Review series | Korean R&B singers - My selection Part I

Let's talk about Korean RnB/soul now, I've been thinking of making a post about it, comparing the best vocalists and see what their assets and differences are, why I like some more than others.

Part I- The powerful male solo vocalists: Wheesung | Kim Bum Soo  

You know, I love RnB/soul, especially nu-soul. In Korea nu-soul isn't really a thing yet...maybe some rappers do some nu-soul music but as for singers doing this genre...nah. But I believe they'll eventually get there :)
Anyway, Korea has lots of talented Korean RnB singers, who often do pop ballads that don't often sound RnB to be more attractive on the mainstream market I guess. Still, you can find many good real RnB tracks from them, their vocals are true to the genre, on point and soulful.

Wheesung 휘성

Wheesung (pronounce Hwisung) and Kim Bum Soo are the best male solo artists in K-RnB in my opinion. Their voices are powerful, emotional and clear. They all can sing very well in falsetto, upper chest register, mid-chest register and low register. I'll try to analyze it all for you guys in this post.

They are grown men in their early 30's and have different personalities but they all are passionate people, and you can feel it in the way they sing.


Out of them my favourite is Wheesung because of his more emotional, versatile, sometimes unperfect and somewhat "weird" vocals at times. He's also the sexiest out of tthem, vocally speaking I mean. Some of his lyrics can be sensual or sexy. And he really does it right. Now enough blabla and here's 2 songs for you!

It gives you an idea of what he can do in his sexy mode ;) I also love the melody, so soul and classy. His high notes are smooth. 

Wheesung is really good with rythm too, I love how groovy he sounds in songs like "With Me" or how in control he sounds in "This Kind of Situation". Here's another song where I like his flow. Personality-wise, I kinda feel close to him as in I can relate to his sensitivity. His ballads are not boring, I feel them even if I can't speak Korean. And I'm not even a ballad person...I'm NOT but he made me love them.
On stage, he usually brings out those vocals and if you can't hear the guy then you're deaf. He sometimes goes too strongly with his voice so he doesn't sound perfect. I got used to it, he's sometimes "too much" but make no mistake, he knows how to really tone it down and gently tease our ears most of the time :p

***

Now Kim Bum Soo. Ah, Kim Bum Soo!

Kim Bum Soo 김범수

He debuted as a faceless singer, without performing his songs on stage, that's what I read on the net. I love how groomed he became and how handsome he is now. I loved his cheeky face and big glasses, I still love his not-so-kpop-ian face. OK, musically he could do (much) better, but vocally this guy is awesome!! He started singing in church, as he's a Christian, and he even recorded a few gospel-like songs with a choir and him as the lead singer..
He can hit notes with strenght and he uses melisma really well. Listen to the 2nd vid first ;)

I love the way he sings, surely, slowly building up his way to a stronger tone. Delivering it with such a smooth voice, in the studio and on stage, he's that flawless. Out of the 2 singers here, he's the best. He has worked very hard and it shows. I just wished he could ditch his freakin' current music composers and get BETTER ones for his next albums. Oh, did I forget to say that he did a gig in the US last year? :)

Here's a featuring he did with Dynamic Duo. Awesome and flawless.

***

Honorable mention: Yoo Young-Jin 유영진 , here's his wikipedia. I couldn't post this article without him...he's been in the industry for a long time and his voice is great! Too bad I didn't know him much.

I didn't include Park hyo Shin here because he's not an RnB singer as far as I know. Park Hyo Shin is probably the very best male vocalist in Korea, I know I know, but this post is about RnB and Hyo Shin usually stays in the pop ballad category. If you don't who he is, you'd better check him out!!
Don't be disappointed if I didn't mention Naul and Ha Dong Qn here because they will be in my 3rd post, in the group category.