Posted by Jacques Peterson on 01/17/2013 at 8:44 AM News

The Popdust Files: Jaejoong, junsu, jyj, K-pop

JYJ’s Jaejoong has followed in the footsteps of his bandmate, Junsu, by going solo. The 26-year-old dropped his first EP yesterday, but unlike Junsu, whose Tarantallegra album was mostly an urban-pop affair, Jaejoong’s dived head first into rock. To be more specific, J-rock, which tends to be more hyperactive and melodic than what would typically fall under the rock umbrella in North America, and usually features a lot of metal influences and jarring transitions. Jaejoong’s solo single, “Mine,” is a perfect example of that, which is interesting because it was actually produced by Kim Ba-da, a member of Korea’s first heavy metal band, Sinawe.

Keeping in theme with the song, Jaejoong’s upped the Japanese factor and gone full visual kei for the music video. For the unaware, visual kei is an androgynous, somewhat garish style that’s huge in the J-rock scene — you can think of it as a more Gothic, almost anime-inspired version of British glam rock. On top of the twisted fashion, Jaejoong pretty much throws everything but the kitchen sink into the clip, which includes (but is not limited to) rabid dogs, creepy crows, some kind of ancient bondage contraption, a bejeweled skull, an owl, and a serpent. Oh yeah, and at the end Jaejoong sprouts wings and fangs. And we actually thought that no JYJ member could ever make a more over the top music video than Junsu’s “Tarantallegra.”

Check out Jaejoong’s solo debut below, and look out for a new JYJ album later this year.