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These days, Korean Canadian singer-songwriter JUNNY has lots to feel good about.
For years, he worked behind-the-scenes as a songwriter, penning K-pop hits for the likes of IU, NCT Dream and Kai from EXO. But since the release of his debut studio album blanc in 2022, JUNNY has been branching out, making a name for himself as a rising artist in the Korean music scene.
In the last two years, he’s toured across the world, including a sold-out stop in his hometown of Vancouver. Playing at the Harbour Event Centre, it marked a full circle moment for JUNNY. After all, the venue was where he’d watch concerts as an aspiring musician growing up.
“The places I go for tours, you see these people and they’re paying to come see me,” JUNNY told The RepresentASIAN Project over a Zoom call from Seoul.
“I felt the same way with different artists growing up. And me being that particular person to someone is an unbelievable feeling. I’ll never take that for granted.”
Flash forward to 2024, JUNNY looks to continue that momentum with the release of his latest EP dopamine.
Like the album title itself, listening to dopamine feels like an adrenaline rush, the types of emotions one may feel during the beginnings of a summer fling or a night out on the town.
The title song “Rush” discusses the “push and pull” one feels in a simmering romance, one where you’re questioning whether someone really likes you or not. Production-wise, it’s also one of JUNNY’s more experimental tracks, in which he freestyled the majority of the song’s lyrics and even tried his hand at rapping.
What’s more, JUNNY even enlisted the help of rapper BOBBY, one of his longtime idols to feature on the track. BOBBY is best known for being part of the boy band iKON and the reality rap competition show Show Me the Money.
“He’s such a big superstar all over the world, and he’s very humble,” JUNNY said of working with BOBBY. “And for me, it’s like a dream come true.”
Taking a chance on music
At a time when the Korean music scene continues to thrive across the globe, these opportunities are ones JUNNY has only dreamed of growing up as a kid in Surrey, British Columbia.
Born Kim Hyung-jun, the 28-year-old first started dabbling in music in high school, picking up the guitar and writing his own songs. “I [would] post a lot of covers on YouTube, just trying to impress the girls and stuff like that,” he said with a laugh.
But when it was time to graduate from high school, JUNNY started to consider music seriously as a career path.
Taking the risk, he enrolled in Douglas College to learn music production. In between classes and working part-time at a Japanese restaurant, JUNNY started posting songs on SoundCloud. And from there, he started gaining attention for his music around the world.
But realizing the challenges of breaking into the entertainment industry in Canada, JUNNY had to consider his options if he wanted to go far with music. While Toronto offered more job opportunities, he also noticed he was able to build more connections through his Korean listeners on SoundCloud.
So in 2018, a 22-year-old JUNNY saved up his money, packed his bags and made the risky move to Seoul to have a go at the music industry there. “I was really honestly too young, and I was very scared. I didn’t know anything,” JUNNY said of his choice to move across the world.
But in his heart, he knew Korea was “the right choice.”
Writing hits for K-pop stars
Luckily, through developing connections on social media, JUNNY was soon invited to participate in a songwriting camp at the Korean label SM Entertainment. Through that, he co-wrote a song called “Made in You”, which was eventually picked up by EXO member Suho for his 2020 EP Self-Portrait.
That experience helped JUNNY build a strong relationship with SM, and eventually he started writing songs for artists like NCT Dream and EXO members Baekhyun and Kai.
JUNNY says learning to write for different artists allowed him to put himself in the shoes of an artist and the emotions and attitudes they want to portray.
Luckily, he adds, that he was already a fan of many of the singers he got to work with. Among them, IU, one of Korea’s most successful female solo artists of all time.
“I was a big fan since I was in elementary school,” JUNNY said, noting that being a longtime follower of IU’s career allowed him to study her signature note bends and vocal style, which he incorporated into his writing.
JUNNY’s versatility as a writer can also be heard in the sensual R&B pop song “(Mmmh)”, sung by EXO’s Kai.
JUNNY adds that seeing the final product also gave him lessons on how artists eventually take the song they’re given and make it their own. Kai, who is known in the K-pop world for being a talented dancer, made the song a viral hit through executing difficult choreography full of body rolls and popping skills.
“When I saw him on stage performing it, it hit me differently,” JUNNY said. “I was like ‘Wow, okay. This is how he would interpret it, and there’s a particular artistry in that too.”
Branching Out
Working as a songwriter behind-the-scenes eventually gave JUNNY pointers on how to best perform his own songs on stage, and present it to an audience.
Those experiences, he says, is what has shaped him into the artist he is today.
In 2022, he released his debut studio album blanc, and returned home to Vancouver to perform in front of his family.
“I just wanted to just show my parents that I’m living my dreams out here and I’m doing well. I don’t want them to worry,” he said. “I think that was the best way to show them that.”
Then in 2023, JUNNY went viral with his single “Invitation”, a song that was born out of a TikTok challenge he made three years prior.
After much encouragement from fans to finish the track, JUNNY enlisted the help of rapper Gaeko to feature on the song. “Invitation” has since garnered close to 40 million streams on Spotify.
The success of “Invitation” is indicative of how the Korean music scene has globalized since JUNNY moved to Korea in 2018, as artists continue to find new ways to promote songs on platforms like TikTok. For JUNNY, it has also given him more optimism for the future.
Looking back at the whirlwind of a career he’s built in the last six years, JUNNY says he’s now focused on his next chapter. And while he says he’ll never take his experiences writing songs for other artists for granted, he’s looking forward to carving out his own path as a singer. “I think when I’m writing for myself, it’s endless possibilities.”
These days, he’s planning a tour and writing songs for future projects. But still, his home country of Canada remains close to his heart.
“I’m very proud to be Korean Canadian,” he says. “If I can encourage at least one person to take the path that I took and be successful, I can’t ask for anything better.”
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