2014–present: Ace, Press It and Solitary Goodbye

On August 18, 2014, Taemin made his solo debut and released his first mini album Ace, which contains six songs.[3] The music video for the title song, "Danger", was released on August 16. The choreography for "Danger" was created by American choreographer Ian Eastwood and SM's performance directing team BeatBurger. Taemin headed to a dance studio in L.A. in order to learn the performance.[13]

On February 3, 2015, Taemin was confirmed for the cast of the first season of Match Made in Heaven Returns.[14] On April 14, 2015, Taemin was also a cast member in JTBC's program Off to School alongside other celebrities. On June 1, 2015, he released the song "That Name" in collaboration with Jonghyun, for the soundtrack of KBS2's Who Are You: School 2015.[15] The song debuted at number 36 on the Gaon Digital Chart.[16]

Taemin released his first full album Press it on February 23, 2016, containing a total of ten songs, including the title track "Press Your Number". Bruno Mars, who is well known for hit songs "Treasure" and "Marry You", participated in producing the song, which starts at a slow tempo and forwards to fast electronic rhythm.[4] Taemin told reporters at a media showcase hosted by fellow Shinee member Minho at the SMTOWN Coex Artium in Gangnam-gu, Seoul: "After my EP, I did perform with SHINee but I also spent a lot of time preparing my next solo album, […] I took a lot of private lessons for voice and dance, and looked over my past songs. I want to say that I’ve become a stronger performer."[17]

On 23 June 2016, Taemin's Japanese debut was announced with the mini album Solitary Goodbye (さよならひとり) including a showcase on his 23rd birthday. The album was released on July 27. The album includes four new songs and a Japanese version of "Press Your Number".[18] In June 2016, Taemin was confirmed for the cast of Mnet's dance program Hit the Stage.[19] He performed together with his dance partner Koharu Sugawara, who is the choreographer of his Japanese debut song "Solitary Goodbye".[20] He took first place in the second episode.[21]