Artist of the week - MC Mong

Dec 05, 2006

PROFILE:
Real name : Shin Dong-hyun
Date of birth : September 4th, 1979
Education : Department of Broadcasting & Entertainment, Dong-ah Broadcasting College
Physique : 180cm, 71kg
Debut : Hip-hop dance video “Hip-hop Nation” (1998)
Blood type : B
Religion : Christianity
Hobbies : Snowboarding, PC games, listening to music, baduk, fishing, reading comics, water skiing
Talents : Snowboarding, baduk, rapping
Motto: Do my best in everything I do.

BIOGRAPHY:

Our featured artist this week is the multi-talented entertainer MC Mong. We know him well for his rapping, but he is also a pretty good singer and an actor. He started out his career as a member of the hip-hop group "People Crew", which debuted back in 1998. However, MC Mong did not get his big break until he participated in the MBC hit sitcom "Non-Stop 4" in 2003-2004. The Non-Stop series has produced so many talents over the years, and MC Mong is the 2nd rapper coming out of the sitcom (Yang Dong Geun is the first) to become famous.

With his success in "Non-Stop 4", MC Mong released his first solo album in the Spring of 2004, his pop oriented hip-hop songs (which he called "neo hip-hop") quickly gained mainstream popularity. The title song "180 degrees" made it to the top 3 on the chart in just a few weeks of release. The follow up song "A Man Like That" also hit the top 10. But most people might remember this album for the song "A Letter Written To You" (featuring Lyn). Even though this song was not officially released as a single, it appeared many times on Non-Stop 4. MC Mong and Lyn even performed this song on gayo shows a few times. At that time, the song was probably the first k-pop exposure for a hip-hop mixed ballad.

Early 2005, MC Mong returned to acting and participated in a mega-produced TV series "Sad Love Song". Sadly, the rating of this TV series was very low. Later that year, MC Mong released his 2nd album titled "His Story". The title song "Invincible" again hit as high as No. 2 in the music chart. But the follow up song "I Love U, Oh Thank U" (featuring G.O.D.’s Kim Tae Woo) finally became MC Mong’s first No. 1 song. Like "A Letter Written To You", MC Mong proved to us again that hip-hop and ballad can harmonize well together. It is not often in k-pop that a follow up song is more popular than the title song. "I Love U, Oh Thank U" did just that, and was one of the most popular songs in all of k-pop in 2005. As a result, MC Mong was named top 10 artists on many award ceremonies in 2005.

In October 2006, MC Mong released his long awaited 3rd album. The title song "아이스크림" (Ice-Cream) has a very catchy melody. In this song, MC Mong has increased his singing part as well. The song hit No. 2 on our chart. This album featured a lot of well known artists like Park Hyo Shin, Maybee, Ivy, and also Lisa of the Japanese group M-FLO sang the song "A Letter Written To You Part 2". We are awaiting what the 2nd single is. Based on the past history, MC Mong’s follow up song can do as well as or even better than his title song.

For all his 3 solo albums, MC Mong has released 5 singles so far, and all 5 songs are top 10 hits. Also, his album sales are better with each new album released. He is definitely a man to look out the k-pop scene for years to come.

DISCOGRAPHY:

180 Degrees (1st album, 2004) : 180 Degrees, A Man Like That, A Letter Written To You (feat. Lyn)
IPB Image
His Story (2nd album, 2005) : Invincible, I Love U Oh Thank U, The Twelve Laws of Life

The Way I Am (3rd album, 2006) : Ice-Cream, A Letter Written To You Part 2 (feat. Lisa), Prayer (feat. Park Hyo Shin), The Way I Am (feat. Maybee, Lee SSang), Incomplete Movie (feat. Ivy)