Among the contestant of K-Pop Star 2, a trio of young and handsome singers-musicians, Raccoon Boys, stole the attention of black horse contestants with their singing, rapping, and music talent in general. Although they didn’t win the contest, Raccoon Boys managed to capture the heart of K-Pop Star’s fans. In this article, Channel-Korea will talk about Raccoon Boys’ progress and performance in K-Pop Star 2. So, stay tuned!
Full Members’ Profiles
McKay Kim
Name: Kim Joo-Hyun Stage name: McKay Kim Nickname: California Own Date of Birth: 1993 Place of Birth: San Diego, California YouTube: McKayKimBap Instagram: @mckaymusic Twitter: mckaymusic_off Facebook: mckaymusic Soundcloud: mckay Management: Dorothy Company
Facts :
On his first audition in front of judges, he performed his own song, “Month of June.” McKay Kim joined YouTube and made his account on January 6th, 2011. His YouTube account gathered more than 3.7 million views. McKayKimBap has more than 78700 subscribers. McKay Kim often covers popular songs and uploads them on his YouTube channel. McKay Kim posted his collaboration with BTS’ Rap Monster on his YouTube account.
Brian Shin
Name: Shin Chansik Stage Name: Brian Shin Date of Birth: 1995 Place of Birth: Cupertino, United States
Kim Min-suk
Name: Kim Min-suk Stage Name: Ruddie Miller Date of Birth: February 25th, 1992 Place of Birth: Asan, South Chungcheong Province Position: Rapper Instagram: @ruddiemiller Facebook: ruddiemillerofficial YouTube: ruddiemiller Soundcloud: ruddiemiller Zodiac: Pisces Management: NH Media Facts :
Kim Min-suk or Ruddie Miller joined YouTube and made his account on December 30th, 2018. His YouTube account has gathered more than 12.000 views. Ruddie Miller has 491 subscribers. McKay Kim often covers popular songs and uploads them on Ruddie’s YouTube channel as well.
K-Pop Star 2
Preliminary audition for K-Pop Star 2 was conducted in Canada, the United States, Australia, and England. Brian Shin and McKay Kim participated in an audition held in Los Angeles. Brian Shin got the notification when he was attending class in his school while McKay Kim received the latter stage audition invitation at his own house. Brian Shin got support from his schoolmate. On his first audition in front of judges, Brian Shin was very nervous because he got to see his favorite idol, the original Korean idol, BoA. Without hesitation, he asked whether he can call her BoA sister. BoA definitely agreed and Brian Shin looked extremely happy. Before the actual singing audition, it was revealed that BoA had looked at Brian’s singing videos on his YouTube account. On his YouTube account, Brian posted a video of him covering Justin Bieber’s song. Due to his incredible singing talent, Justin Bieber’s producer made a phone call to Brian Shin and invited him to attend Justin Bieber’s concert. From that moment on, it was clear that Brian Shin has the global talent that K-Pop Star 2 was looking for. In front of all the judges, Brian Shin sang “So Sick” by Ne-yo. At first, he looked childish and pure but getting accustomed to the atmosphere, he surprised the judges with his sweet and clear voice. However, in the middle of his performance, he couldn’t keep the vibe and couldn’t impress the judges more. His singing became bland and he was stopped during his performance.
After passing the first round of auditions, Brian Shin got private teaching to improve his singing skills. It was BoA that taught him different techniques to reach a higher pitch. In order to reach a higher tone, BoA taught him to relax and hold his hand higher to make higher tones. The technique proved useful when he performed “I Love You” by 2NE1. K-Pop Star 2 viewers were overwhelmed by Brian’s cute face and shy personality. At the time of the aired audition, Brian Shin was just 17 years old. Within an instant, fans were looking for his social media account, especially his Twitter and Instagram accounts. However, they were left disappointed because Brian had locked his social media account and protected his privacy. According to viewers, there wasn’t much information about the initial audition of Kim Min-suk. They knew that at the time of the audition, Kim Min-suk was 21 years old. Before joining Raccoon Boys, apparently, he was separated from another competitor. Perhaps, since he was auditioning through the rap section rather than from the singing section. McKay Kim was 20 years old at the time of the audition. Before the audition, he looked like an ordinary kid from the neighborhood, but after reaching the audition stage, his hairstyle improved much and he looked much better. Viewers complimented his performance and his husky voice. He has an amazing husky and deep voice that was beyond his young age. According to information, his mother originated from Korea and she worked as a singer in Korea before moving to the United States. McKay Kim’s face has a mixture of Western and Eastern facial features. In January 2013, McKay Kim, Brian Shin, and Kim Min-suk gathered and joined to form a trio group called Raccoon Boys. After their first stage performance, the three idol aspiring singers quickly became the dark horse of the survival show. All three judges were amazed by their collaboration performance. Initially, the judges weren’t expecting much from Raccoon Boys. On their first stage performance, Raccoon Boys performed the popular Michael Jackson song “Thriller.” The only female judge, BoA, was amazed and she praised their performance. She branded the boys as the male version of Su Pearls from K-Pop Star Season 1. Yang Hyun-suk even went as far as saying that he got chills when watching their performance. He revealed that it wasn’t too often getting chills after watching a performance from amateur artists. After receiving positive comments from YG Entertainment and SM Entertainment, Park Jin-young of JYP Entertainment gave them a special license to debut at his agency. All members of Raccoon Boys got the chance to debut as a group under his agency. Raccoon Boys looked handsome in their leather jacket outfits. McKay Kim played guitar, Kim Min-suk sang the rap verses, while Brian Shin performed as lead singer. Brian Shin surprised the viewers with his high vocal pitch. Voice harmony between McKay Kim and Brian Shin made all three judges nod their heads in unison and follow the stroke of McKay Kim’s guitar. In between verses, Kim Min-suk sang the intense rap verses that made the judges surprised. Their performance deserved stand-up applause. BoA said that this kind of performance was the reason K-Pop Star exists, to uncovered raw talents and make them into future K-Pop stars.
In another performance, Raccoon Boys followed their successful first collaboration and performed “Like This.” Their performance got huge applause from not only the judges but also from all the K-Pop Star contestants. Sadly, their performances in the following stages stalled and lacked new innovation. Raccoon Boys were eliminated on March 17th, 2013, at the 4th live stage. At the end of K-Pop Star 2, it was Akdong Musician that emerged as the winner and earned the chance to debut as K-Pop Star winner. That was all the information about Raccoon Boys. Among all its members, only McKay Kim and Kim Min-suk (Ruddie Miller) are still active in making music and entertain their fans. Let’s wish that their careers can reach a new height and they will produce more hit singles in the future. Don’t forget to kindly share your opinion about Raccoon Boys’ performance and progress in K-Pop Star 2 in the comment section below!
