Yong Guk

Bang Yong-guk
Yongguk at the K-Pop World Festival in 2013
Native name	방용국
Born	Bang Yong-guk (1990-03-31) March 31, 1990 (age 26) Incheon, South Korea
Other names	Jepp Blackman
Occupation	Rapper songwriter producer
Musical career
Genres	Hip-Hop
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2008–present
Labels	TS Entertainment
Associated acts	B.A.P Untouchable Yang Yo-seob

Bang Yong-guk (born March 31, 1990), better known mononymously as Yongguk, is a South Korean rapper, songwriter and producer. He is best known as the leader of the South Korean boy group B.A.P under TS Entertainment.

He made his musical debut in 2007 as a member of an underground hip-hop group called Soul Connection under the alias of "Jepp Blackman". In March 2011, he featured on Song Jieun's single "Going Crazy", which became a number one hit in South Korea. In July of that year he released his first solo digital single, "I Remember", featuring BEAST's Yoseob, and in November he promoted in a sub-unit called Bang&Zelo with fellow B.A.P member Zelo, releasing the single "Never Give Up". B.A.P released their first single in January 2012.

Bang Yong-guk was born in Incheon, South Korea, on March 31, 1990. He has an identical twin brother named Yongnam, who has also performed as an underground artist, and an older sister named Natasha. He was not able to talk until he was five years old.

He moved with his family to the coastal Ijak islands of Incheon when he was young, living there for a short period of time before moving back to mainland Incheon. He studied at Gae Woong Elementary School and Gae Woong Middle School, and at 18 graduated from Yuhan High School.

In 2008, he was a member of underground hip hop group called "Soul Connection" under the stage name of "Jepp Blackman" and the group released a single entitled "Cherry Flower". He was introduced to TS Entertainment by the members of South Korean hip hop duo Untouchable and entered the company, where he trained for six years before the debut of B.A.P.