TEMPEST's Hanbin on his solo debut: 'No Fear,' Vietnam roots, and no regrets
Four years into TEMPEST, Hanbin drops his solo debut with 'No Fear' and 'Air'. He credits the whole journey—from Vietnam to Korea to now—as destiny.
Four years in, Hanbin goes solo
TEMPEST member Hanbin released his solo debut four years after the group's debut. The album leads with No Fear and Air, both tracks he co-wrote lyrics for.
It's already climbing Vietnam's iTunes Top Songs chart, with his video content gaining traction on the local YouTube chart too. That connection runs deep. Hanbin was studying at university in Vietnam when he made the call to leave for Korea and chase K-pop.
"If I hadn't come to Korea then, I would probably be working at a marketing company going to work every day," he said during a Chuseok-themed hanbok interview at Star News headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul. "I don't regret coming to Korea. I really like what I'm doing now."
What he wanted to prove going alone
Hanbin had doubts at first. Could he pull this off without the group?
"At first, I wondered if I could do it as a solo artist. Since I was always with the members, it was difficult to imagine myself doing it alone. But once I started preparing, it was fun because I could do what I wanted to do."
The goal was simple: show who he actually is. "Both my side as a Vietnamese person and my side as a K-pop artist."
When asked to sum up the album in one word, he went with 흥한빈, 흥하자 — roughly, "Let's be excited, Hanbin, let's be excited." (Very on-brand energy for a debut solo.)
Members, father, and the destiny read
His TEMPEST members came through harder than expected. One who heard the song told him, "Hyung, it's definitely a good feeling. You do everything well." The group also kept reminding him to take care of his health during late-night practice sessions.
His father shaped this path. "Watching my father enjoy music, I thought I wanted to do music like that too," Hanbin said.
He closed with a line that ties it all together: joining TEMPEST, then landing a solo four years later. "Everything seems like destiny."
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