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On Friday, December 16, 2022, SEVENTEEN's Vernon announced that he'd kickstart his solo career with his first mixtape, Black Eye. Through SEVENTEEN's official Instagram and Twitter, Pledis Entertainment released a teaser image, hinting at the mixtape genre that will roll out on December 23 at 2 pm KST.
With his earlier participation as a solo artist in features and singles, this will be the first time that CARATs (SEVENTEEN's fandom) will hear an entire lineup of songs from SEVENTEEN's Vernon. The sudden drop in unexpected news has left fans going crazy over yet another solo work from the band. Looking at the teaser, fans also believe that the pop-punk aesthetic it radiates suits Vernon.
SEVENTEEN's Vernon to drop his debut solo mixtape on December 23
Following the release of the announcement and teaser images, fans couldn't quite hold their excitement and delved into an analysis, breaking down parts of the teaser image and creating theories of what the mixtape could hold.
CARATs have been waiting for a full-fledged solo from SEVENTEEN's Vernon. Considering his minimal activities outside the band and Black Eye's release right around the corner, they are over the moon waiting for December 23.
This isn't the first time Vernon has surprised his fans with a sudden drop. On November 23 last year, he released his first-ever solo single, Bands Boy, and fans cherished the song. As the rapper of SEVENTEEN, Vernon proved his skills in the field by entirely working on the lyrics and contributing to the composition of the hip-hop song.
Another participation in 2022 by SEVENTEEN's Vernon was his feature in Charli XCX's Beg For You on February 25. Before that and Bands Boys, the K-pop idol was last active in 2016 and 2015, with the release of Sickness with PLEDIS GIRLZ and Lotto, alongside Don Mills.
Solo drops from the SEVENTEEN members in 2022 that had CARATs going crazy
Before Vernon's mixtape release announcement, fans had two other members who rolled out their solo careers this year. SEVENTEEN's JUN released his debut solo single, LIMBO, on September 23, 2022. The song came out in Chinese and Korean versions, along with a mesmerizing choreography that proved his place in SEVENTEEN's dance unit.
WOOZI, on the other hand, released an English single named Ruby on January 4, 2022. Known as an impressive composer, the K-pop idol cemented it with yet another catchy song, commendable vocals, and interesting lyrics.
The song was the second release in SEVENTEEN's The Thirteen Tapes, where all the thirteen members are said to put forth solo works. This makes Black Eye from SEVENTEEN's Vernon the third in line on the project.
In other news, SEVENTEEN has recently released a Japanese EP, Dream, with a brand new single of the same name. It was accompanied by Japanese versions of their earlier songs, Rock with You and All My Love, and their English single Dar+ling in a Holiday version to celebrate the year-end festivities.
With more and more SEVENTEEN members kickstarting their solo careers, CARATs can't help but freak out with the new release announcements as they eagerly wait for it to come out.
