Lee Seung-hoon

Lee Seung-hoon (; ; born January 11, 1992), also known by the mononym Hoony, is a South Korean rapper and dancer. His musical career began in 2011 as a contestant in the first installation of K-pop Star (2011–2012); where he caught the attention of YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun-suk and was signed under his agency. His father's absence in Lee's childhood was prominent due to his occupation as a businessman based in Vietnam. His eldest sister had also moved to Seoul when he was a child. Lee pursued dance at a young age and became adamant to join YG Entertainment since his enrollment in high school; however, his interest in dance resulted in severe back pains and restricted Lee to choreograph when it occurred. Lee relied on acupuncture as treatment for his nerves along his spine that suffered from irritation.

2011–2015: Career beginnings and debut with Winner

20-year-old Lee (Korean age) moved to Seoul after he completed his secondary education as an attempt to enter the music industry. His motivation heightened after he witnessed Hoya of Infinite, a fellow peer in dance from his hometown, accomplish his dreams. He further auditioned for entertainment companies but did not succeed.

In his final attempt at pursuing his goal, Lee successfully auditioned for the inaugural season of K-pop Star (2011–2012), a music audition program. His creativity and wittiness also stood out to many – displayed in the cover performance of Dynamic Duo's "Father" . The hip-hop duo credited Lee for his contribution in ushering more attention to their songs than its initial success bringing in more profit. Namely, G-Dragon and Psy expressed their interest and added they were watching him and his stage. BoA voiced her desire to work with him while JYP Entertainment CEO Park Jin-young stated Lee was the only contestant he viewed as a "true artist". Moreover, K.Will noted his stages were the most inspirational apropos of it. He overall placed fourth behind Park Jimin, Lee Hi and Baek A-yeon. His newfound rise followed an appearance on Strong Heart, performance at Youth Festival in Seoul and photographed for a spread entitled "Boys Like Girls" in Vogue Girl Korea for the month of June with K-pop Star contestant Jae Park. He and Lee Hi signed an exclusive contract with YG Entertainment and was situated into its trainee system in May.

On February 25, 2013, YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun-suk stated Lee would shine best in a boy band contrary to as a soloist thus his preparation for debut in their upcoming team; however, he participated as a contestant for WIN: Who is Next? (2013) which involved two assembles consisting of male trainees under the label (A and B) who would battle for the chance to debut by series end after embarking on a one-hundred day journey. Lee was placed in "Team A" with Kim Jin-woo, Song Min-ho, Kang Seung-yoon and Nam Tae-hyun. In the series finale, Team A had won the show and would debut under the name "Winner". Lee made his official debut with the five-piece band on August 17, 2014, with the studio album entitled 2014 S/S. The band's success upon debut was recorded as "unprecedented" by Korean media outlets and were dubbed as "monster rookies".

2016–present: Solo endeavors

Amidst his activities with the band, Lee ventured into entertainment in which his credits include Eat, Sleep, Eat: Krabi (2016) with Baek Jong-won and Gong Seung-yeon, Mimi Shop (2018) with the inclusion of labelmate Sandara Park, He also served as the youngest dance mentor in Dancing High (2018) and enriched the knowledge of teens in South Korea by assisting them to thrive as dancers as they competed in teams in prospect of winning dance lessons in the United States. His credits further extends to Awesome Feed (2018),

On February 28, 2023, it was announced that Lee was confirmed to be cast in the stage musical Dream High as one of the lead character roles, Song Sam-Dong, along with actor Eum Moon-suk and SF9 member Yoo Taeyang. This musical is based on a 2011 KBS2 drama of the same name.

Personal life Military service On basis of his mandatory military service, Lee enlisted on April 16, 2020, and served his training at the Nonsan Army Training Center for four weeks prior to fulfilling his military duty as a public service worker. Lee was discharged from his duties on January 14, 2022, after he completed one year and seven months of his enlistment. Kwon Young-deuk of YGX stated Lee fully immerses himself and "feels" the dance and also learns choreography the fastest in YG Entertainment.

For Winner, Lee has choreographed their debut lead singles "Empty" (공허해; gongheohae) and "Color Ring" from 2014 S/S and "Fool" from Fate Number For – which he created and finalized within five hours.

Other ventures

Fashion

In September 2017, Lee and his bandmate Mino were chosen as the influencers most suited in becoming ambassadors of the luxury brand, Burberry, appointed by its previous creative officer Christopher Bailey as they exhibited a "Viktor Horsting & Rolf Snoeren-like approach to haute couture". Both were labelled as winning front row looks and acquired advance access to the Burberry Spring 2018 collection two days after they landed at Heathrow Airport in London. In the fashion event, the London-based modelling agency AMCK Models' director and head scout, Patrick Egbon-Marshall gave Lee the sobriquet "Red King" and showed interest to scout him as a model to the agency.

Philanthropy Within his publicized acts, Lee and his fans accomplished 2,220 kg of rice wreaths for the press conference of Dancing High (2018) of which the fans supplied 500 kg of its total. Lee chose to distribute the rice to elderlies of low-income who lived alone and to the disabled.

Released: July 15, 2024 Label: YG Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download 18 KOR: 26,647

Singles + List of singles, showing year released, selected chart positions, sales, and name of the album Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Album KOR KORHot As lead artist "My Type" 2024 — — My Type Other charted songs "Mother's Doenjangguk" 2012 35 — KOR: 207,928 SBS K팝 스타 TOP6 "Ma Boy 2" 50 67 KOR: 116,457 SBS K팝 스타 Special No.3

Production credits All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database, unless otherwise noted.

Solo work + List of songs, showing year released, and name of the album Year Song AlbumLyricistComposer CreditedWith CreditedWith 2019 "Flamenco" Cross 2020 "Serenade" Remember 2024 "My Type" My Type "Thinkin' Bad Thimgs "Do Re Mi Fa Sol" "Brother and Sister"

Work as Winner

Other artists + List of songs, showing year released, and name of the album YearArtist Song AlbumLyricistComposer CreditedWith CreditedWith 2017 Sechs Kies "Back Hug" Another Light

Filmography

Television shows

Web shows Year Title Role Notes English Korean 2020 Door-to-Door Salesmen 방문판매단 Cast Member with Kwon Hyun-bin and Jang Su-won 2022 Saturday Night Live Korea SNL 코리아2 Host Season 2 – Episode 12

Music video appearances Year Title Artist Length 2013 "Somebody" 15& 3:20

Radio YearNetwork Title 2022 KBS Cool FM Station Z: Lee Seunghoon's Special Night

Theater YearEnglish titleKorean title Role 2023 Dream High 드림하이Song Sam-dong

Awards and nominations

+Name of the award ceremony, year presented, award category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination Award ceremony Year Category Nominee(s)/work(s) Result Fashionista Awards (Jointly hosted by fashion magazine Celeb's Pick and Naver Fashion Beauty, the Fashionista Awards is an online awards ceremony that selects the best style icons based on surveys conducted through Naver.) Seoul Music Awards 2025 R&B / Hip-hop Award