Nam Tae-hyun (born May 10, 1994), also known as Taehyun, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, producer and actor. In March 2017, he founded a music label, South Buyers Club. Sometime afterwards, the label was renamed to ''The South''. Under the label, Nam debuted the band
South Club, of which he is leader, main vocalist, guitarist, and main composer. He was previously the main vocalist of
K-pop group
Winner
Winner(s) or The Winner(s) may refer to:
* Champion, the victor in a game or contest
*The successful social class in winner and loser culture
Film
* ''The Winner'' (1926 film), an American silent film starring Billy Sullivan
* ''The Winner'' ...
, in which he also composed and produced. In November 2019, Nam announced that he closed his music label and that the band had signed with new management.
Life and career
Pre-debut: ''Win: Who Is Next''
Prior to his debut as a member of
Winner
Winner(s) or The Winner(s) may refer to:
* Champion, the victor in a game or contest
*The successful social class in winner and loser culture
Film
* ''The Winner'' (1926 film), an American silent film starring Billy Sullivan
* ''The Winner'' ...
, Nam performed as a backup dancer for the YG Family Concert 2011.
In 2013, he competed in the reality program ''Win: Who Is Next'' as a trainee in "Team A", which he went on to debut as a member of group Winner. Nam co-composed and co-wrote two songs that were used to compete on the show.
2014–2015: Official debut, ''2014 S/S'', and television appearances
Nam participated in the production of Winner's debut album, ''
2014 S/S
''2014 S/S'' is the debut album of South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land bord ...
'', which was released in August 2014. He co-composed three songs from the album – "But (사랑하지마)", "Tonight (이 밤)" and his solo track "Confession (고백하는거야)". The album topped several charts, including the
Gaon Music Chart as well as the
Billboard's World Albums Chart.
In 2015, while the group was on hiatus, Nam made his acting debut on web drama ''Midnight Girl''. That same year, he played a supporting role in the drama ''
Late Night Restaurant
''Late Night Restaurant'' () is a 2015 South Korean drama series based on the manga '' Shinya Shokudō''. It aired two back-to-back episodes on SBS on Saturdays at 24:10 and 24:40 from July 4 to September 5, 2015.
Plot
A restaurant opens at midni ...
''. He was also cast in the joint Chinese-Korean production ''Under the Black Moonlight''.
2016: ''Exit : E'', television appearances, and departure from Winner
In January 2016, Nam released the single "Pricked" (사랑가시) in collaboration with
Mino Mino may refer to:
Places in Japan
* Mino, Gifu, a city in Gifu Prefecture
* Mino, Kagawa, a former town in Kagawa Prefecture
* Mino, Tokushima, a town in Tokushima Prefecture
* Mino, an alternate spelling of Minoh, a city in Osaka Prefecture
* Mi ...
as a warm-up track ahead of Winner's EP ''
Exit : E''. The single charted at number two on
MelOn
A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a " pepo". Th ...
.
After nearly 18 months of hiatus, Winner's comeback mini-album ''Exit : E'' was released on February 1. The album featured five tracks, including "Pricked", and double title tracks "Baby Baby" and "센치해 (Sentimental)". Nam played a major role in the production of both title tracks, as well as for his solo "좋더라 (I'm Young)".
In March 2016, Nam joined
tvN TVN may refer to:
* TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel
* Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster
* TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi
* TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...
's ''Actor School'', a variety show featuring seven stars going through a series of trainings by actor
Park Shin-yang
Park Shin-yang (; born November 1, 1968) is a South Korean actor.
He majored in acting at Dongguk University in South Korea and studied at the Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School in Russia.
From 1996 he won a number of acting awards in ...
, in order to brush up on their acting skills.
On October 12,
YG Entertainment
YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production comp ...
stated that Nam would be halting promotional activities and receiving treatment for mental health issues. As a result, Winner's comeback was delayed indefinitely. Later, on November 25, it was announced that he had withdrawn from the group and had terminated his contract with YG Entertainment. The following day, he posted a handwritten letter on his personal Instagram account containing his apology, gratitude to fans and pledge to return with other music and projects.
