On January 20, it was announced that D?DATE's leader Araki Hirofumi (31) will be making his solo debut with the single "Next Stage" on April 1.

He made the announcement during a live broadcast on "AmebaStudio."

Last year, the members did not have that many opportunities to promote as D?DATE, since they were busy with activities as actors.

According to Araki, he was thinking what he could do as the leader, and he had a talk with the staff saying that he "wants to keep growing all the time by continuing music activities." As a result, his solo project was established, and it was decided that he would make a solo debut on April 1. 

Araki wrote the lyrics to his debut song, and it was composed by 4-member rock band BACKDRAFT SMITHS. His visual also differs from himself in D?DATE which is more like a rock style.

Araki will be performing his debut song for the first time at BACKDRAFT SMITHS' one-man live at WWW on the 25th, and is also planning to hold release event during March ~ April.

Source & Image: Oricon