Chris Brown, Usher, Ne-Yo Are K-Pop Star Kevin Woo’s R&B Influences

Kevin Woo, who is a former member of K-Pop boy bands XING and U-Kiss, attended the recently concluded KCON NY. During the event, he revealed the R&B artists who influenced him musically.  

Born in Danville, California, Woo sang at school and at church. His father plays the piano and the guitar while his uncle is an opera singer.

Growing up, Woo listened to Christian music but middle school, he started listening to Chris Brown, Usher and Ne-Yo, which inspired him to get into R&B, he told Cosmopolitan. At the age of 15, Woo moved to South Korea to start his career as a K-Pop star.

Brown, Usher and Ne-Yo are not the only artists Woo considers as his musical influences. Growing up in the suburbs in California where there were not too many Asians, he would watch Korean music programs at home with his mother.

Performances of K-Pop groups, including Super Junior and Dong Bang Shin Ki, caught Woo's attention.  BoA, Rain, Se7en and g.o.d. are also among the K-Pop acts that he liked, he added.

When Woo was a teenager, he heard about a concert in San Francisco featuring Rain and JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin Young. The former XING and U-Kiss told his mother that he wanted to watch the concert, which was his first taste of a K-Pop concert.

Rain's performance during the concert captivated Woo. At the time, Woo did not know how to dance at all but he was inspired to dance by watching Rain's performances.

Currently, Woo co-hosts "After School Club" with Day6 member Jae and Park Ji Min. The music talk show was originally hosted by Eric Nam, who returned to his alma mater Boston College earlier this year to speak to approximately 400 students, according to Boston College Magazine.

In 2011, Nam graduated cum laude with a major in International Studies, a minor in Asian Studies. In 2013, he started as the main host of "After School Club" but left the Arirang TV show in 2016.