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'East': Lay Zhang to drop solo mini-album after EXO's comeback, ends long hiatus

Lay Zhang aka Yixing made his much-awaited return to EXO after going on a hiatus of sorts in 2017 and is still with SM Entertainment

Lay Zhang aka Zhang Yixing has been having quite a successful 2021 even though there are a few months to go before the year ends. He finally made his much-awaited return to EXO after going on a hiatus of sorts in 2017. Due to the Chinese-South Korean tensions, Lay could not participate in group activities as he is an ambassador of the Communist Youth League Of China. However, with diplomatic relations improving, he joined EXO for their summer release ‘Don’t Fight The Feeling’. After delighting his members and his fans with his involvement, he is set to drop the solo album ‘East’. 

It should be noted that Lay is still very much a part of EXO and under SM Entertainment's management — his albums and music are still produced by the South Korean agency. Similarly, his fourth EP ‘East’ will be a joint production with SM Entertainment and his personal agency Yixing Studio. ‘East’ is his latest solo album that follows the successful studio album ‘Producer’ that he released in February 2021. Here is everything that we know about Lay’s upcoming release.

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Release date

Lay’s mini-album ‘East’ will be released on October 15.

Where to listen

It will be available on all major music streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, MelOn and more.

Tracklist

1. ‘Samadhi Real Fire’

Probable track names

2. ‘Flying Apsara’
3. ‘East’
4. ‘Shepherd’

Lay released ‘Samadhi Real Fire’ as a pre-release single on his birthday, October 7. Fans think that the idol has also spoiled the track names by using them as captions on his social media posts. The EXO member has always incorporated his culture and rich Chinese heritage in his music and ‘East’ is no different. It looks like he will be making use of Far East elements and will tell a new story of his fantasy universe.

It should be noted that Lay has also started a new charity project titled ‘Flying Apsaras and Chasing Dreams’. Donations in the form of financial aid packages will be made to seven schools in Guizhou. The charity will also support cultural research in West Hunan. Additionally, it will give gifts to those who participate in the ‘21 Day Passion Challenge’ by recording themselves learning or doing something that they are passionate about for 21 days. Fans can participate by using #飞天计划热·爱21天挑战 .

‘An EP full of masterpieces’

Excited fans have been trending ‘Yixing is coming’ to hype the album. One fan tweeted, “KING IS COMING. LAY IS COMING. YIXING IS COMING.” Another posted, “Yup fck yes u are right Zhang Yixing is coming! This is a nice gift for us!” One fan commented, “Yixing's new EP #EAST will be released in 3 days! Make sure to prepare yourselves because #YIXINGISCOMING to serve everyone an EP full of masterpieces.”