Korean Artist Creates Waves Across the World

by Rachel Mun

Do you enjoy listening to mellow tunes? Are you captivated by soulful singing with a single guitar playing in the background? Then rising Korean artist Sam Kim is just the soloist for you. At just 22, Kim has received two awards from the Grand Mint Festival held in South Korea and has over one million monthly listeners on Spotify. Keep reading to discover more about Sam Kim!

Sam Kim, or Gunji Kim, was born and raised in Federal Way, Washington. He has a younger brother, Joonyoung, and sister, Sujin. Even at a young age, he and his peers noticed his potential. He attended Todd Beamer High School where he would walk the halls singing with a guitar in hand rather than attending class. Before moving to Korea, Kim auditioned in Washington and Los Angeles.

In 2014, Kim participated in K-Pop Star: Season 3, a survival competition talent show where three entertainment agencies in South Korea hold global auditions to find the next potential K-Pop stars. His appearance on the show paved the way for his career, capturing the audience with his exceptional guitar skills and charming vocals. Kim continued to move up in the ranks of the show. He made it to the end, but unfortunately came in second place. Luckily for Kim, he had already gained a passionate fan base. He signed with Antenna Music’s You Hee-yeol, a judge on the show.

After his time in K-Pop Star, Sam Kim pushed to pursue his music career full-time. He released the first part of his debut EP, My Name Is Sam, on March 28, 2016. A month later, he released the full-length EP, I Am Sam, with its lead single “No Sense” featuring Crush, one of Korea’s most popular artists. Sam Kim has also collaborated with various other artists such as AOMG’s Loco in his 2017 single “Thinkin’ Bout Chu” and Zico in “It’s You.” Back in 2016, Kim released an emotionally lyrical song titled “Seattle”, representing the difficulty he faced during the transition of his life from America to Korea. He wrote this single as an honor to his home. His most popular album is Sun and Moon, released in 2018. Sam Kim has made multiple soundtrack appearances in Korean Dramas such as “Who Are You” from Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, “Scent” from Search: WWW, and-my personal favorite-“Breath” from It’s Okay to Not Be Okay.

Sam Kim’s lyrics are a fusion of English and Korean, a portrayal of his dual identity. In addition to his heavenly vocals, his range and strength is extraordinary. Sam Kim’s music has definitely matured as he explored his style; from simple acoustic to flowy R&B. He is able to pull all of these off while maintaining his unique rawness. Kim is an artist with a bright future ahead of him. Make sure to stream his new single “What about” on Spotify!