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Code Kunst 코드 쿤스트 | |
|---|---|
 Woo Won-jae's Music High February 27, 2020 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jo Sung-woo |
| Born | (1989-12-18)December 18, 1989 (age 35) Yeonsu,Incheon, South Korea |
| Genres | |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Labels | AOMG |
| Member of | Legit Goons[1] |
| Website | aomgofficial |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 조성우 |
| Revised Romanization | Jo Seongu |
| McCune–Reischauer | Cho Sŏngu |
Jo Sung-woo (Korean: 조성우; born December 18, 1989), better known by his stage nameCode Kunst (코드 쿤스트), is a South Korean composer and music producer. In 2015, he released his second studio albumCrumple and joined Highgrnd. In 2017, he released his third studio albumMuggles' Mansion. In 2018, he signed toAOMG and appeared as a judge alongsidePaloalto onShow Me the Money 777. He released his fourth studio albumPeople in 2020 and won Producer of the Year at theKorean Hip-hop Awards in 2021. In 2023, he released his fifth studio albumRemember Archive.
Jo Sung-woo was born on December 18, 1989, in Yeonsu,Incheon.[2][3] He became interested in hip hop after listening toNas' "Doo Rags".[4] He decided to pursue a career in music after serving in the military.[5] He studied design atDong-ah Institute of Media and Arts, but got expelled.[6]
The word "Kunst" means "Art" in German, so the stage name Code Kunst has a meaning of "the music I produced will become arts."[7]
In 2013, Code Kunst released his debut single "Lemonade",[2] starting his music career relatively late in his life. Upon being asked whether he was nervous about his career in the beginning, he said, "At first, I wasn't nervous because in the beginning I was really going to do music as a hobby. I was already somewhat old and I didn't have the skills at first, but I felt that I needed to hurry. I'm too late, I'm too late... this thought was so strong. So I made the decision to spend the years I was 24 and 25 years old, 2 years--2 years, let me use that as if it were 4 years."[8]
In April 2015, he released his second studio albumCrumple, which was later nominated for Best Rap Album at theKorean Music Awards.[9] In September 2015, Code Kunst joined the labelHIGHGRND underYG Entertainment due to the impact ofTablo.[10] He specifically cited Tablo's willingness to work together in person, such as on tracks like "Hood" featuring Tablo and Joey Bada$$, made him believe HIGHGRND was a good label for him.[11] He released his third albumMuggles' Mansion in February 2017,[12] which received critical acclaim.[13]
Code Kunst left HIGHGRND and joinedAOMG in June 2018.[14] In September 2018, he officially appeared in the Korean Hip-Hop survival showShow Me the Money 777 as one of the judges.[15] "Good Day", a song he composed on the show, received positive reviews from critics.[16] Loopy and Kid Milli from his team won second and third place inShow Me the Money 777.
In 2019, Code Kunst, along withJay Park,Simon Dominic,Woo Won-jae, andGray, appeared as judges on the audition programSignhere started by Korean Hip-hop labelAOMG andMBN.[17] In the same year, he appeared in another Hip-hop reality survival programHigh School Rapper 3.[18] He was in the same team withThe Quiett. Together they produced "Go High" (feat.Changmo,Woo Won-jae), sang by female rapper Lee Young-ji, who became the final winner to the show.
Code Kunst released his fourth studio albumPeople in 2020. In the same year, he was announced as a producer for 'Show Me the Money 9' along withPaloalto as a team.[19] In 2021, he won Producer of the Year at theKorean Hip-hop Awards.[20] He then appeared as a winning producer forShow Me the Money 10 along withGaeko of the rap groupDynamic Duo.
