N (singer)
N | |
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 N in December 2017
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| Born |
Cha Hak-yeon
June 30, 1990
Changwon, South Korea
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| Education | |
| Occupations |
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| Agent |
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| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Labels |
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| Member of | VIXX |
| Formerly of | Big Byung |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 차학연 |
| Hanja | 車學沇 |
| Revised Romanization | Cha Hak-yeon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'a Hakyŏn |
| Stage name | |
| Hangul | 엔 |
| Revised Romanization | En |
| McCune–Reischauer | En |
Cha Hak-yeon (Korean: 차학연, born June 30, 1990), better known by his stage name N (엔), is a South Korean singer, actor, presenter, and radio host, signed to 51k. He debuted as a member of the South Korean boy band VIXX in May 2012, he began his acting career in 2014 in MBC's romantic-melodrama Hotel King as Noah. He has since had roles in The Family is Coming (2015), Cheer Up! (2015), and Tomorrow Boy (2016). N began his career as a radio host in May 2015 with his show VIXX N K-pop on SBS Power FM.
Early life
Born in Changwon, South Korea, N's family consists of himself, his parents, one older brother and two older sisters. N studied at Howon University and spent a year in Japan. Before debuting with VIXX, N participated in a musical called Gwanghwamun Love Song and entered in dance competitions. He had an extensive dance background, specializing in hip-hop, ballet, jazz and contemporary. In 2009, he participated and won various competitions held by big entertainment agencies such as SM, YG, and JYP. His blindfold dance, which he personally choreographed, won the Grand Prize at the Korean Youth Dance Festival.
Career
2012–2013: Debut with VIXX and variety show appearances
N was one of ten trainees who were contestants in Mnet's survival reality show MyDOL and was chosen to be a part of the final line-up and the 6-member boy group VIXX finally debuted with "Super Hero" on May 24, 2012 on M! Countdown. Prior to participating in MyDOL, N was featured in Brian Joo's "Let This Die" and Seo In-guk's "Shake It Up" music videos.
In the year 2012, after VIXX's debut, N became a cast member in the second season of TVN's reality television show The Romantic & Idol.
In 2013 with the release of VIXX's album, Jekyll N created the choreography to go along with title song "G.R.8.U" of the repackaged Hyde mini-album; he also appeared in Episode 4 of SBS's Television Drama The Heirs alongside his group members. That same year, he choreographed other VIXX performances for their song "Light Up the Darkness" and for a special performance on the show Dancing 9 with Justin Timberlake's "LoveStoned".
2014–2015: Big Byung, acting debut, MC-ing and Radio Hosting
In 2014, N appeared in many variety shows as a cast member such as Mnet's 4 Things Show, TVN's First Day of Work Season 3 and MBC Every 1's Hitmaker. In Hitmaker, he became a member of Jeong Hyeong-don and Defconn's first project group, Big Byung, alongside VIXX member Hyuk, Got7's Jackson and BtoB's Sungjae. Going by the stage name Dol Baeki, N and the group created two singles "Stress Come On" and "Ojingeo Doenjang" (Korean: 오징어 된장).
N was cast in his first television drama in a supporting role as Noah, a bright and lively hotel employee in MBC's romantic-melodrama Hotel King. and appeared with Hongbin as a cameo in K.Will, Mamamoo and Wheesung's "Peppermint Chocolate" music video.
In 2015, N was cast in his second television drama in a supporting role as Cha Hak-yeon in SBS's The Family Is Coming and also appeared on Running Man alongside other idols, later he joined Super Junior's Eunhyuk and Kangin as cast members of MBC Every 1's Bachelor's Party. On April 25, 2015, N joined SHINee's Minho and Red Velvet's Yeri as MC on MBC's Show! Music Core from April 25, 2015 to November 14, 2015. On May 2, 2015, N's own radio show VIXX N K-pop premiered on the radio with N as the host and fellow member Ken as a fixed guest for the Quiz King segment (every Wednesday). N was also appearing on Super Junior Kiss the Radio as a fixed guest hosted by Super Junior's Ryeowook.
On July 7, 2015, N went Off to School at Hyundai Chungun High School in Ulsan, South Korea for three days as a student in JTBC’s variety program Off to School alongside other celebrities. Towards the end of July, N was confirmed to join the cast in SBS's survival variety show Law of the Jungle in Nicaragua; the show aired in September. In August 2015, N was appointed as co-MC on Weekly Idol with AOA's Mina and Apink's Ha-young. He was the MC of the show with the main MC's Jeong Hyeong-don and Defconn from September 2, 2015 to March 24, 2016 In September 2015, N was cast as Ha Dong-jae, a character who is brilliant yet has an oddball personality in KBS’s drama Cheer Up! which follows the lives of students at a prestigious boarding high school as they form a cheer-leading club.
2016–2018: Web dramas, First OST and musical theatre debut
In February 2016, N was cast in his first web drama as Ahn Tae-pyung, a character who takes care of his grandmother and three siblings after his parents’ death in the web drama Tomorrow Boy which aired on Naver TV Cast in March. In September, N participated in his first original soundtrack for a drama. N and Melody Day’s Yeoeun released the song "Without You" (Korean: 니가 없는 난) for the drama W on September 7, 2016. In the same month, N was cast alongside fellow VIXX member Lee Hong-bin and AOA’s Chanmi in the web drama What's Up With These Kids? which will air on Naver TV Cast on November 16. In November N was cast in the musical In The Heights as the lead role of Benny from December 20, 2016 to February 12, 2017 at the CJ Towol Theater in Seoul Arts Center. On July 2017, it was announced that he also co-choreographed with Jane Kim for MyTeen's debut album's Track 4 titled '꺼내가' ('Take it out).
