Guilty (Taemin EP)

Guilty is the fourth Korean extended play (EP) by South Korean singer Taemin. It was released on October 30, 2023, through SM Entertainment. The EP is Taemin's first release since being discharged from military service. It consists of six songs, including the lead single, "Guilty".

Guilty
EP by Taemin
Released	October 30, 2023
Genre	Pop Hip hop
Length	18:52
Language	Korean
Label	SM
Taemin chronology
Advice (2021) Guilty (2023) Eternal (2024)
Singles from Guilty
"Guilty" Released: October 30, 2023

Background

Taemin's third Korean EP, Advice, was released in May 2021, shortly prior to his mandatory enlistment in the South Korean military.^[1] He completed his military service in April 2023. On October 10, SM Entertainment confirmed that Taemin would release his fourth EP later that month, bringing his two-year hiatus to an end.^[2] In an interview with Luxury magazine, Taemin said that he took inspiration for the EP from Georges Bataille's 1957 book L'Erotisme. He stated that it would reflect on past chapters of his career, and described it as "an album where I walk on a tightrope to see how far I can go".^[3]

Composition

The EP contains six songs of various genres. Lead single "Guilty" describes a selfish love that hurts others, incorporating strings and "dynamic" synths.^[4] "The Rizzness" is a hip hop track with 808 bass kick, strong synth bass, organ and electric guitar tremolo sounds. The song implores those who are easily swayed by the words of others to listen to their own voices. "She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not" is a hip hop-based song that compares the moment love ends to the wilting of flower petals. It utilises guitar riffs and retro synth sounds to create a lonely atmosphere.^[5] Alternative pop song "Not Over You" features "dreamy" chords, rhythmic drums and emotional vocals. It is about being unable to accept a break-up, and expresses feelings of suffering and longing. "Night Away" uses a soft guitar melody and synths to evoke warmth. The lyrics describe happy moments with a lover.^[6] Finally, "Blue" contains a hopeful message, likening the realisation of long-awaited dreams to blue light.^[5]

Release and promotion

Guilty was announced on October 10, 2023, through the release of a teaser image showing a person's feet stood next to a white T-shirt strewn across the floor.^[1][7] Pre-orders began the same day.^[2] On October 13, Taemin uploaded a "photo dump" to social media, depicting scenery such as deserts, swimming pools and streets.^[8] He released a variety of online promotional content, including mood clips, teaser images and trailers.^[9] Newspaper sheets containing the album artwork were distributed throughout Seoul from October 25 to October 27.^[10] Taemin hosted a livestream through various social media platforms on October 30 to count down to the album's release.^[11] He held a concert titled Metamorph at the Inspire Arena in Incheon in December.^[12]

Critical reception

Year-end lists for Guilty

Critic/Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
Paste	The 20 Best K-pop Albums of 2023	14	[13]

Track listing

Guilty track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Arrangement	Length
1.	"Guilty"	Park Tae-won	Jonatan Gusmark Ludvig Evers Kole Maxx Song Kriz	Moonshine	3:10
2.	"The Rizzness"	Lee Hyung-seok (PNP)	Manifest Jbach Landon Sears Kyle Buckley Charles Roberts Nelsen MZMC	Pink Slip Inverness MZMC	2:53
3.	"She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not"	Lee Hyung-seok	Tony Ferrari Joseph Pepe Gray Trainer Barry Cohen	Pepe Trainer Gingerbread	3:02
4.	"Not Over You" (제자리; Jejari; lit. Same Place)	Lee Seu-ran	Mathias Holsaae Kristoffer Fuglsang Mortensen Malte Ebert Gavin Brown	LittGloss	3:33
5.	"Night Away" (오늘 밤; Oneul Bam; lit. Tonight)	Jo Yoon-kyung	Dave Villa Breland Maddy Simmen TMM	Villa	2:56
6.	"Blue"	Lee O-neul Ji-he	Aaron Berton Matt Crawford Lucas Szulansky Will Jay	Theo & the Climb	3:18
Total length:					18:52

Personnel

• Taemin – vocals, background vocals
• Deez – vocal directing (track 1)
• Kriz – background vocals (track 1)
• Kole – background vocals (track 1)
• Park In-yeong – strings arrangement (track 1), string recording directing (track 1), strings conducting (track 1)
• Moon Jeong-jae – string recording directing (track 1)
• SM Classics Town Orchestra – strings (track 1)
• Jeong Yu-ra – recording, digital editing (tracks 1–2, 5), mixing (track 5)
• Jeong Gi-hong – recording (track 1)
• Choi Da-in – recording (track 1)
• Lee Chan-mi – recording (track 1)
• Kim Cheol-sun – mixing (track 1)
• Rick Bridges – vocal directing (track 2)
• Manifest – background vocals (track 2)
• Landon Sears – background vocals (track 2)
• Lee Min-gyu – digital editing (track 2), recording (tracks 3, 6)
• Jeong Eui-seok – mixing (track 2)
• Maxx Song – vocal directing (track 3)
• Oiaisle – background vocals (tracks 3, 6)
• Junny – background vocals (tracks 3, 6)
• Lee Ji-hong – digital editing (track 3)
• An Chang-gyu – digital editing (track 3)
• Woo Min-jeong – digital editing (tracks 3, 6)
• Gu Jong-pil – mixing (tracks 3–4), Dolby Atmos mixing
• 4bout – vocal directing (track 4)
• No Min-ji – recording (track 4), digital editing (tracks 4, 6)
• minGtion – vocal directing (track 5)
• Breland – background vocals (track 5)
• Kim Jin-hwan – vocal directing (track 6)
• Will Jay – background vocals (track 6)
• Lucas Szulansky – background vocals (track 6)
• Kang Eun-ji – recording (track 6)
• Nam Gung-jin – mixing (track 6)
• Kwon Nam-woo – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Guilty Chart (2023) Peak position Japanese Albums (Oricon)[14] 17 Japanese Combined Albums (Oricon)[15] 19 Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[16] 13 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[17] 96 South Korean Albums (Circle)[18] 4 UK Album Downloads (OCC)[19] 34

