How to Sing Like Sam Kim (Korean-American R&B Singer): Vocal Range, Falsetto Bridge & the Technique Behind It

Singing like Sam Kim (샘 김) — the Korean-American R&B singer, K-pop Star 3 runner-up, and voice behind the Goblin OST track "Who Are You" — comes down to two trainable habits: a breath-led airy onset and a controlled falsetto bridge, not a wide vocal range. His most-searched song is "Who Are You" from the Goblin (도깨비) OST Part 6 (2016), and it works because of tone color and phrasing, not because it climbs unusually high. This article covers Sam Kim the singer (Samuel Kunge Kim, born 1998 in Seattle) — not the celebrity chef who shares the same name and dominates a large share of "Sam Kim" search results.

Safety note: Falsetto bridges and airy onsets should come from breath support, not from pushing air through a loose, unsupported tone or straining the throat to force a smooth transition. If a bridge feels like it's collapsing rather than gliding, add breath support before adding more air. See an ENT specialist for hoarseness that lasts beyond two weeks.

Sam Kim's Vocal Profile

No officially measured vocal range has been published for Sam Kim, in Korean or English-language sources. Neither Namuwiki-style reference entries nor Singing Carrots' own aggregator page list a tested low or high boundary for his voice — this absence is itself notable, since it's one of the clearest information gaps left by existing "how to sing like Sam Kim" content online. Rather than inventing a number, it's more useful to describe where his voice actually lives: a soft, soulful tone built for R&B phrasing, with what listeners describe as an "explosive falsetto" and frequent use of melisma (stringing several notes across one syllable).

No source classifies his voice type either. What's consistently documented is genre language — "soulful," "R&B," "emotional" — rather than a tenor or baritone label, so this article treats classification as unconfirmed instead of guessing at one.

Released Catalog vs. Vocal Ability

It's worth separating what's actually documented from what gets repeated online. His confirmed catalog spans breathy acoustic verses ("Mama Don't Worry"), falsetto-driven OST choruses ("Who Are You," "Breath"), and R&B runs built for melisma ("Make Up" featuring Crush). None of that catalog comes with a published range measurement, so any specific note names attached to his voice online should be treated as unverified rather than repeated as fact.

Sam Kim's Signature Songs — by Vocal Challenge

Working through his catalog by technical demand builds the control his style depends on. Transpose any of these to a key that fits your voice.

"Breath" is the song that asks for everything above at once — it's a destination to build toward, not a starting point.

The 3 Techniques Behind Sam Kim's Sound

Falsetto Bridge

Instead of pushing a chest-register note higher, he releases into falsetto and lets the tone color shift rather than forcing volume upward. The common mistake is letting the transition cut out completely — the sound drops to breath with no pitch center — because support disappears exactly where it's needed most. In Bloom Vocal, pitch-glide exercises (C-1) and head voice resonance exercises (E-7) target this bridge directly.

Melisma and Vocal Runs

His R&B phrasing frequently strings several notes across a single syllable, a decorative device borrowed from soul and gospel singing. The common mistake is imitating the speed before the accuracy — singers rush through a run and blur the individual pitches together instead of landing each one. Slowing a run down until every note is audible, then gradually speeding it back up, is the fix. In Bloom Vocal, vocal run and ad-lib exercises (B-19) and chromatic mastery drills (B-9) build this skill.

Airy Onset with Close-Mic Dynamics

Rather than starting a phrase with firm vocal fold closure, his soul-influenced delivery often lets breath lead the tone in, paired with the intimacy of close-mic dynamics rather than pushed volume. The common mistake is letting too much air escape, which drops breath support and lets the pitch sag flat under the phrase. In Bloom Vocal, glottal vs. airy onset drills (C-16) and appoggio breath support exercises (A-10) train this balance. The male passaggio and mix-voice drill guide covers related transition control for voices working through this same register-bridging territory.

How to Train Toward Sam Kim's Style

Step 1 — Build a breath-led airy onset

Start a mid-range phrase by letting air flow slightly before the vocal folds close, keeping the tone soft and unpressed rather than sharply attacked.

Step 2 — Practice a falsetto bridge transition

Slide from a chest-register note up into falsetto on a single vowel, aiming for the tone color to shift smoothly instead of cutting out or cracking.

Step 3 — Slow down a melisma run to isolate each pitch

Take a short run of 4-5 notes and sing it at half speed, checking that each individual pitch lands cleanly before adding speed back.

Step 4 — Combine the onset and bridge across a full phrase

Sing a verse-to-chorus phrase that opens with an airy onset and climbs into a falsetto bridge, the way "Who Are You" moves from a low verse into its falsetto-driven chorus.

Step 5 — Run an AI feedback loop on a bridge phrase

Record the phrase from step 4 and use Bloom Vocal's AI coaching to score pitch accuracy, breath support, and register transition. The AI can surface a habit like the falsetto bridge losing support exactly at the transition point — the kind of detail that's hard to hear while you're the one singing it.

Check Your Cover with AI

A falsetto bridge and a fast melisma run are both hard to self-diagnose by ear — you can't easily tell whether your chest-to-falsetto transition dropped support or whether your run actually hit five distinct pitches instead of a blurred slide. Record a verse from "Who Are You" or a run-heavy phrase from "Make Up," and Bloom Vocal's AI scores your pitch accuracy, breath support, register transitions, rhythm, and expression on a 1-5 rubric, then recommends the specific exercise to work on first. It turns a vague "that run felt sloppy" into "you hit three of the five notes clearly — slow the run down and add a chromatic mastery drill before rebuilding speed."

For more on Korean R&B and soul-influenced vocal styles, see Crush, Zico (his collaborator on "It's You"), Baek Yerin, Eric Nam, and Paul Kim.

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References

• Sadolin, C. (2000). Complete Vocal Technique. Shout Publishing. [Onset types, falsetto/curbing register transitions, and breath-supported airy phonation underlying soul and R&B vocal delivery.]
• Titze, I. R., & Verdolini Abbott, K. (2012). Vocology: The Science and Practice of Voice Habilitation. National Center for Voice and Speech. [Breath pressure regulation and register-transition mechanics relevant to falsetto bridging and melismatic phrasing.]