Kang In-soo (; born March 10, 1988) is a South Korean singer and actor. Born in

Suwon Suwon (; ) is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province. The city lies approximately south of the national capital, Seoul. With a population of 1.2 million, Suwon has more inhabitants than Ulsan, tho ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

, he was an aspiring singer in his adolescence and applied to the Department of Theater and Film in high school, but majored in dance following the denial of his initial application. Kang signed to H2 Media, where he debuted with boy

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a devotional image of a deity or saint used during puja ...

group

Myname Myname (; stylized as MYNAME) is a South Korean boy group created by Fly to the Sky's Hwanhee under H2 Media. The group is composed of five members: Gunwoo, Insoo, Seyong, Jun.Q, and Chaejin. The group debuted on October 27, 2011 with their ...

. He is a vocalist for the quintet. He performed his first acting role in ''Shinokubo Story'' (2013) alongside the group. ''Naked'' (2017), his first mini-album independent from

, was released in Japan in September. He enlisted in the mandatory

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

the following month.

Life and career

1988–2010: Early life and career beginnings

Kang In-soo was born on March 10, 1988, in

, South Korea. An aspiring singer, he unsuccessfully applied to Anyang Arts High School under the Department of Theater and Film. He reapplied under the dance program as his second choice and was accepted. He avoided dancing for the first two years, instead taking singing and music lessons. In order to graduate from high school, he was required to conceive a dance piece. A male dance teacher visited the school to aid in the students' production, when Kang "fell in love" with

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

upon seeing the teacher's moves. In addition to ballet, he practiced

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

during his final year in high school. He passed

Sejong University Sejong University (SJU; ) is a private research university located in Seoul, South Korea, known for its standing in hospitality and tourism management, dancing, animation and rhythmic gymnastics. Founded as the Kyung Sung Humanities Institute, it ...

's concours and was admitted as a dance major despite not learning how to dance. He graduated from the institution and, for two years, served as a ballet instructor for rhythmic gymnasts

Son Yeon-jae Son Yeon-jae KTM (; born 28 May 1994) is a retired South Korean individual rhythmic gymnast. She is a former member of the South Korean national gymnastics team, based in Taereung, Seoul. Son is the 2014 Asian Games All-around Champion, the ...

and Shin Soo-ji. He later attended

Korea National Open University Korea National Open University (KNOU, ) is a national university of South Korea. KNOU is South Korea’s leading institution for open education, providing accessible and flexible higher education to over 94,000 students and the largest educat ...

. After deliberating between a career in ballet and music, he decided to participate in the second season of the talent television series ''

Superstar K ''Superstar K'' () is a South Korean television talent show series which is held yearly. First held in 2009, Superstar K has increasingly gained more attention, considered the biggest audition program in South Korea. Superstar K's concept involv ...

''. Following his appearance on the show, he began receiving "love calls" from various entertainment companies, which he rejected for an opportunity to try out for

Fly to the Sky Fly to the Sky () is a South Korean R&B duo consisting of Brian Joo and Hwanhee. Initially marketed as Korean idol, K-pop idols, the duo later developed a more mature image and became one of the most popular R&B groups in South Korea. The duo ha ...

Hwanhee Hwang Yoon-seok (, born January 17, 1982), better known as Hwanhee (), is a South Korean singer, actor and a member of South Korean R&B duo Fly to the Sky. Career Hwanhee graduated from Gwang Moon High School before his debut. He was encourag ...

under H2 Media. Upon failing the audition, he sat by a water purifier at the company's entrance and greeted staff for the following seven consecutive days to have them recognize his face. He explained, "I did it because I wanted to show them how eager I was and that I can do it". As a result, he was invited to practice and became a trainee under the label.

2011–present: Career and military service

Kang is a vocalist in the

group

. The group released their debut single "

Message A message is a unit of communication that conveys information from a sender to a receiver. It can be transmitted through various forms, such as spoken or written words, signals, or electronic data, and can range from simple instructions to co ...

" in 2011. Kang made his acting debut along with his group in the film ''Shinokubo Story'' (2013), where he played one of five characters seeking to become "stars". He released his first solo mini-album ''Naked'' in Japan on September 6, 2017. Kang's musical style was influenced by

Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...

Taeyang Dong Young-bae (; born May 18, 1988), better known by his stage name Taeyang () or SOL, is a South Korean singer. He made his debut in 2006 as a member of the South Korean boy band BigBang. Following the release of several albums and extended ...

, JYJ's

Kim Junsu Kim Jun-su (; born December 15, 1986), known mononymously as Junsu or known under the stage name XIA ( ; ) is a South Korean singer-songwriter, dancer and musical actor. He is a member of JYJ, and was one of the original members of boy band T ...

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

and Usher. He held a release event at the

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchising, franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when ...

store in

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

the day before ''Naked's'' release, drawing in 400 attendees. The mini-album ranked at number 19 on Japan's national

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...

, selling 3,346 copies in its first week. Kang held two solo concerts in late September to promote ''Naked''. Kang enlisted in

on October 26, 2017. He received military training at the

Korea Army Training Center The Korea Army Training Center (abbreviated KATC; ) is a South Korean military training institution for the Republic of Korea Army basic training. It is also commonly known as Nonsan Training Center or Yeonmudae. It is one of the subordinate e ...

Nonsan Nonsan (; ) is a city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It is located at . The origin of Nonsan's geographical names is said to have come from the small garden " Nolmoe, " which rises in the middle of farming fields, where rice paddie ...

South Chungcheong Province South Chungcheong Province (), informally called Chungnam, is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, province of South Korea in the Hoseo region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. South Chungcheong borders the provinces of Gyeonggi to ...

Musical style

Kang's debut solo mini-album ''Naked'' encompasses ballads, R&B,

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, and

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

. Its lead single "Naked Love" is an EDM track. Kang has cited

and American singer Usher as role models.

Discography

Albums

Mini-albums

Singles

Soundtrack appearances

Filmography

Television show

Television series

Theater

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kang, In-soo 1988 births 21st-century South Korean male actors 21st-century South Korean male singers Japanese-language singers of South Korea Korea National Open University alumni Myname members Singers from Suwon Male actors from Suwon Sejong University alumni South Korean contemporary R&B singers South Korean dance musicians South Korean male idols South Korean J-pop singers K-pop singers South Korean male film actors Superstar K participants Living people