Let It Go (EP)

Let It Go is the solo mini album debut of South Korean singer Heo Young-saeng of boy band SS501. The EP of Korean-language songs was released on May 12, 2011 under B2M Entertainment and distributed by LOEN Entertainment. The album was released in Taiwan on July 1, 2011 under Warner Music Taiwan.

This article is about the Heo Young-saeng EP. For the James Bay EP, see James Bay (singer).
Let It Go
Let It Go cover
EP by
Heo Young-saeng
ReleasedMay 12, 2011 (2011-05-12)
GenreK-pop, R&B, Dance
Length17:36
LanguageKorean
LabelLOEN Entertainment
Warner Music Taiwan
ProducerB2M Entertainment
Heo Young-saeng chronology
Let It Go
(2011)		 Solo
(2012)
Music video
"Let It Go" on YouTube
"Rainy Heart" on YouTube

Background and development

Heo Young-saeng left SS501's former agency, DSP Media, in mid-2010 and signed with B2M Entertainment in October 2010, together with bandmate Kim Kyu-jong, to embark on his solo career.[1] Both singers then held a joint fan meeting called Kyu Jong & Young Saeng Story In Seoul on December 4, which continued in Hong Kong, Japan, and other countries in Asia.[2] During this tour, they both mentioned their plans to release their respective solo albums the following year.[3]

Following Park Jung-min and Kim Hyung-jun of SS501, Heo was the third to debut as a solo artist after leaving his former agency in 2010. In April, B2M Entertainment announced that Heo's album release would be delayed due to an injury he sustained on his right hand during a dance practice.[4] His plan to officially debut on April 28 and appear in his first solo performance on Mnet's M Countdown the same day was also postponed.[5] Similarly, he appeared on SBS' Running Man only briefly instead of guest-starring on the show on May 8, 2011.[6]

While still recovering from his injury, Heo decided to release a mini album on May 12.[7] On May 4, B2M uploaded a 25-second music video teaser of Heo's upcoming title track, "Let It Go", on YouTube.[8] A photo teaser was also released, showing a pale-colored image of Heo wearing a white polo shirt and black tie, using a motion blur to give the impression of movement.[9]

Release and promotion

"There is no success if you settle for stereotypes (in music genre)" — Heo Young-saeng [Note 1][10]

On May 12, 2011, one week after the music video teaser release, Heo Young-saeng officially released his debut solo mini album, Let It Go. A 3-minute, 47-second music video of his dance song "Let It Go" was uploaded on YouTube the same day.[11][12] Heo personally chose the mid-tempo dance song "Let It Go" as the title track for his debut album.[10] As the main vocalist of SS501, he mostly sings ballads, and wanted to challenge himself and try new genres.[10] The title track features Hyuna's rap, but new artist Park Ju-hyun (who was later revealed to be debuting as a Spica member under the same agency) was the one who appeared in the official music video and who performed Hyuna's rap parts on stage during Heo's live performances.[13] Production costs for the music video, which filmed in Namyangju, reportedly reached USD$100,000.[14]

Heo began promoting the album in South Korea right after its release. He did his first live performance on May 13 on KBS' Music Bank,[14] followed by a May 19 appearance on Mnet's M Countdown, singing the tracks "Let It Go" and "Out The Club".[15][16] He continued his promotional tour in South Korea until his last live performance on June 17 on KBS' Music Bank, in which he experienced a technical difficulty with his microphone in the beginning of his performance.[17] A week later, he uploaded the 3-minute, 41-second music video of "Rainy Heart" on YouTube.[18]

During this time, Heo signed with Warner Music Taiwan, along with Kim Hyun-joong, another SS501 band member who had recently debuted as a solo artist with the release of Break Down.[19] Heo then scheduled promotional tours in Taiwan with the release of his mini album in that country under the Warner label.[20] He also appeared in Japan in November alongside Kim Kyu-jong, who released a solo mini-album debut titled Turn Me On in September.[21] Both Heo and Kim performed their respective songs on Mnet Japan's JJ Studio, accompanied by Kim Tae-woo.[22]

Chart performance

Let It Go peaked at number one on Gaon Album Chart during the first week of its release, starting on May 8, 2011,[23] and reached 45th on Gaon Yearly Album Charts for 2011.[24]

The "Let It Go" single landed at number 31 on Gaon Single Chart during the first week of its release, starting on May 8,[25] and rose to 19th place in its second week.[26] The single remained among the top 100 singles for nine weeks.[27]

