Park Hyo-shin

Park Hyo-shin
Background information
Birth name	Park Hyo-shin
Born	(1981-12-01) December 1, 1981 South Korea
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genres	K-pop R&B Ballad
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Jellyfish Entertainment (2008-16) Glove Entertainment (2016-present)

Park Hyo-shin (Hangul: 박효신, Hanja: 朴孝信, born 1 December 1981) is a South Korean singer.

Biography

Early life and career beginnings

Park Hyo Shin was born on December 1, 1981 in Chungcheongnam-Do Yesan.^[1]

When Park was young, he sang trot, a Korean traditional genre, at his family's restaurant. The guests liked Park singing, so they visited Park's family restaurant often. Though he was young, many people heard he sang very well so they visited the restaurant to listen to him sing.

When Park was in high school, he decided to become a singer via his friend's suggestion and participated in many competitive singing festivals where he won many trophies.

He also became a trainee at a Korean entertainment company. However, due to problems that happened in his management company, he moved to another company. Park thought there wouldn't be any problems in this new company, but this company forced Park to pay money because he ignored a sponsor. Due to these issues, Park thought about giving up his dream of being a singer. However, his friend introduced Park to composer Hwang Yoon Min, and he started to sing again under Hwang's supervision.

Park trained to become a singer for almost a year until his debut date. On November 4, 1999, he appeared in a radio station. Then on November 30, 1999, he released his first album Things I Cannot Do For You, with the title song being "Fool".^[2]

Rising popularity

Park became famous to the Korean citizens when he attended a KBS TV show called Lee Sora's Propose. After appearing on the program, his popularity went significantly up which lead to 440,000 of his debut album being sold and his album placing 15th on 2000 Music Recording Sales. Also, he was rewarded for the 15th Golden Disk Awards: Rookie of the Year award.^[3]

The album Second Story was released in February 2001, and the title song "Longing" was a big hit. This album’s producers were Korean famous producers Yoon Sang, Kim Dong Ryul, Jo Kyu Man and Yoo Hee Yeol, which made Park’s album even more sophisticated. The fans say that this album was the most highest grossing album to date, but in Park’s interview he said this album was not for him, but the album was for the producers.

The next album, Time Honored Voice, was released in September 2002 with 470,000 copies sold. Park's main title song was also a hit, therefore making him have 3 hits songs in a row which paved the way for him to be one of the greatest artists in Korea. By this effect, the title song "A Good Man" ranked first for two weeks in a row in SBS Inkigayo and won Main Prize in the 17th Golden Disk and Seoul Music Award, making Park even more famous.^[4] The song that is said to have brought Park Hyo Shin to fame was "Snow Flower." This song was not any song from an album, but rather it was a remake OST song for the KBS Drama "I'm Sorry, I love You" that was broadcast in 2004. The original song was sung by Mika Nakashima; however, people thought the song that Park Hyo Shin had better delivery.^[5] This song has become well known even today and is perceived with positive acclaims by musicians and music critics.

Park Hyo Shin released his 5th full studio album in 2006 after 3 years. The title song for this album was "Memories are Getting Similar to Love" and ranked top 3 in the music chart that time.

Park not only participate in his album, but he also participated in the OST a lot. He participated in a Korean TV program called Iljimae by singing the song "Hwashin," which means "Flower Letter" in English.^[6] In 2008, he also participated in Hwang Project as the lead vocal by releasing an album "The Castle of Zolter," which had different music from the music that he sang before.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of his debut, Park held a series of concerts, titled Park Hyo Shin's Gift from 17 to 19 October 2009 at the Olympic Fencing Gymnasium.^[7] On May 23, 2009, Park participated on Green Concert. At the same time, he also worked on his 6th studio album. On September 15, 2009, Park released his 6th album, Gift- Part 1. The song "After Love" made it to number one on the music charts.^[8]

In 2014, Park released a mega hit song called "Wild Flower". This song was released in 2014, but by March 2016 it still placed 70th.^[9] This song is about a couple who broke up and want to erase their memories. In 2014, Park released a digital single called "Shine Your Light". This song was also a good song, but the citizens thought that "Wild Flower" was more well made song, so this song didn't become as popular as others.

Park's contract with Jellyfish Entertainment since 2008 was expired in 2016. On August 24, 2016 Park later signed a contract with Glove Entertainment.^[10] Glove Entertainment confirmed that Park will be released full album in fall. Park also will be held a showcase and concert "I Am A Dreamer" was scheduled in October.^[11]

Musical style

Park's style of singing had changed over time. As new albums were released, his singing style changed. From his first to fourth album, he used a singing method called the "Somole Method".^[12] The Somole Method is a Korean R&B singing method that is unique than any other methods.^[13] Seven years after debuting, Park started singing more comfortably, with his natural voice which we can hear in his latest albums.

When Park released his 5th album, his singing style had fully changed. His voice was significantly soft, easy to listen to, and the delivery was better than the Somole Method. People thought that Park's new singing style became similar Eric Bennett, and on Interview, Park clarified that Eric Bennett was a singer whom he liked and admired and adopted his singing method.^[12]

In his song "Shine Your Light", Park employed a sweet and mellow singing style. This song served as a reminder to listeners Park Hyo Shin's nature as someone who listens to his fans and changed according to their concerns.

Park Hyo Shin is considered as being the one of the best Korean singers because of his singing style. He is among the top 4 singers in Korea whom Koreans call "Kim Na Park Lee" , as in Kim Bum Soo, Naul, Park Hyo Shin and Lee Soo.^[14]

Due to his introverted personality, Park rarely appears on TV or radio. He prefers to stay at home and doesn't like to go outside.^[15]

Discography

• Things I Can't Do For You (1999)
• Second Story (2001)
• Time-Honored Voice (2002)
• Soul Tree (2004)
• The Breeze of Sea (2007)
• Gift, Part 1 (2009)
• Gift, Part 2 (2010)
• I Am a Dreamer (2016)

Theater credits

Musicals

• April, 2000 - Rock Hamlet (as 'Hamlet')^[16]
• June ~ October, 2013 - Elisabeth (as 'Tod')^[17] - Seoul Arts Center Opera Theater
• July ~ August, 2014 - Mozart! (as 'Mozart')^[18] - Sejong Center for the Performing Arts
• April ~ April, 2015 - The Phantom (as 'Erik')^[19] - Chungmu Art Hall

Award and nominations

Mnet Asian Music Awards

MelOn Music Awards

References

External links

• SoulTree Park Official Fanclub
• Park Hyo Shin on Instagram
• Park Hyo Shin on Twitter