Hyunjin

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Hyunjin was born on March 20, 2000, in Seoul, South Korea. He began taking dance classes in middle school, which gave him a foundation before becoming a trainee idol. He was scouted on the street by a JYP Entertainment agent during his third year of middle school, while shopping with his mother. He majored in practical dance at the School of Performing Arts Seoul (SOPA) and officially graduated on February 7, 2019. He took the 2019 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and enrolled in Global Cyber University in 2020, where he studied in the Department of Practical Language. During his traineeship, in late 2017, Hyunjin appeared on the Mnet survival show Stray Kids. By the time the show premiered on October 17, Hyunjin had been a trainee for two years. After being confirmed as part of the group's line-up, Hyunjin was credited as a lyricist for the song '4419'. He officially debuted with Stray Kids on March 25, 2018, with EP I Am Not through a debut showcase.

In Their Own Story

In 2019, Hyunjin was announced as one of the presenters of the weekly chart show Show! Music Core, alongside SF9's Chani and Gugudan's Mina, serving as co-host from February 16, 2019, to February 20, 2021 (episodes 621 through 714). In December 2019, he joined KBS's project group Bbangbbangz with Yoon Sanha, Choi Bomin, and Lee Daehwi, performing covers like GOT7's 'Just Right' and Red Velvet's 'Psycho' on Music Bank. He also made his acting debut in the web series A-Teen 2 with a cameo appearance in the final episode, alongside fellow Stray Kids member I.N the same year. From February to June 2021, Hyunjin was placed on a temporary hiatus due to school bullying allegations, and resumed regular activities with the group in July. During his hiatus, he was absent from participating in the majority of Stray Kids' appearances on Kingdom: Legendary War, appearing only in their introduction round performance. He made his first reappearance by featuring in the music video for the group's release, 'Mixtape: Oh,' on June 26, 2021. In August 2023, Hyunjin was featured on the remix of Troye Sivan's 'Rush', alongside Pink Pantheress, providing vocals for the pre-chorus and hook. With bandmates Han and Felix, Hyunjin performed a cover of Kim Sung-jae's 'As I Told You' at KBS Song Festival 2022. With Yeji of Itzy, Hyunjin performed a choreographed duet – remixing two of their popular individual dance performances – at MBC Music Festival 2023. In July 2024, together with his bandmates, it was announced Hyunjin had renewed his group contract with JYP a year earlier than expected, extending Stray Kids' affiliation with the label. In June 2025, a year after mentioning in an interview how much he enjoyed D4vd's music, Hyunjin collaborated with him on the track, 'Always Love'.

Reader's Guide

Hyunjin's dance skills have been noted for their precision and expressiveness. Additionally, Jack Lau in South China Morning Post described Hyunjin's voice as soft and soothing, demonstrating versatility beyond rapping. He is not only known for his dancing but also showcases his skills as a rapper and singer, contributing to the group's sound and performance style. In addition to his dancing and rapping skills, Hyunjin is a skilled visual artist; he has shared many of his personal paintings on social media. Behind Stray Kids' production team, 3RACHA (bandmates Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han), Hyunjin is the fourth most accredited songwriter of the group, with 29 KOMCA credits as of January 2025. He has contributed to various B-side tracks, including four sub-unit songs 'Wow' in 2020, 'Taste' and 'Muddy Water' in 2022, and 'Red Lights' in 2021. He was also the primary songwriter for 'DLMLU' from Stray Kids' full-length Japanese album, The Sound, and 'Cover Me' from their EP Rock-Star. As of September 2024, Hyunjin had made nine contributions to Stray Kids' YouTube-based portfolio project, SKZ-Record/Player. These included the original solo songs 'Little Star' (꼬마별), 'Ice Cream' (stylised as ice.cream), 'Contradicting', 'Long for You', and 'Hey You'. 'Little Star' (under the new title, 'miss you'), 'Ice Cream', and a new song, 'Love Untold', were included in Stray Kids' digital compilation album, SKZ-Replay, released in December 2022. He also has collaborated with bandmate I.N for the original duet '미제 (untitled)', one group dance performance with Lee Know and Felix, and two solo dance performances he choreographed, one to 'Play with Fire' by Sam Tinnesz featuring Yacht Money in 2022, and another to 'When the Party's Over' by Billie Eilish in 2020. As of September 2024, Hyunjin is known to have several unreleased songs, including the solo song 'Mic & Brush' that he performed during Stray Kids' 5-Star Dome Tour. Hyunjin has named Jinyoung of former labelmates Got7 as a role model.

Did You Know?

• Hyunjin was scouted on the street by a JYP Entertainment agent during his third year of middle school, while shopping with his mother.
• He took dance classes in middle school, giving him a foundation before becoming a trainee idol.
• Hyunjin is the fourth most accredited songwriter of Stray Kids, with 29 KOMCA credits as of January 2025.
• He was named a Versace global brand ambassador in April 2023, following previous Asian male ambassadors such as Chinese actor Li Xian.
• Hyunjin collaborated with D4vd on the track 'Always Love' in June 2025.