Aaron Youngmin Kwak, better known by the stage name Aron, is an American-Korean singer, rapper and DJ. He debuted in 2012 as a sub-vocalist and sub-rapper of South Korean boy group NU'EST. He is a former member of the group was also their English spokesperson.
Early Life[]
Aron was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was born to Korean father, Kwak Haeyong and mother, Kim Minjung. He has two younger sisters, Hannah and Grace Kwak.
He was a student at Loyola High School, an all-boys Jesuit Preparatory school in Southern California. In 2011, He was accepted into New York University's journalism department, but he decided to pursue his dreams to be a singer.
Career[]
Pre-debut[]
Aron auditioned for “Pledis USA Personal Auditions” in 2011, in which he sang and rapped Ne-Yo’s 'So Sick', and was quickly recruited afterward.
Prior to debut, Aron made numerous appearances in his labelmates' music releases as a member of Pledis Boys. He was shown as a backup dancer in After School Blue's Wonder Boy and appeared in Pledis's Christmas release Love Letter and Pledis Boys' own music video for the song.
NU'EST[]
On 15th March 2012, Aron officially debuted as a member of NU'EST along with JR, Baekho, Minhyun and Ren.
In February 2013, Aron injured his right thigh muscle one day before the group's comeback performance during showcase rehearsal. However, he was still able to perform on comeback stage of Mnet M Countdown. After few months, however, Aron was taken to the emergency room due to acute enteritis in July. He was unable to walk and could not take part in the "L.O.Λ.E Tour" in Taiwan on the 21st July.
He also made appearances in various music videos during his time in the group. Aron was the main character in the music video of NuSoul's "The Ceiling" to support NuSoul's debut. In 2014, he was featured Chad Future's 'Got it Figured Out.' He also made an appearance on the f(x)'s Amber ′Shakes That Brass′ music video.
In 2017, NU’EST halted all promotions since the other NU'EST members, JR, Baekho, Minhyun and Ren participated in the reality show, Produce 101, while Aron took a rest due to his leg injury.
DJ[]
From 8 April 2013 to 19 April 2015, Aron became a radio DJ for Arirang's Music Access. The program had been more popular and posted an average of 3,000 stories a day on the bulletin board after Aron became the DJ. Then, Aron took up a position as a DJ on SBS PopAsia with his own show Aron's Hangout on 14 August 2015. On 22 April 2016, Aron ended his position as a DJ at SBS PopAsia's.
Health reasons, 5-month hiatus & return[]
Pledis had confirmed and announced on January 2, 2021 that he will be going on a temporary hiatus due to experiencing symptoms of anxiety and the group will promote as a four-member group until further notice. However, he did participate in the recordings of the group's upcoming second studio album in the same year to be released on April 19, though he will sit out of promotions and activities until he's fully recovered.
On June 29, Aron had officially confirmed via a special Naver V Live his return to all group activities after five to almost six months of his hiatus of recovery.
Passing of dog[]
On the morning of July 24, 2021, it had been revealed from Aron that his beloved pet dog, Noah, had passed away. He shared a letter to his fans about the bad news.
Trivia[]
- Aron became decided he wanted to be a singer when he watched Son Dambi’s “Crazy" MV, since then he started to have interests in K-pop, singing and dancing.
- Aron was the last person to join the group.
- He could not speak Korean at all when he first joined Pledis, but managed to learn Korean in less than a year.
- He got 2200/2400 on the SATs.
- He was a newspaper editor in high school.
- He admires American R&B singer Anthony Hamilton.
- He is close friends with labelmate Yoonjo, former labelmates Raina (in which Aron had previously been featured in her song "Loop"), Lizzy (now known as Park Soo Ah) and Yoo Ara, as well as DAY6's Jae, KARD's BM, The Rose's Woosung, former SNSD member Jessica, f(x)'s Amber, Luna and Krystal, GOT7's Mark, EXID's Hyelin and EXO's D.O., Chanyeol, Baekhyun and former member Tao and INFINITE's Sungjong along with various other people born in '92 or other '93 liners who also aren't labelmates with him.
- His favorite Korean Group is DBSK.
- He likes cartoons. Some of his favorites are SpongeBob SquarePants and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
- His favorite sport is golf.
Social Media[]
- Instagram: theaaronkwak