Artist of the week - Lee Ki Chan

May 01, 2007

Our featured artist this week is Lee Ki Chan. He is only 28 now but he seems to have been around forever. That is because he debuted at an early age of 17 back in 1996, and he released 2 albums a year in the early days. His best music are his ballads, which is always ranked among the top of the music chart. In his previous (8th) album, he tried to venture into more up-tempo music but was not successful. He is going back to his ballad roots on his recently released 9th album. The title song "A Beauty", which is written by the hottest songwriter in Korea – Cho Young Soo, helped him re-captured the No. 1 spot. Let's find out more about him:

PROFILE:

Date of birth : January 10th, 1979
Education : Seoul Arts College, Kyunghee University
Debut song : “Please” (January, 1997)
Physique : 173cm, 60kg
Nickname : The Little Prince
Hobbies : Watching movies, traveling, snow-boarding
Talents : Playing the piano & flute

BIOGRAPHY:

Lee Ki Chan made his debut as a singer when he was still a high school student. In 1996, Lee took part in a talent contest held during a radio show and won the grand prize. Since then, Lee has developed his career as a professional singer. Along with Lee Ji Hoon and Kim Soo Keun, Lee was among the most promising high-teen singers. At the time of Lee’s debut, the Korean pop music world was dominated by dance music, but Lee Ki Chan received spotlight with his soft ballads. Having undergone musical training by Han Yong Jin, a renowned re-mix DJ, Lee Ki Chan released his first album entitled “Na Na Na Na Nineteen.” In only 3 months since the release of the album, 220,000 copies were sold. The song “Please” was the most popular among the tracks.

In November of the same year, Lee released his second album entitled “Indelible Impression.” In the song “Glass,” Lee Ki Chan showed off his singing talent that sounded much more mature considering his age of only 19. For his 3rd album, Lee Ki Chan challenged producing his own songs. As a result, the album reflected Lee’s own personality and characteristics. One of Lee’s greatest hit songs came later in his 5th album released in 2001. The song “Another Love Goes Away” was written by Park Jin Young (JYP). The appealing singing method of Lee that harmonized perfectly to the words and melody of the song touched the hearts of many listeners.

Lee continues to produce hit songs on his next 2 albums. The song "Cold" (6th album) spent many weeks on top of the chart, and the song "Repeatedly" (7th album) was one of his very best songs. However, Lee Ki Chan suffered a setback on his 8th album in 2004, when he tried to venture into more up-tempo songs. He selected a dance song "I’m Nothing Without You" as the title song and it was not appealing to listeners. After that, Lee spent 3 years in hiatus thinking what direction he should go on his music. He decided to go back to ballads and he redeemed himself big time in 2007 with his 9th album. The title song "A Beauty" was again a No. 1 hit for him, proving that fans preferred to listen to his ballads more than his up-tempo songs.

Lee Ki Chan is a musician with a flexible mind and attitude who tries constantly to figure out what the listeners want in his music. Challenging various musical genres such as Latin, rap and reggae, Lee Ki Chan was quite successful in coming closer to the listeners through his music. Lee’s hope is to become a person who makes and sings songs forever. At such a young age but already released 9 albums under his belt, Lee Ki Chan may one day hold the record for the most studio albums released by a singer.

DISCOGRAPHY:

Na na na na Nineteen (1st album, 1997) : Major, Please, Cyber Love, Red Light, Want, Unblues

Indelible Impression (2nd album, 1997) : Glass, Please Be There, Magic, Nothing, Feels Like Autumn

The Theme of By (3rd album, 1999) : Shadows, So I Can Forget You, Into the Memories, Browns Bay, Daydream, The Theme of By

One Man Show (4th album, 1999) : In the Jungle, Human, Lagrima, Sax on the Groove, Blue Funky, Dancing Tree

New Story (5th album, 2001) : Another Love Goes Away, In Any Words, Viva My Love, Without You, Misery

New Story Ⅱ (6th album, 2002) : Cold, Fool, Believe in Love

Natural (7th album, 2003) : Dancing Tree, Another Love Has Left, Dreamy You, My Letter

I’m Nothing Without You (8th album, 2004) : I’m Nothing Without You, True Love, My Little Girl, I’m Ready

Para Ti (9th album, 2007) : A Beauty, New Person