2017–present: Music creations and South Buyers Club
Nam continues sharing his music creations and covers on his
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...
account, including a cover of
Radiohead's "
Creep",
Park Hyo-shin
Park Hyo-shin (Hangul: 박효신, Hanja: 朴孝信; born September 1, 1981) is a South Korean ballad singer and musical theatre actor known for his emotional vocals. He debuted in 1999 and has since released many hit songs including, "Things ...
's "Beautiful Tomorrow", and "Breath (숨)". His influences arise from artists across many genres, such as
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
,
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
,
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
,
B.B. King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...
, and
Eric Clapton. He then created a
Tumblr
Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...
site on January 5, posting announcements and communicating with fans from time to time. On January 23, Nam started recruiting applications for his upcoming band.
On March 25, Nam, together with his rumored band, South Club, held a guerrilla show at Pet Sounds Bar in Korea. The 30-minute show was livestreamed on platforms such as Instagram, and popular China video-sharing platform
Miaopai
Miaopai () is a Chinese video sharing and live streaming service with 70 million daily active users
Active users is a measurement metric that is commonly used to measure the level of engagement for a particular product or object, by quantifyi ...
. South Club performed a total of four songs, including tracks from
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
and
Foster the People
Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members are singer Mark Foster, guitarist Sean Cimino, and keyboardist Isom Innis.
Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending several years in ...
. On April 11, Nam announced that his music label "South Buyers Club" has officially been registered as of March 30. On May 26, South Club released the music video for their first pre-release track "Hug Me," which was a ballad rock track.
South Club's first EP ''
90'' was released on June 27, along with music videos for the two title tracks: "Liar" and "I got the Blues.". The name of the album was inspired by the expression of freedom of youths in the 90s. It was also due to the fact that all members of the band were born after the year 1990. On July 9, the band came back with their first single titled "아니 (No)". After the member Yooni's departure, the band's first release as a four piece was the second single "누굴 위한 노래인가요 (Who Is This Song For?)", which became available for streaming on December 5, 2017.
Radio DJ
On July 31, 2017, Nam started his career as a radio DJ. He broadcast live on the Casper Radio Vlive channel on Mondays, at 11pm, to talk about various topics and to share his music with his fans. On his 32nd broadcast, on April 9, 2018, Nam announced that he would be doing his last broadcast on May 7, in order to focus more on his music.
Personal life
Nam has been open about his struggles with
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
and
depression. He stated in a November 2018 interview with ''
Rolling Stone India
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cove ...
'' that while founding his label South Buyers Club took a toll to his emotional wellbeing that he hadn't recovered from at the time, his daily effort to stay productive helped him "overcome his
eeling ofloneliness and depression". Later, he explained that "
en I'm frustrated, I say that I'm frustrated—when I'm happy, I say that I'm happy." and that his approach of discussing his own mental state (and its positive influence on his fans) really isn't a "negative point of
is given that "
many people struggle psychologically and that's just how people live".
Following the suicide of fellow K-pop idol and actress
Sulli (former member of the girlgroup
f(x)) in October 2019, Nam spoke out against
cyberbullying
Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...
and malicious commenting by
netizen
The term netizen is a portmanteau of the English words ''internet'' and ''citizen'', as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general. s, stating that he had previously attempted suicide because of similar harassment.
Production credits
Discography
Singles as a lead artist
Singles as a featured artist
Filmography
Television
Drama
Reality
Other
Radio
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nam, Tae-hyun
1994 births
Living people
21st-century South Korean singers
21st-century South Korean businesspeople
21st-century South Korean actors
YG Entertainment artists
People with bipolar disorder
People with mood disorders
People from Gyeonggi Province
South Korean male idols
South Korean male actors
South Korean male television actors
South Korean male dancers
South Korean male singers
South Korean male singer-songwriters
South Korean male pop singers
South Korean electronic music singers
South Korean rock singers
South Korean pop singers
South Korean company founders
South Korean music industry executives
South Korean record producers
Winner (band) members
21st-century South Korean male singers
21st-century South Korean male actors
Hanlim Multi Art School alumni