Lee Hoe-taek, also known by the mononym Hui, is a South Korean singer, songwriter and composer. He debuted as the leader and main vocalist of boy group Pentagon in October 2016, under Cube Entertainment. He is best known for composing songs "Never", "Energetic", "Shine" and "Naughty Boy".
Name
At his group debut showcase, he explained the meaning behind 'Hui', saying that his real name is Lee Hoe-taek, but that it is difficult to pronounce, especially for foreigners. Since he had stayed in China for a while, he knew that Hoe/Hwe is pronounced as Hui there, so decided on Hui as his stage name.
Early Life and education
Hui was born on August 28, 1993 in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea. In 2012, Hui graduated from Modern K Academy. In Comedian Singer Producer show, Hui confessed that he was rejected from Hanyang University. He lived in Beijing, China for eight months before joining Cube in 2013.
Career
Pre-debut
Hui used to be a JYPtrainee before joining Cube Entertainment. In 2010, he won first place on Best Male Vocal at JYP 7th Audition Final Round. In 2013, Hui was preparing to debut in China. He failed to make the cut into Chinese Idol. In an open audition in 2013, after leaving JYP, he was the only participant selected by all three entertainment agencies. In December 2013, Hui danced at the KBS Festival and danced to the special stage of Son Dong-woon and Kwon So-hyun. In 2014, Hui appeared in G.NA’s "Secret" music video and promotional activities. He also appeared in Rain's "Rain Effect" as a trainee who received advice from Rain about debut. Hui spent about six years as a trainee before debuting with Pentagon. In February 2015, Hui was part of a vocal project group, Seorin-dong Children with Jinho and another female singer. They released a remake of and Ryu Keum-deok's 1994 classic "For All the New Lovers". The group wasn't supposed to consist of them, but after the three recorded the guide, Cube's Artist Development team decided to release it.
2016–present: Debut with Pentagon and solo activities
On October 10, 2016, Hui made his official debut as a member of Pentagon through 2016 Mnet's reality showPentagon Maker and becoming the leader of the group. He was an actor on the web drama Spark. On April 4, 2017, Cube Entertainment announced that he would participate in a project group called Triple H alongside Hyuna and E'dawn and that they would star in a reality show called Triple H Fun Agency. The group debuted on May 1 with an EP, 199X and title track "365 Fresh". In 2017, Hui co-composed the Produce 101 Season 2 hit song, "Never" and Wanna One's debut single, "Energetic" alongside Flow Blow which won by public votes on which song they'd like to see for the group's debut single. Both songs achieved an all-kill on Instiz, charting at No. 1 on real-time charts of Melon, Mnet, Bugs, Genie, Soribada, and Naver. On September 19, it was revealed that Hui participated in a new show, Hyenas on the Keyboard. It is a pilot music variety show where well-known singer-songwriters would be competing on music charts. On October 20, Hui was cast for One Night Food Trip alongside his label mate, Yoo Seon-ho, the filming started in Vietnam on October 22. In just 2018, Hui co-composed Kriesha Chu's "Paradise", "This Stop", Shinwha's "Don't Leave Me, Pentagon's Shine and three songs from Thumbs Up! respectively. On June 9, two Cube Entertainment idol groups, Pentagon and I-dle appeared on Idol Room. During the episode, Hui performed his self-produced track, "Theme song 1" alongside Jeon So-yeon "Theme song 2", and they gifted the song to the show. At the end of 2018,, he collaborated with Jinho and Oh My Girl's Seunghee at the 2018 Korea Popular Music Awards to perform a cover of "I Have a Dream" on December 20. In October 2019, Hui co-wrote and co-composed the song "119" in the fifth EP Poison of the group VAV. In 2020, Hui co-composed three songs from Pentagon's '. He revealed that he wrote the lead single "Dr. Bebe" in a day while "Shower of Rain" he wrote it without any thoughts. On February 29, he performed Jung Soo-ra's "Exultation" on KBS' program ' as a duo with Jinho. The same year, Hui appeared on Stark's Idol Cooking Class alongside teammate Hongseok, Shinwon and Kino. He also appeared on Mnet's music talk show Studio Music Hall 2, which aired on March 24. He was introduced as "genius music producer" performing his rearranged rock version of Itzy's "Dalla Dalla" and a duet of Kim Kwang-seok's "At About Thirty". On March 28, he was featured on the song "Shout Out" from album Spirit Bomb, a full-length album by Han Yo-han.
