Changmin Returns Solo After 4 Years 9 Months With Mini Album 'All Of My Life'

4 years and 9 months later

Changmin (최강창민) is back. His third mini album All Of My Life dropped in October, ending a solo hiatus of 4 years and 9 months.

The comeback arrived with a TV appearance. He joined SBS My Ugly Duckling as a special MC on October 1st to talk through fatherhood and, briefly, the album.

His 5-year-old asked the teacher to play "Maniac"

One moment from the episode will stick around: Changmin's son, now 5 and in kindergarten, apparently processed the whole "dad has a stage name" conversation and walked straight into class to tell his teacher, "Please play Changmin's Maniac." (The kid understood the assignment.)

Changmin explained the name situation directly to his son: "When dad works, I work under the name Changmin (최강창민), but as you know, dad's real name is Sim Changmin (심창민)."

On parenting a 5-year-old, he said: "It's really tough, but the expression that he's so pretty and lovely seems right."

He also shared a stranger story. A company employee with no connection to his son spotted the child somewhere and messaged his manager: "I think I saw Changmin's son." Changmin's response: "When I look at him too, he resembles me a bit."

Where All Of My Life sits

This is Changmin's third mini album as a solo artist. The 4-year-9-month gap between this and his previous solo work marks the longest stretch of his solo career so far. The album title lands differently knowing what the last few years looked like for him personally.