Kang Young-hyun

Biography

Kang Young-hyun (Korean: 강영현; born December 19, 1993), known professionally as Young K (영케이), is a South Korean musician, singer, songwriter, and rapper. He is best known as the bassist and vocalist of South Korean pop rock band Day6.

Early life

Kang Younghyun was born on December 19, 1993, in Seoul, South Korea as an only child. He was raised in Ilsan, South Korea and moved to Toronto, Canada. He attended St. Andrew’s Middle School, followed by York Mills Collegiate Institute. Since sixth grade, he has not lived with his parents. During this time, he went by his English name, Brian Kang.
Kang moved to Korea in 2010 and became a trainee at JYP Entertainment (JYP). After he signed a contract with JYP, his father retired and moved to Toronto with his mother.
On October 5, 2017, he received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Dongguk University while working on his band career. He graduated from university on August 23, 2018.

2010–2015: Pre-debut

While attending middle and high school in Canada, Kang began his musical journey and career by forming two bands with his best friends Terry He and Don Lee. Their first band was called 3rd Degree. Their second band, Kiss Me Ever So Softly (KMESS), included two other close friends: Sean Yerzy and Sonny Tsai. The group posted several viral music videos and vlogs on He's YouTube channel and performed at various local competitions and shows (including several shows organized by A1 Radio, a subsidiary of Sing Tao News Corporation), which helped them garner a fanbase and attention from record labels and managers.
In the summer of 2010, after noticing Kang from his entry to JYP's Global Audition program and YouTube work, JYP Entertainment staff met with Kang and his bandmates in Toronto for an audition. Young K went on to appear in the fourth episode of WIN: Who is Next? as a part of JYP's rapping team with Got7's Mark Tuan and Jackson Wang against the combined rapping teams of Team A and Team B, where he became known for the verse, "YG, get an attitude!" He was also a part of JYP's vocalist team alongside his eventual Day6 bandmates Junhyeok, Jae, Sungjin and Wonpil.
In 2014, Kang was selected as a member of five-member rock band 5Live under JYP, but their debut was cancelled. The band was reformed as Day6 after the addition of drummer Dowoon in 2015. Kang was also originally selected as a member of the group Got7, but was ultimately cut from the lineup.

2015–present: DAY6, Solo activities, Even of Day (EoD) and solo debut

On September 7, 2015, Young K made his debut as a member of Day6 and released their debut EP, The Day, with the lead single "Congratulations".
Young K has been credited with much of the songwriting in Day6's discography.
In September 2015, Young K was featured in fellow JYP artist, the solo artist Baek A-yeon song titled "Shouldn't Have" where he did and wrote the rap part. The song went on to become a sleeper hit, reaching number one on several Korean music real-time charts a month after its release among fierce competition. He was also featured in a song of Korean indie musicians Park Sae-byul & Like Likes, in the song titled "Sky High": Kang did the rap part. He has also been featured as rapper in JYP label mate Park Ji-min's single "Young해".

On March 14, 2018, he made his debut as a member of Day6 in Japan with first Japanese single "If (Mata Aetara)". The single also serves as theme song for the Japanese drama Repeat.
In 2019, he composed and contributed lyrics to a track for the solo debut of B.A.P's Youngjae entitled "Hope".
Together with Got7's Youngjae he became the new DJ of MBC Radio Idol Radio starting from May 18, 2020. The first season of the show ended on September 25.
On August 31, 2020, Young K, Dowoon and Wonpil debuted as Even of Day, a sub-unit of Day6 and released their debut EP The Book of Us: Gluon, with the lead single "Where the Sea Sleeps".
On September 19, 2020, Young K collaborated with American pop duo X Lovers with a remix version of "Love".
On October 16 and 23, 2020, Young K and Wonpil made a surprise appearance as a cameo in the web drama Let Me Off the Earth.
On November 23, 2020, Kang became the new DJ for KBS CoolFM's Kiss The Radio, in which he was invited to reprise the role after his military discharge in April 2023. He eventually reprised the DJ role for Kiss The Radio on June 19, 2023.
On January 14, 2021, Kang featured as rapper in Thai singer Apiwat Ueathavornsuk (Stamp)'s single "Sugar High".
On May 28, 2021, Kang featured in Ben&Ben remake song "Leaves" and this also comes as Kang's first collaboration with a Filipino act.
On September 6, 2021, Kang made his solo debut with the extended play Eternal, which consists of seven songs including the title track "Guard You", "Come as you are(그대로 와 줘요)" and "Microphone".
On June 23, 2023, Kang released the single "Better Day", in which he wrote the lyrics. The song is the winning song of the music contest Songs That Care hosted by JYP Entertainment. Kang also performed the song live at 2023 JYP EDM Day - the video is published by JYP Entertainment on YouTube.
On August 25, 2023, Kang released the single "Let it be Summer", which would be featured in his upcoming first studio album Letters with Notes×Letters with notes4 September 2023 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1오늘만을 너만을 이날을3:222이것밖에는 없다3:213let it be summer3:144꿈꾼 (Dreamer)3:115Bungee Jumping3:226natural2:407STRANGE2:298SOUL3:369playground2:2810babo3:0511what is..2:55. The album was released on September 4, together with its title track "Nothing But".
On December 23, 2023, Young K won the Radio DJ of the Year award at the 2023 KBS Entertainment Awards for hosting the radio show Kiss The Radio.
On January 2, 2024, Young K won the Ballad Award under the Genre-based awards at the 33rd Seoul Music Awards held at Bangkok, Thailand. Notably, he was ranked first among the award nominees with a total mobile vote of 52.78%. He also performed the songs "Nothing But (이것밖에는 없다)" and "Time of Our Life (한 페이지가 될 수 있게)" live at the award ceremony.
On April 10, 2024, Young K was awarded the "Best Rock Ballad Award" at Asia Star Entertainer Awards 2024 held at the K Arena in Yokohama, Japan.

Personal life

On August 16, 2021, Young K announced that he will enlist as part of his mandatory military service on October 12, 2021, where he will be serving in KATUSA. During his military service, Young K won the "2022 Eighth Army Best Warrior Competition" in KATUSA category, held from May 8 to May 13, 2022. He also appeared in the eighth episode of tvN variety program, The Backpacker Chef, which aired on July 14, 2022. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal along with additional gifts from local military support groups and many other rewards. On November 20, the Eighth Army (United States) released the current situation of Young K, who had just been promoted to Sgt (U.S. Army Sergeant, a rank equivalent to Sergeant in the Republic of Korea Army), through its official SNS, an official on November 20. He was discharged on April 11, 2023.

Songwriting credits

The lists of songwriting credits below is the lists that Young K was credited for other artists, besides Day6 and his solo.
All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database unless otherwise stated.