Jo Hyu-il (; born 1982), better known as The Black Skirts (), is an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

musician based in South Korea. In 2010, he released his debut album, ''201'', which won Best Modern Rock Album at the 2010

Korean Music Awards The Korean Music Awards () is an annual South Korean music awards show that honors both mainstream and underground musical artists from a variety of genres. Unlike other major South Korean music awards, which largely rely on record sales to det ...

. He has since released the albums, ''Don't You Worry Baby (I'm Only Swimming)'' (2011), ''Team Baby'' (2017), and ''Thirsty'' (2019).

Background

Jo was born in

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, on December 5, 1982. He moved to the United States when he was 12 years old and grew up in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. His musical taste was influenced at an early age by what he would learn from American music media such as

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

.'' He was also heavily influenced by

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...

's ''

Jagged Little Pill ''Jagged Little Pill'' is the third studio album by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, released on June 13, 1995, through Maverick. It was her first album to be released worldwide. It marked a stylistic departure from the dance-pop sound of her ...

'' and the first album he ever purchased was Michael Jackson's ''

Dangerous Dangerous may refer to: Film and television * ''Dangerous'' (1935 film), an American film starring Bette Davis * '' Dangerous: The Short Films'', a 1993 collection of music videos by Michael Jackson * ''Dangerous'' (2021 film), a Canadian-Ameri ...

''.

Career

In 2004, Jo formed a three-member punk rock band called Castel Prayon while living in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The band eventually dissolved as members went on to pursue their individual endeavors, leaving Jo to become a one-man band. In 2006, Jo returned to South Korea and began making music as a

one-man band A one-man band is a musician who plays a number of instruments simultaneously using their hands, feet, limbs, and various mechanical or electronic contraptions. One-man bands also often sing while they perform. The simplest type of "one-man ban ...

under the name, The Black Skirts. In 2009, Jo released an unofficial album titled ''My Feet Don't Touch the Ground (And I Am So Winded I Can't Sing for You Today)''. In 2010, Jo gained notoriety in the Korean indie rock scene upon releasing ''201,'' his first album as The Black Skirts Produced by Kia Eshghi. The album was recorded in his basement. Later that year, he won Best Modern Rock Album at the

. A special edition of ''201'' was released on March 18, 2010. On July 13, 2011, Jo released his second album, ''Don't You Worry Baby (I'm Only Swimming)''. On January 7, 2016, Jo signed to Highgrnd. On May 30, 2017, Jo released his third album part 1, ''Team Baby,'' whose album cover features Jo's parents. He announced that this album is composed of three parts. In 2018, Jo left Highgrnd and started working under his own company Doggy Rich. On February 12, 2019, Jo released his third album part 2, ''Thirsty'', with his label partner Bespok. Two years later, Jo released an English-language EP titled ''Good Luck To You, Girl Scout!''. The EP was said to be “inspired by my friends who got dumped last summer during the height of Corona Virus.”

Discography

Studio albums

Single albums

Singles

* , ''Everything'' , - ! scope="row" , "In My City of Seoul" , 2016 , — , * KOR: 18,781 , ''In My City of Seoul'' , - ! scope="row" , "Who Do You Love?" (나랑 아니면) , 2017 , 66 , * KOR: 37,406 , ''Team Baby'' , - ! scope="row" , "Queen of Diamonds" (섬) , 2019 , 193 , , ''Thirsty'' , - ! scope="col" colspan="5" , As featured artist , - ! scope="row" , "You Look Good" (좋아보여)
, 2011 , 5 , * KOR: 2,500,000 , ''Go Easy'' , - ! scope="col" colspan="5" , Soundtrack appearances , - ! scope="row" , "Till the End of Time" (기다린 만큼, 더) , 2016 , 21 , * KOR: 128,548 , ''

Another Miss Oh ''Another Miss Oh'' () is a South Korean television series starring Eric Mun, Seo Hyun-jin, Jeon Hye-bin. It replaced '' Pied Piper'' and broadcast on cable network tvN on Mondays and Tuesdays at 23:00 ( KST) time slot for 18 episodes from May ...

'' OST , - ! scope="row" , "Someday" (어떤 날) , 2019 , — , , ''

Romance Is a Bonus Book ''Romance Is a Bonus Book'' () is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Lee Na-young and Lee Jong-suk. It aired from January 26 to March 17, 2019 on tvN. Synopsis Cha Eun-ho is a successful author and a chief editor at a book publish ...

'' OST , - , colspan="5" ,

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Skirts South Korean singer-songwriters South Korean male singers Korean Music Award winners South Korean male singer-songwriters