BTOB’s Ilhoon
Ilhoon is a rapper from the boy group BTOB. BTOB is a boy group formed in 2012 by CUBE Entertainment. Besides having excellent rapping skills, Ilhoon is also a songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is well known for his collaborations with artists such as Hyuna and G.NA. In addition, Ilhoon also participated in Hyuna’s solo comeback with the song “Roll Deep.” Ilhoon is known to have a very good and fast rapping ability. In addition, Ilhoon has also participated in making songs for several other idols and every BTOB comeback; Ilhoon has always participated in writing lyrics.
MONSTA X’s I.M. and Joohoney
MONSTA X is a boy group that debuted in 2015 formed through the survival show, Now Mercy by STARSHIP Entertainment. The group is composed of seven members, Shownu, Wonho, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohoney, and I.M. I.M and Jooheon, or now Joohoney, are the rap line of MONSTA X. Their rapping abilities are unquestionable, Joohoney is considered as one of the scariest rapper idols, especially during his appearance in the survival program Show Me The Money.
Joohoney and I.M have their own expressions when raping, I.M said, “Although I have always liked rap, I started rapping because I liked the possibility of being able to express my hidden thoughts through it. I think that in rap, I can honestly express things like my stories, emotions, feelings, and messages that aren’t usually shown in music.”
“Ever since I was a kid, I liked moving my body to music. Sometimes I would listen to rap, and it isn’t the type of music where the song overlaps with the soft melodies. It has dynamic sounds superimposed on the soft melodies and I think that the part where its lyrics can also send the message that I want to assert is cool,” Joohoney said.
NCT’s Rap Line (Mark, Taeyong, Lucas, Jeno)
NCT, or Neo Culture Technology, is a boy group formed by SM Entertainment in 2016. NCT is divided into three groups, NCT U made their debut on April 9th, 2016, with the digital singles “The 7th Sense” and “Without You.” The second unit NCT 127, based in Seoul, debuted on July 7th, 2016, with the EP NCT #127. The third unit NCT Dream made their debut on August 24th, 2016, with the digital single “Chewing Gum.” Each subgroup has a rapper who has the best rapping ability. NCT’s Rap Line is represented by Mark, Taeyeong, Lucas, and Jeno.
Mark is a member of NCT U, NCT 127, and NCT Dream. Taeyeong joined NCT U and NCT 127, Lucas joined NCT U, and Jeno joined NCT Dream. They all have the ability to rap with their respective characteristics.
BLOCK B’s Zico
Zico, or Woo Ji-ho, is a rapper from the boy group Block B. He is a rapper, record producer, singer-songwriter. Zico has released two solo albums, Gallery (2015) and Television (2017). Zico is notable for his successful crossover skills in the Korean hip-hop scene, maintaining an underground reputation along with the mainstream appeal as a Korean idol. He is also a producer of both K-Pop and Korean hip-hop music.
In 2015 he appeared as a producer with Paloalto of Hi-Lite Records in the rap competition television show Show Me the Money 4 while in the show’s sixth season, he was in the producer team with his longtime colleague and friend Dean. In late May 2014, Zico attended the funeral of a fan who had died in an incident and he dedicated a rap to her at Block B’s 2014 Blockbuster Concert. In 2016, Zico, Crush, and Dean collaborated on a single called “Bermuda Triangle” and the song also hit number one on various Korean real-time digital charts upon its release. In January 2019, it was announced that Zico had established his own label, KOZ (King of the Zungle) Entertainment. Zico is planning to use his label to develop other artists as well as his own career.
NU’EST’s JR
Kim Jong-hyun, or JR, as we are familiar with, is a rapper from the boy group NU’EST which was formed in 2012 by Pledis Entertainment. He is also known for competing in the 2017 Produce 101 Season 2 series. On March 15th, 2012, JR debuted as the main rapper, main dancer, and leader of the South Korean boy group NU’EST. Unfortunately, when he joined the Produce 101 Season 2 competition, JR was unable to debut together with the 11 selected members. JR got 14th place. Following the conclusion of Produce 101 Season 2, JR became a model for the cosmetics company Labiotte. He also joined the JTBC variety show Night Goblin as a fixed cast member and the tvN music show Shadow Singer as a judge. On June 27th, 2018, JR was confirmed as a member of Mnet’s new romance reality show Love Catcher.
SEVENTEEN’s Hip-Hop Team (S.Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon)
Seventeen’s Hip-Hop Team is a subunit of SEVENTEEN consisting of S.Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon. They are rappers from Seventeen. The Seventeen Hip-Hop Team subunit was formed in 2015 and released their first song titled “Ah Yeah.” In 2016 they released the song “Mansae.” Then, in 2017 they released the song “If I.” In 2018 they released the song “What’s Good,” and in 2019 they released the song “Chili.”
HIGHLIGHT’s Jun-hyung
Junhyung is a rapper from the boy group HIGHLIGHT. Besides being a rapper, Junhyung is also a songwriter, record producer, and actor. But in 2019, he said he dropped out of HIGHLIGHT regarding the Burning Sun case. The police have stated that he is only being considered a witness at this point in time in the Burning Sun scandal.
On March 11th, 2019, Jun-hyung was accused of being part of a group chatroom with Jung Joon-young where Jung shared hidden camera footage and sexually explicit images. It was revealed that Jun-hyung’s part in the group chat was actually edited in, and it has been confirmed that Jung and Jun-hyung have a one-on-one chat room with each other, but Jun-hyung was no part of the group chat where the hidden camera footage and photos were shared.
In 2010, Junhyung was featured as a rapper in songs by other artists, including Hyuna’s debut single “Change.” Then in 2012, Junhyung released his first solo single “Living Without You.” In February 2013, Junhyung released the single “You Got Some Nerve” with LE of EXID and Feeldog of Big Star. The song reached #13 on the Gaon Digital Chart.
GOT7’s Bambam and Jackson
GOT7 is a boy group formed by JYP Entertainment in 2014 and the group is composed of seven members, JB, Mark, Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae, BamBam, and Yugyeom. BamBam and Jackson represent the rap line of GOT7.
BamBam is a member who was born in Thailand and he is still adapting to Korean. In 2016, BamBam was criticized for doing a poor rap on the Mayday song. He said, “When I rap, at times, I pronounce in a stronger way to give it a feeling, but since I am a foreigner people say I am locking it wrong.” Likewise with Jackson, he was born in Bangkok and still adjusts to learning Korean. He always tried hard to pronounce Korean. On June 26th, 2017, JYP Entertainment announced the release of Jackson’s first solo album in China, as well as the establishment of a dedicated management team, named Team Wang, for his activities in the country. His first single, an English track titled “Papillon,” was released on August 26th and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s China V Chart.
Super Junior’s Eunhyuk
Eunhyuk is a rapper from the very popular boy group Super Junior. Super Junior is a boy group formed by SM Entertainment in 2005 and already has many fans around the world. He is also a member of Super Junior’s subgroups, Super Junior-T and Super Junior-H. In 2011, he joined Super Junior’s Mandopop subgroup, Super Junior-M and the duo Donghae & Eunhyuk; active in China and Japan respectively.
Eunhyuk is known as a rapper who has an ability to rap that is very stable and is the best in Super Junior. In addition, he also actively writes rap lyrics for various Super Junior songs.
