Career
2012–2013: Debut and project solo activities
Ravi was one of ten trainees who were contestants on Mnet's survival reality show ''MyDOL''. During his time on the show, Ravi featured in the music videos for Brian Joo's "Let This Die" and Seo In-guk's "Shake It Up". He eventually became one of six contestants chosen as the final line-up for a new boy group VIXX. VIXX debuted on May 24, 2012, on '' M! Countdown'' with the single " Super Hero", which Ravi co-wrote. On June 14 and 15, during "Super Hero" promotions, Ravi participated in Baek Ji-young's performances of her song "Good Boy". In 2013, he appeared in episode four of SBS's television drama '' The Heirs'' alongside his group members.2014–2015: Collaborations and VIXX LR
In 2014, Ravi collaborated with American artist Chad Future with "Rock the World" from Future's first mini album. Ravi also appeared in the music video for the single. In 2015, after much deliberation, Ravi became a contestant of Mnet's television rap competition series '' Show Me the Money 4'' but was eliminated in the second round. Ravi was featured as a rapper in2016–2019: ''R.ebirth '', ''DamnRa,'' solo debut with ''R.eal1ze'', ''Nirvana'', and ''R.ook Book''
On January 4, 2016, Ravi revealed the first pre-release to his mixtape ''R.ebirth'', with the track "Where Should I Go" featuring2020–2023: ''El Dorado'', ''Paradise'', ''Roses'', ''Love&Fight'' and departure from VIXX
On February 24, 2020, Ravi released his first studio album ''El Dorado'', with "Rockstar" as the title track. On July 28, 2020, Ravi released his summer mini album ''Paradise'', along with the title track of the same name featuringGroovl1n
On June 27, 2019, Ravi revealed via his Twitter and Instagram account the name of his own hip-hop label name Groovl1n () a combination of ''Groove'' and ''Goblin'' which means "The cool folk of the orient". At that time, the label included Cold Bay, Chillin Homie and Xydo (Park Chi Woong) whom he worked with in the past. Currently, Korean rappers JUSTHIS, NAFLA, the dance crew PRIMEKINGZ, and new artist Suen are included.The L1ve
On July 20, 2021, Ravi established his new label, The L1ve. The label aims to support music artists across different genres. On July 22, 2021, Ailee announced that she would be joining the new label, as their first official artist. On August 31, 2021, it was revealed that Wheein signed an exclusive contract with the agency.Personal life
Military service
On October 7, 2022, Ravi's agency announced that he will enlist for his mandatory military service on October 27. After completing basic training he will complete his service as a social worker.Legal issues and controversies
Suspicion of involvement in the 2022 epilepsy military service corruption case
On January 12, 2023, Ravi was named by the media as the rumored idol rapper who availed of the services of military broker Gu Mo to evade enlistment. Ravi was accused of declaring epilepsy to lower his health to grade 4 in order to serve as a public service worker instead of an active duty soldier. The reason for this suspicion was due to his records being found on Gu Mo's phone, although the content of the records was never specified. That same day Ravi's agency GROOVL1N, released an official statement saying they were closely examining the truth about the situation: ''“It is only right to give a statement as quickly as possible, but since the problem is related to military duty, we think it is only appropriate to first find out the details and then give thorough explanations after, so we are currently trying to figure out the details. In addition, if there is a request for an investigation related to this case, aviwill undergo it faithfully at any time.”'' At this point, Ravi had been enlisted as a public service worker since October 27, 2022, and did not make any official statements until his first trial on April 11, 2023. On February 9, prosecutors indicted 47 people for military service corruption. 42 people who admitted to falsifying medical certificates for epilepsy as well as 5 family members and acquaintances who served as accomplices were charged with violating the Military Service Act. Ravi was notably excluded from the indictments. The current representative of Ravi’s agency Park Sung Kyu gave an official statement, saying that contrary to initial reports, Ravi was never even contacted by the prosecution or informed of his official charges. He further stated that Ravi did not receive a health grade of 4 due to epilepsy, which meant that Ravi did not use epilepsy as a reason to evade serving as an active duty soldier. Ravi had other valid health conditions that disqualified him from active duty service. On March 6, Chief Judge Kim Ji-sook of the Seoul Southern District Court conducted a pre-arrest interrogation of Ravi, and rejected an arrest warrant submitted by the prosecutors, stating that Ravi posed no risk of fleeing or destroying evidence. On April 3, Ravi was officially indicted by the prosecution. Prosecutors leaked the reports of his official medical examinations conducted by the Military Manpower Administration. The report revealed that Ravi had originally received a health grade of 3 during his first examination in 2012 due to bronchial asthma. By the time of Ravi’s second examination in 2019, his health had already downgraded to grade 4. The leaked medical reports revealed that as early as 2019, Ravi