The Ultimate Introduction to Korean RnB

As seen in Cherry Chu Magazine. Edited by Chelsea Cheetham.

Whether you’re new to the genre or looking for someone new to listen to within the K-RnB space, this guide is the perfect place to start. From the biggest artists to our personal favorites, welcome to K-RnB.

BIBI

After starting her journey in 2018 on reality show The Fan and securing second place, BIBI has worked nonstop. BIBI has continued to release music consistently after her debut in 2019 with her single “Binu” and gained millions of streams up to the release of her EP Life is a Bi… in 2021.

This was followed by the song “The Weekend” soon after with 88rising, a widely known music recording company with artists like NIKI and Joji. She gained attention with the unapologetic performances of songs like “Best Lover” and viral hit “BIBI Vengeance.” Between working with artists such as Crush and Becky G and working on the songs for Street Man Fighter, BIBI has solidified a spot for herself as one of the top female K-RnB artists.

DEAN

Following his 2015 debut and creating revolutionary K-RnB tracks up until 2020, DEAN has finally made his comeback with the song “DIE 4 YOU” much to the excitement of millions of fans.

Only a year after debuting with “I’m Not Sorry,” he was named one of Spotify’s “25 under 25,” a list of Spotify’s most influential artists under the age of 25. He also hit #1 on every chart in Korea in 2017 with “instagram,” a song highly associated with the winter season by fans. Sought after as a collaborator, DEAN has worked with the likes of Anderson .Paak, ZICO, Crush, and Eric Bellinger.

JUNNY

Having lived in Vancouver, Canada since the age of four, JUNNY is completely fluent in both Korean and English, and knows how to blend them perfectly with his sweet yet sensual vocals. Beginning to write music around the age of 15, he eventually sold a song to singer Luhan, previously from the group EXO, and this pushed his desire to move to South Korea, moving fully in 2018.

This proved to be a great decision as he has since grown his following immensely and has worked with other RnB artists such as pH-1, CHUNG HA, and JAY B. Finding expansive success with his most recent single “INVITATION” featuring Gaeko, it looks like up is the only way for JUNNY.

Hoody

Originally part of the hip-hop group Amourette, Hoody is a solo act under Jay Park’s record label AOMG. Fans were recently blessed with her second full length album Sailing which was very anticipated by her listeners after the mass success of her first album Departure.

She has many of her own solo hit singles like “When The Rain Stops,” but some of her biggest successes have come from collabs due to how nicely her voice compliments a partner. The biggest collaboration to date is with AOMG owner, Jay Park, and artist Loco for “All I Wanna Do.” The song comes in at Jay Park’s second most listened to song on Spotify with almost 103,000,000 streams (at the time of writing). This is one of Hoody and Park’s many collabs and listeners are eagerly awaiting more.

Sweet The Kid

Casual, velvety, sultry, and incredibly talented are only a few words to describe the aura of Sweet The Kid and his vast discography. His most listened to song is “i need you more” featuring Suyo with airy, wispy vocals.

All of his music has a smooth and jazz filled undertone that makes every song flow easily into the next. His older music can be found alongside musicians Jimmy Brown and Rovv as they formed the trio The Good Days Boys. His most recent EP Silence continues his classic sound with themes of love, being with the person you think about most, and expressing everything you feel. 

Here’s a playlist featuring the awesome artists above to get you started!