Kwon Ki-bum (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The ...

: 권기범, born September 22, 1984), known as Bumkey (Hangul: 범키), is a South Korean R&B singer under

Brand New Music Brand New Music (Hangul: 브랜뉴 뮤직, also stylized as BrandNew Music and initialized as BNM) is a South Korean hip hop company founded in 2011 by rapper . History 2003–2012: Founding and first-generation artists Kim Se-hwan (Hangul: � ...

. He made his musical debut in 2010 as part of the hip hop duo 2winS and is currently a member of the Korean hip hop and R&B quartet

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Çan ...

Life and career

Kwon Ki-bum was born September 22, 1984 in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1999, where he lived for five years before returning to Korea alone in 2004 to pursue a music career. Early in his career, he featured on songs by both underground and mainstream hip hop artists including Dynamic Duo, Brown Eyes, and Epik High, being credited as either Kwon Ki-bum or Bumkey. However, after undergoing vocal chord surgery to treat a chronic sore throat, he was left unable to speak. It was two years before he regained his singing ability. In 2010, Bumkey debuted as part of the duo 2winS (Korean: 투윈스) with TopBob, formerly of the hip hop group TBNY. The duo promoted actively on Korean music shows with Supreme Team and on various radio programs throughout 2010. Bumkey also featured in songs by Paloalto,

Dok2 Lee Joon-kyung (; born March 28, 1990) better known by his stage name Dok2 (, pronounced as Dokki), is a South Korean rapper, record producer and co-founder of now-defunct Illionaire Records. Biography Early life Dok2's mother is Korean, and ...

, SouLime, and Dynamic Duo. After signing with

, Bumkey made his solo debut with the single "Bad Girl," in April 2013. The song was produced by

Primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and featured E-Sens of Supreme Team. Bumkey released his second single, "Attraction," in August with a music video starring

Crayon Pop Crayon Pop (Hangul: 크레용팝) is a South Korean girl group formed under Chrome Entertainment in 2012. The group consisted of four members: Geummi, Ellin, Choa, and Way. Their fifth member, Soyul, left the group in 2017. Crayon Pop officia ...

's Ellin. The song was a success, ranking fifth on the Instiz iChart, a collation of all real-time Korean music charts, for the third week of August and topping the Gaon Digital Singles Chart. Bumkey performed in Crayon Pop's ''PopCon'' concert in Seoul on October 30. In 2014, Brand New Music introduced its new hip hop group

, with Bumkey as group leader. Bumkey was part of a world tour in May (as part of the Asian Music Festival) with Verbal Jint, Beenzino, Sanchez, and Troy bandmate Kanto, performing in New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Sydney, Australia. He married former Planet Shiver member Kang Da-hye in June. In October 2014, Bumkey was arrested and charged with selling and taking illegal substances, specifically

ecstasy Ecstasy may refer to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...

and Philopon, a type of

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Meth ...

. Bumkey denied the allegations. In April 2015, the court found him to be not guilty.

Personal life

On June 13, 2014, Bumkey married DJ Kang Da-hye in Samseong-dong, Seoul. His wife gave birth to a son on July 27, 2016.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Collaborations

Awards

References

{{Authority control South Korean male rappers South Korean hip hop singers Brand New Music artists 1984 births Living people Musicians from Seoul 21st-century South Korean male singers