Biography of Zico

Woo Ji-ho, popularly and professionally known as Zico, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He debuted his music career as the leader of the South Korean boy band ‘Block B’ managed by KQ Entertainment since 2011. Zico’s first solo release was in 2014, ‘Tough Cookie’.

Zico is noteworthy for his crossover skills in tracking different musical genres within the Korean hip-hop scene in maintaining an underground reputation along with his mainstream profile as a Korean idol. His talent skills are not confined to being a singer but also a record producer of both K-pop and Korean hip-hop music.

He is also a member of the hip-hop crew Fanxy Child under KOZ Entertainment, which was formed in 2016. The crew made their first debut on 9 August 2019 and the present members include Zico, Crush, Penomeco, Stay Tuned, DEAN, and Milic. In 2019, he released his first studio album ‘Thinking’ under his agency KOZ Entertainment.

Early Life and Education

Career

Zico’s musical career debuted as an underground rapper. He chose the stage name ‘Nacseo’ and was an integral part of the Japanese underground hip-hop scene alongside the crews of Dope Squad and Undisputed. He officially debuted with Park Kyung, a South Korean rapper and record producer on the digital single ‘The Letter’ in 2019. The same year he joined Stardom Entertainment. He has appeared in IU’s song ‘Marshmallow’, Cho PD’s ‘Expectations’ for K-Hip Hop and Jung Seul-gi’s ‘Outsiders’. He released his mixtape Zico on the Block in 2010, which had a high audience reception.

Zico was the leader of the South Korean boy band ‘Block B’ managed by KQ Entertainment on 15 April 2011 with their first promotional single ‘Freeze’. He produced ‘Block B’s’ second mini album ‘Welcome to the Block’ which was released on 2 February 2012. ‘NalinA’ was the album’s title track with two songs titled ‘LOL’ and ‘Action’. The Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and public broadcast channel KBS banned the songs ‘LOL’ and ‘Did You or Did You Not’ because of the controversies of their lyrics.

In 2011, Zico featured in Hyuna’s debut mini-album ‘Bubble Pop!’ for the track Just Follow. He, as a part of ‘Block B’, attended the 2011 MTV EMASs in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He and Mighty Mouth, the South Korean duet male group together hosted the SBS-MTV interactive radio show Studio C. He appeared at Swing’s It’s My Year II concert and performed ‘I’m Still Fly’ and ‘Cocks’.

On 19 February 2012, Zico featured in the girl group ‘Wink’s’ song ‘Stay’ in Shanghai on Inkigayo, broadcasted by SBS. He also performed with Dok2 and Beenzino at the All Force One hip-hop festival. He and ‘Block B’ member P.O co-hosted SBS-MTV’S ‘The Show’. At the Mnet Asian Music Awards 2012, he collaborated with artists Loco, Double K, Davichi, and Dynamic Duo in the collaboration Beats Rocks The World. On 17 October 2012, he produced and released the second mixtape, Zico on the Block 1.5. In 2012, he produced the third mini-album of ‘D-Unit’, a South Korean girl group.

Zico performed at Phantom’s concert as well as at the ONE Hip-hop Festival. He and his fellow members of Block B walked for the Seoul Fashion Week for the brand Dominic’s Way by designer Song Hye-myung. In 2013, he collaborated and performed with artists like MFBTY, B.A.P’S Bang Yonggguk and Eun Jiwon on the hip-hop stage.

Zico appeared as the host of the music program Show Music Core. He appeared in the second season of the South Korean television drama ‘Fashion King’ Korea with a fellow member of ‘Block B’, P.O. For the M! Countdown 10th Anniversary Special, he shared the stage with Dynamic Duo performing the song ‘Friday Night’.

He collaborated and produced the music for Go Tae Yong’s S/S15 at New York Fashion Week and for Seoul Fashion Week. He performed for the Korean hip-hop festival Hiphopplaya Show Weekend at the Itaewon Blue Square. In 2014, he presented the Asia Song Festival with Super Junior’s Leeteuk and Girl’s Day’s Minah and shared a collaborative stage with Beast’s Hyunseung at the festival.

In 2014, Zico released his official solo debut single ‘Tough Cookie’ with the rapper Don Mills. He performed with Seo Taiji for the 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards performing the song ‘Come Back Home’ from Seo Taiji and Boys’.

Zico released his second single ‘Well Done’ featuring Ja Mezz on 13 February 2015. In 2015, he produced the female rap competition show Unpretty Rapstar ( the second episode). He produced the song ‘Up All Night’ for the contestant Yuk Ji-dam and the chorus of it became part of the ‘Say It! Yes or No’, the Korean sketch-comedy Gag Concert. He and Paloalto of Hi-Lite Records were the producers of the entire season of Show Me the Money 4 in 2015. In 2015, he produced the song ‘Turtle Ship’, featuring artists G2, B-Free, and Okasian. He produced along with Paloalto and Mino the songs ‘Money Flow’ and ‘Fear’ in the same year.