In 2023, he released his fifth studio albumRemember Archive.[21]
Jo has appeared onI Live Alone as a regular cast since 2022. For his appearance on the show, he won the Rookie Award in 2022 and Popularity Award in 2023 at theMBC Entertainment Awards.[22][23]
In March 2024, Jo was announced as one of the panelists for South Korean dating reality show, My Sibling's Romance.[24]
Code Kunst said that looking at his mother's paintings while growing up has greatly influenced and aided him in visualizing music.[25] Additionally, in an interview-style conversation with fellow AOMG memberPunchnello, he has said that he draws musical inspiration from the simple and common experiences of everyday people which he also had before signing with larger labels (including "financially troubling situations and the kinds of things that happen in such situations"). As a result, he thought signing with a label too early might hinder his ability to experience the things regular people go through in their mid-20s.[26] For similar reasons, he had decided to name his 2017 album, "Muggles' Mansion." Specifically he has said that the world "muggles" has two meanings to him, one which means very common and one that does not. For the album he wanted to "tell common stories with sources that reflect myself, yet includes sounds which aren't so common."[27]
He adds a lot ofvocal chopping in his music which became one of his unique music styles.[28]Rolling Stone India commented that "he takes deep dives into old-school blues, rock, soul and hip-hop, tying it all neatly together with his signature vocal chopping techniques and flawless loops of instrumentals."[29]
He citedMac Miller as his biggest influence.[30]
In 2020, Code Kunst donated to the Official George Floyd Memorial Fund, stating that Black music made a big impact on his life.[31]
Code Kunst has two cats named Panda and Sheero.[32]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Show Me the Money 777 | Judge and producer | ||
| 2019 | Signhere | |||
| High School Rapper 3 | ||||
| 2020 | King of Mask Singer | Contestant | [33] | |
| Show Me the Money 9 | Judge and producer | |||
| 2021 | Show Me the Money 10 | [34] | ||
| 2022–present | I Live Alone | Regular cast | [35] | |
| 2023 | My Friends Are Smarter Than Me | Host | [36] | |
| Sing Again | Judge | Season 3 | [37] | |
| 2024 | My Sibling's Romance | Host | [38] | |
| 2025 | Good Day | Cast member | [39] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Change Days | Host | Season 2 | [40] |
| Witch Hunt 2022 | [41] |
| Year | Song Title | Artist | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | "Lipstick" | Lee Hi (Feat.Yoon Mirae) | [42] |
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOR [43] | |||
| Novel |
| — | — |
| Crumple |
| 34 |
|
| Muggles' Mansion |
| 26 |
|
| People | 10 |
| |
| Remember Archive |
| 19 |
|
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| Hear Things |
|
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOR [48] | |||
| "Lemonade" feat. Blnk-Time | 2013 | — | Hear Things |
| "1-2" feat.C Jamm | — | ||
| "Betting" feat. Don Mills | 2014 | — | Novel |
| "Edison" (에디슨) feat. Nucksal | 2015 | — | Crumple |
| "Golden Cow" feat.C Jamm and DJ SQ | — | ||
| "Hood" feat.Tablo andJoey Badass | — | Non-album single | |
| "Parachute" feat.Oh Hyuk andDok2 | 24 | Muggle's Mansion | |
| "Beside Me" feat.BewhY,YDG andSuran | 2016 | 92 | |
| "Fire Water" feat.G.Soul andTablo | 2017 | — | |
| "Rain Bird" feat.Colde and Tablo | 2018 | — | Non-album singles |
| "Bless" feat.Loco andWoo Won-jae | — | ||
| "XI" feat.Lee Hi | 2019 | 199 | |
| "Too Late" feat.JMSN | — | ||
| "Treat Her Better" feat.Niia | — | All About Us | |
| "Joke!" Feat. C Jamm andSimon Dominic | 2020 | — | People |
| "Knock" feat.Baek Ye-rin | — | ||
| "Flower" (꽃) feat.Jay Park,Woo andGiriboy | 140 | ||
| "For the Gone" (사라진 모든 것들에게) withChoi Jung-hoon and Simon Dominic | 106 | Non-album singles | |
| "You Get Off" | 2021 | — | |
| "Cheers" (치열) withLee Chan-hyuk, Colde and Sogumm | — | ||
| "Take Me" with Meenoi | 2022 | — | |
| "The Ball Is Round" with Woo Won-jae andJeon So-yeon | — | ||
| "Bad Bad" (feat. Tabber and Jay Park) | 2023 | — | Remember Archive |
| "55" (feat. Baek Ye-rin andWendy) | 99 | ||
| "Jumper" (feat.Gaeko andMino) | 102 | ||
| "Circle" (feat.Crush) | 183 | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
| Award | Year | Nominee | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Dragon Series Awards | 2024 | My Sibling's Romance | Best Male Entertainer | Nominated | [49] |
| Korean Music Awards | 2016 | Crumple | Best Rap Album | Nominated | [9] |
| Korean Hip-hop Awards | 2018 | Muggles' Mansion | Hip-hop Album of the Year | Nominated | [50] |
| Himself | Producer of the Year | Nominated | |||
| 2019 | Nominated | [51] | |||
| 2021 | Won | [20] | |||
| 2022 | Nominated | [52] | |||
| 2024 | Nominated | [53] | |||
| MBC Entertainment Awards | 2022 | Rookie Award – Male | Won | [22] | |
| 2023 | Popularity Award - Reality | Won | [23] | ||
| Brand Customer Loyalty Awards | 2023 | Multitainer - Male | Won | [54] |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
