Kim Tae-Hyung

Kim Tae-Hyung, famous for the name V, is a well-known South Korean vocalist, lyrics writer, and composer, born on 30 December 1995. Kim is a member of the most popular South Korean boy band, Bangtan Boys (BTS).

Kim or 'V' has sung more than three solo single music tracks, and these tracks have been made available under various popular brands like "Stigma" (released in 2016), "Singularity" (released in 2018), and "Inner Child" (released in 2020). These three songs of Kim achieved massive success on the Gaon Digital Chart in South Korea. Later in 2019, Kim released his new album, "Scenery", a piece of self-penned digital music, which served as his debut independent single. Along with his bandmate Jin, V also made his presence on the audience in the Hwarang, The Poet Warrior Youth (2016) soundtrack. Kim is so popular among today's youth, especially among girls, all over the world.

Birth Place

Kim was born in South Korea on 30 December 1995 in the Seo district of Daegu. But, he spent most of his childhood in Geochang Country, located in South Korea.

Education Details

Kim completed his schooling at Korean Arts High School. During his primary studies, he always dreamed of becoming a professional singer, so he did some small stage performances. Kim was famous in his school. With his father's support, Kim began attending music instrument classes in the early half of middle school to improve his skills for future career goals. Kim successfully cleared the audition in the city of Daegu. Later, Kim agreed to take a traineeship with Big Hit Entertainment.

After completing his school, Kim pursued his graduation from the Global Cyber University; Kim completed his graduation in 2020.

Early Life

Kim was initially raised in Geochang County. He is the eldest son among the siblings; his younger siblings include a brother and a sister. In elementary school, Kim dreamed of being an expert singer. To pursue his music career, he started taking saxophone instructions in the first half of middle college with the encouragement given by his father. Following a successful audition in Daegu, V finally became a well-known name after getting a role as a trainee for Big Hit Entertainment.

Kim pursued his graduate degree at Global Cyber University after schooling at Korean Arts High School in 2014. He started attending Hanyang Cyber University in 2021 and is presently studying for an MBA in Advertising and Media.

Career

2013: Initial Phase of Career

In 2013, Kim debuted his singing career for the organization Big Hit Entertainment. Later, it was announced that he had been selected as a member of the BTS group. At that time, his organization was trying to keep his identity a secret to create hype among the people. However, Kim thought that he might be removed from the group. He later said that thinking about why his identity was not disclosed left him feeling anxious and lonely.

Kim started his BTS debut career on 13 June 2013, performing the song "No More Dream" off their debut single album, 2 Cool 4 Skool. He gained his first music composition credit when he co-wrote and co-produced the song "Hold Me Tight" for The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1.

Along with another bandmate Suga, Kim contributed some lyrics to "Fun Boyz". For the following album, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part two, he contributed to the song "Run" with Jungkook. He then contributed to the lyrics and music of the solo tune "Stigma" from the album Wings. V has unofficially recorded covers of Adele's "Someone Like You" and "Hug Me" with bandmate J-Hope.

Kim debuted with his 2nd solo tune in May 2018 in the trailer for BTS' then-upcoming third album, Love Yourself: Tear, "Singularity". On October 25, BBC Radio played this song for the first time in the UK, and it gained a rank in the "Top 50 tracks for June 2018" and achieved a position in the Top 50 songs of BTS Overall. "Singularity" garnered positive reviews from critics and was included on several year-end Critics' Choice lists as a result. Along with "Fake Love", it was named 20th by The New York Times on its list of "The 65 Best Songs of 2018". Mikael Wood, a pop music critic for the LA Times, ranked it fourth.

Kim gained so much fame when he became so popular among the audience after he revealed that he was a secret member of the BTS. The president of South Korea also awarded him and other BTS members the most prestigious Fifth class Hwagwan, a merit medal for their role in promoting culture worldwide.

After that, Kim gathered with bandmate J-hope, collaborated with a Swedish singer named Zara Larsson and launched a new song titled "A brand new day". This music was basically for their mobile game BTS world. This song was released on 14 June 2019 and got one rank on the World digital song Sales chart.

Later on, approximately after eight months, Jimin, a member of the band, and Kim collaborated on the music "Friends". Additionally, he helped write "Inner Child", a song that can be found on their seventh album.

Kim was also appointed as Special Presidential Envoy for Future Generations and Culture in July 2021, along with the different contributors of BTS. South Korean President Moon Jae-in gave the group this title to "expand South Korea's diplomatic efforts and international standing" worldwide and "lead the international agenda for future generations, such as sustainable growth."

From 2016 - 2022: Individual Activities

At the beginning of 2016, Kim 'V' started his acting career with a debut supporting role in the Korean broadcasting system, a historical drama under his actual name in the historical drama Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth on KBS2. He also co-wrote the song "It's You" for the program's soundtrack with his bandmate Jin.

