Walking With (album)
# Walking With (album)

Walking With (Korean: 동행; RR: Donghaeng) is the sixth solo studio album by South Korean pop singer-songwriter Kim Dong-ryool, and his seventh solo album overall. It was released on October 1, 2014 by the artist's label Music Farm and distributed by LOEN Entertainment. Guitarist Lee Sang-soon (who has also been known as Lee Hyori's husband) and Superstar K2 runner-up John Park participated on the album as featured artists. The album is the singer's first solo release since the holiday album KimdongrYULE (2011), and also his first studio album since Monologue (2008).

The self-produced album features ten tracks in total, including the lead single "How I Am" and the track under the same title. Without any televised promotions, "How I Am" topped the Gaon Singles Chart for two consecutive weeks. The song also won Song of the Year at the 4th annual Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards.

An LP edition of the album, limited to 3,000 copies, was available for sale. As of July 2023, Walking With has sold over 58,000 physical albums and three million digital singles in South Korea (see Chart performance).

## Singles

### "How I Am"

"How I Am" (Korean: 그게 나야; RR: Geuge Naya) is the lead single from the album. The song depicts a man who misses his past lover, and actor Gong Yoo starred in its corresponding music video. After filming the music video, Gong stated "I can't forget the memories when I listened to the music of Exhibition (Korean: 전람회; RR: Jeollamhoe) using cassette tapes in my school years. Kim has been my favorite musician since then. I wanted to celebrate by starring in the music video, in my mind to cheer the 20th anniversary of his debut." The music video was released on October 1, 2014, via LOEN Entertainment's official YouTube channel.

Upon its release, "How I Am" achieved an "all-kill" status in South Korea, reaching the pole position on all of the real-time music charts including MelOn, Bugs, Soribada, Genie, Mnet Music, Monkey3, Olleh Music, Cyworld Music, Daum Music, and Naver Music. Without any broadcast promotions, the song topped the Gaon Singles Chart for two consecutive weeks. It also won the first place on televised K-pop music shows like The Music Trend (SBS) and Music Bank (KBS), from October 12 to 17, 2014. This was Kim's first feat since he received a trophy for "Should I Tell You Again That I Love You?" (Korean: 다시 사랑한다 말할까; RR: Dasi Saranghanda Malhalkka) on MBC's Music Camp (currently Show! Music Core) in January 2002.

"How I Am" was the 51st biggest selling digital song of 2014 in South Korea. Since its release, the song has sold about 900,000 digital copies domestically.

## Promotion

Instead of having broadcast promotions, it was announced that Kim would hold his nationwide concert tour from November 1, 2014. Starting in Busan, he performed in cities including Seongnam, Gwangju, Goyang, Jeonju, Seoul, Daegu, and Daejeon until January 3, 2015, to promote his comeback album.

## Track listing

All songs written and composed by Kim Dong-ryool.

### Notes

* The title of track 2 literally means "The Youth".
* The title of track 5 literally means "That's How I Am".
* The title of track 7 literally means "My Heart Is".

## Chart performance

### Album charts

| Chart (2014) | Peak position | Sales |
| - | - | - |
| South Korean Gaon Weekly Albums Chart | 2 | KOR: 58,300+ |
| South Korean Gaon Monthly Albums Chart | 5 | KOR: 58,300+ |
| South Korean Gaon Year-End Albums Chart | 40 | KOR: 58,300+ |
| US Billboard World Albums Chart | 3 | KOR: 58,300+ |

### Single charts

How I Am

| Chart (2014) | Peak position | Sales |
| - | - | - |
| South Korean Gaon Weekly Singles Chart | 1 | KOR: 900,000+ (digital downloads only) |
| South Korean Gaon Monthly Singles Chart | 1 | KOR: 900,000+ (digital downloads only) |
| South Korean Gaon Year-End Singles Chart | 46 | KOR: 900,000+ (digital downloads only) |

### Other charted songs

| Title | Peak chart position | Sales |
| - | - | - |
| Title | KOR Gaon | Sales |
| "My Very Own" | 5 | KOR: 402,000+ (digital downloads only) |
| "Confession" | 6 | KOR: 279,000+ (digital downloads only) |
| "Those Days" | 9 | KOR: 269,000+ (digital downloads only) |
| "Walking With" | 11 | KOR: 270,000+ (digital downloads only) |
| "Advice" | 12 | KOR: 221,000+ (digital downloads only) |
| "Where My Heart Is" | 13 | KOR: 210,000+ (digital downloads only) |
| "Puzzle" | 15 | KOR: 185,000+ (digital downloads only) |
| "That Song" | 16 | KOR: 185,000+ (digital downloads only) |
| "Today" | 19 | KOR: 172,000+ (digital downloads only) |

## Awards and nominations

### Annual music awards

| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 2014 | 16th Mnet Asian Music Awards | Best Vocal Performance – Male | "How I Am" | Nominated |
| 2015 | 24th Seoul Music Awards | Bonsang (Main Prize) | Kim Dong-ryool | Nominated |
| 2015 | 24th Seoul Music Awards | High1/Mobile Popularity Award | Kim Dong-ryool | Nominated |
| 2015 | 24th Seoul Music Awards | Hallyu Special Award | Kim Dong-ryool | Nominated |
| 2015 | 4th Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards | Song of the Year – October 2014 | "How I Am" | Won |

### Music program awards

| Song | Program | Date |
| - | - | - |
| "How I Am" | The Music Trend (SBS) | October 12, 2014 |
| "How I Am" | Music Bank (KBS) | October 17, 2014 |

## Release history

| Region | Date | Format | Edition | Label |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| South Korea | October 1, 2014 | CD, digital download | | Music Farm, LOEN Entertainment |
| Worldwide | October 1, 2014 | Digital download | | Music Farm, LOEN Entertainment |
| South Korea | January 15, 2015 | LP | Limited Edition | Music Farm, LOEN Entertainment |