Monthly charts Monthly chart performance for Guilty Chart (2023) Position Japanese Albums (Oricon)[20] 37 South Korean Albums (Circle)[21] 10 Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Guilty Chart (2023) Position South Korean Albums (Circle)[22] 87

Certifications

Certifications for Guilty

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
South Korea (KMCA)[23]	Platinum	250,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Accolades

Music program awards

Song	Program	Date	Ref.
"Guilty"	Show! Music Core	November 11, 2023	[24]

References

1. Daly, Rhian (October 10, 2023). "Taemin announces 'Guilty', his first solo comeback in over two years". NME. Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
2. Pyo, Kyung-min (October 10, 2023). "Shinee's Taemin to release 'Guilty' after two-year hiatus". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on October 20, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
3. Yoon, Jeong-eun; Jeong, Song (October 2023). "The Identity". Luxury (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 11, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
4. Park, Seo-hyun (October 17, 2023). 샤이니 태민, 신곡에 '길티'한 사랑 담았다..10월 30일 컴백 [Shinee Taemin's new song contains 'guilty' love... comeback on October 30]. Herald Pop (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Naver.
5. Hwang, Hye-jin (October 18, 2023). 믿고 듣는 샤이니 태민 'Guilty'에 담은 다채로운 목소리 [Shinee Taemin's colourful voice in 'Guilty' that you can trust and listen to]. Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 18, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Naver.
6. Kim, Se-ah (October 19, 2023). 샤이니 태민, '길티'로 그려낼 사랑의 상반된 감정 [Shinee's Taemin portrays the conflicting emotions of love in 'Guilty']. Ten Asia (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Naver.
7. Martin, Annie (October 9, 2023). "Shinee's Taemin to release 'Guilty' solo EP". UPI. Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
8. Hwang, Hye-jin (October 13, 2023). '컴백' 샤이니 태민, 새 앨범 'Guilty' 포토 덤프 공개... 자유로운 무드 ['Comeback': Shinee's Taemin releases photo dump for new album 'Guilty'... free mood]. Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Naver.
9. Moon, Ye-bin (October 16, 2023). 태민, 아이스크림이 녹아 흘러내린다…'길티' [Taemin's ice cream melts and flows down... 'Guilty']. Newsis (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Naver.
10. Han, Hae-seon (October 25, 2023). "호외요 호외!"..'30일 컴백' 샤이니 태민, 신사·한남·홍대서 'Guilty' 신문 배포 ["Extra, extra!".. 'Comeback on October 30' Shinee's Taemin distributes 'Guilty' newspapers in Sinsa, Hannam, and Hongdae]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved October 27, 2023 – via Naver.
11. Moon, Ye-bin (October 24, 2023). 샤이니 태민, 30일 컴백 카운트다운 라이브 [Shinee's Taemin to hold comeback countdown livestream on the October 30]. Newsis (in Korean). Retrieved October 27, 2023 – via Naver.
12. Hwang, You-mee (October 19, 2023). "[Today's K-pop] Shinee's Taemin to host solo concert in December". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
13. Opie, David (December 21, 2023). "The 20 Best K-pop Albums of 2023". Paste. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
14. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2023-12-04/p/2" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
15. "Oricon Top 50 Combined Albums: 2023-11-13" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
16. "Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of November 8, 2023". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved November 8, 2023.
17. "OLiS - oficjalna lista sprzedaży - albumy" (in Polish). OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Note: Change the date to 03.11.2023–09.11.2023 under "zmień zakres od–do:". Retrieved November 16, 2023.
18. "Circle Album Chart – Week 44, 2023". Circle Chart (in Korean). Retrieved November 9, 2023.
19. "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
20. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2023-11" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on December 13, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
21. "Circle Album Chart – October 2023". Circle Chart (in Korean). Retrieved November 9, 2023.
22. "Album Chart 2023". Circle Chart. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
23. "South Korean album certifications – Taemin – Guilty" (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). Retrieved March 7, 2024.
24. Lee, Ha-na (November 11, 2023). "'음악중심' 태민 1위 "샤이니월드 고마워"‥스트레이 키즈·에스파 컴백[종합]" [Taemin takes first place on ‘Music Core’ “Thank you, SHINee World”... Stray Kids and Aespa comeback [Comprehensive]]. Newsen (in Korean). Retrieved November 11, 2023.