EXO's Kai Reveals How Drastically He Dieted For His Solo Comeback

In light of EXO‘s Kai‘s debut as a solo artist, he appeared on MBC‘s Kim Shin Young’s Hope Song at Noon to speak about “Mmmh” and details of how everything came together for his comeback.

Kai revealed that he was very involved in the process of selecting which song to debut with.

When I listened to the songs, I thought about what I wanted everyone to feel from it, and since I’m a dancer, I suggested we focus on the visualization.

— Kai

According to Kai, SM Entertainment allowed him to do what he wanted for his first song as a solo artist.

The company told me to do whatever I wanted. I took part in the song, visual art, and choreography.

— Kai

In particular, Kai revealed the extra lengths he took to diet compared to what he has been doing for EXO’s comebacks despite his tall height of 182 centimeters (6 feet).

When I do a powerful song, I bulk up to become 68 to 69 kilograms (~150 lbs), but for ‘Mmmh’, I had to show off my bodylines with no body fat whatsoever. So I dieted to be 63 to 64 kilograms (~140 lbs).

— Kai

And his hard efforts paid off because his idol friends such as SHINee‘s Taemin, BTS‘s Jimin, Ha Sungwoon, and VIXX‘s Ravi had nothing but praise for Kai’s new song.

They gave me a lot of advice, but first, they just overwhelmed me with compliments about how much they loved it. But Taemin is the type to just be direct with me, and we like doing that for each other.

— Kai