In a galaxy of talented stars that shine in K-pop, birthdays are one of the biggest festivities for fans to get together and remember just how much they love their dearest artists. To add to the celebration, the Korea JoongAng Daily’s entertainment brand Celeb Confirmed will take votes from fans on their favorites from stars born in the respective month and dive into their careers, achievements and more in the newest series Birthday Bios.

As this month's winner of Celeb Confirmed’s K-pop birthday vote, Joohoney of boy band Monsta X was voted No. 1 among October-born stars.

Joohoney, the “honey-voice” rapper, singer and producer of boy band Monsta X, was born on Oct. 6, 1994, in southern Seoul’s Secho District as the oldest of two brothers.

He was named Lee Ji-hwan when he was born, but he changed his given name once to Ho-jun and then again to Joo-heon — which now is where his stage name came from.

Joohoney’s love for music started with hip-hop — from church, no less.

It was through singer Naul’s contemporary Christian music song “Great is the Lord” featuring Dynamic Duo as rappers that Joohoney became attached to the world of music and rap-making, he said in an interview with the press after competing in the fourth season of hip-hop audition program “Show Me The Money” on cable channel Mnet in 2015.

During the show, he fought off the prejudice that idols, as the K-pop profession is referred to in Korea, are not real rappers worthy of respect from the hip-hop world. He had started auditioning to become an artist as a middle school student, and during the first year of high school he formed his own hip-hop crew called J.U.S.T, which later changed its name to Noark, whose members are still together.

When he was competing in an audition program in 2014 jointly organized by Mnet and Starship Entertainment, Monsta X’s current agency, titled “No.Mercy,” Joohoney had already started to stand out with his powerful rap skills and dance mastery that eventually made him the first member to be announced for the show's final band.

The rest is history: Monsta X debuted in 2015 with the EP "Trespass" and has become one of the biggest boy bands in K-pop, well-known for songs such as “Who Do U Love?” (2019), “Love Killa” (2020) and “You Problem” (2021).

Prior to starting his military service as the third member of Monsta X, Joohoney started his solo career in May with his EP “Lights.” All six tracks were written, composed and rearranged by Joohoney himself, proving yet again that his capabilities go beyond simply being a K-pop idol.

Joohoney began his mandatory military service on July 24 and is set to be discharged on Jan. 23 next year.

“This year has been so busy for me,” Joohoney wrote to the Monsta X fan club, Monbebe, in a hand-written letter on July 11 before leaving for his military duty. “All the love I received from Monbebe during the time we had together still fills my heart with joy.”

“I will come back in one healthy piece!” he continued. “I’m not gone forever, so don’t you worry. Look at the sky once every day, remember what I told you and promise me that you will think of Joo-heon once a day.”

Monsta X held its latest mini-concert “MX Friends” on July 7 and 8 at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul. The band celebrated its eighth year since debuting on May 14 with a live YouTube session with fans.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]