Ravi (rapper)

Kim Won-sik (born February 15, 1993), better known by his stage name Ravi, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and founder of the record label Groovl1n and The L1VE. He is a former member of the South Korean boy group VIXX and its sub-unit VIXX LR. He debuted as a solo artist on January 9, 2017, with the release of his debut mini album R.eal1ze.

2012–2013: Debut and project solo activities
Ravi was one of ten trainees who were contestants on Mnet's survival reality show MyDOL. During his time on the show, Ravi featured in the music videos for Brian Joo's "Let This Die" and Seo In-guk's "Shake It Up". He eventually became one of six contestants chosen as the final line-up for a new boy group VIXX. VIXX debuted on May 24, 2012, on M! Countdown with the single "Super Hero", which Ravi co-wrote. On June 14 and 15, during "Super Hero" promotions, Ravi participated in Baek Ji-young's performances of her song "Good Boy".

In 2013, he appeared in episode four of SBS's television drama The Heirs alongside his group members.

2014–2015: Collaborations and VIXX LR
In 2014, Ravi collaborated with American artist Chad Future with "Rock the World" from Future's first mini album. Ravi also appeared in the music video for the single.

In 2015, after much deliberation, Ravi became a contestant of Mnet's television rap competition series Show Me the Money 4 but was eliminated in the second round. Ravi was featured as a rapper in Rain's Chinese song "Diamond Love" from the soundtrack of the Chinese drama Diamond Lover (克拉戀人).

On August 7, 2015, Jellyfish Entertainment released a video trailer on VIXX's official website after a mysterious countdown with a silhouette of VIXX's last special album Boys' Record. As time went by, members of VIXX disappeared until finally only Leo and Ravi were left behind, which caused fans to speculate that it meant another comeback for all six members. A video trailer of VIXX LR was then revealed.

VIXX LR was confirmed by Jellyfish Entertainment to be VIXX's first official sub-unit composed of main rapper Ravi and main vocalist Leo. Their debut mini album, Beautiful Liar, was released on August 17, 2015. On the same day VIXX LR held their first showcase for Beautiful Liar at Yes24 Muv Hall in Seoul′s Mapo-gu.

In December 2015, Ravi was featured in the ballad girl group Melody Day's single "When It Rains", as part of their Winter Ballad Project.

On December 31, 2015, Ravi dropped a teaser on his Twitter and Instagram accounts for his first mixtape R.ebirth with tracks composed, written and produced by himself.

2016–2019: R.ebirth, DamnRa, solo debut with R.eal1ze, Nirvana, and R.ook Book
On January 4, 2016, Ravi revealed the first pre-release to his mixtape R.ebirth, with the track "Where Should I Go" featuring Microdot. The second pre-release "OX" featuring Basick, the winner of Show Me the Money 4, was released on January 20, 2016. The third pre-release "Good Girls" featuring Hanhae and Soulman was released on February 4, 2016. The fourth and final pre-release "Move" was released on February 22, 2016. All the mixtape  pre-releases have been released on VIXX's official YouTube channel and on Ravi's official SoundCloud. On March 4, 2016, the track list was revealed on Ravi's Instagram. The full version of R.ebirth was released on March 12, 2016, available for free as streaming media also on SoundCloud and YouTube. To celebrate the release of R.ebirth, Ravi held a showcase, titled Ravi's 1st Live Party [R.EBIRTH], on March 19 and March 20, 2016, at the Hyundai Card Understage in Seoul. Rappers Basick, Esbee, and DJ/producer SAM&SP3CK attended the show as featured performers and VIXX members Leo, N, Ken, Hongbin and Hyuk also attended as guests.

On July 14, 2016, Ravi participated in Jellyfish Entertainment's new music channel project Jelly Box and released the single "DamnRa" featuring SAM&SP3CK, a DJ/producer duo. "DamnRa" was released along with a performance music video. On September 26, Ravi released a mixtape track titled "Who are U" and featuring Superbee.

As of October 2016 with the release of Kratos, Ravi has contributed to the writing and composing of over 46 songs recorded by VIXX.

On December 26, 2016, it was announced that Ravi would debut as a solo artist with a mini album titled R.eal1ze on January 9, 2017, and will hold a solo concert from January 6 to January 8 at the Yes24 Muv Hall in Seoul's Mapo District.

On January 4, 2017, Ravi pre-released a single, "Home Alone" featuring Jung Yong-hwa from his upcoming first mini album R.eal1ze.

On January 9, 2017, Ravi released his debut mini album R.eal1ze, which contains three tracks from his previous mixtape plus four new tracks including the title track “Bomb” featuring San E. He was the producer, and personally in charge of the composition, arrangement and writing the lyrics of every song.

