Kim Hae-sol (Korean: 김해솔[2]; born April 13, 1989[3]), known professionally as Zion.T (Korean: 자이언티), is a South Korean hip hop and R&B singer-songwriter. He has released 2 studio albums, Red Light (2013)[4] and Zip (2023),[5] as well as 3 EPs. He has also been featured on tracks by K-pop artists such as G-Dragon, Zico, and Psy.
Personal life
In a 2014 interview, 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."[6]
In a 2017 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'."[7]
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.[4][9]
That year, he featured on tracks by Infinite H, Dynamic Duo, Swings and G-Dragon.[10] In December, he released the EP Mirrorball ("미러볼") with the title track "Miss Kim" (미스 김).[11]
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.[12]
On February 1, 2015, he collaborated with the Korean R&B singer Crush on the single "Just" (그냥).[13] The same year, he released the digital singles "Zero Gravity" (무중력), "Eat" (꺼내 먹어요)[14] and "No Make Up" (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.[15][full citation needed] For the event, he partnered with the Infinite Challenge cast member Haha to perform under the name Eutteugeottasi (으뜨거따시) with the song "$ponsor", later released in an album of the songs performed at the event.[16]
Zion.T finished the year with two wins at the annual Mnet Asian Music Awards,: Best Vocal Performance (Male) for "Eat " 꺼내먹어요 and Best Collaboration, with Crush, for the song "Just" 그냥, beating more well-established artistes in an idol-focused industry.[17]
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.[21]
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.[22][23]
^"자이언티, 황치열에 디스 당해? "말하는 게 답답해서…"" [Zion.T dissed by Hwang Chi-yeol? "The way he talks is frustrating..."]. Daily Hankooki (in Korean). 2015-10-07. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
^"자이언티가 직접 밝힌 개성 강한 창법의 비결" [The secret of unique singing method revealed by Zion.]. No Cut News (in Korean). February 4, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2018 – via Naver.
^"트와이스 채영, 자이언티와 열애 인정 "호감 갖고 만나는 중, 서로 응원" [공식]" [Twice's Chaeyoung admits to dating Zion.T. "Meeting with good feelings, cheering on each other." [Official]]. Ten Asia (in Korean). 2024-04-05. Retrieved 2024-11-27 – via Naver.
^Han Seung-soo (July 27, 2021). "쇼미더머니10' 두 번째 프로듀서는 자이언티·슬롬" [Show Me the Money 10' 2nd Producer Zion T and Slom]. Newsis (in Korean). Retrieved July 27, 2021 – via Naver.
