Urban Zakapa () is a South Korean R&B singer-songwriter group formed in 2009 by

Fluxus Music Fluxus Music is an independent record label based in South Korea. History It was formed in 2002 by Kim Byung-chan (also known as Chan Kim) (an alumnus of the Berklee College of Music), who worked as a sound engineer, opened Nanjang Communication ...

. Originally a 9-member group, in 2012 they became a trio, consisting of Park Yong-in, Jo Hyunah and Kwon Soon-il. The group's name is an abbreviation for Urban, Zappy, Kaleidoscopic, and Passionate.

Background

In 2004, Park Yong-in met Jo Hyun-a at practical music academy. He asked her to form a singing duo. At first Jo Hyun-a's parents opposed that idea, but Hyun-a showed passion to music and was awarded 'MBC 별밤뽐내기'. Eventually, Hyun-a's parents decided to support their daughter. Kwon Sun-il also dreamed of being a musician. His alumnus, Yong-in, suggested he join to make a trio. Although the group debuted in 2009 as a nine-piece with four vocalists and five instrumentalists with the song "Café Latte (커피를 마시고)", there are currently only three vocalists due to artistic differences. Kwon Sun-il and his childhood friends, Jo Hyun-a and Park Yong-in write, compose and produce all of their own music. Kwon won 1st place (singer) at

S.M. Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...

's first SM Youth Best contest and was a former SM Entertainment trainee with

Super Junior Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band formed by Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment in 2005. They are also dubbed by the media as the "King of Hallyu Wave" due to their promine ...

and

TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male pop duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...

. Park was part of the Korean R&B/

Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

group Bluewind Soul with Han Won-jong, SG Wannabe's Lee Suk-hoon and others. Jo, the only female member of the group, was the vocalist of the hip-hop crew Overclass.

Career

After releasing their first two EPs (''Coffee'', ''Sweety You'') in 2009, the group released their first studio album titled ''01'' in 2011. In the same year, they released the single "Just A Feeling" which debuted at #59 on the

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...

South Korea's Gaon Singles Chart (in Korean)
Originally from

Gaon Music Chart The Circle Chart (), previously known as the Gaon Music Chart or the Gaon Chart (), tabulates the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in South Korea. It is produced by the Korea Music Content Association and sponsored by South Korea's ...

(August 2011). Archived on October 16, 2014. Retrieved on November 4, 2014. and on December 6, they also released "Snowing" which debuted at #32.South Korea's Gaon Singles Chart (in Korean)
Originally from

(December 2011). Archived on October 16, 2014. Retrieved on November 4, 2014. Their third EP, ''Beautiful Day'' was released on April 3, 2012, and marks as the group's first album as a trio. "Beautiful Day" debuted at #41 on the Gaon Digital Chart. Months later, the group released their second studio album on October 30, titled ''02''. "I Hate You (니가 싫어)" was released on September 5 as a single and debuted at #9 on the Gaon Digital Chart, but was re-released with the album as its lead single. The album also had two other pre-released tracks, "River" and "All the Same (똑같은 사랑 똑같은 이별)". Both songs charted. ''02'' topped the Gaon Album Chart in its first week,South Korea's Gaon Album Chart from October 28 to November 3, 2012 (in Korean)
Originally from

(October–November 2012). Archived on November 4, 2014. Retrieved on November 4, 2014. and in January 2013, the album was nominated for Best R&B and Soul album at the 10th Korean Music Awards. "I Hate You (니가 싫어)" also earned the group two nominations at the

2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards The 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards took place on November 30, 2012, at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Hong Kong. The ceremony was the third consecutive Mnet Asian Music Awards to occur outside of South Korea. It was reported by inter ...