2019–present: Military enlistment, departure from Jellyfish, and acting
A few months before his enlistment N created his own channel on YouTube where he would share short clips of him dancing, touring, etc. under the title "오늘의 기록" Today's Record.
On March 4, 2019, N enlisted for his military service. On October 7, 2020, N was officially discharged after having completed his military service.
On October 31, 2020, N left Jellyfish Entertainment after he decided not to renew his contract and joined 51k on November 3.
In 2021, N starred in the tvN drama Mine. The same year, he played a supporting role as Oh Kyung-tae, a warm-hearted police constable in tvN drama Bad and Crazy.
Discography
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart position | Sales | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
KOR Gaon |
|||||
| As Lead Artist | |||||
| "Cactus" (선인장) | 2018 | — | — | Non-album single | |
| Collaborations | |||||
| "Stress Come On" (with Hyuk, Jackson and Sungjae as Big Byung) |
2014 | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Ojingeo Doenjang" (오징어 된장) (with Hyuk, Jackson and Sungjae as Big Byung) |
2015 | — | |||
| Original soundtracks | |||||
| "Without You" (니가 없는 난) (with Yeoeun of Melody Day) |
2016 | 98 |
|
W OST Part.9 | |
| "Edge" (가장자리) | 2018 | — | — | Children of Nobody OST Part 4 | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||
Other recordings
| Year | Song | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | "Higher Than Me" | Shin Seung-hun cover |
| 2017 | "Tearful" | Go Han-woo cover |
Songwriting credits
| Year | Song | Album | Artist | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | "Cactus" (サボテン) | Lalala ~ Thank you for your love ~ (ラララ ～愛をありがとう～) | VIXX | Lyricist and composer |
| 2018 | "Resemble" (닮아) | Eau De VIXX | VIXX | Lyricist and composer |
| 2019 | "Walking" (걷고있다) | Walking (걷고있다) | VIXX | Lyricist with Ravi and composer |
Filmography
Television series
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | The Heirs | Himself | Cameo with VIXX members (Episode 4) | |
| 2014 | Hotel King | Noah | ||
| 2015 | The Family is Coming | Cha Hak-yeon | ||
| Cheer Up! | Ha Dong-jae | |||
| 2017 | Tunnel | Park Kwang-ho | ||
| Ms. Perfect | Brian Lee | |||
| 2018 | Familiar Wife | Kim Hwan | ||
| Children of Nobody | Lee Eun-ho | |||
| 2021 | Drama Stage – The Fair | Go Do-young | Season 4; Episode 8 | |
| Mine | Han Soo-hyuk | |||
| Secret Royal Inspector & Joy | Choi Seung-yeol | Cameo (Episode 9–10) | ||
| 2021–2022 | Bad and Crazy | Oh Kyung-tae | ||
| 2022 | Tomorrow | Kim Hoon | Cameo (Episode 9) | |
| Drama Special – Stain | Gong Ji-hoon | one act-drama | ||
| 2023 | Joseon Attorney | Yoo Ji-seon | ||
| Castaway Diva | Kang Woo-hak |
Web shows
| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Tomorrow Boy | Ahn Tae-pyung | |
| What's Up With These Kids? | Choi Geum-son |
Television shows
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Romantic & Idol Season 2 | Cast member | ||
| 2014 | 4 Things Show | Main star | ||
| Hitmaker | Cast member | |||
| First Day Of Work | Season 3 | |||
| 2015 | Hitmaker | Season 2 | ||
| Show! Music Core | Co-Host | with Yeri (Red Velvet) and Minho (Shinee) | ||
| Bachelor's Party | Cast member | |||
| 100 People, 100 Songs | Contestant | |||
| Off to School | Cast member | Episodes 53–56 | ||
| Law of the Jungle in Nicaragua | Episodes 181–184 | |||
| 2015–2016 | Weekly Idol | Assistant MC | with Mina (AOA) and Oh Ha-young (Apink) | |
| 2016 | Celebrity Bromance | Cast member | Season 7; with Lee Won-keun | |
| 2017 | King of Mask Singer | Contestant | as "Got My Favorite Dartman" (Episode 101) | |
| Lipstick Prince | Co-Host | Season 2 | ||
| 2018 | Music Bank | Special MC | with Ahn Sol-bin (Episode 929) | |
| Battle Trip | Contestant | Episode 78; with Hongbin (Episode 91-93) |
Radio shows
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | VIXX N K-pop | Host | from May 2, 2015 to November 2, 2015 |
Musicals
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Gwanghwamun Love Song | — | ||
| 2016–2017 | In The Heights | Benny | ||
| 2017–2018 | Interview | Gordon Sinclair | ||
| 2019-2020 | Return: The Promise of the Day | Hae Il | Military theater |
Awards and nominations
| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee / Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KBS Drama Awards | 2022 | Best Actor in Drama Special/TV Cinema | The Stains | Won |