Kim Ji-won (; born December 21, 1995), known by his stage name Bobby () is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, and member of

iKon iKon (; stylized as iKON) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2015 by YG Entertainment. The lineup consists of six members: Jay, Song, Bobby, DK, Ju-ne, and Chan. Originally a seven-piece band, B.I departed from the group in June 2019. ...

. In 2016, he formed a sub-unit with Mino under the name MOBB. He is best known for finishing in first place on Mnet's survival show '' Show Me the Money 3''.

Early life

Kim Ji-won was born on December 21, 1995, in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. In 2005, he and his family moved to

Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,146. Fairfax is pa ...

, where he auditioned for

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and conce ...

and later met Kim Jin-woo of

Jinusean Jinusean (stylized in all caps; ) is a South Korean Hip hop music, hip hop duo signed to YG Entertainment. The duo, which is made up of Kim Jin-woo (also known as Jinu) and Noh Seung-hwan (also known as Sean), debuted in 1997 and rose to fame wit ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In January 2011, he was signed as a trainee under the label.

Career

Bobby - 2016 Gaon Chart K-pop Awards red carpet

After over two years of training, Bobby participated in the 2013 survival show ''Win: Who Is Next?'' under Team B. He started using his stage name Bobby, named after his idol,

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

. Because Team A won the program, Bobby continued training under

. In November 2013, while still a trainee, Bobby appeared in the music video for " Ringa Linga" by label-mate

Taeyang Dong Young-bae (; born May 18, 1988), better known by his stage name Taeyang () or SOL, is a South Korean singer. He made his debut in 2006 as a member of the South Korean boy band BigBang. Following the release of several albums and extended ...

Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...

alongside B.I and Jinhwan from Team B, Winner's Mino and Taehyun, and

Blackpink Blackpink (, stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment. The group is composed of four members: Jisoo, Jennie (singer), Jennie, Rosé (singer), Rosé, and Lisa (rapper), Lisa. Regarded by ...

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...

. In May 2014, together with B.I, Bobby competed on Mnet's ''Show Me The Money 3''. He finished in first place under Team Illionaire, mentored by

Dok2 Lee Joon-kyung (; born March 28, 1990) better known by his stage name Dok2 (, pronounced as Dokki), is a South Korean rapper, record producer and co-founder of now-defunct Illionaire Records. Biography Early life Dok2's mother is Korean, and ...

and

The Quiett Shin Dong-gab (; born January 29, 1985), better known by his stage name The Quiett (), is a South Korean rapper, composer, lyricist and record producer. He is widely known within the South Korean hip hop community for founding several major hip ...

. Throughout the show, Bobby released the singles "Go", "L4L (Lookin' for Luv)", "YGGR#HipHop", and "Guard Up and Bounce". Following the show's conclusion, he participated in ''Mix & Match'', where filming began in midst of appearance of ''Show Me The Money''. The show resulted in the debut of Team B, alongside trainee Jung Chan-woo, under the group name iKon. In October 2014, Bobby featured in

Epik High Epik High () is a South Korean hip-hop trio formed in 2001, composed of rapper and songwriter Tablo, rapper and lyricist Mithra Jin, and DJ and record producer DJ Tukutz. Based in Seoul, the trio first met in 2001 before signing with Woollim ...

's single " Born Hater" alongside Beenzino,

Verbal Jint Kim Jin-tae (; born December 19, 1980), better known by his stage name Verbal Jint (), is a South Korean musician, rapper and record producer who is known for his innovations in Korean hip hop rhyme schemes. He established himself as one of Sout ...

, B.I, and Mino, and in November 11, he featured in " I'm Different" by

Hi Suhyun Hi Suhyun () was a South Korean Musical duo, duo formed by YG Entertainment in 2014, consisting of Lee Hi and Lee Su-hyun from Akdong Musician. They released the number one single, "I'm Different (Hi Suhyun song), I'm Different", in November 2014 ...

, a project unit composed of

Lee Hi Lee Ha-yi (; born September 23, 1996), known by her stage name Lee Hi, is a South Korean singer and songwriter. She first garnered attention as the runner-up of '' K-pop Star season 1''. She debuted with single "1, 2, 3, 4" on October 28, 2012, ...

and Lee Su-hyun of

Akdong Musician AKMU (; ), formerly Akdong Musician (; ), is a South Korean duo consisting of siblings Lee Chan-hyuk and Lee Su-hyun (singer, born 1999), Lee Su-hyun signed to YG Entertainment. As prominent figures of South Korea, their musical impact in their ...

