The accidental singer

DIE-HARD fans of South Korean singer-songwriter Kim Sang Woo, otherwise fondly known as Roy Kim, recently got to meet the artiste when he came down to Kuala Lumpur for a promotional tour.
Kim’s story began in 2012, when he won the fourth season of Superstar K, a South Korean television talent show.
The release of his first studio album Love Love Love the following year marked the official launch of his singing career, especially with the hit Bom Bom Bom becoming the fourth most successful song of the year in South Korea.
His debut album also earned him the award for Best Newcomer at the 15th Mnet Asian Music Awards and the 2014 Golden Disk Awards.
Subsequently, Kim released his second album Home, and the album’s title track peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart ,and won first place on Mnet’s M! Countdown and MBC’s Show! Music Core.
But behind all that success lies a soft-spoken student from Georgetown University in Washington, who admitted that he had never expected to be a singer at all.
At a recent meet-and-greet session with Malaysian fans at Paradigm Mall, Kim explained: “From the beginning, I didn’t think anyone gave me the support. And frankly, I didn’t think I would be a singer at all. Even my friends didn’t think I would be one too … So it was just a hobby for me back then.”
Transforming your hobby into a career can either make or break you, and Kim revealed that his busy schedule as a new singer changed the way he viewed singing initially.
“The first two or three years was very busy, it was a time when my hobby became a profession because everyday, I had an obligation to sing, so it didn’t feel as exciting as it was before and I guess I lost [that] thankfulness,” Kim said.
“But I was 19 [and] young, and now I’m more than thankful to be able to sing in front of big crowds [and] travel around the world … it’s just an amazing feeling.”
His visit here, which was to promote his latest album Big Dipper, saw Kim perform several popular songs such as Love Love Love, Pinocchio, Home, Bom Bom Bom as well as covers of Damien Rice’s The Blower’s Daughter and Stephanie Sun’s Cloudy Day.
His rendition of Cloudy Day was also released as a single several months ago, and helped the 23-year-old expand his fan base in more Asian countries such as Taiwan and Malaysia.
Kim stands out from most other South Korean artistes, as he isn’t a product of the K-pop music factory. Nonetheless, he is still widely appreciated for his forte in writing melancholic acoustic folk ballads, and he doesn’t plan to change that.
“I think one of the few reasons why I try to write my own songs [instead of doing covers] is because I want my albums to be very personal stories, and I think that gave me an identity for people to recognise.”
He’s not letting his sucess change him though, as after this Asian tour, Kim will be returning to university to continue his studies.