An Ultra Fan Guide to Chen, a Hidden Voice of K-Dramas

Chen first rose to fame when SM Entertainment debuted their newest boy group EXO in April 2012. He was revealed as the seventh member of the twelve-part boy group and debuted as a part of the EXO-M subunit alongside Lay, Luhan, Tao, Kris, and Xiu Min. Chen was one of the two Korean members who studied and learned Chinese in order to fulfil their role in EXO-M - the half of the group who produced their albums and songs in Mandarin whilst the other six members made EXO-K, producing their songs in Korean. He is an idol whose voice is known throughout numerous fandoms, being in many OSTs, on a small number of singing shows (such as King of Masked Singer).

So who is Chen?

Who is this idol that is known throughout the K-drama community with only one solo acting credit? Who is the man that many people could point out his voice, but couldn't point him out in a lineup?

Name: Kim Jong Dae (김종대) Stage Name: Chen (첸) Born: September 21, 1992 Birth Place: Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea Affiliates: EXO, EXO-M, EXO-CBX, Solo debut Acting Credits: 1 OST Credits: 10 (two as EXO-CBX, one collaboration with Xiu Min and Baek Hyun) YouTube Channel: Chen

Chen, aka Kim Jong Dae, was scouted by SM Entertainment in 2011. He became a member of EXO and was the last member of EXO-M to be revealed. He has become a powerful vocalist with a talent for high notes. Jong Dae made his solo music debut in 2019 with the album April, and a Flower - the music video can be found here. EXO, Jong Dae's group. performed in the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics - their full performance can be found here.

1. EXO revived the physical album sales in South Korea after a twelve-year hiatus, selling over one million copies of album XOXO 
2. EXO was previously the most awarded K-pop group and held the world record for most Daesangs until February 2019, a record they held for almost 2 years - this was finally published in the 2018 Guinness Book of World Records
3. EXO has more than 60 music show wins to their name.
4. EXO has received 114 awards overall and has been nominated for another 49 - including awards and wins in the west with no western promotion on SM Entertainment's part.
5. For more of EXO's achievements, you can click here for award show nominations and wins, and here for a summary of their achievements from debut up to 2018, February.

For Jong Dae himself:

1. Jong Dae was nominated as one of the top 100 most handsome faces under TC Candler's award
2. Jong Dae won the 16th Seoul International Youth Film Festival Award for Best Male OST for The Best Luck
3. Jong Dae's single Nosedive, a collaboration with Dynamic Duo, won the Best Rap/Hip Hop Award at the 9th Melon Music Awards; it was also nominated for January Song of the Year at the 7th Gaon Chart Music Awards. At the 19th Mnet Asian Music Awards, Nosedive won the Best Collaboration Award and was nominated for Qoo10 Song of the Year.

Jong Dae's EXO superpower is Thunder/Lightning Jong Dae sticks out his tongue habitually when he laughs His parents weren't happy with Jong Dae becoming a singer until they learned it was SM Entertainment who offered him the position Jong Dae's favourite colour is pink He is very quiet in interviews but is hyper in personality Jong Dae is the prankster of EXO He debuted in the musical In the Heights as Benny, the main role, in 2015, but has not done theatre since Jongdae's father is also a main vocalist, but he has not been revealed by Jong Dae

EXO Next Door follows the story of young, 23-year-old Ji Yeon Hee. She hasn't dated anyone in her life yet due to her reaction to blushing bright red and uncontrollably and becoming paralyzed around good-looking men. One day, four members of EXO move into the neighbourhood, hoping to keep a low profile in the house of Chan Yeol's grandfather. However, there's one problem - the house is right in front of Yeon Hee's house, and she ends up being their cleaner. What will happen after EXO move in next door?

So, EXO Next Door is your pretty typical idol-based drama. Weird relationships, cute romance and a lot of strange humour. For solid K-drama fans, this might not be the thing for you. Even for some EXO-Ls, it won't be the drama for them. For me, this was only a 6.5/10, but it was still enjoyable. It took a while to get through as quite a lot is relatively cringey. However, it has its good points. The humour is funny, the situations are - somewhat - relatable to a degree.  Jong Dae has a small support role in EXO Next Door in which he is only within a few episodes. However, it is easy to see his usual fun and charismatic, caring and sweet personality and nature. He clearly has a talent for acting that hasn't been shown off in full. I wouldn't say this is the best idol drama that has been released since the start of idol dramas, but I would say it's one of the better ones released. It's not the worst in any way, but it's definitely not the best when you put everything all together. However, I would say if you are interested in any of the EXO members' acting - this may be the best place to start.

The first OST that Jong Dae provided for a drama was the song The Best Luck for the drama, That's Okay, That's Love, in 2014. His groupmate, Kyung Soo, played the support role of Han Kang Woo in the drama, sparking a small list of OSTs Jong Dae has done for dramas featuring his fellow EXO members.

Jong Dae has done other OSTs featured in Kyung Soo's dramas. In 2018, his co-member Kyung Soo starred as the main role of Lee Yul in the drama 100 Days My Prince. Jong Dae produced the OST Cherry Blossom Love Song for the show, adding a beautifully ethereally romantic sound to the already bittersweet drama.

Jong Dae has also done a number of OSTs with fellow EXO members Xiu Min and Baek Hyun. The first that they produced together was For You for the drama Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo in which Baek Hyun starred as Wang Eun in a support role.

After this, Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin were debuted as the official first subunit of EXO - EXO-CBX - on October 31, 2016. Under their sub-unit name, they recorded Someone Like You for the police drama Live.

EXO-CBX also provided Running Man with an OST for their animation, with the cute, upbeat and high energy song, It's Running Time.

Jong Dae also produced Can't Say Goodbye (I'm Not Okay) for drama Missing 9. Missing 9 features Jong Dae's groupmate, Chan Yeol as support role Lee Yeol.

Descendants of the Sun, which features Jong Dae's label mate Onew of SHINee as support role Lee Chi Hoon, had Jong Dae's vocals feature in the collaboration song Everytime with soloist Punch.

The Chinese movie Beautiful Accident featured Jong Dae and EXO leader Su Ho on a Chinese lyric collaboration song called Beautiful Accident in 2016.

Jong Dae has also sung Make It Count, a smart, sophisticated-sounding song for the 2019 drama Touch Your Heart, starring Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na.

He has also released Rainfall as part of the 2019 drama Chief of Staff soundtrack. The song has a more intense sound, fitting the dramas dramatic theme and giving it a slightly melancholic feeling.

• Jong Dae has released two solo albums; April, and a flower and Dear my dear (title track, Shall we? here)
• Jong Dae's nicknames are 'Orange' and 'Camel-dinosaur', 'Dinosaur' and 'Whining Dinosaur'
• Jong Dae's English name is Matteo
• Jong Dae is known for having an exceptionally powerful vocal
• Jong Dae has an Advertisement Media MBA from Hanyang Cyber University

Did you know that Jong Dae sang some of these OSTs? As a drama fan, did you know of him as an OST singer? As an idol fan, did you know how many OSTs he's done? What do you think he should do an OST for next? Something romantic? A thriller? Maybe a comedy? Do you think next time he should act rather than sing, just sing or do both? Did you learn something new about EXO's whiny dinosaur? See you in the comments!