| Zion.T | |
| Birth Name: | Kim Hae-sol[1] |
| Birth Date: | 13 April 1989 |
| Birth Place: | South Korea |
| Years Active: | 2011–present |
| Color: | khaki |
| Hangul: | 김해솔 |
| Rr: | Gim Hae-sol |
| Mr: | Kim Haesol |
| Hangulstage: | 자이언티 |
| Rrstage: | Jaieonti |
| Mrstage: | Chaiŏnt'i |
| Tablewidth: | 245 |
Kim Hae-sol (born April 13, 1989),[2] known professionally as Zion.T, is a South Korean hip hop and R&B singer. He has released 2 studio albums, Red Light (2013)[3] and Zip (2023),[4] as well as 3 EPs. He has also been featured on tracks by well-known K-pop artists such as G-Dragon, Zico, and Psy.
In an interview with Kpopeurope in 2014, Zion.T explained that he chose his stage name because "I am a Christian and so the "T" in my name is representative of the cross."[5]
In a 2017 CBS No Cut News interview, he said he was influenced by the American musician T-Pain. "There was a time when T-Pain's style of hip hop vocals were in. I really like T-Pain, so I used to emulate him a lot. This is something only my friends know, but I even had the nickname 'Zion.T-Pain'."[6]
Zion.T made his musical debut in 2011, collaborating with Korean hip hop artists such as Dok2, Crucial Star, Simon D, Primary and Gray. His first single, "Click Me", featuring Dok2, was released in April 2011.
On April 9, 2013, Zion.T's first studio album, Red Light, was released with the title track "Babay", featuring Gaeko.[7]
That year, he featured on tracks by Infinite H, Dynamic Duo, Swings and G-Dragon.[8] In December, he released the EP Mirrorball ("Korean: 미러볼") with the title track "Miss Kim" (Korean: 미스 김).[9]
In 2014, he released the digital single "Yanghwa BRDG", which became a hit and contributed to his rising mainstream success as an artist in Korea.[10]
He also appeared on the soundtrack of the television drama series Pinocchio with the song "Kiss Me", and featured on songs by Seo In-young and The Quiett.
On February 1, 2015, he collaborated with the Korean R&B singer Crush on the single "Just" (Korean: 그냥).[11] The same year, he released the digital singles "Zero Gravity" (Korean: 무중력), "Eat" (Korean: 꺼내 먹어요)[12] and "No Make Up" (Korean: 노메이크업) and featured on singles by SHINee's Jonghyun, Yankie and Psy. That July, he participated in the biennial music festival event hosted by the MBC variety show Infinite Challenge, which resulted in a spike in domestic sales of his previously released singles.[13] For the event, he partnered with the Infinite Challenge cast member Haha to perform under the name Eutteugeottasi (Korean: 으뜨거따시) with the song "$ponsor", later released in an album of the songs performed at the event.[14]
Zion.T finished the year with two wins at the annual Mnet Asian Music Awards,: Best Vocal Performance (Male) for "Eat " Korean: 꺼내먹어요 and Best Collaboration, with Crush, for the song "Just" Korean: 그냥, beating more well-established artistes in an idol-focused industry.[15]
In 2016, following the end of his contract with the hip hop label Amoeba Culture, he signed with The Black Label, a sub-label of YG Entertainment.[16] [17] On February 1, 2017, he released his first EP under The Black Label, OO.[18]
In December 2017, he released his collaboration with the veteran singer Lee Moon-se, the song "Snow". It topped all major music charts in South Korea. Lee Moon-se said he listened to Zion.T's song more than 200 times to faithfully represent his song, and showed great affection towards Zion.T and his musical career.[19]
In August 2022, Zion.T established his own entertainment company, Standard Friends, and signed Wonstein as his first artist. He will still be represented by The Black Label as a singer.[20] [21]
See main article: Zion.T discography. Studio albums
| Year | Title | Network | Role | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Korean | |||||
| 2016 | Show Me The Money 5 | 쇼미더머니 5 | Mnet | Producer | with Kush | |
| 2017-2018 | Mix Nine | 믹스나인 | JTBC | Judge | ||
| 2018 | Hidden Singer | 히든 싱어 | Participant | (Season 5; Episode 11) | ||
| 2019 | My Major is Hip Hop | 내 전공은 힙합 | V Live YouTube | Cast Member | with Mino | [22] |
| Sign Here | 사인히어 | MBN | Judge | Episode 5 | ||
| 2020 | Song Farm! | 곡FARM! | Mnet | Producer | ||
| Show Me the Money 9 | 쇼미더머니 9 | with Giriboy | ||||
| 2021 | Show Me the Money 10 | 쇼미더머니 10 | with Slom | [23] | ||
| Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Best R&B & Soul Album | |||
| 2015 | 7th MelOn Music Awards | Top 10 Artists | ||
| Artist of the Year | ||||
| 17th Mnet Asian Music Awards | Best Male Artist | |||
| Artist of the Year | ||||
| Best Vocal Performance - Male[24] | "Eat (꺼내 먹어요)" - Zion.T | |||
| Song of the Year | ||||
| "Just (그냥)" - Zion.T X Crush | ||||
| Best Collaboration & Unit | ||||
| 2016 | 25th Seoul Music Awards[25] | Bonsang Award | ||
| Popularity Award | ||||
| Hallyu Special Award | ||||
| 30th Golden Disk Awards | Digital Daesang | "Eat (꺼내 먹어요)" - Zion.T | ||
| Digital Bonsang | ||||
| Popularity Award | ||||
| Global Popularity Award | ||||
| 5th Gaon Chart Music Awards | R&B Discovery of the Year | |||
| 2017 | 19th Mnet Asian Music Awards | Best Male Artist | ||
| Best Vocal Performance - Male | ||||
| 9th MelOn Music Awards | Album of the Year | OO | ||
| Top 10 Artists | ||||
| Best R&B/Soul Award | "The Song (노래)" - Zion.T | |||
| 2018 | 32nd Golden Disk Awards | Digital Bonsang | ||
| Global Popularity Award | ||||
| 27th Seoul Music Awards | Bonsang Award | |||
| Popularity Award | ||||
| Hallyu Special Award | ||||
| 7th Gaon Chart Music Awards | Song of the Year – February | |||
| Song of the Year – December |