With the latest buzz that Se7en will be a special guest at G-dragon's concert today Se7en also makes fan headlines as he celebrates his birthday. Let us take a look back to what made Choi DongWook, one of Korea's hottest singer as Se7en.
Se7en was born on November 9, 1984 to a family of two older sisters, loving parents and a grandmother. During middle school, he began his training under YG Entertainment where he stayed eventually to debut in March of 2003. We were first introduced to Se7en with his album, Just Listen. Back then, he had brown-orange permed hair and a cute boyish charm. His singles such as "와줘.. (Come Back to Me)" "한번 단 한번 (Once, Just Once), " and "Baby I Like You Like That" helped showcase his vocal talent and dancing skills.
What has not changed was Se7en's R&B style and soothing voice. Se7en stuck to his original style, which has helped him keep his remaining fans and earn new ones as well. In July of 2004, Se7en released his sophomore album, Must Listen. His singles from this album were "열정 (Passion)," and "문신 (Tattoo)." One of the things I remembered during his promotion of "Passion" was his trendy hat. Fans had to know who made his hat. During this time in fashion, Von Dutch, was slowly becoming a popular brand that all the celebrities had to wear. Se7en's personalized hat from Von Dutch helped promote the brand and put him on the list as a fashion icon.
One of Se7en's dream was to perform abroad. In 2005, Se7en began his promotions in Japan with the release of his single, 光 (Hikari) in February, Style three months later and Start Line in October.
Over the years, Se7en's sense of style and music has matured. He left behind his jean jackets and traded them in for fitted blazers. His once brown-orange permed hair is a thing of the past. Se7en had other goals he wanted to achieve. Making a brand of cologne to call his own was one of them. During his third album, 24/Se7en, Se7en introduced his cologne, Touch, which can be seen in his music video for "와줘 Part 2 (Come Back to Me Part 2)." The singles from this album are "난 알아요 (I Know)," "와줘 Part 2 (Come Back To Me Part 2)," and "밤새도록 (All Night)." It was during this album that Se7en got his first tattoo of a G Clef Note with wings, which meant that he wishes to fly with his music. This tattoo invited him into the YG Family of tattoos. Se7en's tattoo can be seen in the music vieo for "난 알아요 (I Know)." Se7en takes his music seriously, but it was not until the third album that we got to see the composer in Se7en. In this album, Se7en composed the lyrics for "Intro (24/7)," "Interlude (Heaven)," "밤새도록 (All Night)," "Interlude (Follow Me)," and "Outro (7 Virus)."
On the same day, March 8, 2006, that Se7en released his third Korean album, he also released his fiirst Japanese album, First SE7EN, which made it to #15 on the Oricon Weekly Chart with a total sales of 18, 710 albums. Since then, Se7en continues to his activities in Japan.
Se7en continues to show us his talent by composing more songs for his fourth album, Se7olution. Songs written by Se7en include "Girlfriend" and "Promise." The majority of this album was composed of ballads. Both of his singles "라라라 (La La La)" and "잘할게 (I Will Do Well)" reveals a more mature Se7en.
After Se7olution, Se7en began his activities in America. During the hiatus in Korea, he asked Yang HyunSuk to reveal the unreleased music video for "밤새도록 (All Night)." As a gift to the fans, the music video was released on July 7, 2007 since he could not be with them on that lucky day.
Se7en's dream has always been to be a performer in America. In America, Se7en would find some success on BET's 106 & Park when his music video made it to the countdown. Despite his promotional efforts of "Girls," Se7en eventually stopped his activities in America to return to Korea.
For a superstar such as Se7en, having a relationship is usually kept a secret. In the past, rumors have floated around saying that Se7en was in a relationship with Park HanByul. For many years, the two has denied the rumors, only claiming to be friends from high school. In June of 2009, Se7en openly wrote on his mini homepage that he was in a relationship with Park HanByul. Their relationship has been kept a secret for seven years.
Se7en has won several awards throughout his career. Back in 2007, Se7en even dabbled in acting for the drama Goong S. Overseas, he has remade songs into Mandarin and English.This is not the end for Se7en. We will continue to see more from multi-talented singer, dancer, composer, fashion icon, entrepreneur, and actor.
Happy Birthday to Se7en, who is most likely spending this day with his loved ones--my guess is with Park HanByul.
cr:omgkpop