Kangnam (singer)
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Yasuo Namekawa (born 23 March 1987), better known by his stage name Kangnam, is a Korean-Japanese singer and television personality who was the vocalist and oldest member of the South Korean hip-hop group M.I.B. He made his first recording in South Korea with the single "Say My Name" just before becoming a member of M.I.B.


Biography


Early life and career beginnings (1987–2010)

Kangnam was born on 23 March 1987 in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
, Japan to a Korean mother and a Japanese father. As an only child, he spent most of his childhood in Japan and also spent some years in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
. In March 2008, Kangnam appeared with the stage name Ya-Cha as a new member of the Japanese band Kick Chop Busters. However, he left the band in 2010 for unknown reasons, without his parents' knowledge. Kangnam has stated in interviews that his family is wealthy, but he does not receive financial support from them.


School life

Kangnam attended the
Hawaiian Mission Academy The Hawaiian Mission Academy (HMA) is a private coeducational day and boarding school in Honolulu, Hawaii. HMA is the only Academy that provides international dormitory housing on the island. It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist education sy ...
in
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
for a brief period before transferring to another high school. He then returned to Japan to finish his studies. Kangnam briefly attended
Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he majored in Communications, but left the school to pursue music instead.


Career in South Korea (2011–present)

In South Korea, Kangnam first performed as a member of M.I.B under the Jungle Entertainment label on 25 October 2011, with the title track "G.D.M", which stands for "Girls, Dreams, Money". His solo song, "Say My Name", was released on 17 October 2011, as part of a spin-off promotion to prove that each member was capable of standing alone. Kangnam is an accomplished guitarist and pianist. In 2012, Kangnam appeared in a TV advertisement for Epson, an electronics company that specializes in image-related products, and took on his first acting role in the TV sitcom ''21st Century Family'', and he became the host of the Japanese version of
Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...
's ''Jjang''. In the 3 October 2014, episode of ''I Live Alone'' Rainbow segment, Kangnam revealed that he had only $3 in his bank account. In subsequent ''Entertainment Relay'' interviews, he reported that his income had increased significantly, as he became involved with more advertisements and variety shows. In October 2014, he became a permanent cast member of MBC's '' I Live Alone''. In November 2014, he became an exclusive model for the shoe store ABC Mart, with model
Nam Joo-hyuk Nam Joo-hyuk (Korean: 남주혁; born February 22, 1994) is a South Korean model and actor. He began his career as a model, and appeared in several music videos before making his screen debut in 2014 with ''The Idle Mermaid''. He rose to promin ...
. Kangnam finally saw the fruit of his labours towards the end of 2014, when he was the presenter for a year-end festival stage as part of the "Lucky Boys" project for 2014 SBS Gayo Daejun. On the 26 December episode of MBC's ''I Live Alone'', Kangnam spoke about attending year-end festivals for the first time since in his career: "Singers usually appear on TV to sing at the end of each year. Every year, I have been watching TV thinking 'I'll do that next year,' and somehow four years have passed." On 26 December 2014, Kangnam released his second solo track, "What Do I Do", which wentsoared to #1 on Daum's real-time charts. Kangnam also ranked #1 on several real-time searches, including Naver, Melon and Mnet. In February 2015, he was appointed the honorary ambassador for the fourth KCON music festival and convention for its first time in Japan and performed at the concert on 22 April. He has said that his fluency in both languages would allow him to "act as the bridge between the exchange of culture from both countries".


Solo career in Japan (2016)

Kangnam released his first Japanese solo album, ''Ready to Fly'', on 25 May 2016, under CJ Victor Entertainment.


Personal life

On 16 March 2019, Kangnam's agency confirmed that he and the
Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
speed skater
Lee Sang-hwa Lee Sang-hwa (Korean: 이상화, Hanja: 李相花, ; born 25 February 1989) is a South Korean retired speed skater who specialises in the sprint distances. She is a two-time Olympic champion in 500 metres (2010 and 2014) and the 2010 World Sp ...
were dating. They got to know each other after appearing on the SBS variety show ''
Law of the Jungle "The law of the jungle" (also called jungle law) is an expression that has come to describe a scenario where "anything goes". The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines the Law of the Jungle as "''the code of survival in jungle life'', now usual ...
'' ("in Last Indian Ocean" part). On 11 August 2019, Kangnam announced his decision to forfeit his Japanese citizenship and began the process of becoming a naturalized Korean citizen. Kangnam married Lee on 12 October 2019. Kangnam officially became a South Korean citizen in February 2022.


Philanthropy

On January 2, 2023, Kangnam donated 10 million won to a stray dog shelter.


Discography

''For Kangnam's work with M.I.B, see M.I.B's discography.''


Studio albums


Extended plays


Singles


Filmography


Television series


Web series


Television show


Web shows


Awards and nominations


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kangnam Singers from Tokyo 1987 births Living people Jungle Entertainment artists CJ Victor Entertainment artists Japanese-language singers Japanese K-pop singers South Korean male idols Korean-language singers of Japan Japanese people of Korean descent Japanese expatriates in South Korea 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese male singers