Taeyong's sexy Insta persona

Taeyong's freestyle uploads and reels are becoming more brazen and sexy these days. Is Taeyong rewriting his narrative and are we paying attention?

Yesterday 17/2/22 was the first year anniversary of Taeyong’s instagram creation. Having surpassed 1 million followers in just under 2 hours, Taeyong’s venture into the social media landscape was welcomed with open arms. An epic 3 hour Vlive after a lengthy hiatus, was the foundation for him announcing his new account and I am happy to say I was there for that moment having followed him at around 48,000k followers. This was also within 1 minute of him having announced his user name highlighting the speed with which fans began following him!

After delivering his first post of a freestyle in the US Mojave desert, an entire sequence of posts soon followed. Some cute. Some playful. Some showcasing old dance freestyles and some offering new material. Perhaps the most successful use of Instagram however, has been the promotion of his Soundcloud material complete with teaser images. Overall, Taeyong’s foray into using the social media space to promote his image has been used to full effect since Feb 2021.

Many of his posts are carefully thought out sequences which include a mixture of still images that are posed and more open outdoor images nestled amongst dance practice videos and reels. If one were to examine his posts one would see a complex character who is proud of his accomplishments and is not afraid to present himself authentically to the public. Having said that he is also one to post a sexy selfie soon after a video about random cats and before a video of himself as a very young child! This diversity makes for one very interesting Insta profile but it also does more than that- it is redefining who Taeyong is and who he wants us to see him as.

One particular sequential pattern however, appears to be the progression of his reels and freestyles. Some early freestyles showed him dancing to the Pink Panther theme and some international locations when on tour including, San Jose, London and Paris.

Which brings me to his latest reels and freestyle uploads.

The more recent ones appear to be sending a more brazen message. One thing we know for certain about Taeyong is that nothing is by chance or coincidence with him. He is a well thought out individual carefully planning his image narrative on Instagram. We have already seen this with his choice of spoilers and how he lines up his feed to suit a particular pattern. The same applies with his freestyles and the choice of music he chooses to pair those freestyles with.

Who can forget his dance upload with Bada Lee to ‘Freaky like me’ by Jaquees feat. Mulatto. Not only were the moves sharp and expressive, but they consisted of the classic Taeyong hip thrusts which we were to see later in Sticker and Favorite. Ok so Taeyong in an oversized sweater will probably always be sexy but the lyrics to the track are particularly sensual. Maybe I’m overthinking this. Let’s see what came next.

This was soon followed by another Taeyong- Bada showing this time dancing some more rather provocative moves to Mayhrenate’s ‘Takeout’. This time the moves look like preparation for the ‘Love on the floor’ performance which was first seen at NCT 127’s Neolink concert and were clearly designed to arouse. Let’s face it.

Soon after we were blessed with a dance practice of Taeyong’s solo performance first seen at the SBS Gayo Daejeon performance on Christmas Day 2021. What Taeyong served in this dance practice was sublime- the moves, the power behind his jumps, and more importantly, his buffed arms confidently handling and dancing with a lit up lasso. The general energy exhibited both by his solo performance and the dance practice was one of growing confidence in his ever developing identity- particularly his identity as a sexually empowered individual ready to share that part of himself with his audience.

Which brings me to his most recent offerings. Who could forget his dance to ‘Don’t’ by Bryson Tiller? Taeyong’s moves are literally mesmerizing to watch- his precise movement on every beat and note is visceral. However, it is the lyrics to the track perfectly aligned with his moves that made an impact on me. Not to mention the precise moment at which he starts the dance to the song to share with us. Not at the beginning- rather, halfway through the second verse where the lyrics become rather hot and heavy;

“Girl, he only fucked you over 'cause you let him
Fuck him, girl, I guess he didn't know any better
Girl, that man didn't show any effort

Do all I can just to show you you're special
Certain it's your love that holds me together
Lately you say he been killin' the vibe
Gotta be sick of this guy
Pull up, skrr, get in the ride
Left hand is steerin' the other is grippin' your thigh
Light up a spliff and get high
Shawty, you deserve what you've been missin'

Lookin' at you I'm thinkin' he must be trippin'
Play this song for him, tell him, ‘Just listen’

Don't
Don't

Girl, said he keeps on playin' games”

Once again, Taeyong is a master craftsman and knows exactly what emotions he’s trying to convey and elicit from his audience. The choice of track, the movement, and the precise bar at which he begins his video, is very deliberate.

Who can forget his recent Insta reel wearing the Celine woolen studded black mask which he whisks off ever so sensually using a filter to Bruno Mars’ ‘Talking to the moon’? His use of a filter to turn his eyes a brilliant blue as they gaze longingly into the camera is by design- he knows what he’s communicating.

Right through his Instagram feeds we find a collection of images that confirm my belief that he is evolving, maturing and becoming more confident with his sexual persona and wishing to share this part of his identity with his audience.

This brings me to his latest post today 18/2/22. Hidden carefully amongst his reels and kept away from his timeline was a bedroom freestyle to commemorate his one year Instaversary. Except this time, despite the track being a TikTok trend, Taeyong played it beyond its trending parts to include some more expletive elements! The track? Felix the 1st’s ‘Own brand freestyle’.

“Like, I just wanna play with that fanny (gimme that, gimme that)

Lil' miss, I really wan' play with that pussy
Baby, she give me the wet (wet)
I make that pussy squirt
I tell her, "Felix go first" (wait)
She wanna tell me she love me
I tell her "I'm cool" so I tell her to skrrt (yeah)
My little bitch do the dirt (nah)
She don't wan' hate me, she lurk (nah, nah, nah)”

Since English is not Taeyong’s first language, we can assume to some extent that he wouldn’t totally understand the meaning and context of these lyrics. However, I’m not too sure about that. Taeyong is a perfectionist. He is 100% in control of his image that he’s carefully curated on Instagram and wouldn’t so casually freestyle to a track he knows nothing about. When you watch his movements and see how carefully he pairs them up to lyrics, we can definitely see that not only is he in full control of the narrative, it’s one that he has deliberately chosen to share.

So the question is, what exactly is he trying to share with us?

I’ll leave that up to his audience. Besides, art and its expression are subjectively appreciated and interpreted. I have my ideas about what is driving Taeyong’s development which I will keep to myself. I do know one thing however- just as his art is evolving, so too is his identity, persona and soul.

And I for one, have never been more excited to see where he takes it next.