Seulgi (singer)
Kang Seul-gi (; born February 10, 1994), known mononymously as Seulgi, is a South Korean singer and dancer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Red Velvet and its sub-unit Red Velvet - Irene & Seulgi. She is also a member of South Korean supergroup Got the Beat. Life and career. 1994–2014: Early life and career beginnings. Kang Seul-gi was born on February 10, 1994, in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Her family consists of her parents and an older brother. She studied in Ansan Byeolmang Middle School and attended School of Performing Arts Seoul . She can speak both Korean and Japanese. Kang began training in SM Entertainment in 2007. On December 2, 2013, she was one of the first three trainees introduced to the public through SM Entertainment's pre-debut project, SM Rookies, alongside now-NCT members Jeno and Taeyong. Various pre-debut clips of Seulgi were released by SM, one of which was a dance performance with Irene covering ‘Be Natural’, a song that was sung originally by S.E.S. In July 2014, she was featured in Henry Lau's song "Butterfly" from his second EP "Fantastic". She also appeared in the music  video of the single "Fantastic". On August 1, 2014, Kang made her official debut as a member of Red Velvet. 2015–present: Solo activities and sub-unit. In January 2015, she starred in an SM Entertainment musical "School Oz", playing the lead role of Dorothy. From April to May, she was part of the JTBC variety show "Off to School". In July 2016, she released the song "Don't Push Me" with Wendy as part of the soundtrack of the KBS2 drama, "Uncontrollably Fond". In October 2016, Seulgi appeared on "King of Mask Singer" as a contestant under the alias  Cinema Heaven. On November 18, Seulgi sang "You, Just Like That" (그대는 그렇게), as the theme song of NCSoft's MMORPG "Blade & Soul". The song was later officially released as digital single in 2017. On December 30, Seulgi with bandmate Wendy and other SM artists released a digital single titled "Sound of Your Heart" for SM Station. In January 2017, she released the song "You're the Only One I See" with Wendy as part of the soundtrack of the KBS2 drama, "". She released a duet titled "Darling U" with Super Junior's Yesung on January 22, as part of  SM Station. In February 2017, Seulgi and Hwang Chi-yeul collaborated for the song "Our Story", which serves as the final single track for Hwang's girl group duet project 'Fall, in girl'. In March 2017, Seulgi featured in NCT Mark's "Drop", an original song performed on "High School Rapper", a survival hip hop reality TV show. Seulgi, alongside six other female idols, was cast in "Idol Drama Operation Team" that was aired on May 29, 2017, wherein they created their own drama series, 'Let's Only Walk the Flower Road', by becoming accredited scriptwriters as well as acting  in the series as fictional versions of themselves in a girl group. Their group, called 'Girls Next Door', also released the song "Deep Blue Eyes" and held their debut stage on July 14, 2017, at Music Bank. On October 27, she, along with Kangta and Wendy, released a remake of the 2001 song "인형 (Doll)" by Shinhwa's Shin Hye-sung and Lee Ji-hoon as part of the second season of the SM Station project. Its music video used footage from their live performance of the song at the "SMTOWN LIVE TOUR V in JAPAN" and was released on  the same day. In the same month, she featured in a duet "Heart Stop" with Taemin of Shinee released on his second full Korean album, "Move". In February 2018, Seulgi was confirmed as part of the cast for "Law of the Jungle in Mexico". In April, Seulgi was also confirmed as part of the cast of JTBC new variety show "Secret Unnie" together with Sunmi. Seulgi was also featured on Moonbyul's solo debut single "Selfish", which was released on May 23, 2018. In June 2018, Seulgi and Wendy was announced filming in Austria for "Battle Trip"’s special 100th  episode themed ‘The Country I Want to Live in’, which first episode aired on July 21, 2018. In September 2018, she released a single "Wow Thing" as part of a mini group, Station Young, with (G)I-dle's Soyeon, GFriend's SinB, and solo artist Chungha. In October 2018, Seulgi was announced as cast of JTBC's new show Cool Kids, along with Yoo Jae-suk, Kim Shin-young, and other celebrity representatives. Each cast member was introduced with an aspect that is widely acknowledged about them, Seulgi was the one on the "trend". On October 15, Seulgi was featured  on South Korean hip-hop and R&B artist Zion.T's single "Hello Tutorial", which peaked at number 2 on the Gaon Digital Chart. On February 12, 2019, Seulgi released “Always”, a ballad song about eternal love for the tvN drama The Crowned Clown. In November 2019, during their La Rouge concert in Seoul, Seulgi performed the song "Uncover", which was first revealed then for her solo stage. On April 20, 2020, SM confirmed that Seulgi, alongside member Irene, would form Red Velvet's first sub-unit. Red Velvet - Irene & Seulgi debuted on July 6 with the extended play "Monster . This EP contained the full studio version of Seulgi's solo song Uncover". She and Irene also starred in the spin-off version of their group's reality show the "Level Up Project!" On October 31, 2020, Seulgi was one of the guests of Yoon Do-hyun of YB Band for his virtual Acoustic Forest tour. On November 23, 2020, Seulgi was confirmed to debut as an art essay translator for the book series "Art Gallery By My Side: Love, Happiness, Sleep". On January 25, 2021, Seulgi was featured in the music video of TVXQ Yunho's "Eeny