BLOO

Born in 1994 as Kim Hyeon-ung in La Crescenta, California, the Korean singer and rapper BLOO first surfaced with the jazz-inflected mixtape Tony in June 2016. That project introduced "Weatherman," the inaugural release from MKIT RAIN, the collective and label he formed with Loopy, Nafla, Owen Ovadoz, and Young West. After the solo singles "Better" and "Hennessy" plus a guest turn on Rico's "Don't Talk to Me," BLOO issued his debut EP, Downtown Baby, in December 2017, which reached the Korean Top 40.

His club-friendly, hook-heavy hip-hop approach helped the title track eventually ascend to number one on the South Korean singles chart. Additional collaborations with Nafla and Loopy, some under the MKIT RAIN banner, followed. The collective dropped the full-length Public Enemy in mid-2018, after which BLOO returned with BLOO IN WONDERLAND that November; featuring Niahn and Nafla, it peaked at number 39 on the album chart. Its successor, the 2019 EP It's Not Love I'm Just Drunk, became his third consecutive release to land in the Top 50.

Non-album singles that year included "NBA" with Loopy and Nafla and "Candle" with XBF. MKIT RAIN resurfaced with "Businessmen" in 2020, the same year Lee Hyo-ri, the K-pop star and TV personality, spotlighted "Downtown Baby" on MBC, sending the track to the summit of the Korean singles chart. Early 2021 brought the two-track release "Bloo Story"/"Get Money I Love It."