A South Korean artist steeped in silky R&B textures within hip-hop, Primary operates across performance, composition, and studio craft as an indefatigable partner in countless projects. Between 2010 and 2016 alone he accumulated 34 entries on the Korean Top 100. Through an extended alliance with Amoeba Culture he delivered two full-length projects and four EPs under his own name while also shaping recordings for numerous labelmates, until the affiliation concluded in 2020. That September he surfaced with the largely beat-driven Boxtape on Paktory Company.
Seoul-born Choi Dong-hoon arrived in 1983 and shares his name with a prominent Korean filmmaker. Already operating under the Primary alias in his early twenties, he contributed to early sessions by Garion and Dynamic Duo. The 2006 full-length Daily Apartment emerged from his P’Skool partnership with Beenzino, and by decade’s end he had helmed Supreme Team’s first album. In 2011 the duo appeared alongside Yankie and Mellow on the debut single “Magic Glass.” Late the following year saw Primary & the Messengers, whose mysterious track “?” climbed to number three with assists from Zion.T and Dynamic Duo’s Choiza.
Stepping back from his own releases for a period, Primary crafted MBLAQ’s 2013 Top 30 entry “Smoky Girl” and other outside material. That same year he shared a sold-out Seoul bill with Zion.T. His return arrived via the March 2015 Lucky You! EP, featuring Hyukoh frontman Oh Hyuk. Months later the follow-up album 2 yielded the Top Ten cuts “See You” and “Don’t Be Shy.” Three additional Amoeba Culture EPs closed out the decade, among them 2018’s Do Worry Be Happy with K-pop vocalist Anda. No Primary-linked single registered on the charts throughout 2019. Issued the next year, the hour-plus Boxtape spotlighted the Park Choa cut “Cloud” yet largely consisted of instrumental reworkings of earlier tracks.
