Kim Tae-hyung

 

Kim Tae-hyung  also known by his stage name V, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a vocalist of the South Korean boy group BTS

V was born Kim Tae-hyung on December 30, 1995, in the Seo District of Daegu, South Korea, and grew up in Geochang County. He is the eldest of three children, with a younger brother and sister. V first aspired to be a professional singer in elementary school, and eventually began taking saxophone lessons in early middle school as a means of pursuing the career V's father agreed with his journey on learning how to play the saxophone V initially became a trainee for Big Hit Entertainment after passing an audition in Daegu

After graduating from Korean Arts High School in 2014, V enrolled in Global Cyber University.

V coined the phrase "I purple you" during BTS' fanmeeting in November 2016. Ever since then, purple has become a symbol of BTS and their fans. UNICEF also used the phrase for their anti-bullying campaign in collaboration with BTS.

In 2018, Eugene Investment & Securities Co., Ltd. conducted analytical research on Google search trends relating to the K-pop industry. "V" ranked first on the chart, meaning it was the number one most searched keyword for the past five years in South Korea. In a survey conducted by Gallup Korea, V was chosen as the 4th most preferred idol of 2019; he was previously ranked 9th in 2018.

Various artists have cited him as an influence and role model, such as The Boyz's Younghoon and Hwall, Golden Child's Jaehyun and Jangjun, MVP's Been Rainz's Byun Hyun-min, Cravity's Serim, Ateez's Yeosang and Mingi, D-Crunch's Jungseung and Dylan, Lucente's Bao, Newkidd's Yunmin, Boy Story's Hanyu, TXT's Beomgyu, Produce X 101 contestants Koo Jungmo, Lee Taeseung and Mahiro Hidaka, and former Wanna One member Park Ji-hoon

V possesses a baritone singing voice that has received a generally positive critical reception, with particular praise for his vocal range and "husky" tone. He gained wider vocal recognition for his performance of his solo song "Stigma", and was praised for his falsettos that showed off his vocal range and unique musicality V's tonality on "Singularity", the opening track of BTS' Love Yourself: Tear (2018), was noted as a prominent "tone setter" on the album by music critic Blanca Méndez. Similarly, Katie Goh of Vice deemed it as "one of V's best vocal performances."^[  Karen Ruffini of Elite Daily stated in their article that "V... has no problem producing super soothing, low tones that are a key element in the overall sound for BTS," with Tamar Herman from Billboard also noting that V's lower range is a prominent piece of BTS' music. V's musicality is heavily influenced by his love for jazz and classical music. Eric Benet and Ruben Studdard are among his inspirations

As a performer, V's style is known for its "duality", or his ability to evoke various emotions on stage. British journalist Rhian Daly, writing for NME, particularly noted this when discussing V's performance of "Singularity" during the Love Yourself: Speak Yourself World Tour, describing his movements as "precise and deliberate". Crystal Bell from MTV noted V's performances often work with live cameras in concert venues, and how he utilizes them to create subtle expressions during performances.