After establishing his own label, NAKED, in late 2023, KINO is releasing his album, 'If this is love, I want a refund.'

"'If this is love, I want a refund' is my first-ever EP, and it represents the full cycle of a relationship. It is also a collection of songs revealing genuine feelings about love; The good, the bad, the ugly. Love is not always nice as it’s been portrayed nor our feelings towards it. It’s a story about me, you and us all: The diary of us," said the solo artist.

On the lead single "Broke My Heart," the singer expresses his anger by wishing the worst for someone who did him wrong. As the singer is keeping the lyrics not too poetic yet keeping it to real-life level, it would speak to all listeners as we all have felt that anger and distaste for someone. Moreover, the track features Philadelphia rapper Lay Bankz, whose verse adds additional spice to the track, making the song’s story even more dynamic. The two singers’ chemistry can be seen in their music video shot in Philadelphia, where the two created the choreography for the chorus on the spot and incorporated it into the video. 

Prior to its release, KINO’s bold guerrilla marketing went viral on social media. It all started with a picture on X of KINO holding up a sign teasing the EP’s release at Coachella festival ground. As it is very rare for an established artist to pull off such an act in public, it came to a refreshing surprise to many music listeners. 

Following the guerrilla marketing, KINO released a video titled “Rate My Song” where he randomly walks up to strangers and asks them to rate his upcoming song "Broke My Heart." In addition to KINO’s proactive approach, what caught the viewers’ eyes was, appearance of Simu Liu in the video as a participant. After listening the song, the actor gave a generous score, which increased anticipation of the EP.

On top of the lead single, the EP includes four additional tracks. “Solo” is a break-up song that tells a story about a couple’s last farewell. Unlike the sad, lingering break-up songs, this time around the singer decided to sing about a couple who’ve accepted their differences and wish each other a better future. 

The chorus repetitive dance track “Freaky Love” was the second single off of the EP. The single showcases the instant moment where we get infatuated with someone and plan a future with them. The song was inspired by the widely used social media expression "delulu," the comments that were often made by his fans. The accompanied animated music video well-represented the story of the song with vibrant and playful characters. 

On "Valentine," KINO focuses on more heartfelt feelings about life. With this track, KINO fast forwards to a few decades from now, looking back on his young energetic days. With this reminiscing track, KINO wants him and all the listeners to recharge the current fearlessness and courageousness of ours through this song whenever they want to give up. "Be my Valentine once more / Let’s go back to the time when we got nothing to be afraid of."

The album concludes with “Fashion Style” KINO’s very first single released under his label. The drum and bass infused confidence boost up song, KINO wanted to convey the message to all listeners that "you are beautiful in your own skin and don’t try to be someone else."

Moreover, KINO participated in all artistic direction of the EP, including visual directing. As a result, the EP has two concepts to tell the story of the EP: Reality vs Expectation. In expectation version, it shows the picture-perfect side of love. In the reality version, it portrays all of us facing the not-so-flattering side of love. From ears to eyes, the EP is ready to fill up your long emotional and creative void.