Zion.T

Kim Hae-sol records under the stage name Zion.T as a prominent South Korean vocalist and composer noted for his silky phrasing and R&B that pulls from multiple styles. He attended music courses at the college level for a brief period, then concluded the setting did not match his goals and chose to produce music independently instead. His earliest track, “Click Me,” appeared in spring 2011, while his first chart entry arrived two years later with the independent single “Two Melodies” featuring Crush. Later in 2013 Amoeba Culture issued his debut album Red Light, an off-kilter R&B collection containing guest verses from Beenzeno and Gaeko. The set, recorded partly in Korean and partly in English, generated the Top Ten single “Babay” and received Best R&B and Soul Album honors at the 2014 Korean Music Awards. Mirrorball followed, accompanied by additional hit singles, among them the independent release “Yanghwa BRDG,” which registered on Billboard’s International Digital Songs chart. Increased visibility brought Korean television appearances and an invitation to perform at a K-pop showcase during the 2016 SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Early the next year The Black Label, a YG Entertainment imprint, released his second EP OO, an eclectic blend of smooth pop, bossa nova, R&B, jazz, and rap that again featured Beenzeno alongside G-Dragon. The project climbed into Korea’s Top Ten and reached Billboard’s Heatseekers and World Albums charts, where it peaked at number two.