Seven (Se7en)
Singer Se7en, whose birth name is 최동욱 is a South Korean entertainer best known for his soulful r&b vocals and dancing skills. Se7en is a member of YG Entertainment, and began training there at the age of 15. Seven was born in 1984, and debuted under YGEntertainment in 2003, at the age of 19.
Korean Career
Se7en debuted in March 2003 with his first full-length album Just Listen. The album contained 14 tracks, including his three singles, 와줘, 한번 단 한번, and Baby I Like You Like That. The album notably featured popular artists such as Wheesung, Lexy and Gummy, as well as a pre-debut G-Dragon. At the time of debut, the album didn't not sell as well as anticipated, but sales picked up and reached #4 on the charts for two months. At the end of the year, album sales had exceed 210,000 copies, and the album was the 10th best selling of 2003.
Just over one year later, in July 2004, Se7en released his second full-length album, Must Listen. This album contained 14 tracks and one bonus track and included features from Masta Wu, Taebin (of 1TYM), Perry and Wheesung. Must Listen sold nearly 200,000 copies shortly after its release and contains popular songs 문신 (Tattoo) and 열정 (Passion)
.
Japanese Promotions
Following Must Listen Se7en pursued the Japanese music industry, releasing a series of singles in Japanese in 2005. He released a pair of full-length albums on March 8, 2006 titled 24/Seven, a Korean release, and FIRST Seven, a Japanese release. The albums were successful, selling a combined 135,000+ albums in the first few months. Singles from these albums include Light (光), STYLE, Start Line/Forever (スタートライン/Forever), and I Wanna. The Korean album also contained features from the likes of Teddy, Masta Wu, Perry, and pre-debut G-Dragon and Taeyang.
Fourth Korean Album
On November 1, 2006, Se7en released his 4th full-length studio album, Se7olution, which sold 55,000+ in the first weeks after release. The album contained one of his most famous singles, La La La. An interesting feature of this album is that 100% of the 14 tracks are titled only in English, in spite of the album being an entirely Korean produced and sung album. Se7olution also contains tracks which feature Taeyang and G-Dragon.
Foray into American Music Industry
In 2007, Se7en began preparations to attempt to enter the American Music Industry. He featured on American R&B artist Amerie's song Take Control and announced a collaboration with American rapper Fabolous. The song was leaked in March 2007, and ended up not being publicly released according to plans. Later in March 2008, Se7en held a pre-release album preview party tour starting in New York City, where three of his English songs were played, and the parties were sponsored by Verizon Wireless. And in March 2009, he released his single and music video for Girls which features American hip-hop diva Lil' Kim. The music video was aired on BET's 106&Park in June but was not considered public success. Se7en eventually returned to Korea to pursue Asian music markets again.
Korean and Japanese Comebacks
Se7en released his first EP since returning from America on July 31, 2010. The EP, titled Digital Bounce ended up being quite successful, with performances on a variety of music shows, and his first single, featuring TOP, being a top ranked song for several weeks. Some fans criticized the album's use of auto-tune claiming that Se7en's style of music had changed too much or was no longer pleasant. None the less, the song was very popular and the EP reached 2nd on the Korean pop charts. The second single off the album, I'm Going Crazy featured long-time girlfriend and actress Park Han Byeol, and is considered the most traditional Se7en-style r&b track on the albumOn January 18, 2012, Se7en released a new Japanese full-length album. Plans originally indicated that similar to his 24/Seven and FIRST Seven releases in 2006, he would be simultaneously releasing Japanese and Korean albums on that date. However, release of the Korean album was delayed and only the Japanese Album was released on January 18th.
2nd Mini-Album
Se7en's second mini-album was released in Korea on February 1 2012. It charted at number one a number of Korean music charts, as well as taking the number one spot on the iTunes R&B charts for February first. The album contains six songs, and the first single is titled 내가 노래를 못해도. This song was produced together with JYP, who approached Se7en to do a song together. The album did fairly well in Korean, and the single was extremely popular, winning on all the major music shows.
Army Service
On January 19th, Se7en entered the Army for his mandatory military service. He will serve until November 2014, for a total of 22 months. He is stationed with troop 306 in Uijeongbu, South Korea. Prior to enlistment, he held a concert called the Thank U Talk Concert in Seoul on March 9th. At the concert, he sang all of his most popular songs, and revealed a song he had written for his fans (Lucky Sevens). He also revealed his enlistment day at the concert, revealing that it would be much sooner than most people had expected. He has said that he hopes to continue singing and performing after completing his military service.
