Taemin Makes History By Debuting In 3 Generations Of K-Pop

How many idols can say they’re still relevant 10+ years after debut?

Taemin is a talented artist from SM Entertainment and considered one of the best dancers in the industry. His highly-publicized debut with SuperM on October 4 was only one of the debuts he experienced. He has, in fact, debuted four times, and coincidentally in different generations of K-Pop!

1. SHINee

Taemin’s first debut was with his group SHINee on May 25, 2008. They immediately made it big with their iconic song “Replay” which was a catchy tune aimed towards older women. SHINee became known as one of the most skilled K-Pop groups, with Taemin leading the front as their maknae dancing machine.

SHINee arguably belongs to the end of the second generation of K-Pop, along with groups such as Girls’ Generation, Super Junior,and 2PM.

2. YOUNIQUE Unit

While YOUNIQUE was technically a unit group, they still made a huge splash in the entertainment scene. Consisting of the dance legends in SM Entertainment at the time of their 2012 debut, Taemin went along with Super Junior’s Eunhyuk and Super Junior-M‘s Henry, EXO‘s Kai and Luhan, and Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon to perform their song “MAXSTEP.”

YOUNIQUE belonged to the third generation of K-Pop along with EXO, AOA, B.A.P, etc.

3. Solo Debut

Taemin made his solo debut with the mini album ACE and the title track “Danger” on August 13, 2014.  The choreography for “Danger” was created by American choreographer Ian Eastwood and SM’s performance directing team BeatBurger. Taemin even needed to use a dance studio in L.A. in order to learn the performance.

His solo debut was considered to fall under the third generation of K-Pop as it happened in 2014.

4. SuperM

Finally, Taemin debuted again, this time in the fourth and current generation of K-Pop! SuperM made headlines in the entertainment industry, topping charts and having executives call them “the next BTS.”

It’s amazing how Taemin is one of the undisputed greatest idols in K-Pop even 10+ years after his debut!