One K-pop star turning to the Chinese market is definitely aware of what his name is.

Z.TAO (Tao), the estranged member of K-pop boy band EXO, released his fist solo music video on July 23 in China. The video for "T.A.O" was uploaded to YouTube despite copyright claims from SM Entertainment, EXO's company in South Korea.

The music video for "T.A.O" is a high-quality production that focuses on the singer's vocal talent and his dance skills as he makes his solo debut.

"T.A.O" is a pop-dance song with a dark style that The music video was directed by Colin Tulley, and features Tao in a variety of settings with intense dance sequences featuring back up dancers. The song was reportedly written partially by Tao himself.

Tao, known by his full name Huang Zi Tao or his stage name Z.Tao, debuted as a member of SM Entertainment's boy band EXO in 2012. Originally one of six members of the Chinese subunit, EXO-M, the Chinese and Korean units (EXO-K) joined together to become one of K-pop's most popular idol groups around the world. In 2015, Tao took an absence from the group due to multiple health issues at the urging of his father.

The debut of "T.A.O" comes at a time when Tao's situation as a soloist is unclear. The video teaser for Tao's solo debut was removed from YouTube due to copyright claims by SM Entertainment.

SM Entertainment previously said that the company and Tao's side were trying to sort things out.

Tao is the first member of EXO to pursue a career as a solo singer in China. Two former members of EXO, Kris (Wu Yi Fan) and Luhan, left EXO in 2014 and also went on to pursue solo careers in China, but focus on acting and have not debuted formally as solo singers. Both Luhan and Kris filed lawsuits against SM Entertainment, but there have been no reports of Tao doing the same.

Tao's debut EP contains three songs and was released on July 23 in China.

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