7 Most Popular K-Pop Male Solo Artists

Top 7 Popular and Successful K-Pop Male Solo Singers:

1. Agust D (Suga)
2. Jackson Wang
3. Taemin
4. Kang Daniel
5. Zico
6. Jay Park
7. Chen

1. Agust D (Suga)

Min Yoon-gi, mostly known by mononymous names as Suga or August D, is a Korean songwriter, singer, rapper, record producer, and one of BTS members who produce R&B and hip-hop music. He writes lyrics that are full of dreams and hope and become the strength for many listeners.

Inspired by Stony Skunk’s Raggae Muffin and Epic High, he realized he wanted to become a rapper. It was his dream since his teenage years. When Suga was only 13 years old, he had already started to write music. By age 17, he began working at a recording studio, rapping, composing music, and performing. An interesting fact is that before Suga joined an entertainment company, he was known as an underground rapper by the name Gloss.

The artist claimed he was tricked to join BTS. However, he is now grateful for the platform that the group provides him. One more interesting fact is that Suga joined the agency as a music producer. However, after training under Big Hit Company for three years, he made his debut as an idol from the K-pop boy group. In 2016, his first solo mixtape, Agust D, was released.

Suga not only has released solo tracks but also produced and written lyrics for numerous songs on all albums for BTS. Moreover, he has got credit for writing, composing, and arranging over 100 registered tracks.

His famous name Suga reminds first syllables of “shooting guard”. It’s the position he took when playing basketball as a student. While his another popular name, August D, reveals his birthplace (Daegu Town or DT).

2. Jackson Wang

Jackson Wang is a singer, rapper, dancer, and a member of the K-pop boy band Got7. Although he is based in South Korea, he is quite active in China as a soloist and television host.

Wang was born and raised in Hong Kong. He comes from a family of professional athletes. His father is an Asian Games gold medalist, a former fencing team member, while his mother is a former acrobatic gymnast. So, under the guidance of his parents, he had his own fencing career of Olympic-level with the team based in Hong Kong!

It wasn’t until 2011 that Wang moved to Korea to train for his debut with Got7. It happened so that he was noticed by a representative from JYP Entertainment talent agency while playing basketball at school. After successfully passing the auditions, he turned down scholarship offers from Stanford University for fencing and moved to Seoul. In 2014, after two years of training, he finally debuted as a member of the band. Soon after that, he joined the SBS variety show Roommate, which helped him raise his popularity even more.

In 2017, Jackson Wang released his first solo album, which was released in China. Moreover, he established his management team, called Team Wang, and a distribution company named Snake or the Rabbit (based in the US).

After all these achievements, the artist began collaborating with various brands such as Adidas, Pepsi, Fendi China, Lenovo in China, and many others. Wang also made a collection with the Italian luxury house and launched his brand, Team Wang. He proved one more time how versatile he is, being talented in various areas.
Jackson Wang is definitely one of the most popular K-pop male solo artists. His popularity in the US grew tremendously after his collaboration with Gucci Mane and the record-breaking single 100 Ways.
On top of all that, Wang breaks all stereotypes of a typical ”perfect idol”. Unlike many other K-pop stars, he embraces his masculinity and interacts with his fans via his personal Instagram account (which is generally forbidden in the K-pop industry).

3. Taemin

Lee Tae-min, mostly known by his stage name Taemin, is a member of the K-pop boy group Shinee, singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor.

He fully immersed himself in dance in 6th grade. Inspired by performances of the ”King of Pop”, Michael Jackson, he decided to become a good dancer. One day, his parents encouraged him to audition for SM Entertainment. As a result, he impressed judges with his dancing skills and was accepted immediately.

Taemin did join the company thanks to his dance level, but he had a quite unimpressive voice. After his debut as a 14 years-old in far 2008, he massively improved his skill in singing. There’s even the phrase “to pull a Taemin”, which means to work hard for a long time to achieve a goal eventually.

In 2014, Taemin went solo by releasing EP, Ace. Both, this EP and his studio album, Press It (2016) peaked at number one on Gaon Album Chart. In 2017, he gained even more fame with the release of his title track to the album Move. The choreography in its music video gained a lot of attention.

In 2019, Taemin became a member of another SM Entertainment’s K-pop group, SuperM. Actually, it’s a supergroup composed of the company’s most successful idols. The interesting fact is that his fellow members come from much younger boy groups than his. NCT 127 and WayV appeared on the K-pop scene quite not a long time ago, while Shinee (where Taemin comes from) is the group formed before all of them.

Check out the article Taemin (SHINee, SuperM, Soloist) | Profile, History & Career to find more information about the artist.

• Born: July 18, 1993
• Occupation: singer, actor, dancer, songwriter
• Years Active: 2008–present
• Genres: K-pop, J-pop, R&B

4. Kang Daniel

One of the most significant K-pop male solo singers, one of the highest-earning artists in the industry, ”Nation’s Center”, Kang Daniel is popular in Korea and far beyond.

