CARATs refuse to cool down with passion still burning bright following SEVENTEEN promotions for their latest album ‘Face The Sun’ and title track ‘Hot’! Not too long ago we wrote an article praising Woozi after CARATs voted for him in our producer Spotlight vote, and just last week we wrote about the group's promotions as part of our special Comeback Highlight series - but CARATs have shown up and showed out once again, demanding an encore! And thus, this time we’re talking about the one and only Maknae On Top: DINO.

Dominate The Stage

Lee Chan, better known as DINO, maknae of 3rd gen legends SEVENTEEN is part of the 13 member group’s performance team, and holds the positions of Main Dancer, Sub Vocalist, Sub Rapper - and of course, maknae. Yet don’t be fooled by the fact that he’s the youngest, despite this he’s not only a skilled performer and amazing artist, but he’s also the centre of his hyungs affection and often brings laughter and energy to the group and fans alike with his unique sense of humour!

DINO trained for 3 years before debuting as part of SEVENTEEN, and from day one he was certified to be part of the performance unit as he has a long history with dance. Both his parents were dancers and it was actually DINO’s father who started a dance academy and taught his son how to dance. Little did he know he was raising the man who would one day be the Main Dancer of one of the most prolific groups in K-Pop known for their incredible dance skills.

DINO has also continually shown his prowess as a dancer as he’s participated in the creation of some of the group’s choreography such as with their songs ‘Flower’ and ‘Jam Jam’. That being said, SVT is a group of multi-talents so it’s no surprise that DINO excels at more than just dance!

Exceeding Expectations

Though we spent some time exploring member Woozi as a producer, we failed to mention that he’s not the only member who lends a hand to producing music; DINO has continuously contributed to music production both for the group and for himself.

Alongside his choreography, DINO has worked on a number of SEVENTEEN tracks, including Unit song ‘Pang’ from album ‘Attacca’ in 2021 and ‘Shadow’, a OT13 song on their latest album. Outside of these he’s also worked on a number of solo mixtape songs, starting from ‘Zero (Hero)’ from SVT’s Mixtape Vol.13 in 2017 where he showed off his prowess as a vocalist, to ‘The Real Thing’ from SVT’s Mixtape Vol.15 where he demonstrates his rap abilities too. He actually performed ‘Zero (Hero)’ and another mixtape track of his ‘Last Order’ at SEVENTEEN’s Power of Love concert last year, showing his confidence in his various skills.

The thing about DINO is, just like the origin of his stage name - which comes from the word ‘dinosaur’ and the idea of him dominating the stage - DINO doesn’t want to hold himself back in any way. In a Japanese interview he once mentioned how he believes he is a person that “has the ability to develop and grow”, showing his desire to always look forward and improve himself through working hard and challenging new things and it clearly shows.

His most recent solo work actually dropped just 5 days ago on June 12th, a track titled ‘High-Five’ with lyrics written completely by DINO himself. He also worked on the composition of the song alongside just one other producer, creating a song with Hip-Hop, RnB and House influences. One thing you will notice if you listen to the various tracks that DINO has worked on is that he already has a distinct sound; lots of his songs feature electric percussion elements and underlying tones of RnB or House music, and they would all make a perfect sunset drive playlist!

‘High-Five’ is an up-tempo song with a rhythmic and relaxed vibe and DINO shows off an interesting vocal tone which varies between fast rap-like lines and slower vocalisations showing his vocal versatility - let us remind you he is part of the performance unit! Clearly DINO has exceeded his origins and is constantly pushing forward to evolve; it’s for this exact reason that fans have given him the nickname ‘The Future of K-Pop’ - DINO has all the elements that encompass a true artist.

The Power of US

We need to take a moment to appreciate SEVENTEEN’s continued growth as a group too. Though the group has had hit after hit, they have always been hailed mainly as incredible performers, but recently they have shown they’re not just great performers but also musicians!

The group first landed on the Billboard charts with their album ‘Your Choice’ charting on the Billboard 200 chart at the grand height of No.15; this was an incredible feat as they made their debut in the top 20! However, just like DINO, SVT are a group that continue to push themselves, only outdoing themselves with each new release. Their album ‘Attacca’ went on to beat their record late last year, charting at No.13 and the members and CARATs were overjoyed to hear that ‘Face The Sun’ had made it to the top 10, charting at No.7 just last week.

This is a beautiful coincidence as they group just passed their 7th birthday, beating the dreaded 7 year curse and the fact that they are still achieving new heights this far into their careers only goes to show the incredible future they have laid out ahead of them. The group have also expressed their desire to chart in first place on the Billboard 200 in future, showing they still have a lot of drive and potential.

CARATs also have a lot to look forward to as just last month it was announced that the group would be starting their 3rd world tour ‘Be The Sun’ later this month, with the first show being held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. This comes just shortly after the group also released a movie titled ‘SEVENTEEN POWER OF LOVE: The Movie’ so CARATs are truly spoiled for content!

As DINO and the other members of SEVENTEEN continue to embark on new adventures we can’t wait to see what new achievements the group reach! Congratulations again to CARATs for the amazing comeback season and another well-deserved win; we hope you guys and SEVENTEEN continue to keep your love HOT!

Check out other SVT focused articles from Kooky Magazine:

WOOZI: The Heart of SEVENTEEN’s Sound:

[Comeback Highlight] Feelin’ So Hot Hot: SEVENTEEN Face The Sun:

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Writer: Han (O.L)

Editor: Han (O.L)

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