Kang Daniel

Concept photo for Outerspace

**Kang Daniel** (강다니엘), originally known as **Kang Eui-geon** (강의건), (born on December 10, 1996) is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer and actor. He is best known for finishing 1st place in *Produce 101 Season 2* and becoming a member and the center of the temporary project boy group Wanna One until their disbandment. He is currently under his own company, KONNECT Entertainment.

## Biography

### Early life, pre-debut years

Kang Eui-geon was born on December 10, 1996 in Busan, South Korea. He is the only child of his family. He decided to legally change his name to Daniel after years and years of mispronunciation of his birth name Eui-geon.

He began singing and dancing in 8th grade through a b-boy club he joined a teacher recommended him to. Another one of his most notable moments as a trainee was that when he appeared as a backup dancer for Cao Lu and SPICA's Sihyun in *Her Secret Weapon* during the performance of "Invitation" by Uhm Jung-hwa.

### 2017-2018: *Produce 101 Season 2*, Wanna One, solo activities

Daniel appeared as a contestant in the second season of the reality competition series *Produce 101* where he represented MMO Entertainment along with four other trainees. The show aired between April and June 2017. It had a pool of an initial 101 trainees from 54 different entertainment companies to create a project boy group that had a year and a half contract.

By the end of the show, the group name was revealed to be called Wanna One. He and Yoon Jisung (who also was a backup dancer with Daniel in *Her Secret Weapon*) were the only two of the five trainees from MMO that made the final 11 to form Wanna One. They debuted on August 7, 2017 with their first mini album *1X1=1 (To Be One)*. A repackage titled *1-1=0 (Nothing Without You)* was released on November 13.

Swing Entertainment announced on December 18, 2018 that Wanna One's contract will come to an end on its planned date, December 31. However, they will still attend award shows and will hold a final concert entitled *Therefore*.

### 2019: Solo debut, Dating controversies, Fanclub name, Lightstick, Touchin', anxiety hiatus

Wanna One's contracts ended on December 31, 2018, though their final activities as a group was their last concert *Therefore* which was held between January 24-27, 2019. The group officially disbanded on the final day of the concert and they later posted one final picture for their fans, Wannable, before disbanding.

On January 31, 2019, following the disbandment of Wanna One, Daniel and Jisung's contracts with MMO have expired, which lead them to move to LM Entertainment. On March 21, he submitted an application to suspend his exclusive contract with the agency. After months and months of court battles from third party contracts between him and LM, he has been reported to establish his own agency KONNECT Entertainment on June 9. He then officially debuted as a soloist on July 25 with his first EP *Color On Me*. Afterward, in September, his contract with LM had been terminated.

Local news source *Dispatch* reported on August 5 that he and TWICE's Jihyo were dating. During the same day, the reports had been confirmed by both agencies. It had also been revealed that they were also introduced to each other through Seulong of 2AM.

Daniel then announced on August 29 that his fanclub finally had a name. His former Wannables (orignally and affectionately known as "no-name") are officially DANITY, combining "Daniel" and the suffix "-ity" meaning that there is no limit between the memories him and his fans make together.

On November 14, Daniel revealed and released his official lightstick known as Danibong.

He then released his first digital single "Touchin'" on November 25 along with the B-side "Adulthood". After his performance on December 3, it had been announced from KONNECT one day later that Daniel would be going on hiatus from activities and promotions due to health issues, thus being unable to perform in the 2019 KBS Song Festival.

### 2020-present: Color Trilogy, Paranoia, further collaborations, *Yellow*

After a three-month anxiety recovery, Daniel made a comeback on March 24, 2020 with his first mini album (second overall) *Cyan*, the first part of a three-part project called the Color Trilogy. "2U" was used as the title track, "Touchin'" and "Adulthood" were used as the pre-release singles and "Jealous" was used during his follow-up promotions.

On April 23, he and Zico (who also produced and, along with Daniel, co-wrote Wanna One Triple Position song "Kangaroo" from Wanna One's special album *1÷x=1 (Undivided)*) released the collaborative digital single "For The Love of Korea" (also known internationally as "Refresh") as the first part (fifth part overall) of the Pepsi x Starship 2020 Global Project, a digital single project campaign colloboration between Starship Entertainment and Pepsi. He then released his second digital single "Waves" featuring Simon Dominic and Jamie on July 27 as a pre-release single for his second mini album (third overall), *Magenta*, released on August 3.

On November 9, JYP Entertainment had revealed that Daniel and Jihyo had broken up due to busy schedules.

He and Anthony Russo were featured in the single "State of Wonder" by DJ and producer Inverness, released on January 15, 2021, making it Daniel's first collab with foreign recording artists. Afterward, he released his third digital single "Paranoia" on February 16.

On March 18, 2021, Daniel announced that he would be making another comeback with the third and final release of the Color Trilogy, the third mini album *Yellow*, on April 13, along with "Paranoia" being the pre-release single and "Antidote" being used as the title track.

## Profile

* **Stage Name:** Daniel (다니엘) / Kang Daniel (강다니엘)
* **Birth Name:** Kang Eui-geon (강의건)
* **Date of Birth**: December 10, 1996
* **Birth Place:** Busan, South Korea
* **Genres:** Pop, hip-hop, rap, R&B, soul, etc.
* **Known family members:** Parents, maternal aunt
* **Nationality:** Korean
* **Zodiac Sign:** Sagittarius
* **Chinese Zodiac Sign:** Rat
* **Height:** 180cm (5'11")
* **Weight:** 67 kg (148 lbs)
* **Blood Type:** A
* **Likes:** Skateboarding
* **Dislikes:** Bugs
* **Why he changed his name:** It would be hard for people to pronounce Euigeon correctly
* **Position in *Produce 101 Season 2*:** Main Dancer, Sub-Vocalist
* **Position in Wanna One:** Main Dancer, Lead Rapper, Sub-Vocalist, Center/Face of the Group
* **Special Skills:** Singing, Dancing, Rapping
* **Role Models:** SEVENTEEN (because of their teamwork), BTS (because they are powerful), EXO (because they are cool)
* **Ideal Type:** Someone older who he can learn from

## Trivia

* He travelled to Canada for vacation a few times where his maternal aunt currently lives in as she learned him to speak English.
* He has four cats: Peter, Rooney, Ori and Zhang-Ah.
	+ Daniel initially thought that the former two were male, though they turned out to be female.
* He was a trainee for 2 years and a month, if including *Produce 101 Season 2*, that's 2 years and 5 months.