K-pop Male Solo Stars

Sorry the 2nd post is later this week; I didn't manage to get it finished yesterday. :)

 

Back in 2017 I wrote a post featuring female K-pop solo stars. You can read that here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/04/k-pop-female-solo-stars.html

Well, now it's the turn of the boys! I've mentioned before that I've known more Korean groups than solo singers, but since getting more into K-pop in recent years, I know more solo singers now. I've had this idea for a while (I keep a list of blog post ideas), but for some reason it's taken me a while to get around to it, lol. Anyway, here are some male K-pop solo stars I like. :)

Note: Korean names are written with the surname first, although some artists (such as Jay Park) have theirs written in the Western way.

 

Rain (Bi)

Rain (also known as Bi which is Korean for "rain"), whose real name is Jung Ji-Hoon, is one of Korea's top solo stars. In addition to being a singer, he is also a dancer and actor. He set up the record label J Tune Entertainment in November 2007, but it became part of the entertainment company JYP Entertainment in November 2013. He then founded R.A.I.N Company in 2015.

I believe that these days Rain mostly acts, but this summer he formed a project co-ed group called SSAK3 as part of the South Korean variety show Hangout with Yoo. He is part of a trio (using the name B.Ryong) along with the show host Yoo Jae-Suk (as U-Doragon) and Lee Hyori (Linda G), one of Korea's top female solo stars. They've released an album called Luv Us X Linda X Exciting.

I actually just saw one of their videos (Beach Again) the other day but didn't recognise Rain! I did recognise Hyori but was confused by the different name, lol.

Here are some of Rain's songs:

How To Avoid The Sun (my fave song of his): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2013/05/weekly-music-video_22.html

Features It's Raining: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2013/10/girls-vs-boys-k-pop.html

Rain also released the single Beginning with Soyou (member of now disbanded girl group SISTAR) in September 2019. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz5ACDUVThY

This is Beach Again, the 2nd single released as part of SSAK3. It came out in July. You can see English subtitles by clicking "Subtitles/closed captions". :)

Se7en

Se7en (real name Choi Dong-wook) is another very popular solo star, of a similar generation as Rain (see above). In fact, they were once rumoured to be rivals, which Se7en says isn't true! He went on hiatus in 2012 to complete his mandatory service in the South Korean military and was discharged in December 2014.

Se7en's 10-year contract with his record company YG Entertainment expired in 2013 and he went into musical theatre. He made a return to music in summer 2016 with the single I'm Good, followed by the mini album I AM SE7EN. He then made another comeback in November 2018 with the single Sacred, and this April he signed with a new agency, DMOST Entertainment.

Check out a couple of Se7en songs at the links below:

Girls feat. Lil' Kim (a Girls vs Boys post with BoA): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2013/07/girls-vs-boys-k-pop.html

Includes the Give it to me video: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/11/new-k-pop-releases.html

And here's an updated version of his 2004 track Passion, performed live on Immortal Song: https://www.allkpop.com/video/2020/08/se7en-brings-back-passion-on-immortal-song

Jay Park 

Korean American singer and rapper Jay Park is originally from Seattle in the US and was also a member of the Korean boyband 2PM before going solo in 2010. He is also a member of the Seattle based b-boy crew Art of Movement. Jay founded the hip hop/urban record label AOMG in 2013 and then he and friend (and fellow AOM member Cha Cha Malone set up H1GHER Music in 2017.

 You can read more about Jay and see his video for Solo with Hoody (also features a FAKY video) here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2015/10/weekly-music-video_28.html

Jay released his 5th studio album The Road Less Traveled in June 2019 and his 8th EP This Wasn't Supposed to Happen (a collaboration with American record producer Hit-Boy) last November. His latest releases include Gang Official Remix with Sik-K, pH-1 and Haon, which came out in June, All The Way Up and How We Rock. His music is more K-R'n'B than K-pop really, although he started out in the K-pop group 2PM.

Here are some more Jay songs:

Features Ain't No Party Like an AOMG Party and I Don't Disappoint: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/07/new-j-pop-and-k-pop-releases.html

DRIVE feat. Gray: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/10/weekly-music-video_19.html

Includes All I Wanna Do with 1MILLION and featuring Hoody and Loco: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2020/05/videos-from-my-youtube-playlist-k-pop.html

And This is How We Rock, which also features pH-1, Sik-K, BIG Naughty, TRADE L, HAON and Woodie Gochild. I think it will be one of two upcoming mixtapes, RED TAPE:H1GHER and BLUE TAPE: H1GHER, releasing on 2nd and 16th September respectively. The How We Rock video was uploaded on 16th August.

Reddy

Reddy is  a South Korean rapper and singer. When I first featured his song Think as a Weekly Music Video back in 2016 I couldn't find much info on him, but he now has a Wikipedia page! His real name is Kim Hong-woo and he released his debut single Capt. Reddy in September 2011. His other singles include Let's Go, 1985, Think with Jay Park, Like this featuring Bobby, Ocean View, Enjoy featuring Chancellor and Hmmm.

To date Reddy has released 2 studio albums, Commitment in 2013 and his new one 5000; and two EPs- Imaginary Foundation (2014) and Universe (2017). Like Jay Park, Reddy is more of a hip hop artist. I may do a feature on Korean R'n'B in future. :)

 Here is Think featuring Jay: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/03/weekly-music-video_16.html

 And this is Hmm, Reddy's latest single which came out in May. It's from his new album 5000.

Follow him on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/keemhongwu/

KANGDANIEL

KANGDANIEL (also written as Kang Daniel) is a former member of boyband Wanna One turned solo star. His birth name is Eui-geon but he later changed it to Daniel since his family and friends had trouble pronouncing Eui-geon. In Western terms his name is Daniel Kang.

Daniel appeared on Korean variety shows and trained with entertainment companies. He was chosen to be the centre of project group Wanna One in 2017. The group debuted in August 2017 and were together until the beginning of 2019. 

In July 2019 Daniel officially debuted as a solo artist with the EP Color on Me and the lead single What are you up to. To date he has released 4 more singles- Touchin', 2U, Waves featuring Simon Dominic and Jamie, and Who U Are; and 2 more EPs- Cyan (March 2020) and his latest Magenta. He has also formed his own company Konnect Entertainment.

This is Who U Are, the lead single from Magenta which was released on 3rd August.

For more on Daniel visit these links: 

Official site: https://danielk.konnectent.com/

KONNECT Entertainment YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHGJwrjlY6rmZJInxRmiztA

Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/konnect_danielk

Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/konnect_kangdaniel/

Artist Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniel.k.here/ 

 

Check out a few more solo singers at the links below: 

Zhoumi (member of Super Junior M): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2014/12/weekly-music-video_17.html

Taeyang (BIGBANG member): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2015/09/everythings-k-pop-or-j-pop-this-month.html

Jun K (2PM member): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/08/weekly-music-video_17.html

BAEKHYUN (EXO/SuperM): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2020/07/weekly-music-video_8.html

 

Hope you enjoyed the post! There are many more male solo stars I could feature, so perhaps I'll do a follow up post in the future. :) I haven't included Kris Wu (former EXO member) or Jackson Wang (GOT7 member) because they're not singing in Korean in their solo music. 

Who are your favourite male K-pop stars?