South Korean R&B singer Dean is coming to Manila

Mix the smooth grooves of R&B with the fun, fresh appeal of K-pop, and what do you have?

Dean, of course.

Who? That’s what I thought, too, until I checked out his videos on YouTube. The 23-year-old singer, songwriter and record producer channels the vocal abilities of Maxwell, R. Kelly and Joe. He sings mostly in Korean though, but strangely, one doesn’t need to understand the words to get into his music.

Dean, whose real name is Kwon Hyuk, began his musical journey as a hip-hop artist at age 16 as part of a crew with Korean rapper Keith Ape. He got his stage name from the actor James Dean, who starred in Rebel Without A Cause.

By age 18, Dean had discovered he was actually good at singing and steered his career more towards R&B. He’s also written songs for K-Pop boybands such as VIXX and EXO.

In July last year, Dean released his first English single, “I’m Not Sorry,” featuring Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter/producer Eric Bellinger. The multi-hyphenate got his biggest break to date when he became the first Asian artist to perform at Spotify House at South by Southwest (SXSW).

Dean is scheduled to showcase his talent for his Filipino fans on August 6 and 7, although full details have yet to be announced. I had a quick chat with him prior to his Manila visit. 

GMA News Online: What was it about American contemporary R&B and hip-hop that drew your attention when you were younger? Which artist in those genres would you say your music was most influenced by?

Dean: When I started listening to music when I was younger, I liked the rhythm, the groove, the vocal techniques, and the freedom I felt listening to R&B and hip-hop artists. That kind of music was new to me back then. There are too many artists I really like so I can’t pick just one who influenced me the most, but when I was younger I mostly listened to music by producers like Underdogs and Pharrell.
 
You’re a record producer and writer in addition to being a performer. Would you say these skills give you an edge over other artists that are just performers? How so?

Yes, definitely. Being a producer and performer at the same time gives me the ability and freedom to put exactly what I want into my music and performances. I can pour in all my intentions into my music.

You’ve talked before about how important an artist’s look and visual elements are in relation to his or her music. How would you characterize your personal style? And how involved are you with the visual elements in your videos and your shows?

I think most artists care a lot about fashion but I like artists whose fashion, character and performance all go well together. Bruno Mars and Miguel would be good examples. As for myself, I want to make the visual elements go well with my music and performance as well.
 
You've had the honor of playing at SXSW. What was the experience like? Any memorable stories there you can share?

Performing at SXSW was a great experience for me and it meant a lot to me. Especially, it was an honor to be the first Asian to go on the Spotify stage. And most of all, for the whole week I was there I enjoyed the passion and atmosphere for music that the people brought with them to SXSW. They were all there to enjoy the experience and it was great just being there with them.
 
Korean music is extremely popular outside of your home country, especially here in the Philippines. In a general sense, why do you think Korean music resonates so well with people from different countries who sometimes don’t even understand the Korean language?

Frankly, I don’t really know why Korean music is doing so well outside of Korea but I am happy and grateful that it is so well received. — AT, GMA News

Paul John Caña is a magazine writer and live music geek. He is also co-founder of libreto.org, an online collective of writers and artists. Email him at pjcana@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @pauljohncana