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On Monday, December 9, SM Entertainment released a statement announcing that NCT's Mark's solo debut album, scheduled to be released in February 2025, has now been pushed to April 2025. They also stated that this was to improve the quality of the album. Here's what the statement read:
"Mark’s first full-length album, originally scheduled for release in February 2025, has been postponed to April 2025 to further enhance its overall quality and completeness. This decision was made after thorough discussions to ensure the album meets the highest standards, and we kindly ask for your understanding."
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When this statement landed on the internet, fans were frustrated with SM Entertainment. On the one hand, netizens criticized the agency for its lack of planning, and on the other hand, fans also called out SM Entertainment for not giving Mark enough time to prepare the album due to his schedules with his groups like NCT DREAM and NCT 127.
Therefore, while many were happy that the idol was being given more time to focus and create his solo debut album, they were displeased with the alleged lack of accountability from the agency. Here are a few fan reactions regarding the same:
"Stop trying to sugarcoat it. we all know mark wouldn’t drop dates during fancalls unless his album was basically ready. this isn’t about 'perfection', it’s about overloading him with other schedules that clash with his solo debut."
"let me rephrase the sentence and say: mark's schedule is so hectic bcs of our (sm) own fault to the point he can't even focus for his upcoming solo album," said a fan.
"this is entirely sm’s fault! we all know mark is a perfectionist and he doesn’t have enough time to perfect his art on his own debut album because sm keep packing his schedule," added another fan.
"you should prioritize his solo activities instead of getting him overworked over a world tour nobody wanted or asked for" commented a netizen
More fans and netizens expressed their frustration about the postponement and SM Entertainment's alleged lack of planning.
"sm will never fail to prove that they’re such an incompetent company," stated a fan.
"you could’ve just cancel smtown instead of rescheduling the release of his first solo album that he has been working for a long time," added an X user.
"maybe if you didn’t overwork him like you are you wouldn’t be ruining his solo debut," commented another fan.
"I can't believe you already announced it 9 months in advance but still fail to make sure that his solo promotions and group promos will not be conflicting," added another X user.
All you need to know about NCT's Mark and his solo activities
Mark is a 25-year-old Canadian singer, rapper, dancer, and songwriter based in South Korea. He debuted under SM Entertainment in 2016, and currently stands as the rapper and dancer of two of NCT's subunits, NCT DREAM and NCT 127. He is also part of a supergroup under SM Entertainment consisting of SuperM.
Additionally, he also participates in NCT U tracks which include the temporary units made from all the NCT members. Ideally, the NCT members come together once a year to create collaborative tracks by making temporary units under the NCT U artist name. Apart from his activities as a member of these groups and being the leader of NCT DREAM, he has also established a solo career.
The idol has released a couple of tracks under NCT LAB like Golder Hour, 200, and Child. Furthermore, he has also collaborated with other artists across the K-pop industry such as EXO's Xiumin, Red Velvet's Seulgi, etc. Therefore, fans are excited to see the idol's official solo debut on a full-fledged scale.
Most recently, the idol rolled out a comeback with NCT DREAM. The group released their fourth full-length album, DREAMSCAPE, on November 11, which held the track, When I'm With You, as its title track. Additionally, they also wrapped up their world tour, The Dream Show 3, on December 1, at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea.
