Peniel Shin (Korean: 프니엘; born March 10, 1993) is a Korean-American singer and rapper based in South Korea. He debuted as a member of the South Korean boy group BtoB in 2012.
Biography
Shin was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States on March 10, 1993.[1][2] Shin attended Barbara B. Rose Elementary School before going on to Barrington Middle School Prairie Campus, located in the northwest suburbs near Chicago. He attended Chungdam High School after moving to Seoul to train.
Before joining Cube Entertainment, he was a trainee under JYP Entertainment and also appeared in San E's "Tasty San" music video in 2010.[3][4] In March 2012, he debuted as a sub-rapper and sub-vocal of idol group BTOB under Cube Entertainment.[5][6] He became the main host of Arirang's music program, Pops in Seoul in 2013.[7][8]
In 2016, Shin began to update his fans with his official vlog channel, POV. The channel features activities from Shin's daily life.[9] He released his first English mixtape with KAIROS, titled Homesick on May 1, 2016.[10][11][12][13] On September 18, BTOB-Blue released a music video for their debut single Stand by Me which was directed by Shin.[14][15] In November, he participated as a guest in the Korean show Hello Counselor, opening up about suffering from Alopecia Areata.[16]
In 2017, Shin held his first photography exhibition titled "Penography" which took place at a gallery named White Studio located in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The exhibition was held from March 30 to April 12.[15] Shin also led the photography for bandmate Changsub's debut Japanese EP bpm 82.5. After a month, on June 27, he released the digital single "That Girl" as part of BTOB's 2017 solo project, Piece of BtoB.[17]
In 2019, Shin was selected to host an English K-Pop radio show, “Skool Of K-Pop” on tbs eFM starting February 25.[18] He released his second digital single, "B.O.D", on May 13.[19] "B.O.D" is a hip-hop song that delivers the energy and vibe of a party inspired from Korean nightlife.[20] Two months later, Shin released the digital single, "Fly23", on July 31.[21] On August 27, Shin released his fourth digital single, "Flip", featuring South Korean rapper Beenzino.[22]
