- iKON is coming to town...
Get ready? Showtime!note
iKON is a South Korean boy band under YG Entertainment consisting of seven members. They debuted on September 15, 2015, with the song 'My Type'.
Six members of iKON (B.I, Bobby, Jinhwan, Junhoe, Donghyuk, and Yunhyeong) were originally introduced as Team B in the 2013 Mnet survival show 'WIN: Who is Next', competing with Team A (now known as Winner) for the chance to debut. Team B lost to Team A, who later debuted as WINNER, after three rounds of voting. iKON's lineup was finalized after the survival show Mix & Match, with the addition of Chanwoo.
However, after nearly four years of career, in June 2019, leader B.I left the group.
Members
Current Members:
- Jay (Kim Jinhwan, born February 7, 1994) - main vocalist, lead dancer
- Song (Song Yunhyeong, born February 8, 1995) - visual, lead vocalist
- Bobby (Kim Jiwon, born December 21, 1995) - main rapper, face of the group
- DK (Kim Donghyuk, born January 3, 1997) - main dancer, vocalist
- Ju-ne (Koo Junhoe, born March 31, 1997) - main vocalist, lead dancer
- Chan (Jung Chanwoo, born January 26, 1998) - vocalist, maknae
Former Members:
- B.I (Kim Hanbin, born October 22, 1996) - leader, main dancer, lead rapper
Discography
Korean Discography
Extended Plays:
- 2018 - New Kids: Continue
- 2018 - New Kids: The Final
- 2020 - I Decide
- 2015 - Welcome Back
- Originally released as Half Album - Welcome Back and Full Album - Welcome Back
- 2018 - Return
- 2019 - The New Kids
- 2016 - #WYD
- 2017 - New Kids: Begin
- 2021 - Why Why Why
Japanese Discography
Compilation Albums
- 2016 - iKON Single Collection
- 2016 - Dumb & Dumber
- 2017 - New Kids: Begin JPN
iKON provides examples of the following tropes:
Band and Members Tropes
- Affectionate Nickname:
- Jay has been referred to as "13 cm Fairy", due to his short stature and cute face.
- Chan is dubbed as "Maknae On Top" by fans and members alike, due to his manipulative nature and brutally honest remarks to other members.
- Ascended Extra:
- All of Team B were backup dancers in Taeyang's Ringa Linga MV.
- B.I featured on MC Mong's 2009 song 'Indian Boy' and performed it at the SBS Dream Concert and on Yoo Heeyeol's Sketchbook.
- Junhoe appeared on the 2007 variety show Star King and as a contestant on K-Pop Star in 2011.
- Chanwoo was a child actor who played a younger version of Lee Minho in Boys Over Flowers and The Heirs.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Chanwoo.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: As per norm with K-Pop Idols. However, iKON get special mention, since more than half of their member (Ju-ne, Jay, Bobby and DK) has appeared in the King of Masked Singer. While the former two are main vocalists of the group, the latter two are the group's main rapper and dancer. Their performance in the said show can be seen here
.- Ju-ne has a deep voice that fits in a ballad and rock song.
- Bobby has a low voice that fits in a country and rock song.
- Jay is a Tenor Boy.
- DK is also a Tenor Boy that borderlines with an Effeminate Voice.
- Big Little Brother: Chanwoo and Junhoe are the youngest members and the tallest.
- Boy Band
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Bobby. Even his intro in 'iKON TV' dubbed him as "Lazy Genius PD".
- But Not Too Foreign: Bobby was born in Seoul but grew up in Virginia.
- Fanboy:
- In Idol Room, B.I accidentally slipped up by saying he is a fan of Dahyun from TWICE and Seulgi of Red Velvet.
- The reason why Bobby chose his stage name as such, is because he is a fan of Bob Marley.
- Gratuitous English:
- Song and his "Hello, children". The first time he used it, B.I and Ju-ne were quick to tease him. It didn't stop him to keep using the phrase, though.
- Despite his tease to Song, Ju-ne is no better. In an interview with Fuse, when he doesn't know the words, he starts speaking Korean, but with an American accent.
- Heavy Sleeper: B.I.
