In Coachella’s humid Mojave tent, TAEMIN emerges for his Saturday (April 11) evening performance from a fleshy, spherical cage. It’s more than just aesthetic set dressing — speaking later with Billboard, the singer explains that the prop represents a poignant line from Herman Hesse’s Demian about a bird that cracks free from its egg: before you can really live, you first have to deconstruct the only world you’ve ever known. Related Taemin Talks Long Road to First U.S.

Tour, Control In His Career and Why He’s No Longer ‘A Frog in a Well’ Ice Spice Jokes That Her McDonald's Fight 'Wouldn't Happen at Wendy's' Lil Wayne Calls It a 'Humbling Experience' Not Being Invited to Coachella or Grammy Awards The 32-year-old knows a little something about that kind of leap of faith. Introduced in 2008 as part of K-pop five-piece SHINee, TAEMIN’s (then still developing) voice barely appeared on their debut single, “Replay,” yet through a potent combination of unrivaled dance skills and trailblazing creative vision, he grew to become one of K-pop’s most sought-after soloists.

After 16 years operating under the tutelage of legacy management company SM Entertainment, the singer opted not to renew his solo contract in 2024, instead signing with smaller label BPM Entertainment. (He moved again to Galaxy Corporation, home to fellow K-pop veteran and 2026 Coachella performer G-Dragon, just one month ago.) Given the recency of that label shift, it seems like a miracle TAEMIN’s festival set came together at all, let alone nearly as well as it did. As always, the perfectionist has a few notes ahead of weekend two. But from an outside perspective, the show convincingly asserted his status as an artist among idols, from the elaborate staging and lighting cues to how he throws himself into every move with full-bodied commitment to the craft.

In addition to old favorites “WANT,” “Advice,” “IDEA” and “MOVE” — the choreographed restraint for which was so innovative that it unleashed a rash of imitators upon release in 2017 — TAEMIN debuted six tracks from an upcoming project: “Permission,” “Parasite,” “Frankenstein,” “Let Me Be the One,” “Sober” and “1004.” Even within a stifling industry, TAEMIN has long defined himself and his trajectory on his own terms. Now, following his historic stint as the first Korean male K-pop soloist to perform at Coachella — and first K-pop soloist with a dedicated display at the Grammy Museum — the “idol’s idol” is ready to take the next step.

“Although I’m not caught up in results, I want my team and I to accomplish something tangible together,” he tells Billboard, pointing to future tours and awards as his more immediate goals. But there’s one lofty aspiration the singer has set his sights on for further down the line: “I want to be someone who’s mentioned when people think about art.” He breaks down the creative behind his 50-minute Coachella set — and what it meant to be one of two second-generation K-pop acts performing over the weekend — below. Billboard: How are you feeling after your Coachella debut?

Taemin: I was very nervous, but now that weekend one is done and the videos people took are showing up on my feed, I’m less anxious. For this second weekend, I think I will have more fun and hopefully make up for my shortcomings. What was the preparation process like?

When did you start making the setlist? I started planning the setlist last year, but the details were filled in around January, mostly February. Truthfully, I was set to perform at Coachella early on.

So, any time I was running or exercising since then, I would listen to my music and envision a good way to perform each song. Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Coachella Tell me the story of the set design, especially the beginning, where you emerge from that egg-like structure. There’s a verse in Demian: “The bird fights its way out of the egg.

The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world.” I was really inspired by that, so I made it part of the concept for the performance and for my album. Something about always pushing and breaking the mold, despite it being an unknown world, resonated with me.

The staging for “Parasite” was also really amazing. What inspired that? I feel like when I was younger, I was more at peace.

But now, there’s a lot of pressure and there are more times when I am facing hatred and negativity. I wanted to portray this artistically through my music. I’m pained that there is so much hate in the world.

It makes me sad, and I made this song to portray my genuine feelings. I took a lot of time to think about this, so it’s nice to hear that the song is being enjoyed. One of the biggest reactions from the crowd was for “MOVE.” How do you feel about the response to that song, now that it’s been almost a decade since its release?

Honestly, it’s an iconic song and one that people think of when they think of me. So I thought I should definitely perform it — but since it’s an older song, I’ve performed it a