Yoo Seung-jun
| Yoo Seung-jun | |
|---|---|
| Native name | 유승준 (劉承俊) |
| Birth name | Yoo Seung-jun |
| Also known as | Steve Yoo |
| Born | 15 December 1976 |
| Origin | Seoul, South Korea |
| Genres | K-pop, R&B, dance, urban, hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | singer, dancer, model |
| Years active | 1997–2002, 2006–present |
| Labels |
Westside Media (1997-2002) DreamBeat (2006–present) |
| Yoo Seung-jun | |
| Hangul | 유승준 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 劉承俊 |
| Revised Romanization | Yu Seungjun |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yu Sŭngjun |
Yoo Seung-jun, also known as Steve Yoo, is a former Korean American pop star and one of the biggest selling artists in Korean history, selling over 5 million records in the country. Yoo Seung-jun's career in South Korea ended in 2002 due to controversies around his mandatory military service. He was known for his high-energy dancing style, rapping, and singing ability. He is infamous as the first high-profile person to have committed draft dodging in Korean history.
Banned from South Korea, he has since begun an acting career in China.
Yoo born on December 15, 1976, in Seoul, South Korea. His family moved to the United States when he was thirteen and settled in Buena Park, California. He made demo tapes of his rapping and dance skills and sent these to Brothers Entertainment, where he was eventually scouted and left California to start his career as a singer.
Yoo made his Korean debut as a singer in 1997. His first album West Side was a hit with the debut single "Gaui" ("gaui" is the Korean word for "scissors" - in this context it translates to "nightmare" as Koreans use the word to describe the rigid sleep paralysis which sometimes accompanies bad dreams). Along with another single "I love you Noona", he won Best Newcomer of the Year in many award ceremonies. Yoo gained popularity with his signature dance move of "Gawi", in which he and his backup dancers lined up diagonally to perform the same moves in unison. West Side ended up selling a million records.
In the summer of 1998, he released second album 1998 V2 for SALE with "Na Na Na" as its lead song, where it and the music video topped the charts. In the video, it featured actress Choi Ji-woo, who played as the internship teacher while he played as the troublesome student. Many consider this album as the most successful of his career, as it won him Best Artist of the Year in multiple award ceremonies. The album again sold 1 million records.
In 1999, he went on to release his third album Now Or Never, which contained the hit single "Passion". Later that year, Yoo released his fourth album, "Over and Over," which contained the hit single "Vision."
During this time, he began to expand his career into China and Taiwan, with the release of single "Can't Wait", which was a collaboration with Taiwanese singer Yuki. Now or Never topped the Korean charts with first week sales of 879,000 albums sold. Setting a record for the highest first week sales ever at the time. The album eventually sold close to 1.5 million units. He also released music videos for two of his Korean songs that year for "찾길 바래" (Wish you could find) & "어제 오늘 그리고" (Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow), the latter showing off a more sophisticated image.
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