After previous reports of Tao releasing a new song on July 13, the singer revealed further plans for a solo album.

Tao (also known as Huang Zi Tao or Z.TAO,) an estranged member of SM Entertainment's male idol group EXO, announced that his first solo mini album will be officially announced on July 23. It marks Tao's first activities since his alleged departure from EXO.

The announcement and a teaser image were uploaded to Tao's official Twitter on July 13.

"On July 23, Z.TAO will announce his first mini album as a solo artist, marking his first comeback," read the announcement on Z.TAO's professional Weibo page.

The teaser image features Tao with purple hair and wearing black fur and leather embellishments.

Within 24 hours of being uploaded to Weibo, the picture had been liked over 40,000 times.

Tao previously shared photos of himself in the recording studio, presumed to be showing him amidst recording the mini album.

Tao debuted as a member of EXO in 2012, as a member of the Chinese-focused subgroup EXO-M. The Korean subgroup, EXO-K, and Chinese one were combined later on in EXO's career, and Tao has been promoting throughout Asia as a member of EXO.

After the departure of two Chinese members, Luhan and Kris (Wu Yi Fan,) in 2014, rumors spread regarding Tao's future with the group. Shortly after the group made a comeback in May with the new album "EXODUS," Tao left Korea and his father issued a statement saying that Tao had left EXO.

SM Entertainment has denied Tao's formal departure from EXO, but stated that the two sides are in talks regarding Tao's future in EXO. At this time, SM Entertainment has not issued a statement regarding the announcement on Tao's Weibo.

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