Some basic information to help guide new fans and contextualize Eric's references.
PROFILE
Birth name: Sohn Youngjae (손영재)
English name: Eric Sohn (His mother was a fan of Shinhwa Eric.)
Stage name: Eric
Birthday: December 22, 2000
Born in: Seoul, South Korea
Lived in: Irvine (CA), USA (2010-2015)
Started as a trainee on: July 1, 2015. His audition was on March 28, 2015.
Zodiac: Capricorn Chinese Zodiac: Dragon MBTI: ENFJ (INFJ)
THE BOYZ: Eric is the youngest member (maknae) in the group. He's one of the main rappers, a lead dancer, a lyricist, a composer, and a choreographer. He has contributed with stage direction for concerts and often helps bridge the communication between fans and company. Aside from frequently going live (on Weverse or Instagram), he also communicates very often with fans on the subscription-based messaging service Fromm.
Music: Eric has been writing lyrics for THE BOYZ songs since 2018, with his first lyrics credit being for L.O.U. He is a lyricist and composer, and his first self-composed song, SOMEWHERE(섬에), was released on SoundCloud in 2021. His first featuring outside of TBZ was in Ha Sungwoon's All I Need (2024). Although he learned different instruments as a child, such as piano and violin, as an adult he can only play a little bit of drums.
Entertainment: He is a DJ for MBC Idol Radio Season 4, with his episodes airing live every Monday at 9 p.m (KST). He was a regular cast member on Golf Battle: Birdie Buddies (편먹고 공치리(072)) season 5 (2023) and The Genius Paik Season 2 (장사천재 백사장 시즌2) (2023), the MC for the YouTube variety show 선물함 (Seonmulham) (2024), a mentor (guider) on the survival show Starlight Boys (2024), and a contender for new MC on Workdol (2025), appearing on another episode as a guest.
Idol relations: Some of his known close friends are Yoon Sanha (ASTRO), Daehwi (AB6IX), Choi Bomin, Yoojun (BAE173), and Bae Jinyoung. His paternal aunt is makeup artist Son Joohee (Son Tail), who participated in the show Just Makeup.
Personal relations: Both his mother and older sister live in the U.S so Eric often goes back home to visit his mother in California. He also mentions from time to time his grandparents, his childhood friend Miles (who lives in the U.S and whom he used to refer to as his "190cm friend"), and some cousins ("rugby cousin" and Yeji).
Favorite artists: Out of the many artists he has mentioned throughout the years, Taemin (SHINee) and Justin Bieber are two of the most frequently mentioned names.
Favorite sports: Eric often watches and attends baseball games. His favorite team is Kiwoom Heroes (as of 2025, he has thrown the first pitch twice for them), and he also likes the LA Dodgers and Angels. He enjoys and has played many sports as a child, such as baseball, soccer, golf, basketball, american football, swimming, tennis, and surfing. As an adult, he most frequently mentions playing golf and going surfing. He was a regular cast member on season 5 of the golfing show Golf Battle: Birdie Buddies (편먹고 공치리(072)).
Hobbies: Eric enjoys working out and goes to the gym from 3 to 6 times a week. He shares with fans his weight goals, his routine, and has gone live at the gym more than once. He doesn't like to play video games, he doesn't watch anime or western TV shows, and he often watches Korean variety/reality TV (like Culinary Class Wars and Transit Love). He enjoys going to the beach, going running, and listening to jazz.
GLOSSARY
#5NO추 The hashtag Eric uses to recommend songs. It's a short and stylized form of "오늘 추천 노래" or "today's song recommendation".
11/11 (Pepero Day) Eric has consistently been writing a letter to fans every year on November 11 for Pepero Day since it's an opportunity for him to express his love.
Always Remember Eric Loves You A phrase Eric has been using since rookie days. According to him, he started saying it to fans and at the end of letters because a fan once told him they felt like no one loved them.
Baby Mango (Agi Mango/아기망고) A nickname derived from his love of mango juice.
Bolt The titular character in the 2008 Disney movie "Bolt". Due to his resemblance to Eric, sometimes Eric is affectionately called Bolt.
Deobi (TheB) President Eric is the avowed biggest fan of THE BOYZ, and since he does his best to listen to fans and speak on their behalf, he is sometimes called the president of the fandom.
Deobi (TheB) ring All members of THE BOYZ have two rings with roman numerals on them: one with the group's debut date, and one with the TheB day date. Eric wears his TheB ring most of the time.
Genius (천재) This is how Eric fans are called. It comes from his Korean name, Youngjae, which means "genius". See also Ricpeu (릭프).
Ricpeu (릭프) The Korean way of saying you're an Eric fan. See also Genius (천재).
TATTOOS
As of 2025, he has 13 tattoos in total. Some photos and information taken from this thread.
Click on the text within the boxes to show the photos.
1. Capricorn symbol (right ankle)
2. "mind; m!ne." (left and right elbows)
Meaning shared by Eric: His thoughts are his own and he won't be shaken by others. It's in his handwriting.
3. "left/right" (left and right feet)
Meaning shared by Eric: His left foot says "right" (written with his left hand) and his right foot says "left" (written with his right hand). He said it means he won't walk the same path as other people, he wants to create his own path. It also means he wants to be more thoughtful of other people's perspective, since someone else looking at him will see his left foot as his right, and vice versa.
4. "City of Angels" (back)
Meaning shared by Eric: In honor of his Los Angeles roots.
5. Paper boat (left arm)
Meaning shared by Eric: It's a reference to his first SoundCloud song, SOMEWHERE(섬에). The song itself has a meaning of trusting that even when you feel anxious and lost, you will eventually reach a destination if you just go with the flow, just like a boat will eventually reach land.
6. Paw prints (left arm)
Meaning shared by Eric: It's a reference to his second SoundCloud song, O.M.W. The song itself was written to TheBs, as if Eric is telling us about his routine and being on the way to see us.
7. South Korean flag trigrams (left arm)
Context: He got this tattoo when he came back to Korea after his 2022 hiatus. Those are the trigrams (geongongamri) present in the South Korean flag. Depending on the angle, you can read his last name SOHN on it.
8. Wave (left shoulder)
9. Knight chess piece (left arm)
Meaning shared by Eric: The knight is a piece in chess that can jump over even the king, and just like the knight, Eric wants to surpass his own limits and become someone special, even if he's not the king.
10. "S2" (left arm)
Meaning shared by Eric: It's a reference to his mixtape 22. If you flip one of the numbers in "22" around, it forms a heart, so Eric uses "S2" a lot in doodles and in writing since 22 is also his birthday date.
11. "TBZ" (right wrist) + 12. "1206" (right pinky finger)
Meaning shared by Eric: He wanted a TBZ tattoo that would show when he held his microphone on stage. He considered getting the members' names tattooed, but decided to instead just tattoo the group name. The date on his finger is THE BOYZ's debut date, December 6. He got both tattoos for the group's 7th anniversary.
13. Clovers + "4:03" (left arm)
Meaning shared by Eric: It's a reference to his SoundCloud song 4:03 (Jet Lag). "403" is April 3, TheB day (the date when the fandom name was chosen). Both the song and the tattoo are for TheBs, with the clovers symbolizing THE BOYZ and TheBs.