, one for Song of the Year and another for Best Vocal Performance by a Group. On February 12, 2013, Park and Kwon sang "Love Afternoon (사랑오후)" for the soundtrack of the

KBS2 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, ...

drama, '' Ad Genius Lee Tae-baek''. In April, the group also released "Just a Little Bit (그냥 조금)" for the soundtrack of the tvN drama, '' Nine: Nine Time Travels''. On December 3, the group released their 3rd studio album, ''03''. The album debuted at #11 on the Gaon Album ChartSouth Korea's Gaon Album Chart from December 1 to December 7, 2013 (in Korean)
Originally from

(December 2013). Archived on November 4, 2014. Retrieved on November 4, 2014. while its lead single, "Walk Backwards (거꾸로 걷는다)" debuted at #8 on the Gaon Digital Chart when it was released on October 23. In 2014, Urban Zakapa made a comeback with the single "Like a Bird" on May 18. Park and Kwon also collaborated with SISTAR's

Soyou Kang Ji-hyun (born February 12, 1992), known professionally as Soyou, is a South Korean singer. She is best known as a former member of the South Korean girl group Sistar. Life and career 1992–2010: Early life and career beginnings Soyo ...

for the single "The Space Between (틈)". The song was released on September 26. It debuted at #3 on the Gaon Singles Chart. On November 4, the group released their fourth album, '' 04'', with the lead single, "Consolation" which also had its music video uploaded on the same day of the album's release. Urban Zakapa held their concert tour, ''Winter'' from November 22 until the end of 2014 in

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

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea ...

, Kwangju,

Changwon Changwon () is the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, on the southeast coast of South Korea. With a population of 1.07 million , Changwon is South Korea's ninth-most populous city. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, ...

Seongnam Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential ci ...

, and

Suwon Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a popul ...

. On May 12, 2015, the group released the song "A Different You" for the OST of '' Let's Eat''. On May 18, it was announced that Urban Zakapa were working on a mini album with rapper

Beenzino Lim Sung-bin (; born September 12, 1987), better known by the stage name Beenzino (Hangul: 빈지노), is a South Korean rapper. His stage name is a play on that of Boston rapper Benzino, combined with "빈" (pronounced "been") from his birt ...

. Their fourth extended play overall, ''UZ'' was released on May 28 with 5 tracks, including two singles, "Two One Two" and "Get (feat. Beenzino)" which was pre-released on May 22. "Get" debuted at #56 on the Gaon Singles Chart. On Feb 19, 2016, it was announced that Urban Zakapa had signed on to Makeus Entertainment since September 2015 and will be continuing their promotions for their upcoming album under the new company. On May 12, 2016, the group announced that they will be making their comeback on May 27, 2016 with their mini album 'Still'. Urban Zakapa also made their comeback through a special live party that was made available through online broadcasting service Naver V App. The event scheduled for May 26 took place at Banyan Tree Seoul and was attended by special guests Suzy, Lee Sung Kyung, Im Seulong, Younha, Block B's P.O. and some of their other close friends. On May 27, 2016, Urban Zakapa released their mini album with title track, "I Don't Love You (널 사랑하지 않아)". The music video starring actor Yoo Seung-ho and model Lee Ho Jung was uploaded on the same day. The title track was highly received by the public and managed to clinch 1st place on all 8 Korean music charts, achieving a perfect all-kill. Urban Zakapa also held 3 Guerrilla Concerts at Myeongdong (May 29), Han River Yeouido (June 5) and Dong-A University in Busan (June 8) to thank their fans for supporting them, these were broadcast through Naver V App and their Facebook Page. The guerrilla concert held at Han River on June 5, 2016 had an estimated attendance of 4000 people. The group also held a commemorative mini album release concert on June 18 and June 19, 2016 at Seoul Olympic Park Stadium. In April 2017, the band were announced as one of the groups recruited by Seo Taiji for his Time:Traveler project, celebrating the 25th anniversary of his career. On July 11, they released their cover of the Seo song "Moai" from his 8th album, ''Atomos''.

Discography

* ''01'' (2011) * '' 02'' (2012) * '' 03'' (2013) * '' 04'' (2014) * ''05'' (2018)

Awards and nominations

References

External links