In an exclusive interview with Kpopeurope in 2014, Zion.T explained that he chose his stage name because "I am a Christian and so the “T” in my name is representative of the cross." In a 2017 CBS No Cut News interview, Zion.T said he was influenced by American musician T-Pain: "There was a time when T-Pain's style of hip hop vocals were in. I really like T-Pain, so I used to emulate him a lot. This is something only my friends know, but I even had the nickname 'Zion.T-Pain.'"
Career
Zion.T made his musical debut in 2011, collaborating with Korean hip hop artists such as Dok2, Crucial Star, Simon D, Primary, and Gray. His first single, "Click Me", featuring Dok2, was released in April 2011. On April 9, 2013, Zion.T's first studio album, Red Light, was released with the title track "Babay", featuring Gaeko. The album was critically well received. That year, he featured on tracks by Infinite H, Dynamic Duo, Swings, and G-Dragon. In December, he released the EP Mirrorball with the title track "Miss Kim ". In 2014, he promoted the digital single "Yanghwa BRDG", which became a hit and contributed to his rising mainstream success as an artist in Korea. The song's honest, personal nature connected with a wide range of audiences. He also appeared on the soundtrack of the television drama seriesPinocchio with the song "Kiss Me", and featured on songs by Seo In-young and The Quiett. On February 1, 2015, he collaborated with Korean R&B singer Crush on the single "Just ". The same year, he released the digital singles "Zero Gravity ", "Eat " and "No Make Up " and featured on singles by SHINee's Jonghyun, Yankie, and Psy. That July, he participated in the biennial music festival event hosted by MBCvariety showInfinite Challenge, which resulted in a spike in domestic sales of his previously released singles. For the event, Zion.T partnered with Infinite Challengecast memberHaha to perform under the name "Eutteugeottasi " with the song "$ponsor", later released in an album of the songs performed at the event. Zion.T capped off the year with two wins at the annual Mnet Asian Music Awards: Best Vocal Performance, for "꺼내먹어요 "; and Best Collaboration, with Crush, for the song "그냥 ", beating out more well-established artistes in an idol-focused industry. In 2016, following the end of his contract with hip hop label Amoeba Culture, he signed with The Black Label, a sub-label of YG Entertainment. On February 1, 2017, Zion.T released his first EP under The Black Label, OO. In December 2017, he released his collaboration with veteran singer Lee Moon-se, the song "Snow". The song was very well received by the public, and topped all major music charts in South Korea. Lee Moon-se said he listened to Zion.T's song for more than 200 times to faithfully represent his song, and showed great affection towards Zion.T and his musical career.
