Kang Seung-yoon

Kang Seung-yoon (Korean: 강승윤; born ), known mononymously as Seungyoon or Yoon, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, and leader of boy group Winner. Appearing on the reality television singing contest "Superstar K2" (2010), he rose to prominence after finishing in fourth place. Through the show he released the digital single "Instinctively", which became a number one hit, almost selling over 2 million copies. In January 2011, he was scouted by South Korean label YG Entertainment and officially debuted as a solo artist in July 2013 with the digital single "It Rains" and as the leader of Winner in August 2014. 
Seungyoon ventured into acting through the sitcom, "" (2011). His first lead role through the web series, "We Broke Up" (2015) earned him the "Best Male Actor" award by the "K-web Fest Awards". Roles in tvN black comedy drama "Prison Playbook" (2017) and MBC's "Kairos" (2020) further solidified his career as an actor. He also served as the "122nd Masked King" on MBC's "King of Mask Singer" under the alias "Chow Yun-fat". He achieved a record-breaking six consecutive wins, earning him the titles: "The First 6-Time Idol Champion" and “The Youngest Champion”.
Biography.
Early life and career beginnings.
Kang Seung-yoon was born in Busan, South Korea, on January 21, 1994. Among his family, he is an only child raised solely by his single mother. Kang had an IQ of 141 and particularly excelled in mathematics. He eventually learned to play the guitar in the eighth grade, and graduated from Busan High School of Arts with a major in classic guitar in 2012. During his last year of junior high, he took an interest in billiards and soon took lessons. In result, he became the regional youth representative for billiards.
In 2010, a close friend urged Kang to accompany him to audition for Mnet singing contest "Superstar K2" (2010). Initially feeling reluctant, Kang yielded to his request. In preparation, he further honed his guitar skills by taking lessons for three months prior to the audition. Although his friend did not pass the preliminary round, Kang continued to advance to the next several rounds and proceeded to overall finish in fourth place, garnering positive critiques from both the general public and media outlets.
2010–2013: Commercial success and solo debut.
Following his appearance on "Superstar K2", the subsequent spotlight propelled him to domestic stardom. Namely, through the show he released the digital single "Instinctively". Almost selling over 2 million digital copies, the single became a number-one hit in South Korea, and was listed in the year-end charts. He won the "Rookie of the Year" award at the "Gaon Chart Awards" in addition to "Rookie of the Month " at the "Cyworld Digital Music Awards". 
After being sought out by multiple record labels, CEO Yang Hyun-suk of YG Entertainment offered Seungyoon to join his company as a trainee. He soon accepted the proposition and signed with the label on January 12, 2011. When asked to explain the reason for his decision, he answered: "Since "Superstar K2" ended, there were a lot of offers. Some said they would make me the star of Asia, and some offered a great amount of money for signing the contract. I chose YG Entertainment because this agency evaluated me objectively, unlike other ones. They looked at me as an actual trainee." 
Through the MBC romantic drama "Midas", Seungyoon became the fourth artist to release a soundtrack for the television drama. Upon release, the original soundtrack, "You Are Heaven" , spawned to number one on several South Korean music streaming platforms including Genie and Cyworld on February 23, 2011. Domestically, the soundtrack also peaked at number 11 on the "Gaon" Digital chart. 
That same year, he appeared and took on a supporting role on MBC sitcom "". His appearance on the television series marked his first-ever acting project. His character plays as a young man with a heavy southern-Korean accent who arrives in Seoul dreaming to become the President. The series aired from September 19, 2011 to March 29, 2012.
On June 20, 2013, Yang Hyun-suk announced Seungyoon would be debuting as a solo artist with the digital single, "Wild and Young", composed by Teddy Park. However, on July 15, the release was announced to be postponed and instead, the very next day another digital single in the format of a pre-release titled "It Rains" was released. "It Rains" achieved an "all-kill" by placing number one on all music streaming platforms in South Korea, including Melon and Mnet. Upon placing number one on "Gaon" Digital chart, the single became his second number-one hit.
His first digital single, "Wild and Young" was released on July 31, with the accompaniment of a music video. The single made an appearance on the "Gaon" Digital Chart, peaking at number 18. Live promotions for the single commenced on August 4 through SBS' "Inkigayo". News of two additional digital singles were set to be promoted within August and September, alongside the release of an extended play in September. 
Seungyoon released his second digital single, "Stealer" on August 14. The single was accompanied with a music video, starring rookie actress Yoon Jin-yi, and was "filmed secretly". Promotions for the single were not carried out to prevent any disruptions for the promotions of "Wild and Young". "Stealer" peaked at number 9 on the "Gaon" Digital Chart.
2014–2019: Debut with Winner and acting.