was not qualified to serve as an active duty soldier due to various health conditions. Ravi had multiple disabilities that disqualified him from active duty. He has narcolepsy, panic disorder, compulsive disorder, depression and bronchial asthma. There are many instances since his debut in 2012 where his various conditions have been mentioned publicly. Ravi's narcolepsy was mentioned by the interviewer in this early news article from Sports Hanguk just 1 week after he debuted in 2012. Ravi later mentioned his narcolepsy himself in a Vogue Girl interview from November 2012. There are multiple clips of Ravi's narcolepsy during VIXX's reality shows MyDOL and MTV VIXX Diary that were filmed in 2012. In 2020, Ravi mentions on DinDin's SBS Music High radio show that his narcolepsy used to be so bad, he would fall asleep while being scolded. As a member of Season 4 of the KBS variety show 2 Days & 1 Night from 2019 to 2022, there were also various clips showing Ravi's narcolepsy while filming the show. Ravi released the song "Live" (featuring Chungha) on February 18, 2019 to speak about his depression, panic disorder, and struggles with contemplating suicide. Last May 2022 on their official Youtube channel, VIXX members discussed Ravi's panic disorder occurring as early as 2016. Ravi suffered a panic attack that lasted for hours, delaying the filming of their music video The Closer. In 2018, Ravi suffered a panic attack and collapsed while filming the MBC variety show Real Man 300 (). Ravi mentioned he suffered from panic disorder on episode 768 of the MBC TV series Radio Star Ravi's interview with GQ Korea in February 2020 revealed that in 2019, he was diagnosed with panic disorder and compulsive disorder. Ravi talked about his compulsive disorder on episode 97 of the MBC talk show Video Star in 2018. On episode 66 of the KBS variety show 2 Days & 1 Night, Ravi confides about his panic disorder and compulsive disorder to cast member Yeon Jung Hoon. Ravi's goodbye letter on his last episode of 2 days & 1 Night also mentions his depression and panic disorder. On April 3, Dong A Ilbo released an exclusive report on Ravi’s indictment from the office of Rep. Jeon Ju Hye of the Ministry of Justice. They revealed that it was the co-CEO of GROOVL1N, only named by the media as CEO A, who contacted broker Gu Mo seeking a postponement for Ravi and an exemption for rapper Nafla. CEO A signed the contract with Gu Mo, and it was his messages not Ravi’s that were found on Gu Mo’s phone. Gu Mo sent a text message to CEO A saying, "Good, it's an exemption." There has been no evidence provided of Ravi directly contacting or seeking out Broker Gu Mo himself. On April 11, Ravi attended the first hearing of his trial. The trial revealed that Ravi was unaware that he had even received an exemption from the Military Manpower Administration. Ravi submitted his own application for enlistment in September 2022 and entered the training camp on October 27, 2022. Ravi enlisted as a public service worker and did not proceed with evasion as he did not know he had received an exemption. Thus, he was initially unaware that he had committed a crime. However, Ravi also apologized to patients suffering from epilepsy and chose to accept all charges by the prosecution. Ravi also withdrew from his idol group VIXX. This trial revealed that in 2020, Ravi was faced with a large contract penalty for an event he was unable to fulfill due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The penalty was so large that Ravi's self-founded company GROOVL1N, was likely to close. Ravi had initially applied to postpone his enlistment to fulfill his contractual obligations in February 2021. At this point Ravi had been paying for the salaries of his employees out of his own pocket for over a year. Prosecutors revealed that this was also the time that co-CEO Kim contacted broker Gu Mo, initially seeking his help for a postponement for Ravi. On August 10, the court found Ravi guilty of violating the Military Service Act and sentenced him to a 1 year suspended prison sentence. He did not go to prison, but instead received 2 years of probation and 120 hours of community service. Ravi also volunteered to enlist in military service twice. He will be required to undergo another health evaluation to determine if he will continue to be in public service for his second enlistment.Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Mixtapes
Singles
NotesConcerts
Headlining
* 2016: Ravi's 1st Live Party '' .EBIRTH' * 2017: RAVI 1st REAL-LIVE '' .EAL1ZE' * 2018: RAVI 2nd REAL-LIVE ''NIRVANA'' * 2018: RAVI 1st SOLO EUROPE TOUR * 2019: RAVI 3rd REAL-LIVE ''R.OOK BOOK'' * 2022: RAVI REVOIR ConcertCo-headlining
* 2017: Rapbeat Show 2017 in AustraliaFilmography
Television series
Television shows
Web shows
Awards and nominations
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravi Jellyfish Entertainment artists VIXX members Japanese-language singers of South Korea South Korean male idols South Korean male pop singers 21st-century South Korean male singers South Korean songwriters South Korean male rappers South Korean hip-hop musicians 1993 births Living people Howon University alumni Show Me the Money (South Korean TV series) contestants 21st-century South Korean rappers Rappers from Seoul South Korean hip-hop record producers South Korean hip-hop singers South Korean television personalities