. In the same month, he also featured with Dok2 in

Masta Wu Woo Jin-won (, October 25, 1978), better known by his stage name Masta Wu (), is a South Korean rapper, songwriter and producer. His previous stage name was Ginnwon. He was also a part of the hip hop project duo YMGA. Career After being an und ...

's track "Come Here". He performed "Born Hater" with Epik High at the

2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards The 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) was held on December 3, 2014, at the AsiaWorld–Arena, Hong Kong. It marked its sixteenth edition acknowledging the past year's K-pop releases. Nominees were announced on October 27, 2014. Leading the no ...

, also performing "Come Here" and his single "YGGR" together with Dok2,

and Masta Wu. He was featured on GQ Korea's 2014 Men of the Year list and on December 4, 2014, he appeared as a guest at GQ Party. In September 2015, iKon released the warm-up single "My Type", followed by lead singles "Rhythm Ta" and "Airplane". On October 4, the group attended their first music show, SBS' ''Inkigayo'', receiving their third win for "My Type". The group released their debut album on December 24, 2015. In March 2016, Bobby featured on

's single "Video" from her studio album '' Seoulite''. Bobby also made an appearance on the ninth episode of ''Show Me the Money 5'', featuring in Reddy's song "Like This", which they performed onstage together. In September 2016, Bobby released the single "Holup!" () as part of a four-track

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP), '' The MOBB'', a collaboration between Bobby and Winner's Mino under the group name MOBB. They released the lead singles "Full House" () and "Hit Me" () on September 9 alongside the music videos. In March 2017, Bobby and B.I featured in

Psy Park Jae-sang (; born December 31, 1977), better known by his stage name Psy ( ; ), is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter, known domestically for his humorous music videos and stage performances and internationally for his hit singl ...

's single "Bomb" from his studio album ''

4x2=8 4X (abbreviation of ''Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate'') is a subgenre of strategy-based computer and board games, and includes both turn-based and real-time strategy titles. The gameplay generally involves building an empire. Emphasi ...

''. Bobby released his first solo studio album, '' Love and Fall'', on September 14, 2017, for which he served producer and participated in writing and composing for all songs on the album. Bandmate Donghyuk and Katie Kim featured on the track "Secret", and label-mate Mino featured in the track "Up". On November 29, Bobby released the Japanese version of his debut solo album. He released his second studio album, '' Lucky Man'', on January 25, 2021. Bobby released his first solo single album '' S.i.R'' on March 21, 2023.

Personal life

On August 20, 2021, Bobby announced in his

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post his upcoming wedding to his fiancée, who was expecting their first child in September. In September 2021, his fiancée gave birth to a son.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Single albums

Collaborative albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

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, 1 , , 3 , * KOR: 936,740 , - ! scope="row" , "Video" ()
, 2016 , 21 , , 6 , * KOR: 160,960 , '' Seoulite'' , - ! scope="row" , "Bomb"
, rowspan="2" , 2017 , 14 , , — , * KOR: 166,479 , ''

4X2=8 4X (abbreviation of ''Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate'') is a subgenre of strategy-based computer and board games, and includes both turn-based and real-time strategy titles. The gameplay generally involves building an empire. Emphasi ...

'' , - ! scope="row" , "Rise (Remix)"
, — , , — , rowspan="2" , rowspan="2" , - ! scope="row" , "Super Asia"
, 2019 , — , , — , - ! scope="row" , "Ok Man"
, 2020 , 4 , , — , * KOR: 114,008 , ''

Take A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each ...

'' , - ! scope="row" , "Lucky!" ()
, 2023 , 152 , , — , , ''J.A.M. (Journey Above Music)'' , - , colspan="6" style="font-size:85%", "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Songwriting and production credits

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

{{Authority control 1995 births Living people 21st-century South Korean rappers IKon members K-pop singers Rappers from Seoul South Korean hip-hop musicians South Korean hip-hop singers South Korean hip-hop record producers Show Me the Money (South Korean TV series) contestants South Korean male idols South Korean male rappers 21st-century male rappers South Korean male dancers 21st-century South Korean singer-songwriters YG Entertainment artists South Korean male singer-songwriters