Taeyang's five solo albums: from 'Hot' in 2008 to 'QUINTESSENCE' in 2026

Taeyang has released five albums under his own name. It began with one mini album in 2008, four full-length albums followed, and the last of them came out on his own birthday in 2026.

In the year BIGBANG began its 20th-anniversary promotions, here are those five in order, with their release dates, formats and what the reporting of the day recorded.

22 May 2008, the first mini album Hot

Taeyang’s first solo album is Hot, a mini album released on 22 May 2008. According to the album information carried on Bugs, it holds six tracks, and the title track is ‘ONLY LOOK AT ME’.

The music video for it is on Taeyang’s own official channel, as ‘TAEYANG - 나만 바라봐(ONLY LOOK AT ME) M/V’.

1 July 2010, the first full-length album Solar

Asiae reported on 1 July 2010 that Taeyang’s first full-length album Solar had been released at midnight that day. According to the same article, the music video for the title track ‘I Need A Girl’ was due out at 6 p.m. the same day, with G-Dragon appearing in it.

It came out in two formats. The same outlet reported that the deluxe edition was limited to 30,000 copies while orders passed 50,000. The same article wrote that YG had planned to release Solar as a deluxe edition on the 1st and a standard edition on the 9th, but that with a shortage expected it was in talks with the manufacturer about bringing the standard edition forward.

3 June 2014, the second full-length album RISE

Asiae reported on 3 June 2014 that ‘EYES, NOSE, LIPS’, the title track of Taeyang’s second full-length album RISE, swept the real-time number one spots on the major streaming charts the moment it was released. According to the same article the song took number one on 9 charts including Melon, Mnet, Genie, Bugs and Olleh Music, and also went to number one on the iTunes album charts in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The same outlet wrote that RISE was Taeyang’s second full-length album in 4 years and that ‘EYES, NOSE, LIPS’ is a slow R&B song.

Two days later Asiae reported that Billboard had said of the album: “Taeyang’s second full-length album ‘RISE’ has dance, hip-hop, gospel and everything beyond that in it.”

16 August 2017, the third full-length album WHITE NIGHT

Star News reported that Taeyang would release his third full-length album WHITE NIGHT through the music sites at 6 p.m. on 16 August 2017. According to the same article it was his first solo full-length album in 3 years and 2 months, counting from RISE in June 2014. The title track is ‘DARLING’, written and composed by Teddy, YG Entertainment’s main producer.

Taeyang held a press conference at D Museum in Hannam-dong, Seoul, on the day of release. What the same article carried him saying is this: many people had called it a break-up song, but “if you look at the lyrics it is a song with the fiercest feelings of love mixed into it, a song any couple would recognise”, and “the lyric says that you are the only hope”.

The same outlet wrote that the WHITE NIGHT world tour that followed the album ran to 23 shows in 19 cities across 11 countries.

18 May 2026, the fourth full-length album QUINTESSENCE

The Korea Times wrote that QUINTESSENCE is Taeyang’s fourth solo full-length album and his first full-length release since WHITE NIGHT in 2017. According to the same article it came out on his birthday, 18 May 2026, and the title track is ‘Live Fast Die Slow’.

The listening session on release day and the tracks themselves are covered in a separate article on this site. What is recorded here is only where this album sits in the list of five — 18 years after the first mini album, and 16 years after the first full-length one.

Key takeaways

• Taeyang’s first solo album is the mini album Hot, released on 22 May 2008 with six tracks. The title track is ‘ONLY LOOK AT ME’.
• The first full-length album Solar was released at midnight on 1 July 2010, with ‘I Need A Girl’ as its title track.
• Asiae reported that Solar’s deluxe edition was limited to 30,000 copies while orders passed 50,000.
• The second full-length album RISE came out on 3 June 2014, and its title track ‘EYES, NOSE, LIPS’ took number one on 9 charts.
• The third full-length album WHITE NIGHT came out at 6 p.m. on 16 August 2017, and its title track ‘DARLING’ was written and composed by Teddy.
• The fourth full-length album QUINTESSENCE came out on 18 May 2026, and The Korea Times wrote that it was his first full-length release since WHITE NIGHT in 2017.
• Every music video is on an official channel. K-Culture Radar does not re-upload video; it links to the official upload.