Previously, he was known as the visual and lead vocal of the group NU’EST and was active in the scene with the group for several years. The group made a splash in the Korean entertainment industry with the songs “Face,” “Action,” and “Hello.” Despite all their efforts, the group couldn’t seem to retain their popularity as newer and newer groups debuted and took over the scene. In a last-ditch attempt, the members decided to appear on the show and by a stroke of luck, Minhyun made it into the final debut line-up. Are you curious as to how Produce 101 and Wanna One helped boost Minhyun’s popularity? Well, wait no more as we find out more about Minhyun’s popularity around the world!
Minhyun’s Full Profile
Fun Facts About Minhyun
Minhyun is very good at selcas, and because of it, he has a collection of boyfriend pictures readily available on his Instagram. Due to his outstanding visuals, he has earned himself the nickname “Emperor Hwang,” something that was even written in his 1-minute Produce 101 self-introduction video. According to NU’EST member Aron, Minhyun uses the Kiehl’s Original Musk cologne. According to Yoon Seon-ho, a fellow trainee in Produce 101, Minhyun also uses the fragrance W Dressroom in the scent peach. Apparently, Minhyun cannot hold his liquor and has the lowest alcohol tolerance out of all NU’EST members. Minhyun has been a fan of JYJ and TVXQ from even before he debuted.
Minhyun in Produce 101 Season 2
After promoting with NU’EST for almost 5 years and not being able to hit it big, the group swallowed their pride and decided to appear on the Mnet survival show, Produce 101. After the success of the female trainees in the previous season, Kyulkyung and Nayoung, who got into the final 11 debut line-up, the members of NU’EST decided to try their hand at the show. It was still unheard of at the time, having debuted idols come on the show as a way to revive their career, as it mostly focuses on trainees that want to debut. Right as they enter, other trainees have a lot to say about the group and the bar is set for their performance, due to the fact that they have debuted. The members of NU’EST then step up on stage as it is their turn to perform in front of the judges and other trainees. They chose to perform a rearranged version of After School’s “Because of You,” which is a bold choice in itself as one of the judges and trainers is After School’s Kahi, who they have trained with in the past. As they perform, Kahi could no longer contain her emotions as she felt pity and sadness, from the standpoint of a senior that has watched her juniors flourish and now seeing them essentially crash and burn. The performance that was delivered also did nothing to impress the judges, leaving the members in B, C, and D class. What surprised fans is the members’ ability to adapt and rise in the ranks quite quickly after the initial evaluation, with Jonghyun and Minhyun in particular, in the center of the spotlight. Minhyun was able to raise his rank from D to B after the first theme song evaluation, making him a key player in the group song evaluation. This is when he first earned the title “Emperor Hwang,” for putting together what is now known as “The Justice League” team, a riff off of last year’s The Avengers team.
“The Justice League” team is what the fans called the “Sorry Sorry” team 2, which was cast and put together entirely by Minhyun. The group is composed on what was then underdogs of the competition, or at least members you would not think would have worked together, but Minhyun saw the big picture. First of all, he cast Jonghyun as the leader and rapper of the group, followed by Ong Seong-woo, to be the visual and main dancer. Then he picked Kwon Hyun-bin for his astounding height as well as Kim Jae-hwan to be their main vocal. This unlikely group outperformed most of the other teams, and rose to become a major competition in the latter half of the show.
Another legendary performance is the concept evaluation, in which Minhyun took to the stage as the center for the song “Never.” This song is one of the most talked about performances in the show’s history, as it is comprised of all the big name trainees, such as Minhyun, Jonghyun, Kim Jae-hwan, Ong Seong-woo, Lee Dae-hwi, Park Woo-jin, and Lai Guan-lin. This line-up just dazzles as, in the end, it is made up of mostly members who eventually made it to the final line-up, a gauge for the scale of the hype this group has.
In the end, Minhyun made it to the final 11-membered line-up, ranking at 9th place. This was such a bittersweet moment for NU’EST members and fans, as they had to acknowledge the fact that Minhyun would not be able to promote with the group for the next year and a half, bound to an exclusive contract with Wanna One. Not only that, but he was the only member of his group to make it, thus fans were worried he would feel lonely and such in the group alone. At the time, the possibility of a subunit comprised of the remaining four NU’EST members had not yet been discussed, thus fans were left up in the air about the fate of the group. Furthermore, fans could see Minhyun crying and sobbing right after Wanna One had finished their final greetings and the cameras turned off, further launching fans into worry.