Kim released his first solo song, "Scenery", on January 30, 2019. It is available on the BTS SoundCloud website. The song was written and produced by Docskim, the producer of Big Hit, with extra help from Pdogg and Hiss Noise. V also took the photos for the cover art. In the quickest period for the platform, it shattered SoundCloud records by going from 20 million to 100 million streams in more than fourteen days. His song scenery created a record for most streaming songs in two weeks. Seven months later, on August 9, he uploaded "Winter Bear", his second solo song and first entirely in English, to SoundCloud. Kim produced and directed his music album along with some famous artists.

V contributed the song "Sweet Night" to the Itaewon Class soundtrack, which was released on March 13, 2020. This English language-only indie pop song was produced, written, and sung by V. Its structure, vocal delivery, and sentimental lyrics garnered largely positive reviews. He released the holiday song "Snow Flower" with Peakboy on December 25.

Creativity by Kim

Kim is famous for his name as V and has a sizable fan following both at home and internationally. This hip-hop singer is renowned for his youthful charms and powerful voice. V has a cheerful singing voice typically well-received by the critics, who especially granted a louder and clear vocal range. He was acclaimed for his falsettos, which displayed his vocal range and outstanding musicianship, during the performance of his solo song "Stigma". The song helped him earn more vocal recognition. Blanca Méndez, a music reviewer, referred to V's "Singularity" tone as a significant "tone setter" on BTS' Love Yourself: Tear (2018) album. The same was said by Vice's Katie Goh, who called it "one of V's greatest vocal performances". According to Karen Ruffini of Elite Daily, he (Kim) "has no trouble delivering incredibly calming, deep tones that are a major component in the overall sound for BTS". V produces wonderful calming music without any trouble.

Some Interesting Facts about Kim Tae-Hyung

• "Daegu child": Kim was born to a middle-class farming family in Daegu. He is close to his family, especially his grandmother, who helped and guided him in every situation. According to media sources, his song heartfelt winter bear was written for his grandma.
• Kim never wants to become an idol: One of BTS's finest vocalists and performers joined the group due to an unlikely turn of events. He went to tryouts to support a friend, and as a result, he was offered the chance to train under an idol. That day, Kim and other BTS ARMY shared good fortune. After that, he worked for Big Hit Entertainment for over three years as a music coach before making his debut in 2013.
• Kim nearly gave up on being a trainee: Before BTS made its debut, Kim called his father to inform him that he wanted to resign. The singer talked about such circumstances stating that "becoming a trainer was quite stressful". Kim later informed this incident in the media, saying, "I called him crying. I told him I wanted to stop, and he said, "If it's too hard, you may resign." Anyone can lose patience after the idol's long, exhausting training experience.
• The perfect BFFs: Kim and Jimin are now bandmates from their school time, and they both enrolled in BTS as trainees.
• The ambidextrous Kim: Kim Tae Hyung is basically left-handed, but now he has trained his mind to use his right and left hands equally. The Run BTS episodes have shown him playing with both hands.
• Kim likes Cocoa with Coffee: Kim doesn't like coffee very much and prefers a sweet drink to the bitter one. Maybe it's not his cup of "coffee". He never joins coffee meetings with his bandmates. He may be seen holding coffee and chocolate beverage mugs in a video, and he swallowed the chocolate after inhaling the coffee's fragrance.
• Last to be decided was V's stage name: Kim, who we now refer to as V, may have been Six or Lex. Before his debut, those were the other possibilities for nicknames. However, the BTS members reportedly told the K-pop idol that V fits him better. So, he (Kim) decided 'V', stating, "I chose V to stand for victory".
• The saxophonist: V could have quickly become a saxophonist if he had not been an idol, as he once said. In middle school, he played the saxophone for three years. Additionally, he performed on the Star Show 360 for almost seven years.
• The photojournalist, Vante: Kim is passionate about photography apart from music, and he is usually motivated by his photography passion by Ante Badzim, a famous Korean photographer. Most of the time, V used the hashtag Vante in his posts, as you may have seen. That is his way of honouring the artist.
• The Poet Warrior, played by Kim Tae-Hyung: As most of us may be aware, Kim Tae Hyung's dream of making his acting debut came true. He played a role in Hansung University on 2016 in the Korean historical drama Hwarang. He won great viewers' responses in his very first performance.
• Kim's passion for art: Kim most likely enjoys his free time in music art galleries and drawing nature paintings. In an interview, he said he prefers spending his free time mostly in art museums.
• Kim's role model: In an interview, Kim mentioned that he looks up to his father as a role model. He also included that his father greatly supported him during his struggling days. Kim always listens to his father's advice when he is sad and needs support from him.

Net Worth

Kim's overall net worth is more than $20 million. V highly generates income from the live concert and by performing some roles in a television advertisements. He also has been part of some paid-partnership with coca cola and other agencies.

He also gets paid by Instagram by doing paid advertisements. Kim has more than 47 million followers on his Instagram account.

According to media sources, the BTS band made more than $170 million in 2019. At that time, Metallica was the only competitive group to make more money. The BTS members made $50 million, or almost $7 million each, mainly due to their Concert earnings worldwide.