When I think all the members of X1 had made their re-debut in some capacity, another member pops up with their new release. The next former member of the now disbanded project group to debut is Lee Eun Sang, who debuted earlier this week as a solo artist. He is currently signed to Brand New Music, the home of famous Korean hip-hop artists, AB6IX and BDC. His solo debut, Beautiful Scars, comes roughly one year after X1 made their debut with Flash.

Beautiful Scar is a R&B hip-hop track, which is pretty much no surprise to me, given that this is Brand New Music’s forte. The instrumental is quite heavy thanks to the bass and serious nature of the song. It does lack character and personality, as it feels pretty typical and alike any other R&B hip-hop track. There really isn’t anything ‘new’ about Beautiful Scar that we haven’t heard before. Interestingly, I am not too troubled by the consistency of this song. By being consistent, Beautiful Scar ended up being sophisticated, refined and mature. However, I was lowkey expecting a change up or a breakdown along the way that still fits the mature R&B hip-hop nature of this song. I felt like that would have given the song that much needed flair and allow Lee Eun Sang to show off his character a little more, let it be in song or in performance. I guess Park Woo Jin’s featuring was the mechanism of this, as I thought his rapping delivery and flow was really good. They was a captivating energy coming from his section alone and I would personally seek out this song for Park Woo Jin. Though, this is a bit harsh for the main artist of the track. However, I do think Lee Eun Sang did a pretty decent job with this as his solo debut track. His vocals are solid throughout Beautiful Scar. His debut song just lacks that mentioned personality and also some strong hooks/melodies that would make the song bold and memorable.

The song’s sophisticated and refined profile was brought over into the visual aspect of this comeback. The music video is just this and I really quite enjoyed it. The hotel lobby was a really good choice to shoot in and the lighting during his scene was on point. I also liked the darker sets in which the choreography shots were also shot in. There seems to be some symbolism throughout the music video, such as the butterfly and a kaleidoscope. Not sure what these mean exactly, though I assume the kaleidoscope is in reference to the fake love he experienced (i.e. nothing he looked at was what it seems). Also thumbs up for Park Woo Jin’s featuring the music video as well. You probably know that it is my wish to have featuring artists featured in the music video. It just makes the whole experience better. Though in this case, I guess featuring artists are a lot easier to invite if it is done in-house.

Lee Eun Sang does not look nervous during his first performance. I applaud him for that, especially since it has been almost a year since his previous debut and he has had a lengthy break in between. Plus going solo is always a big step in one’s career. As for the choreography, I really liked the whole routine. It wasn’t anything too crazy. But it looks refined enough to still be impressive looking.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.5/10