Cho Seung-youn

Cho Seung-youn (, born August 5, 1996), known professionally as Woodz (stylized in all caps), is a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper, dancer, and record producer.

Cho Seung-youn was born on August 5, 1996, in Seoul, South Korea.

Raised as an only child, his parents both worked as businesspeople: his mother owned a Chinese restaurant in Cheongdam-dong as well as a travel agency in Sinsa-dong, both in the Gangnam district of Seoul; his father owned a Korean restaurant in the Philippines.

Due to his family's business obligations, he often moved during his childhood.

Initially intending to pursue a professional career in association football, Woodz was accepted into the youth development system of Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Sport Club Corinthians Paulista and moved to Brazil in his final year of elementary school, during which he resided in the São Paulo municipalities of Penápolis and Santos.

As a teenager, he played as a main striker for Sport Club Corinthians Paulista's junior affiliate team for two years; as is customary for Brazilian football players, he adopted a Portuguese mononym, Luizinho.

He later attended Reedley International School in Manila, Philippines, for one year to learn English.

Growing up, Woodz was not fond of urban music and K-pop, and primarily listened to Korean ballad.

However, he began watching episodes of the South Korean music program Music Bank to cope with homesickness while studying abroad.

Inspired by the song "Let's Go On a Vacation" by Lee Seung-gi, Woodz returned to South Korea to pursue a musical career.

He enrolled in Hanlim Multi Art School in the Practical Dance Department one year late due to his time overseas.

He rose to fame as a rapper and vocalist in the South Korean-Chinese boy band Uniq, formed by Yuehua Entertainment in 2014, before co-founding the musical collectives M.O.L.A in 2015 and Drinkcolor in 2016.

Woodz's first public appearance with Uniq was on October 16, 2014, when the group performed on the music program M Countdown.

Their debut single "Falling in Love", recorded in both Mandarin and Korean, was released in both China and South Korea four days later on October 20.

Their first mini album EOEO, also recorded in both Mandarin and Korean, was released in both countries on April 24, 2015.

As the group's main rapper and sub-vocalist, Woodz was involved in Uniq's musical direction from their debut, penning his own rap verses and other lyrics for their Korean releases.

When Uniq's Korean promotions as a full group became more infrequent in the latter half of 2015 due to rising political tensions between China and South Korea, members of the group began pursuing solo activities such as acting; however, Woodz expressed a desire to focus his career as a musician instead.

On August 14, 2015, the formation of the musical collective M.O.L.A was announced via the release of the song "My Way" on YouTube, featuring Woodz as one of its founding members alongside 15&'s Park Ji-min and producer Nathan.

Three more members—Pentagon's Kino, Seventeen's Vernon, and guitarist Hoho—later joined the collective.

Following an appearance on the fifth season of the South Korean rap competition show Show Me the Money, Woodz debuted as a solo artist under the stage name Luizy in July 2016, with the release of the collaborative hip-hop single "Recipe".

After graduating in 2016, he was admitted to Dong-ah Institute of Media and Arts' Division of Entertainment in Broadcasting.

Woodz later transferred to Global Cyber University, enrolling in the Department of Entertainment and Media.

Woodz auditioned more than 50 times for various entertainment companies, such as SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, before being accepted as a trainee at YG Entertainment.

He had been training at YG for one and a half years before he joined the Uniq pre-debut team.

Uniq, a multinational collaboration managed by the Chinese company Yuehua Entertainment, had members trained by both Yuehua Entertainment and YG Entertainment in the lead up to their official debut in both China and South Korea.

In 2016, Woodz applied to participate in the rap competition show Show Me the Money 5; he had previously applied for the show's fourth season but was unable to participate due to conflicts with Uniq's EOEO promotions.

Although eliminated in the early rounds of the show, he drew positive attention from viewers.

After his appearance on Show Me the Money 5, he co-founded the production crew Drinkcolor alongside fellow producers Eden, Oddtom, and M.O.L.A member Nathan on July 26, 2016.

Woodz made his solo debut under the stage name Luizy three days later, on July 29, with the self-produced hip-hop single "Recipe", a collaboration with rapper Flowsik.

The two wrote the track together after becoming friends while competing on Show Me the Money.

Woodz subsequently released the single "Baby Ride" featuring Im Hyun-sik of BtoB on August 14, 2016.

Woodz collaborated with Im again in March 2017 on the single "Eating Alone", included on the soundtrack for the music variety show Sing For You.

Six months later, he featured on Lee Gi-kwang's song "Dream".

He co-founded his personal production team, Team HOW, in 2018.

He changed his stage name to Woodz in 2018 to accommodate shifts in musical direction.

His releases as Woodz—including the singles "Pool", "Different", and "Meaningless"—delved into alternative R&B and featured heavier emphasis on vocals.

In addition to his solo work, he has written and produced songs for artists in both his native South Korea and China, as well as for the shows The Unit: Idol Rebooting Project and Idol Producer.

In 2019, Woodz participated in the South Korean survival show Produce X 101.

Finishing in fifth place, he became a member of the show's project boy band, X1, which debuted under Swing Entertainment in August 2019.

Following the group's disbandment on January 6, 2020, in the aftermath of the Mnet vote manipulation investigation, Woodz resumed his solo career by releasing his first EP Equal on June 29, 2020, with the lead single "Love Me Harder" (파랗게).