The idol became popular after his win in the survival TV show Produce 101 (2017). Kang took part in the show after training for two years. Eventually, he became the center of Wanna One.

However, the band was supposed to disband after a year and a half. When that happened, Kang used the time wisely taking a break from his usual activities and getting busy with the establishment of his agency. Only then, he embarked on his solo career successfully topping music charts.

The K-pop idol has also become a record-setter – his Instagram account is the fastest of all time to hit a million followers (in 11 hours and 36 minutes) and fan cafe to gain 100,000 members (40 hours)! Kang is the first artist ever to remain at the very top position of the Korean Business Research Institute’s ranking of individual boy group members brand (for 13 months in a row).

5. Zico

Woo Ji-ho, mostly known as simply Zico, is a rapper, songwriter, singer, and record producer who is known not only in the K-pop industry but in the underground world as well.

A vocal performance major, he spent a year studying in China and Canada, and also three years in Japan. However, his career started in another way. He started as an underground rapper “Nacseo” performing with crews “Undisputed” and “Dope Squad”.

Having gained an underground reputation, Zico has started gaining mainstream appeal as a K-Pop idol. In 2009, he debuted in a duo “Harmonics” and became the leader of the boy group Block B in 2011. In 2014, the singer went solo.
Several years after, he became the producer of the TV show Wanna One 3.

No doubt he has achieved quite a lot. In 2019, he established KOZ Entertainment, his own label. He even attended the summit in North Korea as a cultural representative from South Korea. Moreover, the artist has been appointed as a goodwill representative of Seoul.

One of the most well-known singers and songwriters, Zico is diverse: he showed his swaggering hip hop side and dramatic feels of R&B songs. He says that he wants his audience to see that there’s no limit to the genres of his songs. However, he also struggled because of such diversity. As an underground rapper turned idol, he was criticized for selling out. There were a lot of prejudiced opinions of him starting off as a K-pop star, but he didn’t give up and just did the things he enjoyed.

• Born: September 14, 1992
• Occupation: rapper, record producer, singer, songwriter
• Years Active: 2011 – present
• Genres: Korean hip hop, K-pop

6. Jay Park

Park Jae-beom (known to everyone as Jay Park) is a Korean-American R&B- and hip-hop-influenced singer, rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, actor, record producer, as well as a dancer/choreographer. He is the founder of such independent hip hop record labels as H1ghr Music and AOMG.

Actually, Jay Park started as a rapper and breakdancer. Although he was born in Edmonds, Washington, he moved to South Korea in his teens to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. Inspired by his major influences such as Chris Brown, Michael Jackson, and Usher, Park couldn’t help but become a charismatic artist. He is one of the main figures in the industry who have increased the popularization and acceptance of Korean hip hop music. Moreover, he is not simply a singer/artist, he is his own TV network, fan club president, and PR agent as well!

Noticing how Park loved spending more time breakdancing than studying, his mother encouraged him to audition for South Korean conglomerate JYP Entertainment. First, he believed a winner would receive a monetary prize reward but it turned out another way. As a result, he was selected to be a member of a K-pop boy band. In 2005, Park moved to Korea to train in singing, dancing, and learning the Korean language.

The artist was first seen on Mnet’s Got Blood Men, a reality program that introduced the viewers to the future members of the K-pop group, One Day. It was split into 2 AM and 2 PM, and Park became the leader of the second one. In 2008, he debuted with the group.

In 2010, the singer rebranded and are-debuted as a rapper and a solo singer. Take a Deeper Look, his first mini-album became multi-platinum! Moreover, New Breed, his first full-length album, also went multi-platinum doing so in less than a week! His fourth album (Everything You Wanted), composed of songs not only in Korean but also in English, reached the third number on Billboard’s World Album Chart.

Jay Park also became known as the first Asian-American artist ever to sign Jay-Z’s entertainment agency Roc Nation. Having gained global recognition, he debuted in the USA with his American capsule, Ask Bout Me.

It’s impossible not to notice Jay Park, one of the most successful and prominent Asian American artists in the music world.

• Born: April 25, 1987
• Occupation: rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, model, dancer, choreographer, entrepreneur
• Years Active: 2008 – present
• Genres: hip hop, R&B

7. Chen

Kim Jong-dae, well known as Chen, is a singer and songwriter. Initially, he made his debut with the Korean-Chinese boy group Exo.

However, apart from his activities in the band, Chen has also written a bunch of songs for Korean dramas. He contributed to such series as It’s Okay, That’s Love, Descendants of the Sun (that’s when he was awarded the ”Best OST by a Male Artist” and ”Best OST Song”), 100 Days My Prince, Touch Your Heart, Do You Like Brahms, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. Wow, it’s quite a lot!

In 2019, Chen decided to debut as a soloist. A year later, he revealed another shocking news. He announced his marriage. Soon after that, it was announced that his daughter was born.

• Born: September 21, 1992
• Occupation: singer, songwriter
• Years Active: 2011 – present
• Genres: K-pop, ballad, R&B

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