Through the Mnet survival reality program "WIN: Who Is Next" (2013), Seungyoon participated as a contestant. The program involved two teams consisting of male trainees under YG Entertainment (A and B) that would compete for the chance to debut by the end of the series after a 100-day journey. During the seventh episode of "WIN: Who Is Next", Seungyoon replaced bandmate Song Min-ho as the leader of "Team A" after experiencing a leg injury. On October 25, Team A was revealed to have won the series and would subsequently begin preparations and debut as Winner. Seungyoon made his official debut with the five-piece group, Winner, on August 17, 2014. The same year, Seungyoon and fellow member Song Min-ho participated in Yoon Jong-shin's "Monthly" project and released the song "Wild Boy".
In 2015, Seungyoon starred as the male lead in the web drama "We Broke Up", alongside label-mate Sandara Park. The 10-episode drama was aired from June 29 to July 17 via Naver TV Cast. In December 2016, Seungyoon starred in the web drama "Love for a Thousand More" alongside fellow member Kim Jin-woo. The web drama is a joint production of CJ E&M, YG Entertainment, and YGKPlus. He released a soundtrack for the drama, titled "You". The same month, he joined the cast of SBS' variety show "Flower Crew" as a regular host. 
Through Jung Eun-ji's first solo concert, "Attic", Seungyoon was personally invited by her and performed as a guest during her show held on June 3, 2017. Through collaborative performances, he sang the duets "All For You" and "Scars Deeper Than Love" alongside "Instinctively" while also participating in talk segments. 
That same year, Seungyoon starred in tvN's black-comedy series "Prison Playbook". The director of the television series, Shin Won-ho, revealed while initially not having high expectations due to his occupation as a singer, his thoughts were debunked as he elaborated: "When I asked him on the spot to read a part from the script using his regional dialect, his portrayal was a lot of fun. He really brought the character to life, and that’s why I cast him for the role. I didn’t have any bias because of the group he was in. He just fit well with us". Seungyoon and fellow member Song Min-ho released a soundtrack for the drama titled "Door". 
In 2018, Seungyoon sung the OST for the Korean movie, Golden Slumber. The song was originally performed by The Beatles. In 2019, Seungyoon participated on MBC's “Show that Rewrites the Charts, What is No. 1 Right Now?” and performed Haebaragi's song “With Love”. Seungyoon claimed first place and the song was digitally released on April 12.
2020–present: "King of Mask Singer" and "Page".
In March 2020, Seungyoon participated in MBC singing competition program, "King of Mask Singer", for the second time and subsequently won, earning the title as the "122nd Mask King" during his appearance as "Chow Yun-fat" after defeating South Korean singer, So Chan-whee. He was able to impress the panel of judges, pulling off six consecutive wins and was named "The First 6-Time Idol Champion" and “The Youngest Champion” at the time. 
On May 20, 2020, Seungyoon was confirmed to make his comeback as an actor after three years and join MBC's Kairos. He joined the main cast as the character "Im Gun-wook", who was often filmed alongside actress' Lee Se-young and Lee Joo-myung. His role earned him a nomination at the "2020 MBC Drama Awards" for "Best New Actor". Internationally, the series was aired on VIU Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and more.
After 8 years, Seungyoon's first studio album entitled "Page" and its lead single "Iyah" were released on March 29, 2021.
Impact and Influence.
Through an interview, Rubin of 1Team stated Seungyoon as his role model ever-since the day he coincidentally watched him on Superstar K2 performing Michael Jackson's "Black or White" while on his way to academy. Since then his inspiration towards music grew more and more.
Other ventures.
Endorsements.
In October 2010, Seungyoon was scouted by LG U+ and appeared as a CF model for their "International Call 002" range.
In November 2010, CJ Group advertised their first new corporate campaign since six years with the message: "Different ideas that change the world". The South Korean conglomerate wished to choose well-known figures within the country for this thus collaborating Superstar K2 and YG Family artists. In result Seungyoon was chosen as a model alongside fellow Superstar K2 contestants Huh Gak, John Park, Jang Jae-in and artists Big Bang, 2NE1 and Psy.
With the release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab in December 2010, Seungyoon was selected to endorse the product by Samsung. Additionally, he released the promotional single, "Life is Tab" alongside three other contestants on January 7, 2011 to promote the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The single was accompanied by a music video, which was partially filmed during a performance at the press conference for the product that was held on the same day of its digital release. Later, a rock and R&B version of the original was released on music streaming platforms accompanied by additional music videos. 
Through the MMORPG, Grand Chase developed by South Korean game developing company KOG Studios, in January 2011 Seungyoon exclusively became the endorsement model for the game.
Philanthropy.
In December 2018, Jinusean's Sean reported that Seungyoon quietly donated 30 Million Won in addition to his donation earlier in the year to the Seungil Hope Foundation.
Following the cancellation of contemporary casual clothing brand PLAC's 'by YOU' collection in collaboration with Seungyoon and bandmate Mino showcase event, scheduled on February 28, 2020 due to safety issues in relations to the recent coronavirus pandemic, the funds they raised towards the showcase was used to donate 10,000 masks for low-income children.
Discography.
Production credits.
All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database, unless otherwise noted.