Birth name Kim Ji-won Origin Seoul, South Korea Role Rapper Also known as Bobby Kim Labels YG Entertainment TV shows WIN: Who Is Next | Name Kim Ji-won Years active 2013-present Genres K-pop, Korean hip hop Occupation(s) Rapper Record label YG Entertainment Born 21 December 1995 (age 21) | |
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[SHOW ME THE MONEY 3] BOBBY - L4L(Lookin' For Luv)
Kim Ji-won (Hangul: 김지원; born December 21, 1995), better known by his stage name Bobby (Hangul: 바비) is a Korean-American rapper and singer. He is known as a member of the popular South Korean boy group iKON, signed under YG Entertainment.
Contents
- SHOW ME THE MONEY 3 BOBBY L4LLookin For Luv
- BOBBY bounce Raise your guard and Bounce
- 1995 2013 Early life and move to America
- 2013 2015 Reality appearances and debut with iKON
- 2016 present Solo debut MOBB and Love and Fall
- Discography
- References
He is notable for being both the first idol rapper and the youngest competitor to have won reality television rap contest Show Me The Money, at just 18 years old. Alongside Mino, he is part of the hip hop duo MOBB, formed in September 2016.
BOBBY - 가드올리고 bounce (Raise your guard and Bounce)
1995-2013: Early life and move to America
Bobby was born in Seoul, South Korea but later moved to Fairfax, Virginia in the United States with his parents until he was in high school. He later passed YG's audition in New York and moved to Korea at the age of 16.
2013-2015: Reality appearances and debut with iKON
After joining YG Entertainment on 10 January 2011, he participated as a trainee in the 2013 survival show WIN: Who is Next, competing against other trainees for the chance to debut as a group. He was a member of the trainee group "Team B". After the show had ended, he made a cameo appearance with the rest of Team B in the music video for Taeyang's single "Ringa Linga", and contributed to the lyrics for Winner's debut single "Empty".
In May 2014, he successfully auditioned for the third season of the rap competition Show Me The Money, going on to win the series overall as part of team "Illionaire" with Dok2 and The Quiett of Illionaire Records, winning $100,000 and a special concert. The songs from his performances during the series charted well on digital charts in South Korea. On September 13, he appeared in the Illionaire Records 11:11 concert alongside Dok2, The Quiett, and Beenzino.
In October 2014, he featured in Epik High's single "Born Hater" alongside Beenzino, Verbal Jint, B.I, and Song Min-ho, and on November 11, he featured on "I'm Different" by Hi Suhyun, a project unit composed of Lee Hi and Lee Suhyun from Akdong Musician. That month he also featured with Dok2 in the Masta Wu track "Come Here." He performed "Born Hater" with Epik High at the 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards, also performing "Come Here" and his single "YGGR". He was featured on GQ Korea's 2014 Men of the Year list.
He became part of iKON through the Mnet survival programme Mix & Match. The group officially debuted on September 15, 2015, with the single "My Type".
2016-present: Solo debut, MOBB, and Love and Fall
Bobby made his debut as a solo artist on September 7, 2016, with the single "HOLUP!" (Korean: 꽐라). The single was released as part of a four-track EP, The Mobb, a collaboration between Bobby and Mino under the name MOBB. They released the singles "Full House" (Korean: 붐벼) and "Hit Me" (Korean: 빨리 전화해) on September 9.
After a year of hiatus on solo activities, Bobby released his first full-length studio album Love and Fall on September 14. Both leda singles from the album, "I Love You" and "Runaway", were co-written by Bobby; the former was produced by Kang Uk-jin and Diggy and the latter produced by Choice37.