Tracks

The album contains four songs and an instrumental version of the title track, "Let It Go". Produced by the Sweetune team, the album features rap by Hyuna of girl group 4Minute, Tae Wan, and Kim Kyu-jong of SS501. The mid-tempo dance track, which describes men's and women's different feelings, is composed by SweetTune's team and written by Song Soo-yoon. The other three songs, including the fast-paced "Out The Club" and "I'm Broken", and the R&B track "Rainy Heart", were written by Heo.[28]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Out The Club" (Ft. Tae Wan)Heo Young-saeng (Korean lyrics)Steven Lee, Drew Ryan Scott, Sean Alexander3:22
2."Let It Go" (Ft. Hyuna)Song Soo-yoonHan Jae-ho, Kim Seung-soo3:20
3."Rainy Heart" (Ft. Kim Kyu-jong)Heo Young-saengSteven Lee3:46
4."I'm Broken"Song Soo-yoon, Heo Young-saeng (Korean lyrics)Steven Lee, Sean Alexander, Jimmy Burney, John Ho3:50
5."Let It Go" (Instrumental)  3:18
Total length:17:36
Taiwan CD+DVD Edition: Bonus DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Talk Time" 
2."Speed Quiz" 

Music videos
  • "Let It Go"
  • "Rainy Heart"

Release history
CountryDateDistributing labelFormat
WorldwideMay 12, 2011B2M EntertainmentDigital download[29]
South KoreaB2M Entertainment
LOEN Entertainment		CD[30]
TaiwanJuly 1, 2011Warner Music TaiwanCD[31]
CD+DVD[32]

Charts

Notes
  1. Based on the Korean language: "고정관념에 안주하면 성공은 없다"

References
  1. "Kim Kyu-jong, Heo Young-saeng to sign with new agency". Asiae. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  2. (in Korean)"김규종 SS501 앨범은 내년쯤 계획" Nate News. 4 December 2010. Retrieved 2011-11-09
  3. (in Korean)"김규종 "SS501 음반은 다음해로 계획 中" 발표" Nate News. 4 December 2010. Retrieved 2011-11-09
  4. 허영생 '런닝맨' 깁스 투혼. Hankooki (in Korean). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  5. Hong, Lucia (21 April 2011). "SS501 Heo Young-saeng to postpone solo activities". Asiae. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  6. 런닝맨’ 멤버들 치열한 경쟁이 부른 차키 소동. Star Fnnews (in Korean). Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  7. Kim, Heidi (4 May 2011). "SS501 Heo Young-saeng to release solo album on May 12". Asiae. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  8. "HEO YOUNG SAENG (허영생)_20110512_LET IT GO teaser". YouTube. B2Ment. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  9. "SS501 허영생, 미니앨범 12일 출시 결정". Sports Chosun (in Korean). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  10. 허영생 “허영생은 발라드만? 숨은 댄스본능 깨웠죠”. Sports Donga (in Korean). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  11. "HEO YOUNG SAENG (허영생)_LET IT GO_M/V(뮤직비디오)". YouTube. B2Ment. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  12. "SS501허영생, 댄스곡으로 솔로 데뷔". Sports Donga (in Korean). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  13. 스피카 멤버공개, 허영생 무대 주목받았던 그녀 박주현 [포토엔]. Newsen (in Korean). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  14. "SS501's Heo Young Saeng releases "Let It Go" MV + mini album". Allkpop. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  15. "Let It Go (Feat. Hyuna of 4minute)". Mwave. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  16. "Heo YoungSaeng & Beast come back! Kim JiSoo debut stage!". Mwave. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  17. Kim, Young-ju. 허영생, ‘렛잇고’ 마지막무대서 방송사고 ‘의연한 대처 주목’. JKN News (in Korean). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  18. "HEO YOUNG SAENG (허영생)_RAINY HEART_M/V(뮤직비디오)". YouTube. B2Ment. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  19. "【SS501】首席雙巨星金賢重、許永生 連袂簽約華納音樂！". Warner Music Taiwan (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  20. "【SS501】「首席主唱」許永生第一次視訊連線好害羞". Warner Music Taiwan (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  21. "Mnet Japanの公開収録にSS501ヨンセン&キュジョン、キム・テウが登場". Tower Records (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  22. "ホ・ヨンセン&キム・キュジョン（SS501）、キム・テウ @ Mnet「JJ's Mstudio」公開収録（2011年11月2日、3日）". Tower Records (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  23. "Gaon Weekly Album Charts – May 8 – 14, 2011". Gaon Charts (in Korean). Archived from the original on 6 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
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  26. "2011년 22주차 Digital Chart". Gaon Charts (in Korean). Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  27. "2011년 28주차 Digital Chart". Gaon Charts (in Korean). Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  28. "허영생 첫 솔로 데뷔 'Let it go'로 컴백". Gaon Charts (in Korean). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  29. "Let It Go – EP". iTunes. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  30. "Heo Young Saeng Mini Album – Let It Go". YesAsia. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  31. "首張冠軍迷你專輯 LET IT GO 台灣獨占CD+4款迷你海報盤". Warner Music Taiwan (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  32. "首張冠軍迷你專輯 LET IT GO 台灣獨占大型精裝書CD+DVD盤". Warner Music Taiwan (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  33. "2011년 05월 Album Chart". Gaon Charts (in Korean). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  34. "G-Music Combo Weekly Charts – Week 27 – July 1–7, 2011". G-Music (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  35. "G-Music J-Pop/K-Pop Weekly Charts – Week 27 – July 1–27, 2011". G-Music (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  36. 第27 週 統計時間：2011/07/01 – 2011/07/07. 5Music (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
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