In the world of entertainment, Johnny Suh has become one of the biggest global K-pop stars as a member of the record-breaking group NCT 127, the boy-band ensemble behind the latest behemoth hit “2 Baddies.” He’s also a burgeoning fashion icon who’s recently been profiled in Vogue, People and Paper magazines for his debut at the Met Gala in 2022. It was a night in which his nine million Instagram followers made him one of the most talked about celebrities of the night, even ahead of co-host Ryan Reynolds, according to data from market research firm Netbase Quid.
But in north suburban Northbrook, he’s Johnny Suh, the 2013 graduate of Glenbrook North High School who likes coming home from Seoul, South Korea, where he now lives, admitting to fellow Chicagoan Jennifer Hudson during the group’s October appearance on her talk show that he misses the cold and snow of Chicago winters.
“She did ask what I missed most about Chicago and I did say the cold, and she called me crazy or something like that,” Suh says, laughing, during a phone chat ahead of NCT 127’s brief U.S. tour, which kicks off on Jan. 9 at the United Center.
Chicago has recently enjoyed some major “firsts” within the massively popular K-pop (Korean pop music) genre, including the first-ever South Korean headliner at a North American festival when BTS’ J-Hope closed out Lollapalooza last year; and contemporaries Tomorrow x Together taking the stage the same weekend, marking the first time a K-pop group played the event.
But having a K-pop member hail from our fair city is another, if not unexpected, high point.
Suh grew up loving singer-dancers such as Usher, and always knew he wanted to be famous. His mother caught wind of a global audition in 2007 hosted by SM Entertainment, one of South Korea’s largest entertainment conglomerates that boasts an in-house talent agency, record label, music production division and publishing house. It’s been the force behind the careers of a number of high-profile K-pop artists such as TVXQ, Super Junior and Girls’ Generation.
“It’s a little kid’s dream, and I guess my mom knew about the dream, and there was an opportunity for me to audition. … She asked me if I wanted to go, and even though I was ‘teenager-ish’ and thought it might be uncool, I was like, why not? Just take this opportunity and see what unfolds,” recalls Suh.
He was in 7th grade at the time, and says the experience was similar to what we might see now during “American Idol” auditions. After clearing the final rounds, Suh was recruited by the SM Entertainment division, which, over time, transitioned the up-and-comer to living in South Korea where he would eventually be paired with the eight other selected artists who would become NCT 127. The group officially launched in 2016.
“The transition took a long time. I was very young, so they wanted me to see what it was like first,” says Suh, recalling he’d travel to Asia during where he’d hone his pop-star skills during summer breaks from school. “It was kind of like a summer camp. I’d come here to Korea and learn how to sing, how to dance, and I did that for a couple years.” Upon graduation from high school, he moved to Seoul full-time.
NCT 127 has been a successful part of the K-pop global phenomenon over the course of the past decade. Billboard calls the group “an enormous part of the modern U.S. music industry” and hosted its own first-ever THE-K Billboard Awards in 2022, honoring the achievements of artists in the genre. Forbes also has called K-pop a “power player,” noting that it recently ranked as the No. 6 top music market per the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s “Global Music Report.” In 2019, fellow K-pop act BTS became the second-most streamed group on Spotify.
With 665 million streams on Spotify in the U.S. alone, and their fourth album “질주 (2 Baddies),” released in September debuting at No. 3on the Billboard 200 chart, NCT 127 are just the second K-pop artists ever to land three albums in the Top 5. On Jan. 30, the group will release a repackaged version of the album featuring additional songs that Suh says “is going to be another side of NCT 127 that people have not seen yet. … It’s definitely the hardest performance that we had to prepare for, in my opinion.”
Some have compared the rise of K-pop to the cultural linchpin known as ‘90s boy bands such as NSYNC and Backstreet Boys.
“I think it’s similar in a way, with [band] members working together and growing up together, except now technology and social media has made it even more accessible,” Suh says.
There’s also more branching out with the sound, with NCT 127 known for incorporating dance, electronic, hip-hop and R&B into their music.
But there’s also a significant cultural exchange: NCT 127 stands for Neo Culture Technology, while 127 is the longitude (east-west-geographic coordinate) of Seoul. Suh explains the concept as, “We know how strong of an impact music has on people and our whole idea is that through music everybody is connected. Through music we also want to share our culture and our hearts with people all around the world.”
He keeps in touch with fans through “Johnny’s Communication Center,” a series on NCT 127’s YouTube channel where he shares new experiences with 5.6 million subscribers such as golfing, surfing and brewing beer. There’s even one video where he shows off Northbrook and Chicago to his fellow bandmates while in town for a sleepover at his parents’ house.
“The idea came from [the other NCT 127] members. They always call me the ‘communications center’ because I love talking. I love communicating, to see what the other person is thinking about. I thought why not make this into a kind of YouTube channel and show [aspects] of our members or me to our fans that they’ve never seen before,” Suh shares.
As for his next segment? “I kind of want to show what I did to have fun in the winter in Chicago, and I hope the fans enjoy what I have planned.”
