EXO’s D.O. dropped his solo debut album Empathy on the 26th. This long-awaited smash includes a total of 8 tracks and combines D.O.’s sweet voice with an acoustic sound.
The artist candidly opened up about releasing his first-ever solo album. “I always sang with the members, so it wasn’t easy for me to sing alone. But it was indeed a unique, fun experience,” he shared.
D.O. personally came up with the album title “Empathy.” He added, “There were times when I felt like the word empathy did’t quite resonate with me. But now I realize that the word has such powerful energy within itself. So I decided to carry on the theme of ’empathy,’ hoping that I could share that great energy with people and be a positive influence on others.”
When you look at the track list, you’ll find that D.O. is listed as the writer of the lyrics in two of the tracks, “Rose” and “I’m Fine.” According to the artist, after coming up with the album’s theme, he decided to write lyrics about the feeling of love or a sense of consolation that can comfort the listeners as he did in his previous song, “That’s okay.” And hoping to share these positivities, he took part in writing the lyrics.
Rapper Wonstein featured in the non-title track “I’m Gonna Love You.” “When I first heard the song, Wonstein was the only person that came to mind. I’m grateful that he has so willingly participated in the song. And this was the first time I’ve ever done a project like this, so it was a fresh and enjoyable experience,” he shared.
For the bonus tracks, D.O. sang the English version of “Rose” and the Spanish version of “It’s Love.” The artist remarked, “The guide track of the song was sung in English and Spanish. And I liked the lyrics and the song’s vibe, so I wanted to sing it in the original languages.”
Empathy has topped the iTunes Top Albums Chart in 59 regions, including America, Canada, Australia, and France. In addition, it has also debuted at No. 1 on digital album sales charts of China’s QQ Music and Kugou Music.
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