Zico released his version of ‘Up All Night’ titled ‘Say Yes or No’ along with rappers Penomeco and The Quiet. He featured on the seventh track Traveler of f(x)’s fourth album ‘4 Walls’. In 2015, he released his single ‘Boys and Girls’ from the album ‘GALLERY’ and was ranked number one on the Gaon Digital Chart. On 7 December 2015, he released his first solo EP ‘Gallery’ with the title track ‘Eureka’ under the label Seven Seasons. He released his songs ‘It Was Love’ featuring Luna from f(x) and ‘I Am You, You Are Me’ on 25 January 2016.

The song ‘Flower Road’ by the South Korean singer Sejeong was created by Zico during an episode of the variety show Talents for Sale. The song was a hit and topped numerous Korean real-time digital charts and was nominated for the ‘Hot Trend Award’ at the 2017 ‘Melon Music Awards’. In 2017, he, Dean, and Crush collaborated on the single ‘BERMUDA TRIANGLE’ from the album ‘TELEVISION’. The song topped multiple Korean real-time digital charts. He, along with Crush and Dean, performed at the ‘Mnet Asian Music Awards’ on 2 December 2016 and he won the ‘Best Male Artist Award’.

Zico performed at the collaborative fashion label MISBHV for London’s Fashion Week in 2017. He released the Hip-Hop Rap She’s a Baby in 2107. He co-wrote with Psy one of the two title tracks ‘I Luv It’ from his album ‘4X2=8’. On 12 July 2017, he released his album ‘Television’ with two title tracks ‘Artist’ and ‘Anti’.

Zico and Dean together produced the songs ‘Yozm Gang’, ‘Where U At’ and ‘Red Sun’ for the show Show Me the Money. He featured in the 2017 ‘White Night’, a song by Taeyang’s album of the same name. In 2018, He was the music producer for the MNET show Wanna One Go Season 3:X-CON and created the song ‘Kangaroo’ for the subunit Triple Position Wanna One.

Zico’s concert was held in 2018 at SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium, Seoul South Korea and had multiple international tours across places like Tokyo, Japan, Madrid, London, Berlin, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Moscow, New York and the US.

Zico was the cultural representative of South Korea for the 2018 September inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, North Korea. He established his label, KOZ Entertainment in 2019, intending to develop and progress other artists and his career. The hip-hop crew Fanxy Child with the members Zico, Dean, Crush, Penomeco, Milic and Staytuned held concerts in Seoul and released 2021 their single ‘Y’ from the album K-Pop ‘Road Trip’.

On 30 September 2019, he released his digital EP ‘THINKING’ Part 1 from the album ‘Thinking’ under his agency KOZ Entertainment. The second part of the same was released on 8 November 2019.

Zico released his smash hit single ‘Any Song’. The song became recognised and popular through the video-sharing app TikTok with the Hashtag Any Song Challenge, thus increasing the popularity of the TikTok app in South Korea. The song was ranked number one on the Gaon Digital Chart, breaking the record for the most weeks at number one in the Gaon Chart history. The song was topped and listed as the most-streamed song in South Korea during the early half of 2020 and was certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association.

Zico released his third extended play ‘Random Box’ with the title track ‘Summer Hate’ featuring Rain (Ji Hoon-Jung) on 1 July 2020 by KOZ Entertainment and Kakao M. On 18 November 2020, HYBE Corporation took over his production company KOZ Entertainment. He attended the Hip-Hop Playa Festival 2022. On 27 July 2022, he released his Fourth EP ‘Grown Ass Kid’ with its title track ‘Freak’. He was named GQ Korea’s Men of the Year in 2022.

Military Life

Personal Life

Net Worth and Lifestyle

Awards

• Seoul Music Awards 2022
  Bonsang Award (2022)

• Melon Music Awards 2020
  Top 10 Artist (2020)

• Melon Music Awards 2020
  Top 10 Artist (2020)

• Golden Disc Awards 2019
  Best R&B/HipHop (2019)

• Asia Artist Awards 2018
  Artist of the Year Music (2018)
  Best Musician (2018)

• Asia Artist Awards 2017
  Best Star Award (2017)
• Asia Artist Awards 2017
  Best Producer Award (2017)
  Best Artist – Music (2017)

• Korea Music Copyright Association 2017
  Artist Award (2017)

• Melon Music Awards 2016
  Top 10 Artist (2016)
  Hot Trend Award (2016)
  Rap/Hip Hop Award (2016)

• Mnet Asian Music Awards 2016
  Best Male Artist (2016)

• HipHopPlaya Awards 2015
  Fashion Icon of the Year (2015)

• MBC Entertainment Awards 2014
  Popularity Award – Music/Talk Show (with Minho & Sohyun 2014)

Interesting Facts about Zico

1. He established the entertainment company KOZ (King Of the Zungle).
2. He is a member of Block B.
3. Before his debut, he used to perform in Hongdae.
4. Before becoming a trainee, he was an underground rapper.
5. Drake is Zico’s role model.
6. He is part of the crew Buckwilds and he’s also a member of a crew called Fanxy Child.

FAQs

1. When is Zico’s birthday ?
   He celebrates his birthday on 14 September.
2. How old is Zico?
   As of 2023, he is 31 years old.
3. What is Zico’s instagram ID?
   woozico0914 is his instagram ID.
4. What is Zico’s Youtube Channel?
   ZICO is his youtube channel.
5. Is Zico in a relationship?
   He was in a relationship with AOA’s member Seolhyun.