ASC2NT · LEADER · MAIN VOCALIST · SOLO ARTIST

Karam

Karam did not arrive without history. He brought XING, DGNA, Japan, theater, military service, Peak Time and a formal solo catalog into ASC2NT’s next chapter.

Profile

Before ASC2NT

Karam was a child model before idol training, then debuted in XING as Rising and in DGNA/The Boss in 2010. Years in Korea and Japan gave him a catalog, acting and musical-theater credits, military service, and the deeply weird experience of becoming a rookie again in his thirties. Peak Time brought Karam, Injun and Jay back as Team 23:00, but a personal-photo controversy pushed them off the show just as viewers were rediscovering them. ASC2NT became the chapter they built after the edit stopped.

Music, performance and work

As ASC2NT leader and main vocalist, Karam holds the emotional center of “LOVE ME DO,” “Sweet Devil,” “DON’T MOVE” and the later five-member releases. His voice carries lived-in control rather than trainee-school perfection. He also understands Japanese promotion, theater timing and the unglamorous work of keeping a restarted career moving. Calling this a “second chance” is too tidy; it is a third or fourth professional life assembled from pieces that refused to stay buried.

Solo career

Karam has a formal solo music catalog in addition to his group work. He made his Japanese solo debut on June 8, 2018 with the physical single Rise Up. The release is not a fan-uploaded cover or a unit track: Japanese retail catalog records list Karam as the artist and identify RISE UP as a solo single. That distinction is why this same canonical page belongs on both the member and artist carousels.

His solo chapter sits between DGNA’s Japan-centered career and ASC2NT’s restart. It also connects naturally to his stage work, where he built experience carrying songs without a five-member formation around him. ASC2NT remains his active group, while Rise Up is the receipt that establishes a separate music identity.

ASC2NT from 2024 through 2026

ASC2NT debuted on May 7, 2024 with the single album Expecting Tomorrow and its title track “Love Me Do.” The name combines ascent with the number two, framing the group as a new upward chapter rather than pretending its experienced members had no past. Karam, Injun and Jay brought DGNA history; Reon and Kyle entered the new team alongside them.

The group followed with Conversion Part.1 in October 2024 and continued building a catalog around live vocals and mature performance. In 2025, Injun ended his group activities after a health hiatus, and Hyowon joined the lineup. Karam remained leader through the change. “Replay” opened the group’s Four Seasons series and showed a more reflective color before the next album cycle.

ASC2NT entered 2026 as a five-member group consisting of Karam, Jay, Reon, Kyle and Hyowon. The first mini album STILL : I and the single “Green Light, Yellow Light, Red Light” expanded the seasonal project. Karam and Jay also represented the group as celebrity guests during Seoul Fashion Week while Reon, Kyle and Hyowon walked the runway. Later releases included “Winter Time Has Come,” confirming that ASC2NT was still recording rather than existing only as a nostalgia project.

The panda side quest

Fandom notes and things the fact box misses

• Stage history: Rising in XING, Karam in DGNA and ASC2NT.
• Performance archive: idol stages, movies, dramas, musicals and theater.
• Military: completed before ASC2NT.
• Leadership: experience without treating younger members like supporting furniture.

Official links and receipts

• Tower Records Japan · Karam RISE UP solo single
• NEWWAYS official ASC2NT artist profile
• Instagram · @asc2nt_official
• YouTube · @ASC2NT_official
• “DON’T MOVE” RaeRae React
• ASC2NT lineup-change Tea file