Monsta X member Jooheon has returned as solo artist "JOONONEY."
At 6 p.m. on the 22nd, Jooheon released the pre-release track "Push (Feat. Rei of IVE)" and its music video from his mini album 2 "光 (INSANITY)" on various music platforms.
Jooheon, who will release his mini album 2 "光 (INSANITY)" and make his solo comeback on Jan. 5, 2026, released the pre-release track "Push (Feat. Rei of IVE)" ahead of that to warm up for his comeback.
This new record "光 (INSANITY)", which Jooheon presents for the first time in two years and eight months, is an album that puts the world of solo artist "JOONONEY" front and center. The album title conveys the meeting of "madness (狂)" and "light (光)," telling the story of the impulse and passion of a young man who first grasped music and the weight of the artist on stage colliding and ultimately merging into a single light.
The pre-release track "Push (Feat. Rei of IVE)" is like the first scene that leads into this album. It symbolizes Jooheon's "first push," as he pushes away his own world, breaks through the darkness and heads toward the light.
This R&B track, written and composed by Jooheon himself, delicately depicts the wavering between love and one's own feelings within a relationship where the two push and pull each other.
In particular, IVE's Rei participated as a featured artist, and Jooheon's emotional vocals and Rei's soft tone blend to convey warmth while the honest and witty lyrics evoke listeners' empathy.
What is it about your charm that pulls me? / Just I'm fallin' fallin' fallin' / Just callin' callin' callin' me / Are we getting closer? / Or farther farther farther / When you push me away I want to go to you more / Push / Baby just push / Push / Now baby just push
Actor Shin Eun-su appears in the music video released together and shares scenes with Jooheon. Set against a frozen-time subway station, it depicts Jooheon's emotional changes as he collides with another self, and when Shin Eun-su breaks the emergency bell the story begins to move forward again. This visually symbolizes Jooheon's internal narrative of ultimately moving forward on his own path despite the wavering.
As Jooheon of Monsta X has shown diverse abilities, attention is focused on what new world he will unfold with this solo comeback, and anticipation is already building for the album's full track list to be revealed next year.
[photo] music video capture
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