On February 7, 2019, Ravi and Chungha confirmed that they will release their collaboration on February 18. On the promised day the new single Live was released on various music streaming websites.

On February 22, 2019, Ravi's second mini album R.ook Book was announced to be released on March 5.

During March, Ravi appeared in several music programs performing "Runway" and "Tuxedo".

Ravi had his third solo concert REAL-LIVE R.OOK BOOK which took place at the Yes24 Live Hall in Seoul on March 22–24.

On November 8, 2019, Ravi released the first part of his third mini album Limitless. The second part of the album was released on November 23.

2020–2023: El Dorado, Paradise, Roses, Love&Fight and departure from VIXX
On February 24, 2020, Ravi released his first studio album El Dorado, with "Rockstar" as the title track. On July 28, 2020, Ravi released his summer mini album Paradise, along with the title track of the same name featuring Ha Sung-woon.

On June 3, 2021, Ravi released his fourth mini album Roses, along with the title tracks "Flower Garden" and "Cardigan".

On February 8, 2022, Ravi released his second studio album Love&Fight, with "Winner" as the title track featuring Ash Island. On February 21, 2022, Ravi's agency confirmed that his concerts in February were temporarily postponed due to the spread of the coronavirus. In April 2022, Ravi announced that he would resume concerts on May 7 and 8, 2022.

After appearing as a regular cast member for 2 years and 4 months, Ravi departed from KBS variety show 2 Days & 1 Night, in order to prepare for his upcoming military enlistment. His last episode aired on May 1, 2022, and he released a single titled "Who We Are" on the same day as a farewell song.

On August 11, 2022, it was announced that Ravi would release a teaser image of Ravi's new single album 'BYE'.

On September 5, 2022, it was announced that Ravi will release the EP album "Love & Holiday", which will be released on September 12.

On October 6, 2022, they released their new single "Fashionable Dance", which will be released on October 13.

On April 11, 2023, Ravi announced that he had departed from VIXX following the corruption issue related to his military service.

Groovl1n
On June 27, 2019, Ravi revealed via his Twitter and Instagram account the name of his own hip-hop label name Groovl1n a combination of Groove and Goblin which means "The cool folk of the orient". At that time, the label included Cold Bay, Chillin Homie and Xydo (Park Chi Woong) whom he worked with in the past. Currently, Korean rappers JUSTHIS, NAFLA, the dance crew PRIMEKINGZ, and new artist Suen are included.

The L1ve
On July 20, 2021, Ravi established his new label, The L1ve. The label aims to support music artists across different genres.

On July 22, 2021, Ailee announced that she would be joining the new label, as their first official artist. On August 31, 2021, it was revealed that Wheein signed an exclusive contract with the agency.

Military service
On October 7, 2022, Ravi's agency announced that he will enlist for his mandatory military service on October 27. After completing basic training he will complete his service as a social worker.

Suspicion of involvement in the 2022 epilepsy military service corruption case
On January 12, 2023, Ravi was named by the media as the rumored idol rapper who availed of the services of military broker Gu Mo to evade enlistment.

Ravi was accused of declaring epilepsy to lower his health to grade 4 in order to serve as a public service worker instead of an active duty soldier. The reason for this suspicion was due to his records being found on Gu Mo’s phone, although the content of the records was never specified. That same day Ravi’s agency GROOVL1N, released an official statement saying they were closely examining the truth about the situation: ''“It is only right to give a statement as quickly as possible, but since the problem is related to military duty, we think it is only appropriate to first find out the details and then give thorough explanations after, so we are currently trying to figure out the details. In addition, if there is a request for an investigation related to this case, [Ravi] will undergo it faithfully at any time.”'' At this point, Ravi had been enlisted as a public service worker since October 27, 2022, and did not make any official statements until his first trial on April 11, 2023.

On February 9, prosecutors indicted 47 people for military service corruption. 42 people who admitted to falsifying medical certificates for epilepsy as well as 5 family members and acquaintances who served as accomplices were charged with violating the Military Service Act. Ravi was notably excluded from the indictments. The current representative of Ravi’s agency Park Sung Kyu gave an official statement, saying that contrary to initial reports, Ravi was never even contacted by the prosecution or informed of his official charges. He further stated that Ravi did not receive a health grade of 4 due to epilepsy, which meant that Ravi did not use epilepsy as a reason to evade serving as an active duty soldier. Ravi had other valid health conditions that disqualified him from active duty service.

On March 6, Chief Judge Kim Ji-sook of the Seoul Southern District Court conducted a pre-arrest interrogation of Ravi, and rejected an arrest warrant submitted by the prosecutors, stating that Ravi posed no risk of fleeing or destroying evidence.

