Jo Yoon-kyung

Jo was a fan of Shinhwa in middle school, and applied to become a lyricist at SM Entertainment after finding an audition application guide in one of their albums. In her first year of high school, she signed an exclusive contract to be a lyricist for SM. She debuted as a lyricist in 2002 with BoA's "Listen to My Heart".^[4] As a college student, she thought she would not become a lyricist because of the low income.^[5] Jo graduated from Hanyang University in 2003, having studied Korean Language and Literature.^[6] In 2017 at the 6th Gaon Chart Music Awards, Jo won Lyricist of the Year.^[7] In April 2021, she published Into Your World (너의 세상으로; Neoui sesangeuro), a romantic fantasy which connects 12 songs she has written into a narrative.^[8] As of April 2024, she is a freelance lyricist not affiliated with any company.^[4]

Jo made her debut as a lyricist in 2002 with "Listen to My Heart" by BoA.^[4] Since then, she worked primarily with SM Entertainment artists such as BoA, Girls' Generation, F(x), Shinee, Exo, NCT, Red Velvet, and Aespa.^[6] She has also worked with non-SM artists like The Boyz and Kiss of Life.^[4] Her "representative songs" include Shinee's "Sherlock", Taeyeon's "U R", and Red Velvet's "Rookie".^[3] As of September 7, 2025, Jo has 409 credits listed with the Korea Music Copyright Association.^[9]

• Into Your World (너의 세상으로; Neoui sesangeuro, 2021)^[10]