The members of iKON had to survive two survival shows before they finally made their debut. By then they had already convinced countless fans around the world of their talent. Since then, the boy band has released a number of successful albums, topping the charts in South Korea as well as Japan and China! We all know hits like “Killing Me” or “Love Scenario” and undoubtedly the members of iKON will continue to delight us with their music in the future!
Do you know the story of iKON? If not, here's an overview of their albums and the challenges the group has overcome:
- WIN: Who is Next
- The members
- Debut
- Japan debut, concerts & MOBB (2016/ 17)
- New Kids Series (2017/ 18)
- B.I leaves iKON (2019)
- Kingdom: Legendary War (2021)
- Bobby is going to be a father!
- Flashback (2022)
- iKON leaves YG Entertainment
WIN: Who is Next
This is the title of a survival show by YG Entertainment that aired from August to October 2013. Two teams of YG trainees competed against each other: the five-person team A and the six-person team B. There was a lot at stake, because the winning team would then make their debut! Team A won the competition and debuted in August 2014 as a boy band called “Winner”.
The six trainees from Team B had to prove themselves again in a survival show in 2014. They and three new trainees competed in "Mix and Match" to debut at the end. Although three former members of Team B - B.I, Bobby and Jinhwan - also took part in the show, they were already safe and knew that they would debut at the end. They guided and supported the others. “Mix and Match” aired from September to November 2014.
In the end, seven trainees emerged as winners: Jay, Song, Bobby, DK, June, B.I. and Chan. All six members of Team B had made it and now formed “iKON” together with Chan.
| Artist name | Real name | Birthday |
|---|---|---|
| Jay | Kim Jinhwan | 07.02.1994 |
| Song | Song Yunhyeong | 08.02.1995 |
| Bobby | Kim Jiwon | 21.12.1995 |
| DK | Kim Donghyuk | 03.01.1997 |
| June | Koo Junhoe | 31.03.1997 |
| Chan | Jung Chanwoo | 26.01.1998 |
| Artist name | Real name | Birthday |
|---|---|---|
| B.I | Kim Hanbin | 22.10.1996 |
Debut
On September 15, 2015, iKON debuted the pre-release single “My Type”. It was a small taste of the first album that fans have been waiting for since the Mix and Match finale in 2014! With the single, the boy band won their first music show trophy at the end of the month, even though they hadn't performed live yet!
No effort was spared for iKON's debut, as two more singles called “Airplane” and “Rhythm Ta” were released on October 1st, each with their own music video. On the same day, iKONS album “Welcome Back Half Album” was released. It's called Half Album because it's intended as the first half of the debut album. In practical terms, it was a normal album with six songs and fans could purchase a physical copy. More than 84,200 copies were sold in the first month. iKON reached number 1 in the Gaon Album Chart!
On October 3rd the boys gave their first concert and on October 4th they finally performed live in a music show for the first time. There “My Type” brought them victory for the third time. And on October 8th, “Rhythm Ta” was also awarded a trophy!
Unfortunately, fans had to wait a little longer than expected for the full album, as on October 27th, YG Entertainment announced that the album had to be postponed from November 2nd to December. Two more singles were uploaded to YouTube on November 16th: “Apology” and “Anthem”.
On December 24th, the wait was finally over, as iKON released their album "Welcome Back" . It contains the five pre-release singles, the title song "Dumb Dumb" and five other songs. B.I and Bobby wrote almost all of the songs themselves and B.I composed most of them! "Dumb Dumb" brought iKON three wins in music shows, just like "My Type" before it.
What an impressive debut! And an interesting one. A pre-release single is nothing unusual, but iKON has released several. And we’ve only ever heard of a “half album” from iKON.
Japan debut, concerts & MOBB (2016/ 17)
Although the boy band only made their debut shortly before the end of 2015, their first Japanese album was released on January 13, 2016: A Japanese version of “Welcome Back”.
It sold over 61,000 copies in the first week alone and ranked third on the Japanese Oricon Weekly Chart. Even the Korean version was released in Japan in 2016. At the end of the year, iKON was even awarded the “New Artists Award” and “Best New Artists Award” at the 58th Japan Record Awards!
Before January ended, the boys set off on their first Asian tour “iKoncert 2016: Showtime Tour”. This ended on September 3rd in Jakarta, Indonesia. In between, they are working diligently on new music and released the digital single “#WYD” on May 30, 2016.
And as if that wasn't enough, iKON also appeared in the Chinese music competition “Heroes of Remix” from June to September. In the show, participants are asked to reinterpret and perform a song of their choice. iKON's performances were well received by viewers, who voted the boy band the winner in three episodes. Unfortunately, the group was cut from the final episodes due to a political conflict between China and South Korea. Nevertheless, iKON gained a lot of attention in China thanks to the show. They even won awards such as “Best Group” at three Chinese award shows this year!
On August 10th, the first Japanese single album “Dumb & Dumber” was released, which topped several Japanese charts.
The tour ended on September 3, 2016, during which the boy band even released several songs. But they didn't rest on their laurels and continued without a break. Just a few days later, Bobby founded the duo “MOBB” together with Mino from Winner. On September 8th the mini album “The Mobb” was released with four songs: the two joint solo singles “Full House” and “Hit Me” as well as a solo each from Bobby and Mino. It is the first and last album by MOBB.
