He developed an interest in American hip-hop and rap in middle school. Having started out as a songwriter at the age of 16 performing with the mighty hip-hop artist Keith Ape, he is also the first Asian artist to join Spotify House, a main at global music festival South by Southwest, alongside international artists including Miguel and Chvrches. By the age of 18, under the name Deanfluenza, he wrote hit tracks for K-pop groups such as EXO’s “Black Pearl” and VIXX’s “Voodoo Doll.” When asked about the name Deanfluenza as a composer, he explained, “The first part Dean is the name I go by as a producer and writer. With the idea of wanting to make an impact or influence in the music industry in a similar fashion to the way a virus is spread, I combined the words influenza and DEAN together, which ended up being DEANfluenza,” as reported by HiphopKR. He eventually shortened it to the simpler stage name DEAN. When he turned 20, he joined the Korean music production company-turned-agency Joombas Music Group, which has a Los Angeles office, that was established by famous producer Hyuk Shin. Before debuting in South Korea, DEAN first stepped into the international market in July 2015 by dropping the single “I’m Not Sorry” featuring Grammy winner-singer Eric Bellinger with Universal Records.
He also collaborated with American singer Milla J on “Here & Now” and American musician Anderson Paak on “Put My Hands on You.”
In October 2015, he debuted in South Korea by dropping the singles “I Love It” featuring Korean rapper Dok2 and “Pour Up” featuring Block B’s rapper Zico which was named Best R&B and Soul Song at the Korean Music Awards on February 29, 2016. He also collaborated with the Korean hip-hop duo Dynamic Duo for “How You Doin’?”
He is good friends with Block B’s rapper Zico and Korean hip-hop artist Crush who are all the same age. The three collaborated on and released the track “Bermuda Triangle” which became a huge hit.
He also succeeded in catching the attention of Korean musicians. According to Korea Times US, South Korean singer Junggigo personally contacted DEAN to collaborate. Then, they dropped the single “247,” also collaborating with Korean hip-hop artists Zion. T and Crush. The following year, on March 25, 2016, he released his first extended play (EP) 130 Mood: TRBL which charted at no. 3 on the Billboard’s World Albums Chart, at no. 10 on the Gaon Album Chart, and at no. 22 on the Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums Chart. Looking back at the work that made him so popular in the first place, his debut EP gained him a serious amount of chart success and critical acclaim. Because he had already proven himself as a successful hitmaker, many people felt curious about his net worth. His success and net worth are rapidly growing since 2015. Some of his fans even searched up the information on Google, and then people thought he was a billionaire. However, Google made a mistake by putting the information “net worth is 6 billion dollars” on his Google short profile. The problem occurred because a billionaire named Kwon Hyuk shares the same name as DEAN. Though, there are sources, validity unknown, that claim he is also a billionaire. Alchetron states his net worth is 5 billion USD as of 2017, and Idol Net Worth says his net worth is 5.64 billion USD. However, there are significant differences between each version of his net worth to be found. According to The Net Worth, DEAN’s total net worth is estimated to be around $300 thousand as of 2016. According to Life, Tailored’s website, DEAN’s net worth is $500 thousand. But, the truth is unknown because there is no clarification from DEAN himself or from his management. In 2018, Kwon Hyuk’s net worth has grown significantly. However, we do not have exact details. DEAN’s primary income source is his occupation as a rapper, songwriter, and producer. No matter how high his net worth is, DEAN’s talent is worth billions, which is agreed on by all his fans.
