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May
31, 2010: a shocking event stunned YouTube fans everywhere. On the day
that most people were celebrating Memorial Day with sunny picnics and
family barbeques, David Choi found out that his YouTube account,
“DavidChoiMusic,” was suspended for copyright violations.
“I
was touched by the support from different YouTubers vouching for me on
Twitter,” says Choi, whose covers of Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” and Black
Eyed Peas’ “I’ve Got a Feeling” have garnered millions of views.
Not
only did people vouch for him, Choi’s friends and fans started an
online petition and banded together to make #FreeDavidChoi a hashtag and
trending topic on Twitter. To his fan’s relief, Choi got his account
back June 7th, and he immediately posted a video of thanks to his
viewers.
Choi’s
impressive musical background and creativity as an artist makes his
YouTube channel as much a fan favorite as his online antics of colorful
background graphics, split-screen singing and dancing, beat-making
sessions, and entertaining masks and headwear.
His
parents own a music store, and at the age of five he began playing
violin and piano and taking private lessons until high school. Choi went
on to add David Bowie’s Mashup Contest, Songwriter Universe Song of the
Month, and USA Weekend Magazine’s John Lennon Songwriting Contest to
his list of prizes and accomplishments.
His
passion for music landed Choi at the prestigious School of Music at the
University of Southern California, shortly before he took the
opportunity to sign with Warner Chappell Music.
“That’s
something I wanted to do my entire life,” says Choi, who saw himself as
a composer and producer in the music industry, but never dreamed of
becoming an artist or performer.
After a year of songwriting for Warner, however, Choi says he was bored and dissatisfied.
“I
got really tired of doing the same thing over and over again,” he says.
“I just randomly put up a YouTube video because I was bored. It was
another creative outlet for me.”
Choi’s
first original song, “YouTube (A Love Song),” quickly became an online
viral sensation, earning him half a million views in the first week and a
spotlight on YouTube’s music homepage.
“And the rest,” he says, “is history.”
Since
then, Choi’s channel has gone on to become the ninth most subscribed to
amongst musicians on YouTube and has received upwards of 68 million
total views. He had collaborated with several fellow YouTubers, from
Kina Grannis to Paul Dateh and Amy Kuney.
In
May, Choi released his sophomore album, “By My Side,” two years after
debuting his first self-produced album “Only You.” The album launch date
happened to be scheduled at the same time as his tour to Seoul—his
second tour in Korea.
“I
wanted to be home,” confesses Choi, who could only express his
appreciation for his fans from abroad, as he performed at sold-out
venues for his fans in Korea. Other than being almost entirely female,
the fans in Korea aren’t much different from his American fans.
While
his loyal followers may send him countless letters, snacks, clothes,
toys and dozens of Hi-Chews—as evidenced by his P.O. Box videos—he
doesn’t have any crazy or scary fan stories to tell.
“That’s the cool thing about people who listen to my music,” he adds, “they’re very down to earth.”
So
far, Choi is pleased with the response he has received from those
listeners, who enjoy his easy-listening sound and relatable lyrics.
“People
tell me they like listening to it when they do their homework or when
they want to wind down or things like that,” he says.
In
addition, Choi’s music video, created by Wong Fu Productions for his
single “That Girl,” reached over 1.5 million views in three short
months.
“That
was fun,” says Choi of the four-day shoot. “They’re really talented
guys—they’re amazing actually. I’m happy how it came out.”
The
collaboration with Wong Fu was so successful they invited him back to
work on the track and music video for “Dance to this Song” with YouTube
comedian KevJumba.
Compared
to his first album, Choi describes “By My Side” as more mature in
sound, drawing inspiration for each track from everyday life, “from
fresh ideas, things that I went through, things that I’ve been thinking
about or
feeling.”
“I
wrote it all at a certain part in my life, and it’s all meaningful.
They’re all special in their own little way,” explains Choi.
“This
one is definitely more current, as far as where I am in life,” he says.
“It’s a little less acoustic, a little more complex production.”
With
a recent tour to Singapore under his belt and U.S. and Asia tours in
the works—not to mention regular YouTube video releases for his loyal
fans, you can expect David Choi to keep busy through the rest of the
year.
“There’s
definitely more music coming,” Choi says. “I just re-vamped the video
section on my webpage, where I’m going to put more exclusive stuff.”
Choi especially wants to do more collaborative projects with anyone and everyone on YouTube willing to join him.
“It would be really nice if we could do a joint thing, I think that would be fun,” he says.
Now that Choi’s music channel is back in action, we can’t wait to see what’s next for our favorite YouTube artist.
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