History of K-Pop: Eric Nam
Whether you know him as the talented singer-songwriter, charismatic TV host, entertaining podcaster, or for his witty humor throughout social media, Eric Nam is undoubtedly a beloved household name in Korea for being an all-round entertainer.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Eric Nam’s venture into the K-Pop world didn’t start until 2012 after a viral YouTube cover of Eric singing the male version of 2NE1’s “Lonely” landed him an invitation to compete on the talent search program Birth of a Great Star 2 in South Korea. The Korean-American singer impressively placed within the top five contestants on the MBC program. Not long after the show, Eric Nam signed under B2M Entertainment as a solo artist. He made his debut in January 2013 with the lead single “Heaven’s Door” off of his first EP Cloud 9. Prior to his official debut, the audience and fans fell in love with him for his soulful vocals, and the five-track first mini-album continued to showcase just that. Set in a snowy wonderland, the music video for “Heaven’s Door” saw a cozied-up Eric playing guitar to a lively melody, a refreshing take on the slow winter ballad trend.
Before Eric Nam was able to introduce himself widely as a music artist, he found success with his bubbly and lovable personality on a variety of Korean shows. From 2013 to 2016, he was the original host of Arirang TV’s After School Club, an interactive talk show for K-Pop artists and fans. With great proficiency in Korean and English, Eric reached a large audience that was tuning in all over the world as the show regularly trended worldwide on Twitter during its air time. Throughout his busy time on the show, he occasionally released songs, mostly digital singles as well as K-Drama OSTs and songs in collaboration with other artists including After School Club co-host JAMIE and Amber Liu. In 2014, he dropped two digital singles, “Ooh Ooh” and “Melt My Heart.” The funky and instantaneously catchy “Ooh Ooh” featured INFINITE’s Hoya as the pair danced their way through the trumpet-driven song with a flashy music video to accompany.
Eric Nam also lent his honey voice to many K-Dramas at this time like Let’s Eat, Uncontrollably Fond, and Mad Dog. As to why he left After School Club, Eric Nam wanted to focus on his music career and therefore said goodbye to his beloved position as host after 200 episodes. After signing an exclusive contract with CJ E&M, he released his second EP Interview, three years after the last one. The lead single “Good For You” is a rhythmic ballad that received commercial success when it charted No. 12 domestically, and as Eric would say, “probably my most famous song in Korea.” At the end of 2016, Eric would also be named GQ Korea’s “Man of the Year 2016.”
During the period of 2016 to 2017, more collaboration opportunities would come for Eric Nam, including Red Velvet’s Wendy with “Spring Love” for SM Station, Tablo and Gallant on “Cave Me In,” and “You, Who?” with JEON SOMI. Fast forward to 2018, Eric returned with a bolder image from his dreamy ballad-driven music with his third EP Honestly. Lead singles “Honestly” and “Potion” with their electro-pop influences made for the perfect song to welcome the summer season that shortly came after the official EP release. The mini-album debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard World Albums Chart in its first week. Digital singles “Float,” “Miss You,” and “I Don’t Miss You” were released throughout 2018, with “Float” notably being featured in the official soundtrack for Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.
It’s no surprise that the go-to TV personality also succeeded when he made his transition into podcasting when he debuted his podcast show titled K-Pop Daebak w/ Eric Nam in 2019, later renamed as Daebak Show w/ Eric Nam. The podcast in which Eric discusses hot trending K-Pop news and shares his personal experiences in the industry garnered well-deserved attention and love. It was named one of the “Best Listens of 2019” by Apple Podcasts and “Top 10 Music Podcasts in 2019” by Spotify.
In 2019, Eric Nam also released his first English mini-album Before We Begin. Filled with a mix of heart fluttering love songs like “Come Through” to breakup jams like “Congratulations” as well as the English version of his 2018 release “Honestly” (renamed “No Shame”), the album creates the perfect shuffler for every mood. Under the amazing music as per usual on the surface, the album also has a personal meaning to the Atlanta-born singer. Shared by Eric on an episode of Daebak Show, the album holds great importance to him and to the grander scheme of Asian American identity and Asian representation in mainstream media.
It wouldn’t be an Eric Nam release without a perfect mix between soulful vocals and pure danceability (yes, even the slower ballad that you can definitely sway to!). Eric Nam released his fourth EP The Other Side in summer of 2020 with lead single “Paradise.” The electro and tropical song, co-written by DAY6’s Young K, was a hit in South Korea as well as other countries in Asia. The music video showing Eric as different versions of himself was the perfect homage and in theme with the EP’s title.
In 2021, Eric Nam parted ways with CJ E&M after his contract expired and has since released music under his own independent label The Eric Nam Company, Inc., with digital single “I Don’t Know You Anymore” marking the first independent release. The single, along with “Any Other Way,” were pre-releases to tease for his second English album There and Back Again which was released at the beginning of 2022. The catchy chorus with a relatable message that resonates with those who have had their heart broken by someone took over TikTok as the song’s audio and “#idkya” trended on the site with over 18 million views as of February 2022.
At the start of 2022, Eric Nam also embarked on his There and Back Again world tour starting with North America at the end of January and Europe and U.K throughout March and April.
Eric Nam is a multifaceted individual, excelling in not only being a brilliant vocalist, charismatic performer, quick-witted TV personality, but also as a successful entrepreneur. Although he is widely loved by many fellow Korean idols in the industry as well as supported by his fanclub Nam Nation, Eric Nam is still an incredibly underrated act whose sincere love for performing shines brightly.