Young Tak

Born in the city of Andong on May 13, 1983, South Korean actor and singer-songwriter, and producer Park Young-tak got his start as a balladeer before becoming one of the leading exponents of trot, a genre of Korean popular music that originated during the Japanese colonial rule. After winning the first prize at the Yeongnam Song Festival contest in 2004, he made his official debut on the soundtrack of the film Marrying the Mafia II (2005) and later released his digital album Youngtak's DISIA in 2007. Over the next few years, Young Tak struggled to find an audience for his music and mostly worked as a voice teacher at different music academies while recording songs for cartoons, dramas, and movies. In 2014, a brief appearance on the reality show Hidden Singer 2 gave him a confidence boost to resume his professional recording career as a trot performer with singles like "Nuna You're Perfect," "We Are So Bad," "Cherry Blossom Love," and "Why Are You Coming Out From There." His big break came in 2019 when he finished runner-up in the singing competition Mr. Trot, prompting a record deal with New Era Projects and a series of appearances on national television. "Jjiniya," his final performance on Mr. Trot, became the show's biggest hit after reaching Number 29 on the Circle Chart in 2020. This success was followed by the release of his major-label debut MMM in 2022, an eclectic melange of rock, pop, R&B, jazz that hit Number 3 on the South Korean charts. The album produced the singles "What Happened?," "Brown Umbrella," "Hallyang-ga," and "MMM," which peaked at Number 24 on the Billboard Korea Songs chart.