Cho Joong-hoon (; born January 27, 1976), better known by his stage name Cho PD, is a South Korean record producer, rapper, and the founder of record label Stardom Entertainment. Producing his own music for himself and his crew Stardom (his company's eponym), he rose to prominence through the internet then debuted in 1998. Later, he also would support other artists like Psy, Verbal Jint and a young Dok2 earlier in their careers. After twelve years, he briefly "retired" from music in 2010. However, he came out of retirement in 2011 with his two studio albums, State of the Art and Art of Business.
On November 23, 2018, Cho was found guilty of fraud by the Seoul Central District Court. The sentence concerned Cho withholding undisclosed assets worth ₩270,000,000 (approx. $238,116 USD) in July 2015 when he signed a contract to transfer the assets of Stardom Entertainment to a new unnamed company. These undisclosed funds were derived from Topp Dogg's 2015 concert tour of Japan. Cho was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for 3 years.
Since his sentencing, he made an attempt to reinvent his branding. In May 2019, he launched ChoCo Entertainment, which specializes in powering virtual AI-based K-pop idols.
In 2023, he announced the launch of a new K-Pop group called ChoCo that will have various sub-units including: ChoCo1, ChoCo2, and ChoCo1&2.
Discography
Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales KOR
In StardomReleased: January 15, 1999 Label: Stardom Entertainment Formats: CD, cassette2KOR: 204,254+In Stardom Version 2.0Released: August 24, 1999 Label: Stardom Entertainment Formats: CD, cassette 4KOR: 194,902+ChoPD.Net / Best In EastReleased: December 27, 2000 Label: Stardom Entertainment Formats: CD, cassette16KOR: 53,596+Stardom In Future FlowReleased: December 12, 2001 Label: Future Flow Formats: CD, cassette26KOR: 38,062+Great ExpectationReleased: March 23, 2004 Label: Future Flow Formats: CD, cassette9KOR: 53,840+Money TalksReleased: October 22, 2007 Label: Future Flow Formats: CD6KOR: 17,364+Part 1: State of the ArtReleased: October 12, 2011 Label: Brand New Stardom Formats: CD, digital download31Part 2: Art of BusinessReleased: October 12, 2011 Label: Brand New Stardom Formats: CD, digital download32
Extended plays Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales KOR
Victory Released: March 8, 2010 Label: Brand New Stardom Formats: CD, digital download20The Hard Way Released: April 15, 2010 Label: Brand New Stardom Formats: CD, digital download10In Stardom V3.0 Released: September 16, 2013 Label: Stardom Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download25 KOR: 987+The Goose That Lays Golden Eggs Part 1(황금알을 낳는 Part 1) Released: March 18, 2015 Label: Stardom Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download23
Awards
Mnet Asian Music Awards Year Category Work Result2002 Music Video of the Year (daesang)"My Style""2002 M.net Korean Music Festival Winners list" . MAMA. Retrieved 2014-06-12."2002 MMF part 1" . Mwave. Retrieved 2014-08-17.Best Hip Hop PerformanceSpecial Jury Prize2003 Best Hip Hop Performance"Secret Diary" ()"2003 MMF part 1". Mwave. Retrieved 2014-08-20."2003 M.net Korean Music Festival Winners list" . MAMA. Retrieved 2014-06-12.Special Jury Prize 2004 Best Hip-Hop Video "Friend" (feat. Insooni)"2004 M.net Korean Music Festival Winners list" . MAMA. Retrieved 2014-06-12. 2005Judges' Choice Award "My Old Story" ()"2005 M.net Korean Music Festival Winners list" . MAMA. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
References
hit_month=1|title=January 2001 K-Pop Album Sales Volume|publisher=Recording Industry Association of Korea|language=ko|access-date=2018-05-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429222400/http://riak.or.kr/chart/riakpdf.asp?hit_year=2001