Meeny". On  February 1, Seulgi and rapper Bewhy's commercial MV for their Volkswagen "Born Confident" campaign was officially released online. On March 30, it was announced that Seulgi will be featuring in one of Wendy's solo album debut tracks titled, "Best Friend", to be released on April 5, 2021. On April 2, it was announced that Seulgi will co-host a web music program titled, "The Wise Music Encyclopedia". On June 1, she also started hosting her own live show, "Seulgi.zip", on Naver Now. On December 27, 2021, Seulgi was revealed as a member of supergroup Got the Beat alongside  Red Velvet groupmate Wendy. The group debuted on January 3, 2022. Artistry. Arts and photography. In addition to being a skilled dancer and vocalist, Seulgi is also recognized for her art and photography skills. Photos of her artworks have circulated on various online communities, with many viewers praising her work. In 2016, Seulgi was chosen as the honorary ambassador for the 18th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival to further help spread the festival's mission, which was to improve public awareness on animated films so students and lesser known artists in the field would gain more opportunities. In 2019, Seulgi  lent her voice to serve as an audio guide during M. Chat exhibit of world class graffiti artists at Seoul Arts Center. L'Occitane collaborated with Seulgi in 2019 for their 'City Palette' campaign. Through that brand's concept, Seulgi herself designed a city map, which later produced into eco bags that conveys the message of coloring the beauty of nature in cities that are losing charm due to pollution. Due to her love for arts, the Art Museum By My Side (2020) series project by Maronie Books was offered to her to translate. The book series is a collection of  35 artworks for each theme: Love, Happiness, Sleep. Seulgi's translation of the book, originally in English by Shana Gozansky, presents both the original text and Seulgi's own feelings and interpretations. She also personally picked her favorite artworks and wrote her own thoughts and feelings. The series aims to serve as guide to those people who usually find it difficult to enjoy art due to lack of professional knowledge. Fashion. Seulgi is also recognized for her fashion sense. Her casual yet chic and trendy attires made her an emerging leader in casual fashion, and a reference for MZ generation . Her influence was often highlighted on the rise of minimalist fashion trend among Koreans in their 20s and 30s. In her show "Seulgi.zip", which is mainly a fashion-themed program, she would talk about fashion items, style points, and favorite styles with her guests, and would give advice to her listeners too. She has also proven her influence as a fashion icon in the global fashion world when she became the first K-pop star to be selected as a global ambassador for Italian luxury brand Salvatore Ferragamo. A representative of the brand said that they selected her in anticipation  of even greater synergy with her for being a fashion icon, a globally popular kpop-star, and an influential entertainer who shows outstanding performances in various ways. Public image and influence. Seulgi is known as an all-rounder artist through her performances and artworks. Brands often cite her positive vibes, creativity, passion for her craft, and her unique sensibility and style on why they choose her to represent them— a cultural icon supported by millennials. In Gallup Korea's Idol Preference poll (before it was discontinued in 2020), Seulgi ranked as one of the topmost popular idols, both in 2018  and 2019. She had also topped the monthly ‘Individual Girl Group Members Brand Power Ranking’ published by the Korean Corporate Reputation Research Institute a couple of times. In a survey among soldiers doing mandatory military service in South Korea in 2019, Seulgi ranked as the fourth most popular female K-pop idol. Seulgi is also well-loved by Korea Queer Women Community, consistently ranking on the top of the annual poll, due to her girl crush image. Other ventures. Endorsements. Aside from various endorsements with her bandmates, Seulgi became ambassadors of known big brands. On March 21, 2018, Seulgi was  picked to model Nike's collection for South Korea national football team - The Red Devils 2018 Collection. Since August 2018, Seulgi has been the face of Converse Korea, becoming their first female brand ambassador. Starting with the 'One Star Campaign' under the slogan 'no one can evaluate me', Seulgi and Converse have campaigned for support on one's own values and standards. On December 23, 2019, she was announced, along with Park Bo-gum, as the face for Coca-Cola's 2020 campaign 'Little Big Moments'. On December 26, L'Occitane posted their new campaign that featured Seulgi, and two other  artists, art director Cha In-cheol and illustrator Kim Se-dong. Seulgi is an ambassador for L'Occitane x OMY's 'City Palette' campaign for their shea butter hand cream. In January 2021, Seulgi became the new ambassador of Volkswagen. She is the face of a new campaign for their new T-Roc model, and promotes it with an original jingle and music video for their slogan 'Born Confident'. On February 24, Seulgi was officially announced as South Korea's brand ambassador of the Italian luxury brand Salvatore Ferragamo through her photoshoot with Harper's Bazaar; and was later on announced  on June 29 as their global brand ambassador through their shoe capsule collection campaign, 'Let's Dance'. On April 29, Seulgi was announced as the newest model for cosmetics brand AMUSE.