It’s April 6, and SEVENTEEN’s Kim Mingyu’s birthday is today. Just the right occasion to celebrate the man of the hour. The positive mood maker of the group who’s well known for having played a significant role in the contract renewal talks to keep the team together, has endless charms up his sleeve.
As a charismatic dancer, rapper and singer, he’s already won hearts on a global scale. Having posed as a model headlining various luxury fashion campaigns, he’s further spread the word for his K-pop boy group and gained the favour of even more fan-following. Born in 1997, he’s known for his official roles as the lead rapper and Face of the group. However, his handsome and debonair qualities are not where his talent spectrum culminates.
The indispensable and irreplaceable member of SEVENTEEN’s Hip-Hop Unit is a man of many talents. He’s often helmed the steering wheel on their variety web series GOING SEVENTEEN (GoSe), which has the 13 members (S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino) undertaking various challenges from numerous fields.
Let’s check out the seven times he emerged as one of the top entertainers of the group, as seen on their variety series.
Kim Mingyu Proving That He’s One of the Leading Forces on GOING SEVENTEEN
1. The Team’s Adept Chef
His talents as a dilettante chef have been appreciated even by experts on various Korean variety shows he’s featured on. It comes as no surprise that he’s stepped up on countless occasions to cook for his fellow members on GoSe as well as their travel-healing vacation series In The SOOP.
2. The Agile and Competitive Athlete
One of the things shared mutually by all SEVENTEEN members is their competitive drive when it comes to sports. In 2018, Mingyu even participated in Idol Star Athletics Championships’ (ISAC) Bowling event with his fellow member Seungkwan. He got the opportunity to show off his skills and training in the sport again on the ‘SVTSIDE OUT’ episode, when all games led to the group’s ultimate bowling competition. Though it took him some time to settle into the game since he hadn’t played it for a while, but once he did, he kept up with his high scoring streak.
The ‘Kickball’ episode which had the members playing their new version of baseball also displayed him taking grand chances and scoring home runs for his team without breaking a sweat. Sliding from one end to the other, he ensured high points were in his team’s pocket till the end.
3. The Acting Genius
GOING SEVENTEEN‘s production team is especially known for rolling out unique and special storylines for the members. The ‘EGO’ series employed the concept of an escape room game wherein the members had to gather enough clues to make it out of an abandoned facility which also took on a horror setting and image due to the storyline being so plotted by the crew.
Swerving from any spoilers here for those who haven’t finished watching these episodes, Mingyu plays a crucial role through it all. He’s one of the last members to enter the game space to finish the mission, and while the others fail at their respective tasks, his entry makes way for a jaw-dropping plot twist that changes our entire perception of the narrative.
Similarly, he plays a weighty role in the first BAD CLUE series, emerging as the indisputable main character of the storyline. The final moments portraying his clash with The8’s character are one of the best goosebumps-inducing sequences of the episodes.
Also read: 11 Amusing GOING SEVENTEEN Episodes to Watch and Finally Embrace the CARAT Life
4. The Self-Producing Idol Group’s “Just Do It” Photographer
The creative self-producing idol group released the first self-produced GOING SEVENTEEN magazine, for which Mingyu became the key photographer and editor. The two episodes of the variety series picture the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of the members of this project. However, the birthday boy was the main man of the event, pacing through the entire runtime from one end of the room to the other, capturing his fellow members in the best light.
5. His Main Character Energy – An Entertainer Through and Through
Even Vernon made it clear enough, Mingyu is the “ultimate protagonist” of the ‘Don’t Lie’ series. His constant tussle with Hoshi throughout the ‘Don’t Lie’ series has made him one of the best entertainers in the lot. His ‘forever mafia’ agenda may not even be true, but Hoshi always ensures that his fellow member gets enough screen time, with their lighthearted arguments being the highlight of these episodes. One way or another, call it an accident or his fortune, Kim Mingyu always lands up with one of the most important roles in their Mafia games and, of course, delivers his best.
6. The Whisper Challenge Ace
The ‘Tribal Games’ series had the members playing numerous hilarious games, but the Whisper Challenge is probably one of the most replayed moments. Once again, Mingyu and Hoshi, though part of the same team, were at loggerheads when this game began. While it all gave way to amusingly loud and funny moments, there’s no denying that Mingyu was at the top of his game in guessing each cue that came towards him.
7. The Group’s ‘Sexy Brain’
Proclaimed as the group’s ‘Sexy Brain’, it’s not merely his competitive drive that keeps him winning games, but also his intelligence and presence of mind. When posed with arduous puzzles that needed to be cracked for the members to make it out of the escape room situation, his racing brain and nerves made it a point to take the lead, leaving us all amazed.
Happy Birthday Mingyu!
Managed by PLEDIS Entertainment, now a sub-label under HYBE Labels, the K-pop boy group is coming out with their 10th mini album FML on April 24, led by the two title songs, one of them being a hidden track.
What are your favourite Mingyu moments from GoSe? What about the rapper’s personality has struck you the most? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Also read: Kpop Comebacks in April 2023: Kep1er, SEVENTEEN, IVE and More