EXO's Baekhyun breaks major K-pop soloist record with 'Bambi'

It’s only been a week since EXO’s Baekhyun released Bambi, but it’s already become another achievement in his career.

While Baekhyun is intimately familiar with the feeling of breaking records — he is, after all, the first soloist in 19 years to sell a million physical copies of an album — this one sure does feel like an apt goodbye before he enlists in the military next month.

According to South Korea’s Hanteo chart, Bambi by Baekhyun is now the highest selling album by a solo artist in the first week of release. Reports state that Bambi sold a whopping 868k copies in the week after its release, soaring to the top of the sales chart.

With this, Baekhyun is also breaking a previous record: in 2020, his second mini-album Delight bagged the same title with an impressive 600k units sold. At the time, he dethroned soloist Kang Daniel and his EP Color On Me.

While Baekhyun is not promoting Bambi at the time, this sure seems like a great going away gift for the soloist, news of whose enlistment left fans distraught. According to South Korean law, all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 30 must serve in the military for two years.

At a press event for the album, Baekhyun specified that his third mini-album is probably the closest to his own self in creative expression. “It’s an album that shows off ‘Baekhyun’s voice’ through a diverse range of R&B music. If the past albums were split about 50-50 between my vocals and the music, this time it’s about 70-30 in favor of my voice.” he said.

Compared to his last release, ‘Candy’ — from the album Delight — ‘Bambi’ is where Baekhyun crosses over to maturity. “It’s a 180-degree shift from the vibe of ‘Candy.’ There are a lot of different emotional expressions in the music video. I thought a lot about how to express sexiness without putting too much effort. It’s not made plain, but I hope you can feel the maturity of ‘Baekhyun’ at 30 years old.”