Walking With () is the sixth solo studio album by South Korean pop singer-songwriter Kim Dong-ryool, and his seventh solo album overall. It was released on October 1, 2014 by the artist's label Music Farm and distributed by LOEN Entertainment. Guitarist Lee Sang-soon (who has also been known as Lee Hyori's husband) and Superstar K2 runner-up John Park participated on the album as featured artists. The album is the singer's first solo release since the holiday album KimdongrYULE (2011), and also his first studio album since Monologue (2008).
The self-produced album features ten tracks in total, including the lead single "How I Am" and the track under the same title. Without any televised promotions, "How I Am" topped the Gaon Singles Chart for two consecutive weeks.Chart references of "How I Am": The song also won Song of the Year at the 4th annual Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards.
An LP edition of the album, limited to 3,000 copies, was available for sale. As of , Walking With has sold over 58,000 physical albums and three million digital singles in South Korea (see Chart performance).
Singles "How I Am" "How I Am" () is the lead single from the album. The song depicts a man who misses his past lover, and actor Gong Yoo starred in its corresponding music video. After filming the music video, Gong stated "I can't forget the memories when I listened to the music of Exhibition () using cassette tapes in my school years. Kim has been my favorite musician since then. I wanted to celebrate by starring in the music video, in my mind to cheer the 20th anniversary of his debut." The music video was released on October 1, 2014, via LOEN Entertainment's official YouTube channel.
Upon its release, "How I Am" achieved an "all-kill" status in South Korea, reaching the pole position on all of the real-time music charts including MelOn, Bugs, Soribada, Genie, Mnet Music, Monkey3, Olleh Music, Cyworld Music, Daum Music, and Naver Music. Without any broadcast promotions, the song topped the Gaon Singles Chart for two consecutive weeks.Chart references of "How I Am": It also won the first place on televised K-pop music shows like The Music Trend (SBS) and Music Bank (KBS), from October 12 to 17, 2014. This was Kim's first feat since he received a trophy for "Should I Tell You Again That I Love You?" () on MBC's Music Camp (currently Show! Music Core) in January 2002.
"How I Am" was the 51st biggest selling digital song of 2014 in South Korea. Since its release, the song has sold about 900,000 digital copies domestically.Sales references for "How I Am":
Promotion Instead of having broadcast promotions, it was announced that Kim would hold his nationwide concert tour from November 1, 2014. Starting in Busan, he performed in cities including Seongnam, Gwangju, Goyang, Jeonju, Seoul, Daegu, and Daejeon until January 3, 2015, to promote his comeback album.
Track listing All songs written and composed by Kim Dong-ryool.
Notes The title of track 2 literally means "The Youth". The title of track 5 literally means "That's How I Am". The title of track 7 literally means "My Heart Is".
Chart performance Album charts Chart (2014) Peakposition Sales South Korean Gaon Weekly Albums Chart 2 KOR: 58,300+ South Korean Gaon Monthly Albums Chart 5 South Korean Gaon Year-End Albums Chart 40 US Billboard World Albums Chart 3
Single charts How I Am Chart (2014) Peakposition Sales South Korean Gaon Weekly Singles Chart 1 KOR: 900,000+ (digital downloads only) South Korean Gaon Monthly Singles Chart 1 South Korean Gaon Year-End Singles Chart 46
Other charted songs Title Peak chart position Sales KORGaon "My Very Own" 5 KOR: 402,000+ (digital downloads only)Sales references for "My Very Own": "Confession" 6 KOR: 279,000+ (digital downloads only)Sales references for "Confession": "Those Days" 9 KOR: 269,000+ (digital downloads only)Sales references for "Those Days": "Walking With" 11 KOR: 270,000+ (digital downloads only)Sales references for "Walking With": "Advice" 12 KOR: 221,000+ (digital downloads only)Sales references for "Advice": "Where My Heart Is" 13 KOR: 210,000+ (digital downloads only)Sales references for "Where My Heart Is": "Puzzle" 15 KOR: 185,000+ (digital downloads only)Sales references for "Puzzle": "That Song" 16 KOR: 185,000+ (digital downloads only)Sales references for "That Song": "Today" 19 KOR: 172,000+ (digital downloads only)Sales references for "Today":
Awards and nominations Annual music awards Year Award Category Recipient Result 2014 16th Mnet Asian Music Awards Best Vocal Performance – Male "How I Am" 2015 24th Seoul Music Awards Bonsang (Main Prize) Kim Dong-ryool High1/Mobile Popularity Award Hallyu Special Award 4th Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards Song of the Year – October 2014 "How I Am"
Music program awards Song Program Date "How I Am" The Music Trend (SBS) October 12, 2014 Music Bank (KBS) October 17, 2014
Release history Region Date Format Edition Label South Korea October 1, 2014 CD, digital download Music Farm, LOEN Entertainment Worldwide Digital download South Korea January 15, 2015 LP Limited Edition
See also List of number-one hits of 2014 (South Korea)
Footnotes
References
External links
Kim Dong-ryool's official website