Samuel
Samuel in August 2017
Born	Samuel Arredondo Kim (2002-01-17)January 17, 2002 (age 23) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Singer
Years active	2015–present
Musical career
Genres	K-pop R&B Hip hop
Instrument	Vocals
Labels	Samuel Management & Entertainment Music Group[1] Pony Canyon
Formerly of	1Punch
Musical artist
Korean name
Hangul	김사무엘
Revised Romanization	Gim Samuel
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Samuel

Samuel Arredondo Kim (born January 17, 2002), better known by his stage nameSamuel (Korean: 사무엘), is an American singer based in South Korea. He was a part of the short-lived hip hop duo1Punch in 2015. He participated in the reality television seriesseason 2 ofProduce 101 during the first half of 2017. In the final episode, he ranked 18th and was not able to join the show's project group. One month after the show ended, he began his solo career, with the release of his debutextended play (EP)Sixteen on August 2, 2017.

Samuel was born inLos Angeles, California,^[2] to a Mexican father (José Arredondo) and a South Korean mother.^[3][4]

Samuel made his first appearances to the public at the age of eleven, when he appeared in the live broadcast seriesSeventeen TV as a trainee underPledis Entertainment.^[5][6] In 2013, he left the agency.^[7]

In 2015, Samuel debuted as a part of hip-hop duo named1Punch (with rapperOne) under a collaboration betweenBrave Entertainment and D-Business Entertainment, taking "Punch" as his stage name.^[8] They debuted on January 23 with the release of "Turn Me Back", which is the title track of their album,The Anthem.^[9] Eight months later, One was scouted byYG Entertainment, leading to the disbandment of the duo. Under the name Punch, Samuel collaborated withSilentó to release the single "Spotlight" in 2016,^[10] for which they won the26th Seoul Music Award for Global Collaboration.^[11] He later joined Silentó on tour in the US.^[12]

In April 2017, Samuel participated in the second season of the popular survival showProduce 101 under his own name, representing Brave Entertainment. During the first elimination, he was ranked 2nd, but did not make the final cut for the 11-member team, finally ranking 18th overall.^[13] The result was met with surprise from many viewers, who had expected Samuel to become part of the lineup ofWanna One.^[14]

Samuel debuted as a solo artist on August 2.^[15] His debut mini album,Sixteen, was released on August 2, with the title track "Sixteen" featuring rapperChangmo.^[16]

Samuel's first full-length album,Eye Candy, was released on November 16, 2017, with a total of ten tracks including the lead single "Candy".^{[17][unreliable source?]}

In December 2017, it was announced that Samuel had signed a contract with 'Pony Canyon' for his Japanese promotions.^[18][19]

Samuel officially debuted in Japan on February 7, 2018, with his first Japanese single, "Sixteen (Japanese Ver.)".^[20][21] The music video of "Sixteen (Japanese Ver.)" was released on January 18.^[22]

In March 2018, Samuel released his second mini album,One, with the title track "One" featuringBtoB memberJung Il-hoon.^[23]

In April 2018, Samuel released his second Japanese single, "Candy (Japanese Ver.)", on May 16.^[24] The music video of the track was released on May 2.

On May 30, 2018, Samuel released his repackaged album,Teenager, featuring Lee Ro Han, who was a runner-up to MNet's "School Rapper Season 2".^{[25][unreliable source?]}

In the course of 2018, Samuel, together with Chinese singerZhou Zhennan, collaborated and participated inTencent'sThe Collaboration Season 2. The duo eventually placed first and won the competition.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2019, Samuel announced to work independently onwards, filed a name trademark, and set-up a one-man agency.^[26][27]

On November 17, 2021, Samuel won a lawsuit against Brave Entertainment to terminate his contract.^[28]

On April 21, Samuel made his comeback after five years and released his new self-produced EPNow, along with its lead single titled "YEH YEH!".^[1]

On July 16, 2019, Samuel's father José Arredondo was found dead at his condo inCabo San Lucas, Mexico.^[29] He died from blunt force trauma and stab wounds.^[30] Later in July 2019, Mexican authorities arrested a suspect who was a family acquaintance and "friend of [Arredondo] for 20 years."^[31]

• 2002 births
• Asian-American–Hispanic and Latino American relations
• Brave Entertainment artists
• Living people
• American K-pop singers
• 21st-century South Korean singers
• South Korean child singers
• 21st-century South Korean male singers
• South Korean hip-hop singers
• South Korean hip-hop dancers
• South Korean male idols
• South Korean male pop singers
• South Korean people of Mexican descent
• Produce 101 contestants
• American expatriates in South Korea
• American musicians of Mexican descent
• American musicians of Korean descent
• American male pop singers
• 21st-century American singers
• 21st-century American male singers
• Hanlim Multi Art School alumni
• Singers from Los Angeles

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• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• CS1 uses Japanese-language script (ja)
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