Yoo Jaesuk is a legend. Not only is he the Nation’s MC and star of Running Man (SBS), Infinite Challenge (MBC), Happy Together (KBS), and Hangout With Yoo (MBC), but he is also a musician, a K-Pop and K-Hip-Hop star, a Trot performer, an Idol manager, and a drummer who has collaborated with some of Korea’s biggest and best musicians across different styles. Most recently, he was part of a '90s-inspired co-ed group alongside Rain and Lee Hyori named SSAK3 where he debuted under the name U-Doragon, and collaborated with ZE:A’s Hwang Kwanghee (under the name S.B.N) on the song “In the Summer'' (a cover of a 1994 hit by Deux) and his own catchy single “Luv Us." So, for this Throwback Thursday, let’s take a look at Jaesuk’s music career by looking at some of his past collaborations with various artists across the K-Pop, K-Hip-Hop, and K-R&B music scene. 

“Let’s Dance” - Future Liger (YoonMirae, Tiger JK, Yoo Jaesuk)

In 2009, Jaesuk collaborated with husband and wife duo YoonMirae and Tiger JK as part of Infinite Challenge’s second bi-annual Song Festival, where the cast were tasked with collaborating with different music artists. Together, this trio created a Latin-inspired hip-hop song that allowed Jaesuk to embrace his inner rap skills, which would make a return numerous times across his variety show musician career. Take a look at Jaesuk the rapper here. 

“Dancing King” - Yoo Jaesuk x EXO

One of the best yet most random collaborations to exist within the K-Pop world, in 2016 Jaesuk and EXO came together to release the song “Dancing King.” This collaboration was all thanks to Kwanghee’s imaginative vision during a task on an episode of Infinite Challenge in which he was a cast member alongside Jaesuk. In the task, Kwanghee wrote about seeing Jaesuk and EXO’s collaboration, from a future perspective, and here it is—Jaesuk featuring EXO with a refreshing samba-infused pop song that gets you in the mood to dance.

“How Do You Play?” - Boi B, Gaeko, Choiza, Geegooin, GRAY, Crush, Wonstein, Mommy Son, Zior Park, Sam Kim

Although he didn’t actually provide vocals for this song, as one of his projects in Hangout With Yoo (also known as How Do You Play?) in 2019, Jaesuk was tasked with learning to play the drums over a short period of time. His drum sample was then sent off to various musicians across K-Pop, K-Hip-Hop, and K-R&B in the hopes of them creating an actual song through a blend of their musical capabilities (adding guitar sounds, keyboard samples, vocals, etc). This project resulted in five incredible songs, all of different styles and genres, but all using the same drum beat which Jaesuk would later have to perform in front of a live audience. One of these songs is this incredible collaboration that features so many talented K-Hip-Hop and K-R&B stars such as GRAY, Crush, Dynamic Duo, and Sam Kim. Where else would you find an extensive collaboration like this one? 

“Please Distress Me” + “It’s Not That I Can’t” - So!YoON!, SUMIN

Another song from Hangout With Yoo that used Jaesuk's drum beats was this incredible collaboration between So!YoON! and SUMIN. Although these two are the only two artists credited alongside the title, this song does also include the likes of DOCSKIM (who many might recognise through his work with BTS and Epik High) and Sunwoo JungA, as well as many other talented musicians. With the same drum beat as “How Do You Play?,” this song actually connects two songs that when put together create a clash of indie-pop and electronic-pop vibes that are incredibly merged together.