In America he was called 'Joe', so L.Joe added his Korean last name 'Lee' to make his name.
L.Joe dreamt to become a singer from his childhood. \"On elementary school, Jo PD's 'friend' her by chance my rap so he became interested.\" Then L.Joe added while thinking of the past, \"Even if we emigrated in America, I had a great interest in rap. And with my foreign friends who liked rap too, we used to gather and practice it. I declared that 'to achieve my dream to become a singer, I'll go back to Korea.' But my parents showed a strong opposition. After one month of trying to convince them, I came back to Korea without my mother knowing, I only had the consent of my father.\"
L.Joe, who came to Korea, was interested into the Department of Theater & Film at the art middle school. To enter it, he first registered at a acting academy.
\"When I came back in Korea, I thought that everything would go smoothly. Seeing that I failed at various auditions, it felt like the way to become singer was growing longer and longer. I was sorry towards my father who trusted me and sent me back to Korea, and to my mother who didn't know I came back.\" He added, \"I was worried about whether I should go back to America. But then, I saw that there was a public audition at Lotte World. I thought that this one would be the last one so I applied.\" And then he won the prize and that's how L.Joe had the chance to become a trainee.