Zelo South Korean Rapper With 740K Instagram Followers

Early life

Zelo, whose birth name is Choi Jun-hong, was born on 15 October 1996 in Mokpo, South Korea. He has one older brother. As a boy he wanted to become a footballer, but he grew interested in music and began to practise beatboxing and dancing at home. In the fifth grade, someone who recognised his talent introduced him to Joy Dance - Plug In Music Academy in Gwangju. He auditioned with several recording companies without success, mostly because he was too young, until he was accepted as a trainee at TS Entertainment. He graduated from the School of Performing Arts Seoul in 2015.

Career

Zelo's first release was a duet with Bang Yong-guk in the sub-unit Bang&Zelo, whose single "Never Give Up" came out on 2 December 2011. He was introduced as the sixth member of the boy group B.A.P on 17 January 2012, where he took the role of rapper, and the group made its debut nine days later with the single album Warrior. B.A.P stayed with TS Entertainment until his contract with the company ended on 2 December 2018, and Zelo chose not to renew it. He left the group on 24 December, after the European leg of its 2018 tour. The four remaining members left the agency in February 2019, and the group dissolved.

A new chapter began in January 2019, when he signed with A Entertainment. He held a fan meeting in Japan two months later and released his first mini-album, Distance, on 21 June, with the lead single "Questions". Later that year he sent his agency a letter ending the contract, and a ruling by the Seoul Central District Court confirmed the cancellation a year later. In January 2020 he released "Shower" with the rappers Lil Oppa and Jvde, and in April he followed with a second mini-album, Day2Day, led by "She and Malibu".

In August 2022 he signed with Uzurocks. That October he took part in the survival programme Artistock Game and finished in eighth place overall. He began his mandatory military service on 12 December 2023 and was discharged on 11 June 2025. Afterwards he signed with Vlacksquad and released the single "Cola Comigo" on 31 March 2026. He was invited to perform at the Waterbomb festival in Seoul on 25 July 2026, and a fan concert titled Comigo: Next Chapter was held in 2026. A single album, "Ela", was announced for later that month.

Recognition

Zelo is known first as a rapper and dancer within K-pop and as a member of B.A.P. His music is classed as K-pop, and TS Entertainment is listed as his label from his time in the group. He has named will.i.am and Kanye West as his role models, and 50 Cent and other rappers as influences on his music.

Public roles

Zelo is a member of the sub-unit Bang & Zelo (2011-2018) and of B.A.P (2012-2018). Other members of B.A.P on record are Bang Yong-guk, Jung Dae-hyun, Kim Him-chan and Moon Jong-up. In the group he was the second rapper. His Instagram account had about 740,000 followers in October 2026.