Choi Hyun-suk

Choi Hyun-suk was born on April 21, 1999 in South Korea.[2] He is the eldest in his family and has a younger sister.[3] In his childhood, his mother often travelled for business trips while he remained home. While he studied at Seoul Eonbuk Elementary School, 8-year-old Choi (Korean age) grew an interest for rap and hip hop after he watched Big Bang's documentary, The Beginning (2006).[2][4] This resulted him to solely fixate his eyes on the hip hop label, YG Entertainment.[2] He formally encountered hip hop and began to dance at ages 11–12 and 13–14 (Korean ages) respectively, and soon realized his urge to become an artist.[5] Alternatively he wished to become a soccor player which stemmed from his interest in the sport and his stance as an avid fan of Real Madrid CF.[6][7][8] In his adolescence, he enrolled himself at an academy called "V-Spec" for lessons and through it, he attended a private audition held by YG Entertainment and was recruited in its trainee program in 2015.[9] Choi dropped out of Chungdam High School the day after his recruitment at his own will and completed his secondary education through a High School Proficiency Assessment.[10]

Choi performing at the Trace concert in April 2022

Choi first appeared on television through Mix Nine (2017–2018) with his band-mate, Kim Jun-kyu, and Lee Byoung-gon of CIX.[11] He participated as a contestant representing YG Entertainment in the midst of his trainee period and finished in fifth place.[12] The winning contestants' agencies, however, were unable to reach an agreement in regards to the tenure of the project band, and so, lead to its debut's abolishment.[13] That same year, Choi was given a cameo role and was incorporated in the third episode of YG Future Strategy Office (2018) as himself while filmed alongside other trainees from the agency.

20-year-old Choi (Korean age) competed in YG Treasure Box (2018–2019) — composed of twenty nine trainees — as one seventh of "Team A".[14] The broadcast documented the formation of YG Entertainment's next boy band, Treasure.[15] He became the seventh and last member to join the septet, however, with the announcement of a second line-up and soon a permanent merge, the initial septet became the eventual 12-piece band.[16][17] Choi was notified of his addition to the band by his parents subsequently after its revelation by the news reporters.[18] In the midst of its preparation for debut, Choi featured on the B-side single, "1, 2" (한두번; handubeon) by label-mate Lee Hi from her extended play titled 24°C and participated as its lyricist.[19] He also served as an "unofficial leader" with Jihoon in their respective teams when they were divided into two for training due to the number of members.[20] His training period came to an end after five years, followed his debut in Treasure on August 7, 2020, with the single album entitled The First Step: Chapter One.[20] The band adopted the two-tier leadership with Choi and Jihoon in the frontlines after seeing positive aspects from the once temporary system.[15]

Choi cited G-Dragon and Taeyang of Big Bang alongside American artists Kendrick Lamar, Asap Mob and XXXTentacion as influences towards rap and hip hop.[4]

In January 2018, Choi modeled for Japanese sports clothing and accessories brand, Descente, for their new semester menswear range.[21]

All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database, unless otherwise noted.[23][24]