Biography
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Born
5 February 1982 (age 42)
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Born In
Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Choi Hwee-Sung (born February 5, 1982 in Seoul, South Korea), better known by his stage name Wheesung (Korean: 휘성), is a South Korean R&B singer, song-writer, and record producer signed under the Orange Shock Agency label. He was formerly under M.Boat Entertainment Group & YG Entertainment label. He left both labels when his contract ended in March 2006.
His music, at the beginning of his career, was heavily influenced by R&B but pop had become more evident in his music. He isn't fluent in English, though his pronounciation is considered to be very good; He usually has 1 or 2 songs sung completely in English in all of his albums.
Wheesung was first part of dance-team "ING" when he debuted in 1997. He later became the lead vocals for the short-lived boyband "A4" in 1999. Due to musical differences & disagreements with other group members, he left after the release of their first album.
After leaving A4, he was taken under the management of YG Entertainment's sister company M.BOAT and was trained for two years before releasing his first solo album in 2002. Even before the release of his first album, Wheesung attracted attention from music lovers after being highly praised by veteran singers Shin Seung Hoon, Yang Hyun Suk & Seo Taiji. His debut album gained great popularity and quickly reached the top ten in music charts. In 2003, he released his follow-up album, It's Real. It proved to be as popular as his first, making him the best selling artist of 2003 in Korea. Unlike his debut album, It's Real wasn't restricted to R&B and it included different musical elements like pop and hip-hop.
For his third album's performances, Wheesung choose to perform his first performance at a different show instead of the natural first choice, SBS' Inkigayo. This move not only angered SBS, it also fuelled a fierce disagreement between SBS and YG Entertainment. In the weeks that followed, SBS refused to let any artist belonging to the YG Entertainment & M.BOAT stable to perform in Inkigayo. In retaliation, Yang Hyun Suk, founder of YG Entertainment, posted a comment on YG's website stating that all artists under YG Entertainment would boycott the 2004 SBS Music Awards. The feud between the two companies ended after Wheesung performed his first comeback performance in SBS' Inkigayo, for his Love..Love..?Love..! album, in September 2005. He was the first YG artist to perform in SBS' Inkigayo in nearly a whole year.
His contract with YG Entertainment & M.Boat ended in March 2006. He signed a new contract that is reportedly worth 1.5 million won with his new company Orange Shock Agency. It was stated that he will be composing and producing more with his new company giving him more freedom to do so.
To date he has released 6 albums, 1 minialbum and 2EP and participated in several other artists' albums.
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