And the first Japan tour “iKon Japan Tour 2016” started on September 10th and lasted about seven months. Originally 14 concerts were announced, but due to high demand, YG Entertainment added two dates in August. The label announced in November 9 more concerts! iKON was accompanied on the tour by Winner's Mino, who performed songs from MOBB together with Bobby.
This tour ended in March 2017 and after just a two-month break the next one started in May 2017! In fact, a tour took place every year, supplemented by a few individual concerts. Tickets for iKON concerts in Japan in 2022 were sold out within 15 minutes, showing that the boy band is still extremely popular there today!
But of course iKON has also released a few albums over the years and overcome one or two challenges.
New Kids Series (2017/ 18)
On May 22, iKON released their single album “New Kids: Begin” ; almost exactly one year after the digital single #WYD. It peaked at number 2 on the Gaon Album Chart and marks the beginning of a four-album series. It was originally supposed to be released in April, but Chan injured his ankle, so the shooting of the music video and thus the release was postponed.
The series continued on January 25th with the studio album “Return” including the title song “Love Scenario”. The song not only topped Gaon's Weekly Chart for six weeks, something no artist had ever done before, but also caused a real hype among children! The reason for this is that the melody and lyrics were easy for children to follow.
Some elementary schools even banned their students from singing the song because it was getting out of hand. So Love Scenario is a song for all ages! By the way, iKON fans who like to play Fortnite were able to look forward to an exclusive Love Scenario Emote.
In the second half, the New Kids series came to an end: On August 2nd, iKON released the mini album “New Kids: Continue” and just two months later, on October 1st, the mini album “New Kids: The Final” . The Final was particularly successful, as it topped several charts in Korea and even the real-time chart of QQ Music in China!
As with their debut album, B.I. and Bobby wrote all the lyrics to all the songs on the four albums themselves! B.I was also always involved in the composition.
B.I leaves iKON (2019)
Unfortunately, there was bad news for fans on June 12, 2019. The leader B.I announced on his personal Instagram account that he was leaving iKON. That morning, media outlet Dispatch broke the story that B.I was trying to buy illegal drugs.
In his statement on Instagram, B.I apologized for the situation and made a statement: “It is true that I was once in pain and suffering and wanted to find solace in something I shouldn't have cared about in the first place. But even that scared me so I couldn't take part.”
Three years later, in June 2022, several members of iKON - Bobby, Donghyuk and June - were guests on the Korean show "Oh Eun Young's Golden Clinic" and spoke with psychiatrist Dr. Oh about their experiences. Among other things, they publicly shared their thoughts about B.I. for the first time. They explained that it was a difficult time for the team and that they could not believe that the leader who had done so much for them was no longer there. At the time, they were also worried about what would happen to iKON.
Fortunately, iKON remained available to fans.
On February 6, 2020, the six-piece released "I Decide" , the first album without B.I.
However, the former leader supported his former team in the reboot, as he co-wrote and composed four of the album's five songs! This also includes the title song "Dive".
To date, iKON has not elected a new leader, making it one of the few K-pop groups without a leader. Other groups without leaders include Blackpink, 2PM or Viviz (formerly GFriend).
Only the one album was released in 2020, followed by a Japan tour from April to May. The boys then had a well-deserved break and returned with full force in 2021!
Kingdom: Legendary War (2021)
On April 1, 2021, the first episode of the "Kingdom: Legendary War" music competition aired. In it, six well-known boy bands competed against each other to find out who is the best: BtoB, SF9, Ateez, The Boyz, Stray Kids and iKON.
It is the third season of this music competition. In 2019 Queendom brought together several girl groups and in 2020 "Road to Kingdom" took place with boy groups for the first time. The Boyz emerged victorious and was therefore allowed to take part in "Kingdom: Legendary War".
The show consisted of four rounds. Although iKON took fifth place in the final, they were voted first by viewers in the third round! Stray Kids won the show. For the finale, all participants released a brand new song. iKON's contribution was called "At Ease". The song was composed by Winner's Mino, among others.
Bobby is going to be a father!
In the second half of the year, Bobby surprised his fans with big news. In fact, he announced on Instagram on August 20, 2021 that he would be getting married soon and is expected to become a father in September! The news was a shock because it was completely unexpected. Luckily, many fans were happy for the singer and continue to support him.
In September, YG Entertainment announced that Bobby's fiancée had given birth to a baby boy. So far, Bobby is the only member of iKON who is married and has a child. Not much is known about his fiancée and we hope that the two of them can continue to enjoy their happiness in private.
Flashback (2022)
"Flashback" is the title of iKON's fourth mini album, which was released on May 3, 2022. It sold 44,359 copies on its first day and 72,362 copies in its first week. Both numbers are a new record for the boy group, which is still showing what it is capable of seven years after its debut!
The iKON Japan Tour 2022 "FLASHBACK" took place from July to October, which included nine concerts. Thanks to the tour, many fans in Japan were able to hear the new songs live!
iKON leaves YG Entertainment
Like most other idol groups, iKON signed a 7-year contract upon their debut. The 7 years were up on December 30th and all members decided to leave YG Entertainment.
Luckily, that doesn't mean that the era of the boy band is over! On January 1st, all six members signed a contract with 143 Entertainment and are already hard at work on new music.
iKON want to release a new album in April. We look forward to many more years with the talented boy band!
