Baekhyun Hwong (born 1997), known professionally as NoSo, is an American musician, composer, and producer. Their debut album Stay Proud of Me was released on July 8, 2022.[1][2][3]

Biography

Baekhyun Hwong was born on May 14, 1997, in Chicago, Illinois.[1][2][3] Hwong is a Korean American non-binary singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and composer.[1][2][4] Hwong grew up attending a music festival that their mom worked at, which was a venue where musicians such as B. B. King, Bonnie Raitt, and Aretha Franklin performed.[1] Hwong attended remedial level Korean school as a child because their family did not speak the language to them when they were young.[2] Hwong also participated in theater classes during their childhood, and performed in productions such as West Side Story.[2]

At the age of 12, Hwong decided to pursue their own musical endeavors. They initially took guitar lessons at a local shop in their area, until deciding to learn to play guitar on their own in their family’s basement.[1][2] When they were 16, Hwong moved to Los Angeles and started to write music.[1][2] Eventually, Hwong pursued their undergraduate education at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music, where they studied popular music.[1] Hwong later signed with Partisan Records, under the stage name, NoSo. In 2019, NoSo participated in NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert.[1][4]

Notable works

NoSo’s debut album is entitled "Stay Proud of Me".[1][2] Hwong began to lay the groundwork for their debut album in 2017, and eventually recorded the work in their family’s condominium during the COVID-19 quarantine.[2] The guitar-led album was released on July 8, 2022, as a coming of age story that encapsulates Hwong’s experiences with their gender and racial identity thus far.[1][3][5] The cover art for this album was inspired by Korean records from the 1980s that Hwong’s parents played for them as a baby.[1] Hwong is a non-binary artist, and they have utilized songwriting as a space in which they can process their ever-evolving gender identity.[4] This is exemplified by the experience Hwong had when writing the opening track of the album, titled “Parasites”, as it was written while they were recovering from gender-affirming top surgery.[1][5] Several songs on the album express their reflections on their complex and inextricably connected identities as a queer transgender Korean-American who grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood.[1][4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Mannion, Elle (7 July 2022). "NoSo's debut album is a care package for someone in need: Their younger self". NPR. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Walker, Sophie (4 April 2022). "On the Rise: NoSo". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Kalia, Ammar (2 July 2022). "One to Watch: NoSo". The Guardian. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Boilen, Bob (29 September 2021). "New Mix: Le Ren, Wet Leg, Ustad Saami, NoSo, More". NPR. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Fresh Face: NoSo". Notion. 17 June 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
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