Christian Yu (born September 6, 1990), also known as DPR Ian,[3] is an Australian singer, rapper, and director[4][5] based in South Korea. He is a former member of Yedang Entertainment boy group C-Clown, which was active between 2012 and 2015. Yu made his solo debut under his co-founded label Dream Perfect Regime (DPR) with the digital single "So Beautiful" on October 26, 2020. His first studio album Moodswings In To Order was released on July 29, 2022.[6]
DPR Ian | |
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유바롬 | |
![]() Yu in 2012 | |
Born | Christian Yu[1] (1990-09-06) September 6, 1990 (age 32) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
Other names | Yu Ba-rom, Rome[2] |
Occupation |
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Years active | 2012–present |
Musical career | |
Origin | South Korea |
Genres | R&B |
Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Labels | Dream Perfect Regime |
Musical artist | |
Korean name | |
Hangul | |
Revised Romanization | Yu Barom |
McCune–Reischauer | Yu Parom |
DPR Ian was born in Sydney, Australia on September 6, 1990, and was raised by his mother after his parents separated when he was young. Yu attended Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts and played in a heavy metal band, where he was influenced by the musicals and circuses he attended as a child.[7][8] In 2008, when he was 18, he started uploading videos to his YouTube channel, going by the name of B Boy B.yu. After graduating from high school, Yu studied science and art at the University of Sydney for one year before dropping out. He then moved to South Korea to pursue dancing, initially having no intention of becoming a K-pop idol. However, this changed when he was street cast by an entertainment agency; when he auditioned, he couldn’t sing but he was able to impress with his dancing abilities.[3]
Yu debuted as the leader of K-pop group C-Clown under the stage name Rome, which was derived from his Korean name "Ba-rom". The 6-member boy group debuted in 2012 and was the first idol group created by entertainment agency Yedang Entertainment, which would later be renamed Banana Culture Entertainment.[3] After C-Clown disbanded in October 2015, Yu along with Live, Cream, and REM established the label Dream Perfect Regime, all of whom attach the label's acronym—DPR—to their names.[9][10] In 2021, he released his debut extended play Moodswings in This Order.[11]
DPR Ian was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he was a teenager.[8] He later created an alter ego, Mito, to reflect his own mental disorder. In an interview with Billboard, he said that “I wanted to portray a character dealing with various mental disorders which may be deemed negative or dark in a realistic sense but at the same time can also be seen as superpowers in a different light.”[12]
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | |
---|---|---|---|---|
KOR [13] |
US [14] | |||
Moodswings in to Order |
|
30 | 146 |
|
Title | EP details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
KOR [13] | ||
Moodswings in This Order |
|
40 |
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"So Beautiful" | 2020 | Moodswings in This Order |
"No Blueberries" (featuring CL, DPR Live) | ||
"Ballroom Extravaganza" | 2022 | Moodswings in to Order |
Award | Year | Nominee | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Korean Hip-hop Awards | 2022 | Moodswings in This Order | R&B Album of the Year | Nominated | [16] |
Authority control ![]() |
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