Get to know EXO’s main rapper Chanyeol and fall in love

Is EXO becoming bigger than BTS? The South Korean-Chinese group is slowly conquering the world with their amazing talent. EXO formed in 2011 in Seoul, South Korea. The boy band started as a twelve-member group with two independent subgroups: EXO-K which performs in Korean and EXO-M which performs in Mandarin. 

After a series of changes, SM Entertainment finalized the group’s name to EXO – meaning exoplanet, a term referring to planets outside the solar system. Due to a legal battle, EXO’s management company, SM Entertainment, cut the group down to nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O, Kai, and Sehun. 

With nine amazing members, fans might find it difficult to have a favorite EXO personality. Let’s explore the life of EXO’s main rapper Chanyeol so find out if he’s your favorite EXO band member – who knows, maybe he’ll be your favorite artist in general!

Chanyeol’s movie inspiration

Chanyeol, whose real name is Park Chan-yeol, was born on November 27th, 1992. His talents include rapping, singing, songwriting, producing, acting, and modeling. (This guy truly is the full package!) Chanyeol has a sister named Park Yoo-ra who is a former announcer at South Korean broadcasting station YTN, and at MBC. 

After watching School of Rock as a child, Chanyeol became interested in music and started playing the drums. (We don’t blame him – ‘School of Rock’ was a hit.) When he was sixteen years old, Chanyeol attended a private acting institution where he became good friends with Block B’s P.O. 

Chanyeol later became a trainee under SM Entertainment after he won second place in the 2008 Smart Model Contest. While training under SM Entertainment, he began to gravitate towards rapping.

Love for acting

Prior to Chanyeol’s EXO debut, he made cameo appearances in TVXQ’s “HaHaHa Song” music video & Girls’ Generation’s “Genie” music video in 2008 & 2010 respectively.

Apart from being a phenomenal rapper for EXO, Chanyeol has also starred in various television dramas & movies. In October 2013, Chanyeol joined the cast of SBS’ reality TV show Law of the Jungle during its filming in Micronesia. He also composed & recorded an original soundtrack titled “Last Hunter” for the show in 2015 after rejoining. 

He has starred in So I Married an Anti-fan (2016), Secret Queen Makers (2018), and Salut D’Amour (2015). He acted in the dramas Things We Do That We Know We Will Regret (KBS2, 2008), To The Beautiful You (SBS, 2012 – he had a cameo appearance), Welcome to Royal Villa (jTBC, 2013 – cameo), EXO Next Door (LINE/Naver TV Cast, 2015), Missing 9 (MBC, 2017), Memories of the Alhambra (2018).

Rapping to the top

In addition to being a successful actor, Chanyeol has made a huge contribution to EXO. In June 2015, Chanyeol, along with fellow EXO members Chen & Lay, co wrote the Korean version of the track “Promise” from Love Me Right, the re-released version of EXO’s second studio album.

Chanyeol later wrote the rap for “Lightsaber” EXO’s promotional single for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was subsequently included in their third extended play Sing for You. In October 2016, Chanyeol & American R&B singer Tinashe were featured in American hip hop group Far East Movement & American electronic musician Marshmello’s song “Freal Luv”.

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Has EXO member Chanyeol rapped his way to your heart? Do you love his work on screen? Let us know in the comments!