you always felt, but were never able to put into words.
Jonghyun was an artist who composed with his soul.
I think that's why his work sounds so visceral sometimes, but still sophisticated.
It's a high quality music that's also very intense.
And sometimes very sexy too.
In total, Jonghyun released four albums.
Besides Base, he released Story op. 1, She Is and Story op. 2.
My favorite album is She is.
When it was released in May 2016, the album soon hit
the top of the charts.
No wonder as this album is perfect from beginning to end.
It has fantastic songs like the title track She Is, that has a MV that somehow
resembles SHINee style,
what I love because Jonghyun always ensured to bring the band along with him on many things
he did.
White T-Shirt, which is one of my favorite songs on She Is,
is a feel-good song, a music for the day, a cheer up song.
And the lyrics are wonderful: "Your silhouette causes my imagination.
Your slightly messy hair.
Your body that stands out even more.
It's your white t-shirt ".
Yes, it's your white t-shirt.
And Moon, so awesome performed live.
Not only for Jonghyun's vocals, which are amazing, but for the lovely performance.
Jonghyun was also the host of the radio show Blue Night, and in 2015, along
with the show's producers, he launched his own compositions
based on some stories submitted by the listeners.
Some of these songs were part of a show called "The Story by Jonghyun".
Initially, it would be only eight performances, but as the tickets sold out in two minutes,
they decided to add more shows, in a total of twelve performances.
And the VCR for this show...
My. Gosh.
Jonghyun also wrote a book,
what I think it was a natural step for him, because he always wrote a lot.
The novel was called "Skeleton Flower – Things That Have Been Set Free"
and tells the story behind the nine tracks of the album "Story Op. 1".
The book was lauched in 2015 and, at first, was only sold at Jonghyun concerts
and some online bookstores.
But the demand was so big that the book was officially released at some point.
Jonghyun was also an artist who stood on important issues.
He expressed his opinion on his personal twitter about the educational reform which the former
President of South Korea wanted to deploy in the country, and he made a comment criticizing
the reform saying it was "scary raising kids in Korea".
And he also supported the LGBT cause.
He once publicly defended a transsexual and bisexual student that was pro equality
at the University she studied, in Korea.
Also, Jonghyun was a public figure that everybody liked.
He was always invited to entertainment programs,
and he has some amazing appearances and one of my favorites is in a TV show called
Hello Counselor, in which celebrities give advice to people
who are in trouble.
And Jonghyun gave some advices to a guy that couldn't get a girlfriend
about how to text with the girl he liked.
There's also this time when he advised listeners of the radio show
on how to comfort a person.
And Jonghyun also appeared more than once
on the comedy show Saturday Night Live, in Korea. And he was always wonderful.
Jonghyun was also the biggest fan of Taemin.
The biggest taemint, the number 1 taemint on the planet.
So much that, in the last solo concert he did this month, Jonghyun performed a snippet
of Move's choreography.
Oh and Minho was there in the audience.
Actually, I loved seeing the band playing and taking care of Jonghyun.
And to please the members of SHINee, Jonghyun made up a kind of little rap in the song
Excuse Me Miss that, oh boy, went down in history.
Perhaps what hurts more about Jonghyun's death isn't just what happened.
Maybe my grief and the grief of many people is...
Is not only for his death, but also for everything that dies along with Jonghyun.
The brilliant future he had ahead,
the incredible work he would still accomplish whether solo or with SHINee.
A more mature Jonghyun at his 30, 32, 35 years old, even more brilliant,
that we will never have the chance to see.
And there's an element of SHINee that also dies along with him.
Things will never be the same,
because Jonghyun was unique and he made SHINee what SHINee was.
And that makes the grief so heavy that it's almost like Jonghyun has died twice.
At the same time, he left so many brilliant stuff, so many creative songs,
an original and consistent work, either solo or with SHINee that it's almost like
Jonghyun had lived more than one life.
And it makes me very, very grateful to have known and seen all that Jonghyun could do
during his life.
To have lived, even from afar, with Jonghyun.
And so...
I'm gonna miss him so much.
Jonghyun!
Jonghyun has a very refined way of working when his solo, his compositions
are very sophisticated.
Oh, look at that!
And he is also known for being this cute cupcake, emotional, sentimental, super lovey-dovey.
Guys, Jonghyun again!
Jonghyun, you are stalking me.
I recommend you to take a look at Jonghyun's solo work.
You won't regret.
He's that guy with a great great heart.
Bye.
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