Korean Career
Se7en debuted in March 2003 with his first full-length album Just Listen. The album contained 14 tracks, including his three singles, 와줘, 한번 단 한번, and Baby I Like You Like That. The album notably featured popular artists such as Wheesung, Lexy and Gummy, as well as a pre-debut G-Dragon. At the time of debut, the album didn't not sell as well as anticipated, but sales picked up and reached #4 on the charts for two months. At the end of the year, album sales had exceed 210,000 copies, and the album was the 10th best selling of 2003.
Just over one year later, in July 2004, Se7en released his second full-length album, Must Listen. This album contained 14 tracks and one bonus track and included features from Masta Wu, Taebin (of 1TYM), Perry and Wheesung. Must Listen sold nearly 200,000 copies shortly after its release and contains popular songs 문신 (Tattoo) and 열정 (Passion)
.
Japanese Promotions
Following Must Listen Se7en pursued the Japanese music industry, releasing a series of singles in Japanese in 2005. He released a pair of full-length albums on March 8, 2006 titled 24/Seven, a Korean release, and FIRST Seven, a Japanese release. The albums were successful, selling a combined 135,000+ albums in the first few months. Singles from these albums include Light (光), STYLE, Start Line/Forever (スタートライン/Forever), and I Wanna. The Korean album also contained features from the likes of Teddy, Masta Wu, Perry, and pre-debut G-Dragon and Taeyang.
Fourth Korean Album
On November 1, 2006, Se7en released his 4th full-length studio album, Se7olution, which sold 55,000+ in the first weeks after release. The album contained one of his most famous singles, La La La. An interesting feature of this album is that 100% of the 14 tracks are titled only in English, in spite of the album being an entirely Korean produced and sung album. Se7olution also contains tracks which feature Taeyang and G-Dragon.
Foray into American Music Industry
In 2007, Se7en began preparations to attempt to enter the American Music Industry. He featured on American R&B artist Amerie's song Take Control and announced a collaboration with American rapper Fabolous. The song was leaked in March 2007, and ended up not being publicly released according to plans. Later in March 2008, Se7en held a pre-release album preview party tour starting in New York City, where three of his English songs were played, and the parties were sponsored by Verizon Wireless. And in March 2009, he released his single and music video for Girls which features American hip-hop diva Lil' Kim. The music video was aired on BET's 106&Park in June but was not considered public success. Se7en eventually returned to Korea to pursue Asian music markets again.
Korean and Japanese Comebacks
Se7en released his first EP since returning from America on July 31, 2010. The EP, titled Digital Bounce ended up being quite successful, with performances on a variety of music shows, and his first single, featuring TOP, being a top ranked song for several weeks. Some fans criticized the album's use of auto-tune claiming that Se7en's style of music had changed too much or was no longer pleasant. None the less, the song was very popular and the EP reached 2nd on the Korean pop charts. The second single off the album, I'm Going Crazy featured long-time girlfriend and actress Park Han Byeol, and is considered the most traditional Se7en-style r&b track on the albumOn January 18, 2012, Se7en released a new Japanese full-length album. Plans originally indicated that similar to his 24/Seven and FIRST Seven releases in 2006, he would be simultaneously releasing Japanese and Korean albums on that date. However, release of the Korean album was delayed and only the Japanese Album was released on January 18th.
2nd Mini-Album
Se7en's second mini-album was released in Korea on February 1 2012. It charted at number one a number of Korean music charts, as well as taking the number one spot on the iTunes R&B charts for February first. The album contains six songs, and the first single is titled 내가 노래를 못해도. This song was produced together with JYP, who approached Se7en to do a song together. The album did fairly well in Korean, and the single was extremely popular, winning on all the major music shows.
Army Service
On January 19th, Se7en entered the Army for his mandatory military service. He will serve until November 2014, for a total of 22 months. He is stationed with troop 306 in Uijeongbu, South Korea. Prior to enlistment, he held a concert called the Thank U Talk Concert in Seoul on March 9th. At the concert, he sang all of his most popular songs, and revealed a song he had written for his fans (Lucky Sevens). He also revealed his enlistment day at the concert, revealing that it would be much sooner than most people had expected. He has said that he hopes to continue singing and performing after completing his military service.
