Introduction to BIG Naughty

If you’re a fan of K-Hip-Hop, you’re familiar with the talent present over at H1GHR MUSIC, the second company founded by Jay Park and his talented producer Cha Cha Malone in 2017. The label has signed on some talented artists, such as pH-1, Haon, and Sik-K. While those names are the most well-known, there are other talented artists signed to the label as well. One of them is BIG Naughty, the youngest member of the label who has already broken a number of records despite only being 17.

BIG Naughty (Seo Donghyun) came onto the scene in 2019 on Show Me The Money Season 8, impressing judges and making waves all the way up until his elimination in the semi-final. At age 15, he became the youngest contestant ever to go that far in the competition. Despite his elimination, he made enough of an impression to sign and debut with H1GHR Music in 2019. 

The soloist’s first release in November 2019 was a remix of “Where It All Started” featuring Verbal Jint and Beenzino, two huge names on the K-Hip-Hop scene. The song features heavy R&B vibes not unlike a lot of Zion.T releases, and shows the talents of the young artist in both his rapping and vocals. “휴” was released a month later with an even more bluesy tone, the song very reminiscent of early R&B. The slower tempo has a comforting, lofi type of vibe that isn’t overshadowed by Donghyun or GIRIBOY’s vocals, and does a good job of highlighting the young artist’s clear potential.

While he didn’t release any solo tracks in 2020, BIG Naughty had a fairly big role in the compilation albums released by his label. Many of these compilation albums include tracks that have featured many artists, so the youngin had the opportunity to be on songs with his seniors, including founder Jay Park. Not only is it a great opportunity, but it helps him gain more recognition for his talent as fans of the bigger names check out the videos and find him. “The Purge” shown below is currently the highest hit music video associated with these compilations. 

It is also noteworthy that BIG Naughty has a solo track on one of these compilation albums, which is only the case for two other artists, Sik-K and Golden. The track on H1GHR : BLUE TAPE was released in September 2020 and is called “잠깐만.” The smooth and simple instrumentals of the track provide a great backup to highlight the soloist’s talents.

With the activity in the last few months, we’re sure to see something soon from the young rapper. He has his own playlist on the H1GHR MUSIC YouTube channel, which currently only consists of his two songs and two vlogs for fans to check out. At 17, Donghyun has already kicked off a successful career, and we can’t wait to see what he has in store for the future!