Lee Seung-hoon (; ; born January 11, 1992), also known by the mononym Hoony, is a South Korean rapper and dancer. His musical career began in 2011 as a contestant in the first installation of K-pop Star (2011–2012); where he caught the attention of YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun-suk and was signed under his agency. Lee debuted with Winner on August 17, 2014, after the band competed and were titled as the victors of WIN: Who is Next (2013), and as a soloist on July 15, 2024.
Life and career 1992–2010: Early life Lee Seung-hoon was born on January 11, 1992, in Dongnae District, Busan, South Korea, as the youngest succeeding two daughters. His father's absence in Lee's childhood was prominent due to his occupation as a businessman based in Vietnam. His eldest sister had also moved to Seoul when he was a child. Lee pursued dance at a young age and became adamant to join YG Entertainment since his enrollment in high school; however, his interest in dance resulted in severe back pains and restricted Lee to choreograph when it occurred. Lee relied on acupuncture as treatment for his nerves along his spine that suffered from irritation.
2011–2015: Career beginnings and debut with Winner
20-year-old Lee (Korean age) moved to Seoul after he completed his secondary education as an attempt to enter the music industry. His motivation heightened after he witnessed Hoya of Infinite, a fellow peer in dance from his hometown, accomplish his dreams. Lee then formed the dance team "Honest Boys" () with friends from Busan and showcased their performances on the streets of Seoul. The trio auditioned for the first installation of Korea's Got Talent (2011) and was soon eliminated from the talent show at the preliminaries. He further auditioned for entertainment companies but did not succeed. Lee joined a choreography team in which he became its team leader and created a dance routine for G-Dragon of Big Bang and his flash mob performance for Bean Pole and their campaign in 2011.
In his final attempt at pursuing his goal, Lee successfully auditioned for the inaugural season of K-pop Star (2011–2012), a music audition program. He received attention for renting a four pyeong (13.22 square metre) room one minute away from YG Entertainment, home to his favorite artists. His creativity and wittiness also stood out to many – displayed in the cover performance of Dynamic Duo's "Father" (). The hip-hop duo credited Lee for his contribution in ushering more attention to their songs than its initial success bringing in more profit. Namely, G-Dragon and Psy expressed their interest and added they were watching him and his stage. BoA voiced her desire to work with him while JYP Entertainment CEO Park Jin-young stated Lee was the only contestant he viewed as a "true artist". Moreover, K.Will noted his stages were the most inspirational apropos of it. He overall placed fourth behind Park Jimin, Lee Hi and Baek A-yeon. His newfound rise followed an appearance on Strong Heart, performance at Youth Festival in Seoul and photographed for a spread entitled "Boys Like Girls" in Vogue Girl Korea for the month of June with K-pop Star contestant Jae Park. He and Lee Hi signed an exclusive contract with YG Entertainment and was situated into its trainee system in May.
On February 25, 2013, YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun-suk stated Lee would shine best in a boy band contrary to as a soloist thus his preparation for debut in their upcoming team; however, he participated as a contestant for WIN: Who is Next? (2013) which involved two assembles consisting of male trainees under the label (A and B) who would battle for the chance to debut by series end after embarking on a one-hundred day journey. Lee was placed in "Team A" with Kim Jin-woo, Song Min-ho, Kang Seung-yoon and Nam Tae-hyun. In the series finale, Team A had won the show and would debut under the name "Winner". Lee made his official debut with the five-piece band on August 17, 2014, with the studio album entitled 2014 S/S. The band's success upon debut was recorded as "unprecedented" by Korean media outlets and were dubbed as "monster rookies".
2016–present: Solo endeavors
Amidst his activities with the band, Lee ventured into entertainment in which his credits include Eat, Sleep, Eat: Krabi (2016) with Baek Jong-won and Gong Seung-yeon, Mimi Shop (2018) with the inclusion of labelmate Sandara Park, and Law of the Jungle in Mexico (2018). He also served as the youngest dance mentor in Dancing High (2018) and enriched the knowledge of teens in South Korea by assisting them to thrive as dancers as they competed in teams in prospect of winning dance lessons in the United States. His credits further extends to Awesome Feed (2018), Door-to-Door Salesmen (2020) on YouTube, and I Want to Be a Celebrity (2022).
On October 17, 2022, Lee launched his personal YouTube channel "This Seunghoon, That Seunghoon" and uploaded his first video to reach out to his fans and "address the gap between human Lee Seunghoon and idol Lee Seunghoon" and "reveal absolutely everything".
On February 28, 2023, it was announced that Lee was confirmed to be cast in the stage musical Dream High as one of the lead character roles, Song Sam-Dong, along with actor Eum Moon-suk and SF9 member Yoo Taeyang. This musical is based on a 2011 KBS2 drama of the same name.
On June 19, 2024, YG Entertainment announced that Lee Seunghoon was in the final stages of production for his debut album. On July 15, 2024, he released his first EP entitled My Type, with its lead single, "My Type" (). Lee took part as the album's main producer, demonstrating his exceptional producing skills, writing and composing all the tracks himself.
Personal life Military service On basis of his mandatory military service, Lee enlisted on April 16, 2020, and served his training at the Nonsan Army Training Center for four weeks prior to fulfilling his military duty as a public service worker. Lee was discharged from his duties on January 14, 2022, after he completed one year and seven months of his enlistment.
Artistry Choreography and dance style As a dancer, Lee's style is considered more relaxed compared to the usual vigorous movements found in most idols, as he puts more detailed elements in his choreography with accordance to its lyrics or sound. He is also viewed as a versatile dancer and choreographer due to his ability in executing various genres in his dance routine. Lee has often been cited as an "idea bank" and "genius choreographer" in which his stages encompassed creativity and uniqueness. 1Million Dance Studio CEO and choreographer Lia Kim expressed Lee knew many dancing techniques given the long period of time he has been dancing for. Kwon Young-deuk of YGX stated Lee fully immerses himself and "feels" the dance and also learns choreography the fastest in YG Entertainment.
