My hypothetical time machine has taken us from January 2024 back closer to present day so I can cover TAEYONG’s first solo comeback since making his solo debut with SHALALA. TAEYONG’s new single, TAP, was released a week ago alongside his second mini-album of the same name.

TAP faces a similar issue to its predecessor (SHALALA) in that it is weak. It kicks off promisingly, with some heavy bass and strong delivery from TAEYONG. The brighter and pop-tinged instrumental kept the song upbeat and somewhat fun sounding. But TAP‘s main weakness becomes prevalent when we reach the chorus – it doesn’t feel like a chorus. Elements of it does make it a chorus, such as it is the repeated sequence that the song goes back to and that it has a good catchy rhythm to it (which serves well in place of a memorable melody, given it is a hip-hop song). But the central piece to TAP simply feels like an extension of the verses. There is no boldness, body or added definition to bolster it up and sell it as a main event for the song. In a way, just like SHALALA, it results in the song coming off as monotonous. But the other positive aspects of the song I have pointed out above does give TAP an edge, which in turn makes it a slightly better song than his debut.

The music video sees TAEYONG explore Japan, through what has been pointed out to be a parody of a famous Japanese TV show. We see the video set outdoors in Japan and TAEYONG experience the culture of traditional bathhouses and bedrooms, the arcade and even dango (a sweet Japanese dumpling). But this has caused some controversary with viewers who question why the music video needed to be set in Japan, given that this is a Korean release and not a Japanese release. For me, I feel like the music video is aiming to complement that fun side of TAP, but I can’t answer as to why it needed to be set in Japan.

The performance was actually quite laidback, which caught me by surprise. I was expecting some really complex routine. But what we got was much simpler. It doesn’t mean we were shortchanged however. TAP definitely had some tapping in there and I liked how he still managed to make that simpler routine fun and charismatic. It also helps that the styling for this comeback felt on point.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 6.7/10