5 English Covers by Korean Male Singers Pt. 2
How did you discover your favorite artist? Was it through a TV show, or by word of mouth? Surprisingly enough, a lot of my favorite artists, whether they’re solo artists or in a group, I discovered on YouTube. Usually while rummaging through random song covers. It starts off with a cover that they’re singing from another Korean artist and eventually I’ll find them singing a cover of an English song and immediately fall in love. And while YouTube is filled with them and we’ve already talked about five other covers we love, here are the latest picks of English covers by Korean male singers.
5. G.Soul Stay
Debuting in January of this year, G.Soul is the newest artist under JYP Entertainment. Although G.Soul trained for a long 15 years before finally making his Korean debut, he didn’t let any of that time go to waste. For fans who knew him before his official debut, , they knew he uploaded a lot of English covers on his personal YouTube Channel. Like many musicians, YouTube was a platform for him to show the world his potential and what he was made of. The R&B singer has done covers ranging from Bruno Mars’ “It Will Rain” to The Jackson 5’s “Never Say Goodbye,” and a personal favorite Rihanna’s “Stay”.
And just as the lyrics say, G.Soul will make you want to stay with his velvety voice and wonder why you ever even contemplated on leaving in the first place. Occasionally when a male artist is covering a song originally sung by a female singer it can be hard for them to portray certain emotions that she might’ve had when originally singing it, but G.Soul went beyond all the original feels and delivered the sorrow, remorse, happiness, passion and more!
4. Taeyang Don’t Judge Me
BIGBANG member Taeyang is known by his fans for being an R&B and Hip-Hop junkie, well, a number of artist of YG Entertainment are, but him especially. Aside from his smooth dance skills, Taeyang’s voice will melt just about anyone’s heart, whether you’re a fan or not. He loves being on stage and feeding off of the energy from the crowds. Who wouldn’t when you have tens of thousands of fans waiting to see you perform? During his solo promotions, past and present, he’s mentioned time and time again that some of his music inspirations and influences stems from artists such as Michael Jackson, Usher, and Korea’s very own, Cho Yong Pil.
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Taeyang has a very deep thinking process; he enjoys analyzing the lyrics and the sound. With that in mind, he covered Chris Brown’s “Don’t Judge Me” and stated in his description box on his YouTube channel just like the lyrics say, don’t judge me, also don’t judge others. His milky voice paired up with his light fingers playing the keyboard makes for a tranquil cover.
3. Moon Myungjin How Am I Supposed TO Love Without You
Moon Myungjin’s soulful voice tells a story with every song that he sings. Having been in the industry for over a decade, it’s only been in recent years that he’s garnered more attention from the public, being a regular singer on Korean singing show “Immortal Song 2.” If you get emotional rather easily or are more on the sensitive side, be careful when listening to his cover of Michael Bolton’s “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You.”. Be sure to reach for the tissue box when listening to this cover because you may potentially cry.
The arrangement for this song is breathtaking, and Myungjin’s sudden high notes will send chills down your spine and have you gasping for air. His voice is a mix of something soft, silky, and raspy. This interesting mixture enables him to deliver each and every lyric and illustrate the imagery down to a T; keep those eyes closed and you might find yourself wiping away some tears.
4. Se7en One Last Cry
There have been a number of Korean artists who have done covers of Brian McKnight’s “One Last Cry,” but Se7en had the most emotion and maintained the most voice control through this song; his pronunciation was consistent and coherent. Se7en has great English enunciation and pronunciation in this song, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that it was during a time when he was trying to step into the American music industry. In order to make it in the States, your English speaking skills have to be somewhat of near perfection, so he knew he had to work extremely hard in order to break in, especially since it was during a time when there were very little Asian artists, let alone being an overseas Asian musician.
Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as planned for him in the States, but that’s okay because it didn’t stop him from continuing to perform and releasing music. No matter how old this video is and how bad the quality is, you can’t look past the fact that this man held a note for 16 measures and then some! Although there’s been some drama surrounding Se7en in the last couple of years, you can’t deny him of his talent; that’s something that’ll never go away.
1. Lee Geon Lay Me Down
Having only debuted less than a year ago, MADTOWN vocalist Lee Geon hasn’t had many opportunities to show off his warm and textured voice, aside from the eight songs that his group has released off of their two mini albums.
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The fans asked and J. Tune Camp has answered. To raise awareness for Lee Geon’s beautiful voice, J. Tune recently launched a series on YouTube titled LEEGEON COVER PROJECT. There have only been two videos uploaded so far, one Korean and the other an English cover, but Lee Geon’s cover of Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down” has struck a chord with many listeners. The sensitivity and wide range in his voice will leave you with goosebumps and have you replying back to the song yes, I will lay by your side, Lee Geon. Although his pronunciation isn’t 100 percent perfect, it’s pretty darn close though, his clear and crisp voice makes up for any mistakes he might’ve made.
What are some of your favorite English covers done by Korean singers? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.
