WOODZ

Under the name WOODZ, Cho Seung-youn has developed a solo project that blends pop, R&B, hip-hop and rock-tinged elements within the contemporary South Korean scene. Born in South Korea in 1996, he initially performed as Luizy from 2016 and made his mark as a rapper and singer in the Sino-Korean group UNIQ before joining the project X1 in 2019 after Produce X 101 — an experience that helped consolidate his identity as a singer-songwriter. From 2018 he refocused his output under the WOODZ name and released several projects that emphasize melodic arrangements, tempo changes and song structures close to alternative pop, including the mini-albums “Equal” (2020), “Woops!” (2020), “Only Lovers Left” (2021) and “Colorful Trauma” (2022), before issuing his first full-length album, “OO-LI”, in 2023. WOODZ’s work balances singing and rapping, R&B-style bass lines, immediately accessible pop choruses and forays into rockier sonics, while retaining lyrics centered on relationships, vulnerability and coming of age. In addition to his own releases, he writes and composes for other K-pop and local hip-hop artists, contributing to a catalogue marked by the same attention to vocal harmonies and song construction.