For Winner, Lee has choreographed their debut lead singles "Empty" (공허해; gongheohae) and "Color Ring" from 2014 S/S and "Fool" from Fate Number For – which he created and finalized within five hours.
Other ventures
Fashion
In September 2017, Lee and his bandmate Mino were chosen as the influencers most suited in becoming ambassadors of the luxury brand, Burberry, appointed by its previous creative officer Christopher Bailey as they exhibited a "Viktor Horsting & Rolf Snoeren-like approach to haute couture". Both were labelled as winning front row looks and acquired advance access to the Burberry Spring 2018 collection two days after they landed at Heathrow Airport in London. In the fashion event, the London-based modelling agency AMCK Models' director and head scout, Patrick Egbon-Marshall gave Lee the sobriquet "Red King" and showed interest to scout him as a model to the agency.
Philanthropy Within his publicized acts, Lee and his fans accomplished 2,220 kg of rice wreaths for the press conference of Dancing High (2018) of which the fans supplied 500 kg of its total. Lee chose to distribute the rice to elderlies of low-income who lived alone and to the disabled. He is also recognized as a regular donator alongside YG Entertainment and his fans for Korea Animal Rights Advocates (KARA).
Discography
Extended plays + List of extended plays, showing selected details, selected chart positions, and sales figures Title Details Peak chart positions Sales KOR My Type Released: July 15, 2024 Label: YG Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download 18 KOR: 26,647Cumulative sales for My Type:
Singles + List of singles, showing year released, selected chart positions, sales, and name of the album Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Album KOR "Mother's Doenjangguk": "Ma Boy 2": KORHotBillboard Korea K-pop 100: "Ma Boy 2": As lead artist "My Type" () 2024 — — My Type Other charted songs "Mother's Doenjangguk" () 2012 35 — KOR: 207,928 SBS K팝 스타 TOP6 "Ma Boy 2" () 50 67 KOR: 116,457Cumulative Sales for 'Ma Boy 2': SBS K팝 스타 Special No.3
Production credits All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database, unless otherwise noted.
Solo work + List of songs, showing year released, and name of the album Year Song AlbumLyricistComposer CreditedWith CreditedWith 2019 "Flamenco" Cross rowspan="2" 2020 "Serenade" () Remember 2024 "My Type" () My Type "Thinkin' Bad Thimgs () "Do Re Mi Fa Sol" () "Brother and Sister"
Work as Winner + List of songs, showing year released, and name of the album Year Song AlbumLyricistComposer CreditedWith CreditedWith 2013 "Go Up" WIN: Who Is Next'Final Battle' rowspan="20" "Just Another Boy" 2014 "Color Ring" () 2014 S/S "Don't Flirt" () "But" () "Different" "Smile Again" 2016 "Baby Baby" EXIT: E "Sentimental" () "Immature" () 2017 "Really Really" Fate Number For "Love Me Love Me" Our Twenty For "Island" 2018 "Everyday" Everyday "Air" "La La" "For" () "Luxury" () "Movie Star" "Hello" () "Special Night" "Have A Good Day" (KR) "Raining" (KR) "Millions" Millions rowspan="20" 2019 "Ah Yeah" () We "Mola" () "Zoo" () "Boom" "Everyday" (remix) "First Love" (2019) () "Soso" Cross "OMG" "Dress Up" () "Don't Be Shy" () 2020 "Just Dance" () Remember "Teaser" "Well" "My Bad" 2022 "10 Min" (10분) Holiday "Holiday" "Sweet Home" () "Family" "Little Finger" ()
Other artists + List of songs, showing year released, and name of the album YearArtist Song AlbumLyricistComposer CreditedWith CreditedWith 2017 Sechs Kies "Back Hug" () Another Light
Filmography
Television shows Year Title Role Notes English Korean 2011–2012 K-pop Star K팝 스타 Contestant Season 1; placed 4th overall 2013 WIN: Who Is Next? 윈: 후 이즈 넥스트 Team A member; formation of Winner 2016 Eat Sleep Eat in Krabi 먹고 자고 먹고 끄라비 편 Cast member with Gong Seung-yeon 2018 Mimi Shop 미미샵 Guest (Episodes 2–3); Intern (Episodes 11–15) Law of the Jungle in Mexico 정글의 법칙 멕시코 Episodes 320–324 Dancing High 댄싱하이 Mentor rowspan="4" Awesome Feed 어썸피드 Cast member 2022 I Want to Be a Celebrity 셀럽이 되고 싶어 My House Sangjeon (Boss Pet) 우리집 상전 2022–2023 Adventure by Accident 태어난 김에 세계일주 Panelist Seasons 1–3; Episode 3 onward
Web shows Year Title Role Notes English Korean 2020 Door-to-Door Salesmen 방문판매단 Cast Member with Kwon Hyun-bin and Jang Su-won 2022 Saturday Night Live Korea SNL 코리아2 Host Season 2 – Episode 12
Music video appearances Year Title Artist Length 2013 "Somebody" 15& 3:20
Radio YearNetwork Title 2022 KBS Cool FM Station Z: Lee Seunghoon's Special Night
Theater YearEnglish titleKorean title Role 2023 Dream High 드림하이Song Sam-dong
Awards and nominations
+Name of the award ceremony, year presented, award category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination Award ceremony Year Category Nominee(s)/work(s) Result Fashionista Awards 2017 Best Fashionista – SNS Icon Lee Seung-hoon Seoul Music Awards 2025 R&B / Hip-hop Award
Notes
References
External links Seung-hoon Naver Cafe