Castle Ji-Yu (Ji-Yu)

Castle Ji-Yu, born Lucy Castle (루시캐슬/캐슬지유) better known as Ji-Yu (지유) was a singer/song writer under CUBE and Louph Entertainment from 2010-2020, before disbanding with her group and being rehired as a music producer at Louph Entertainment

Early Life and Education
Castle Ji-Yu was born the 9th August, 1988, in New York City, USA. Her family consist of her American mother, Korean father and herself.

As a young child, Ji-Yu had a massive interest in business and politics, often dreaming about becoming a businesswoman like her own mother. She was a incredibly gifted child, with many talents, one of them being singing.

Though, when she turned 7 years old, her family moved to South Korea. Her parents often meant that she would have bigger chances for a brighter future in a Korean school. Ji-Yu had a hard time adjusting to the new culture and language, but it didn't take long before she got the hand of it.

Growing up she was often mocked for her looks and name, even by the teachers at times.This lead to her, (with her parents permission) to change her name from Lucy to Ji-Yu.

In 2006, she was scouted by a manager from YG Entertainment but rejected the offer, thinking it was a scam. After taking a slow interest in rapping, she auditioned at the same company and passed.

Pre-Debut
Ji-Yu trained at YG Entertainment for 2 years with a handful of other trainees before being transferred to CUBE Entertainment and thereafter Louph Entertainment after the two companies had signed contracts.

Two years later and Ji-Yu was put in a girl group along with four other trainees, she wasn't too sure about any of her fellow members at first, but she learned to appreciate them all after a short amount of time. She was the second member to be revealed and got the positions as the Leader, Main Rapper and Vocalist of ZTELLAR.

Career
Although the first year was rough for the girls, Ji-Yu managed to keep them all calm throughout it all. Ji-Yu was often the one answering questions in interviews and producing their songs/albums. As time went on, she also became quite skilled at musical production. With their album "Midnight skies" peeking it's way to the chards, which she had an hand in making. She also often released small albums at the side of her career, though those never got too much recognition until after their disbandment. In early 2017, the girls went on their first tour. Although Yeong-Hui had to go back to South Korea in the midst of it, Ji-Yu managed to keep everyone else energetic throughout the whole tour. Ji-Yu also slowly gained the attention of the public as the years went by, often referred to as the most popular member internationally and nationally.

Disbandment
Ji-Yu announced to the public that the group would soon disband in late December, 2019, after their 10 year contract ended with CUBE and Louph Entertainment. Although the group disbanded, Ji-Yu has established a career at Louph Entertainment as a musical producer, and has gained millions of followers on social platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and VLIVE.

Shortly after their disbandment, Ji-Yu announced on twitter that she was in fact engaged to a non-famous man, whom she had dated in secret already from 2015. Their wedding are said to take place in her hometown New York, the 4th April, 2020.