Vanessa's Profile & Favourite Kpop Idols

1989-2011

Ailee was born in Denver, Colorado, on May 30, 1989, and grew up in New Jersey. She attended Palisades Park High School before moving to nearby Leonia. After her Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School graduation, she studied communications at Pace University before dropping out to pursue a career in music. Before her K-pop debut, Ailee was signed under Muzo Entertainment, an independent agency in New York City and New Jersey. Under that label she collaborated with several artists, including Johnnyphlo and Philadelphia-based rapper Decipher. Before moving to South Korea, Ailee created the YouTube channels "mzamyx3" and "aileemusic" to bring attention to her singing on the web.

Ailee moved to South Korea in 2010 after she landed a music label audition through her uncle's connections. She sang "Resignation" by Big Mama, and was recruited for YMC Entertainment on the spot. During her training, YMC featured her in the label's Wheesung song, "They Are Coming", which it released in October 2011. She also sang in Decipher and Jay Park's song "Catch Me If You Can". Ailee performed with Jay Park, Art of Movement, Johnnyphlo, Decipher, and Clara C at "projectKorea III", which was held at Rutgers University in 2010. In September 2011, Ailee and Wheesung were featured on the MBC's Chuseok special episode of Singer and Trainee. Ailee performed "Halo" by Beyoncé to a positive reaction from the audience. Following her performance of "Halo", judge BMK said, "Wherever she goes, she has the potential to be a big star. She definitely has the voice." After the judges had graded all the participants, Ailee was the first-place winner.

1993-2008

IU was born Lee Ji-eun (Korean: 이지은) on May 16, 1993, in Songjeong-dong, Seoul, South Korea. At an early age, IU became interested in pursuing a career in the entertainment industry and began attending acting classes. Soon after her elementary school years, her family's financial situation deteriorated, and they eventually moved to the nearby Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi Province. She and her younger brother lived apart from their parents in a studio room with their grandmother and cousin for over a year in conditions of great poverty. IU had little contact with her parents over this period of time but felt reassured under her grandmother's care.

During her middle school years, IU found her passion for singing and decided to become a singer after being applauded for a performance she gave at her school's sports competition. She attended 20 auditions but failed all of them, and was also scammed by fake entertainment companies. IU used to train at Good Entertainment with Uee, Yubin, Heo Ga-yoon, and Jun Hyoseong. After signing with LOEN Entertainment in 2007, she moved to Bangbae, Seoul. Despite the prospect of her being put into a girl group, she made her solo debut in 2008 after ten months of training. Due to her living conditions at the time, IU stated that she "loved being at the studio", where she could eat as much as she wanted and had a place to sleep. Prior to her debut, LOEN coined her stage name "IU", deriving it from the phrase "I and You" to symbolize the unifying force of music between people.

Her burgeoning career led to her decreased attendance at school and declining grades, with the exception of Korean literature. After graduating from Dongduk Girls' High School in 2012, IU decided not to pursue post-secondary education in tandem with her singing career.

Hwang Chi Yeul was born and grew up in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea on 3 December 1982, the youngest of three children born to Hwang, an engineer and Park. As a teenager, he was obsessed with dancing (B-boying), but he always wanted to become a singer. On September 24, 2004, he moved to Seoul to become a musician. In 2007, he made his official debut, releasing two albums and appearing in some TV and radio shows for about a year, but his career came to a halt because his management company closed. He spent his twenties working part-time jobs and taught at music schools as a vocal coach, teaching idol bands including Infinite, After School, Lovelyz, NU'EST, and Hello Venus. Since he appeared on I Can See Your Voice on Mnet in 2015, he has been one of the most active Korean celebrities as singer, host of TV-shows and awards, guest on various TV-shows, advertising model, brand ambassador.

Zico was born in Dohwa, Seoul on September 14, 1992. He was a Vocal Performance major at Seoul Music High School. In the lyrics of his song "Release", he mentions that he spent a year studying abroad in both Canada and China, as well as three years in Japan. Meanwhile, he had referred to his time in Japan within his song "Osaka" with fellow Korean musician ELO.

He began his musical career as an underground rapper, going by the name "Nacseo" (Hangul: 낙서), meaning 'doodle' or 'scribble' in Korean. He promoted as Nacseo in the Japanese underground hip hop scene alongside the crews "Dope Squad" and "Undisputed".He auditioned for SM Entertainment as a teenager.

In 2009, he officially debuted in a duo with Park Kyung named 'Harmonics' in Korea with the digital single "The Letter". He joined Stardom Entertainment in 2009. He featured in IU's song "Marshmallow" as well as Cho PD's "Expectations for K-Hip Hop" and Jung Seul-gi's "Outsiders".

In 2010, he released his first mixtape, Zico on the Block. The mixtape was well received by the Korean hip hop scene.