On April 3, Ravi was officially indicted by the prosecution. Prosecutors leaked the reports of his official medical examinations conducted by the Military Manpower Administration. The report revealed that Ravi had originally received a health grade of 3 during his first examination in 2012 due to bronchial asthma. By the time of Ravi’s second examination in 2019, his health had already downgraded to grade 4. The leaked medical reports revealed that as early as 2019, Ravi was not qualified to serve as an active duty soldier due to various health conditions.

Ravi had multiple disabilities that disqualified him from active duty. He has narcolepsy, panic disorder, compulsive disorder, depression and bronchial asthma. There are many instances since his debut in 2012 where his various conditions have been mentioned publicly.

Ravi’s narcolepsy was mentioned by the interviewer in this early news article from Sports Hanguk just 1 week after he debuted in 2012. Ravi later mentioned his narcolepsy himself in a Vogue Girl interview from November 2012. There are multiple clips of Ravi's narcolepsy during VIXX's reality shows MyDOL and MTV VIXX Diary that were filmed in 2012. In 2020, Ravi mentions on DinDin's SBS Music High radio show that his narcolepsy used to be so bad, he would fall asleep while being scolded. As a member of Season 4 of the KBS variety show 2 Days & 1 Night from 2019 to 2022, there were also various clips showing Ravi's narcolepsy while filming the show.

Ravi released the song "Live" (featuring Chungha) on February 18, 2019 to speak about his depression, panic disorder, and struggles with contemplating suicide.

Last May 2022 on their official Youtube channel, VIXX members discussed Ravi’s panic disorder occurring as early as 2016. Ravi suffered a panic attack that lasted for hours, delaying the filming of their music video The Closer. In 2018, Ravi suffered a panic attack and collapsed while filming the MBC variety show Real Man 300 (진짜사나이 300). Ravi mentioned he suffered from panic disorder on episode 768 of the MBC TV series Radio Star Ravi's interview with GQ Korea in February 2020 revealed that in 2019, he was diagnosed with panic disorder and compulsive disorder.

Ravi talked about his compulsive disorder on episode 97 of the MBC talk show Video Star in 2018. On episode 66 of the KBS variety show 2 Days & 1 Night, Ravi confides about his panic disorder and compulsive disorder to cast member Yeon Jung Hoon. Ravi’s goodbye letter on his last episode of 2 days & 1 Night also mentions his depression and panic disorder.

On April 3, Dong A Ilbo released an exclusive report on Ravi’s indictment from the office of Rep. Jeon Ju Hye of the Ministry of Justice. They revealed that it was the co-CEO of GROOVL1N, only named by the media as CEO A, who contacted broker Gu Mo seeking a postponement for Ravi and an exemption for rapper Nafla. CEO A signed the contract with Gu Mo, and it was his messages not Ravi’s that were found on Gu Mo’s phone. Gu Mo sent a text message to CEO A saying, "Good, it's an exemption." There has been no evidence provided of Ravi directly contacting or seeking out Broker Gu Mo himself.

On April 11, Ravi attended the first hearing of his trial. The trial revealed that Ravi was unaware that he had even received an exemption from the Military Manpower Administration. Ravi submitted his own application for enlistment on September 2022 and entered the training camp on October 27, 2022. Ravi enlisted as a public service worker and did not proceed with evasion as he did not know he had received an exemption. Thus, he was initially unaware that he had committed a crime. However, Ravi also apologized to patients suffering from epilepsy and chose to accept all charges by the prosecution. Ravi also withdrew from his idol group VIXX.

This trial revealed that in 2020, Ravi was faced with a large contract penalty for an event he was unable to fulfill due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The penalty was so large that Ravi's self-founded company GROOVL1N, was likely to close. Ravi had initially applied to postpone his enlistment to fulfill his contractual obligations on February 2021. At this point Ravi had been paying for the salaries of his employees out of his own pocket for over a year. Prosecutors revealed that this was also the time that co-CEO Kim contacted broker Gu Mo, initially seeking his help for a postponement for Ravi.

On August 10, the court found Ravi guilty of violating the Military Service Act and sentenced him to a 1 year suspended prison sentence. He did not go to prison, but instead received 2 years of probation and 120 hours of community service. Ravi also volunteered to enlist in military service twice. He will be required to undergo another health evaluation to determine if he will continue to be in public service for his second enlistment.

Singles
Notes

Headlining

 * 2016: Ravi's 1st Live Party [R.EBIRTH]
 * 2017: RAVI 1st REAL-LIVE [R.EAL1ZE]
 * 2018: RAVI 2nd REAL-LIVE NIRVANA
 * 2018: RAVI 1st SOLO EUROPE TOUR
 * 2019: RAVI 3rd REAL-LIVE R.OOK BOOK
 * 2022: RAVI REVOIR Concert

Co-headlining

 * 2017: Rapbeat Show 2017 in Australia