Welcome back to my first series of An Introduction, Seventeen. As I mentioned in my previous post, over the course of my next couple of posts I will be diving into the members and teams of Seventeen with more depth and detail. This journey begins with the Hip Hop team, composed of the main and lead rappers of Seventeen: S.Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon.
As you can probably guess, the Hip Hop team are responsible for writing and delivering the raps in Seventeen group songs. They also work as producers, song-writers, and lyricists for many of the songs from Seventeen and create Hip Hop team specific songs. Many of the Hip Hop team members also serve as sub-vocalists and visuals for the group, but their primary responsibilities cover the rap portion of Seventeen’s music.
Note: The words “unit” and “team” can be exchanged. These are the official sub-groups Seventeen are divided into based on their roles: vocal, hip hop, and performance.
Choi Seung-Cheol – S.Coups (Leader), 8/8/1995
S.Coups, real name Choi Seung-Cheol, is the oldest member and the leader of the Hip Hop unit, the entirety of Seventeen, and the sub-unit “Leaders” (comprised of him and the other unit leaders, Hoshi and Woozi). He was the first member of the group to join their company, Pledis Entertainment, and worked as a trainee for six years. Prior to debuting in Seventeen, S.Coups was in the lineup for other groups and intended to debut multiple times from 2012-2013 as a part of the original Pledis Boys, NU’EST, and TEMPEST along with fellow unit leader, Woozi. He is a main rapper for Seventeen and has writing credits on many of their songs. He created his own stage name and the “S” represents both Seung-Cheol and Seventeen, while “Coups” is from “coup d’etat.” He went on hiatus for four months between 2019 and 2020 to address his struggles and diagnosis with anxiety, and he has been open about his experiences and the importance of prioritizing mental health since returning.
Jeon Won-Woo – Wonwoo, 7/17/1996
Wonwoo is the second oldest member of the Hip Hop team and acts as a lead rapper, sub-vocalist, and visual for the group. He joined Pledis Entertainment in 2011 as a trainee and appeared in the music videos of other groups, including NU’EST, Orange Caramel, and Hello Venus. He is one of the three members of Seventeen who actually auditioned to join Pledis (the other members were all scouted by company representatives in various situations) and also works as a writer for numerous Seventeen songs. He recently collaborated with fellow Seventeen rapper, Mingyu, on the song “Bittersweet” feat. Lee Hi which was released in 2021. Many of his lyrics are inspired by his personal feelings and his observations of the current state of society. He is also known for his passion in video editing and directing, working as the music video director for Seventeen’s song, “Holiday.”
Kim Min-Gyu – Mingyu, 4/6/1997
Mingyu is a lead rapper, sub-vocalist, and visual for Seventeen, as well as a member of the highly admired and popular “97-line” of K-pop along with fellow Seventeen members Dokyeom and the8, as well as BTS’ Jungkook, Astro’s Cha Eun-Woo, NCT’s Jaehyun, and GOT7’s Yugyeom and BamBam. He was a trainee at Pledis Entertainment for four years prior to debuting in Seventeen. Like Wonwoo and many of the other members, he also appeared in other artists’ music videos before debuting in Seventeen (Fun Fact: in NU’EST’s music video for Face, Mingyu and S.Coups appear as opposing group members). He has also appeared as a cameo on a Thai drama called “Luang Ta Mahachon,” frequently MCs for music shows, and works to write many of Seventeen’s songs. Additionally, he is the music video director, cameraman, and editor for Seventeen’s song, “Snapshoot.”
Chwe Han-Sol/Hansol Vernon Chwe – Vernon, 2/18/1998
Vernon is a main rapper and visual for Seventeen. He is one of the youngest members of the group (the youngest – “maknae” – of the Hip Hop team and second youngest of the overall group). Vernon is half Korean and half American, and although he was born in New York, he moved to Korea at a very young age and was raised there. “Vernon” is actually his middle name and his mother’s last name. He was a trainee at Pledis for about 3 years and 3 months before debuting in Seventeen. Within Seventeen, he is known for being a representative in rap and working as a writer/composer for many of their songs, as well as featuring on the songs of other artists such as Bumzu, Tobi Lou, and Drunken Tiger. He is also a frequent MC for KCON LA and KCON NY along with fellow Seventeen members, Joshua, Jeonghan, and Hoshi.
Hip Hop Team Song Recommendations:
- What’s Good
- Check-In
- Trauma
- Back It Up
- Chilli
- GAM3 BO1
- If I
- Fronting
- Space
- Lean On Me
Hi, Claire! I really liked your overview of the Seventeen K-Pop group and I’m excited to hear more about it. It was really interesting to see how each member came to be a part of this fantastic group, especially considering their diverse experiences. I also want to commend you for raising their concern about mental health, as this is something that has incurred very little discussion in Korea, as well as your recommended list of songs. I’ll make sure to check them out!
I also like that you included some Korean words to describe the intra-band relationship; I think it really demonstrates your interest in this group, K-pop in general, and the wider Korean culture.
I’m curious to see why you like Seventeen, considering that there are plenty of other K-Pop groups (with more coming to debut every day) that equally attract stans/fans and such. What are some of the other K-pop groups/artists that you enjoy?
Hi! Sorry this reply is so late. It’s hard to describe the exact reasons why I like Seventeen, I got into them in a kind of roundabout way and there are numerous reasons from each individual to the group as a whole that make them one of my favorite artists. Besides their extremely complex and synchronized dance style and strong vocals, they’re really funny (in a pretty chaotic manner but I vibe with that) and they put a lot of effort into maintaining healthy fan relationships, which can definitely become an issue with intense fandoms. They’re also one of the only K-pop groups I’ve ever seen to explicitly show support for the LGBTQ+ community and advocate for the importance of mental health in an open and grounded manner. I could go on for a long while with a weird list of things from DK’s work in musical theatre to Jun’s influence on Chinese idols but essentially there are a lot of slightly random reasons.
I like a lot of other K-pop groups and artists! I am unashamed to say that I do have some basic tastes, as I like BTS, IU, Shinee, The Rose, TWICE, Eric Nam, ITZY, and Tomorrow by Together. I actually also like listening to a lot of random second generation songs by Apink, SNSD (Girls’ Generation), and BIGBANG. There’s also a miscellaneous area in my playlist with songs from artists like Hwang Chi Yeul, Younha, Punch, Crush, BUZZ, Shinhwa, Pentagon, Day6, and more I’m probably not thinking of right now. So essentially a lot of random songs from a wide variety of artists but I have to admit that in terms of groups, my biggest are BTS, Tomorrow by Together, and Seventeen.