''Im Hero'' is the debut studio album by South Korean singer

Lim Young-woong Lim Young-woong (; born June 16, 1991) is a South Korean trot, ballad and pop singer, entertainer and YouTuber. He signed with Mulgogi Music in 2016 and debuted as a singer with his first single "Hate You". Four years later, he rose to stardom ...

, released on May 2, 2022, through Mulgogi Music and distributed by

Dreamus Dreamus is an electronics and entertainment company founded in 1999 originally as ReignCom. Currently headquartered in South Korea (and formerly in the United States), it is the parent company of South Korean-based iRiver, Astell & Kern and FLO ...

. It was preceded by the single "Our Blues, Our Life", which topped the

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...

on release, and accompanied by the second single "If We Ever Meet Again", which also debuted atop the Gaon Digital Chart. The album was released in four physical versions and debuted atop the

Gaon Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Korea based on their Record sales, pure sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, pr ...

upon release. According to Gaon, ''Im Hero'' sold over 772,000 copies in South Korea in its first week of retail availability. It won

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

at the

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Melon Music Awards.

Background

''Im Hero'', Lim's first album, comes six years after his debut. He stated that he "did isbest to put in a wide variety of songs" and "really wanted to get it right. Just when I thought I'd completed it, something would make me think it's not enough, and I'd go back to the beginning on several occasions."

Commercial performance

The album became available for pre-order on April 7, 2022, and its jewel case version sold out quickly. The album debuted atop the

and sold over 772,000 copies at retail stores in South Korea in its first week of availability, according to Gaon. According to Hanteo, Lim broke the record for first-day CD sales by a solo singer, selling 940,600 copies on its first day and over 1.1 million in total in its first week.

Accolades

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Melon Music Award for Album of the Year 2022 debut albums Korean-language albums