- Idol Singer
- Neat Freak: Yunhyeong. B.I and Chanwoo to a lesser extent.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: As the shortest member iKON (with the height of 165 cm/5'5"), Jay is this. On top of singing and dancing very well, he has shown can rap in a few performances. YG even said that he is 'the next Taeyang'.
- Singer-Songwriter: Several members of iKON have taken part in writing and/or composing their songs.
- B.I has composed and wrote a bunch of iKON's songs, as well as WINNER's "Empty" and BLACKPINK's "Whistle".
- Bobby usually writes his own verses in most of their songs. He has also co-composed "Anthem" and "Why Why Why".
- Ju-ne co-composed "Rhythm Ta" and wrote and composed "Love Me".
- DK wrote and composed "Flower".
- Sixth Ranger: Chanwoo, who wasn't part of Team B.
- Solo Side Project: So far, Bobby is the only one in the group to have a solo career. He has released two studio albums in 2017 & 2021.
- Stage Names: When they debuted in 2015, only B.I and Bobby had stage names. The rest of them got stage names in 2017, before New Kids: Begin was released.
- Jay for Jinhwan, Song for Yunhyeong, DK for Donghyuk, Ju-ne for Junhoe and Chan for Chanwoo.
Music and Music Videos Tropes
- Album Intro Track
- "Welcome Back" for 'Half Album - Welcome Back'
- "Ah Yeah" for 'I Decide'
- Boastful Rap:
- In "Anthem", B.I and Bobby boastfully rapped about themselves who are coming to get at everyone. They also compared themselves to various duo like Sakuragi and Rukawa, Chow Yun-fat and Leslie Cheung's characters from A Better Tomorrow, and also beer and chicken of all things.
- In "Rhythm Ta", B.I took a shot at 'other idols', by saying along the lines of "We don't try to act cool like them".B.I: "We don't try to act cool, for example, (like) idols these days."
- Chan, with Bobby's help, made a rap dissing other members using the beat of Epik High's "Born Hater", which originally featured B.I & Bobby.
-
Breakthrough Hit: Although their debut year is no slouch (having achieved 'Grand Rookie Slam'note and all), it is really after their 2018 hit song, "Love Scenario" that elevated their status. They gain both national and international recognition as one of the best boy groups in the 3rd Gen. Said song also earn them their first daesangnote in music awards. - B-Side:
- "Best Friend" in their 2018 'Return' album. It becomes really popular with fans due to the Lyrical Dissonance mentioned below and is one of the most popular iKON's B-Side.
- "Flower" in 'I Decide' is also a fan favorite. It is written by DK and Bobby and composed by DK.
- Cover Version: In Mnet's Kingdom: Legendary War, they did a cover of Ateez's "Inception" as part of the challenge.
- Lyrical Dissonance:
- Their 2018 hit song, "Love Scenario" counts as this. Despite its cheerful and upbeat music, the lyrics talk about a break-up of a couple and how they let go of it."I wanted to express what I found regrettable, neither sad nor happy, in the warm farewell which inspired me by the last 10 minutes of the film La La Land," group leader and songwriter B.I stated. He continued, "The main protagonist smiles at his past lover in the end, and I felt, 'That's enough.'"
- Their B-side from the same album as the above, "Best Friend", also counts. The song tells about a boy who got friendzoned by his crush and was scared to confess because it might make their relationship awkward, incorporated by cheery pop music.
- Their 2018 hit song, "Love Scenario" counts as this. Despite its cheerful and upbeat music, the lyrics talk about a break-up of a couple and how they let go of it.
- Motor Mouth: Bobby is one since he is the group's main rapper and winner of 'Show Me the Money' S3. Although it is more visible in his solo projects and his time in SMTM. His fastest rap ever recorded is 9.00 syllables per second in "YGGR"
- Rhyming with Itself: In his verse in "Rhythm Ta", Bobby outright abuses the word 'regret'.Bobby: "If you miss it, you might regret it. You'll regret regretting it. If you don't wanna regret don't regret, the things you're gonna regret before you regret it.
- Vocal Tag Team:
- Jay & Ju-ne as the main vocalist duo.
- DK & Song in many of their song.
- B.I & Bobby as the rapper duo called 'Double B'.
