Artist of the week - Tim

Dec 10, 2007

PROFILE:

Real name : Hwang Young-min
Date of birth : December 23rd, 1981
Place of Birth: Philadelphia, PA
Physique : 185cm, 71kg
Education : Temple University
Hobbies : Basketball, computer games
Talents : Classical singing, playing alto saxophone, drums and keyboards

BIOGRAPHY:

Our featured artiste this week is ballad singer Tim. Tim was born in Philadelphia in 1981 to a Christian family. His father is a pastor. Thus, from his childhood, Tim was exposed to a musical environment in which he naturally learned to play various instruments like the saxophone and piano at his father’s church. Tim had never visited Korea until he graduated high school. However, at the age of 20, Tim stood at an important crossroads in his life. He was approached by a pop music producer from Korea to debut as a pop singer in Korea. It was a tough decision to fly to Korea for Tim as his family had a very conservative background. However, Tim decided to try his hand at being a pop singer in Korea. He then flew to Seoul, away from his family for the first time in his life, also giving up his life as a college student in Pennsylvania.

For the first two years in Korea, Tim focused on learning the Korean language and training himself for his debut as a pop singer. While he was preparing his debut album, Tim was very fortunate to have met Yoon Sang, a great senior and mentor as a singer and also one of the top song writers in Korea. Yoon Sang wrote “I Love You,” a soft ballad that perfectly matches Tim’s voice and image. Yoon Sang supported Tim a lot in creating his musical style. Tim’s debut album was released in 2003 and received great response from music lovers who had been thirsty for ballad music. Notably, when Tim’s senior ballad singers like Shin Seung-hoon commented favorably on Tim’s music, he gained great recognition in the local pop music market.

Tim has come into the spotlight as the next successor of male ballad singers in Korea after Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Seung-hoon. Contrary to male singers who put much stress on the visually sensual aspect of performing, Tim is gaining popularity with his calm and intellectual image and his pure world of music.

DISCOGRAPHY:

First Young Min (1st album, 2003) : I Love You, Sometimes I Cry, Yes, Reunion, Always, Like Yesterday, Bye Bye Love

Second Breath (2nd album, 2004) : Thank You, Day Dream, Morning Star, I’m Sorry, Lost in Love

Emotions (3rd album, 2006) : In Dreams (A Snowman’s Dream), Fly with an Angel, Truth, Polaris, Luv Again, Please Come to Me

Painful Separation (Digital single, 2007) : Painful Separation

Love Is… (4th album, 2007) : As Much As I Love