Heo Hyeon-seok (Hangul: 허현석; born February 3, 1971),[1] better known by his stage name Hyun Jin-young (Hangul: 현진영),[2] is a South Korean singer, rapper, and dancer. He is known for his role in introducing hip-hop music to South Korea.[3]

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Hyun Jin-young 현진영
Hyun in 2021
Background information
Birth name	Heo Hyeon-seok
Born	(1971-02-03) February 3, 1971 (age 51) Seoul, South Korea
Genres	Hip-hop K-pop jazz
Occupation(s)	Singer rapper dancer
Years active	1990–present
Labels	S.M. Studio SidusHQ FUN Han Entertainment
Korean name
Hangul	현진영
Revised Romanization	Hyeon Jin-yeong
McCune–Reischauer	Hyŏn Chinyŏng
Birth name
Hangul	허현석
Revised Romanization	Heo Hyeon-seok
McCune–Reischauer	Hŏ Hyŏnsŏk

Heo is known as the first artist to be signed to SM Entertainment, then operating as S.M. Studio, in 1989. He was dropped from the agency sometime around 1994.

Early life

Heo has been involved with music since he was a child. While growing up in Gijichon (기지촌, Village near the U.S. Army Base), he was introduced to African-American music by American friends. He learned how to sing, dance and rap throughout his childhood. He dropped out of high school at age 16 to become a hip-hop musician.

Career

He eventually met Lee Soo-man, and Heo passed Lee's audition since he pulled off the toggichum (토끼춤, 'The Roger Rabbit"). He then trained under Lee's supervision to prepare for his debut.

Hyun Jin-young and Wawa

Debuting as "Hyun Jin-young and Wawa" in 1990, Heo began to perform his hit songs "Sad Mannequin" and "Sexy Lady". Though album sales were mediocre, he gained popularity as a forerunner of hip hop music in South Korea, which at the time was a shock for most audiences. At first, Wawa consisted of Koo Jun-yup and Kang Won-rae from Clon, later Lee Hyun-do and Kim Sung-jae, both of Deux fame, and finally Sean, a future half of Jinusean.

Return

In 2001, Heo overcame painful times,[4] and returned to the pop music scene with his fourth solo album, Wild Gangster Hip Hop. The response from his fans was favorable. In 2006, he released his fifth album called Street Jazz In My Soul. This album contained jazz music, a departure from his exclusively hip-hop origins.

He was also a chief producer of SidusHQ.[5]

Discography

Studio albums

References