Block B’s Zico Starts Military Duty On July 30

By Jae-Ha Kim
Kocowa.com
July 22, 2020

Block B’s Zico, 27, will begin his first day of mandatory military duty on July 30 in South Korea as a public service worker. His agency, KOZ Entertainment, confirmed the rumors, giving fans a little more than a week to wish the rapper good luck.

He’s the fifth band member to serve his country: Taeil, B-Bomb and U-Kwon have already enlisted. Jaehyo — the group’s first member to enlist — was discharged in December 2019.

2020.1.17 12:30 (KST) https://t.co/YcCwtsI9ZX
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지코 (ZICO) – 아무노래 pic.twitter.com/7KK6oJSi8h

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Zico started off 2020 with a bang! His single, “Any Song,” was a huge hit and achieved the Perfect All-Kill (PAK) on the South Korean charts. It was the first PAK of 2020, actually. (A PAK refers to a song hitting No. 1 on the daily and real-time charts of Bugs, Genie, Melon and Soribada, in addition to the real-time charts on iChart and Flo.)

The song was such a hit that the “Any Song” challenge was all the rage in Korea, with idols Sandara Park, Chungha and Mamamoo’s Hwasa dancing along with Zico, while other celebs (Tiffany Young, Park Shin-Hye and Lee Hyori) shared videos of themselves doing the cute choreography.

Even Song Ji-Hyo of “Running Man“ fame got in on the act, showing off her dancing skills with Zico. (You can see this on Episode 496 of the popular variety show.)

Facts about Zico

Born: Zico was born in Seoul on September 14, 1992.

Real name: Woo Ji-Ho (우지호). But before he began using Zico as his stage name, he was briefly known as Nacseo.

Runs in the family: Zico’s elder brother, Woo Tae-Woon, was also an idol. They both trained to be in Block B. Tae-Woon ended up in the group Speed instead.

Block B debut: The group debuted in 2011, with Zico as their leader. Their first single was “Freeze.”

Religion: Zico is Catholic and has a tattoo of his baptismal  name.

Entrepreneur: He formed his own talent agency, KOZ Entertainment, in 2019. KOZ stands for King Of the Zungle.

Seoul representative: Also in 2019, the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-Soon appointed the musician as a goodwill ambassador for the South Korean capital.

Notable awards:
2012: HipHopPlaya Awards (Mixtape of the Year for “Zico on the Block 1.5”)
2013: HipHopPlaya Awards (Collaboration of the Year for “Feel So Young” (remix) with Ugly Duck and Crush)
2014: MBC Entertainment Awards (Popularity Award for Music/Talk Show)
2015: Korean Music Awards (Best R&B/Soul Song for “Pour Up” by Dean, featuring Zico)
2016: Melon Music Awards (Top Ten Artists, Hot Trend, Rap/Hip Hop, Best Male Artist)
2017: Asia Artist Awards (Best Star Award)
2018: Mnet Asian Music Awards (Best Hip Hop & Urban Music for “SoulMate”)
2019: Asia Artist Awards (Best Producer)
2020: Golden Disc Award (Best R&B / Hip Hop)

Here’s hoping that he is enjoying his last few days before enlistment with family and friends, eating all his favorite food. Stay healthy in the army, Zico! And thank you for serving your country!