“Are they really debuting?” YANG HYUN SUK-iKON talk about the hidden truth [Interview]
[OSEN=손남원 기자] “Is iKON really debuting as scheduled?”, “Is it for real?”, these are the questions iKON’s fans are asking now, as to iKON’s debut schedule (September 15). They are surprised at the fact that iKON is really making debut as announced by YANG a month ago. How many times has YANG kept his promise for the schedule of YG artists’ comeback of debut so far? Fans would say “zero”. However, there has been enough reason why YANG has postponed iKON’s debut despite fans’ complaints.
In an interview in last summer, YANG mentioned iKON. He smiled, saying, “If I wanted to make money with iKON, I could have made them debut earlier with songs written by famous songwriters, Then, I would not have been criticized by iKON’s fans this much”. However, he waited two years since YG’s survival audition show “WIN” when group iKON began to be formed, until the team’s official debut. What he wanted was iKON as not just idol group but as a good producer.
“You know, YG is actually a group of producers, not just singers. That is the case for PSY, EPIK HIGH, and BIGBANG, too. Singers who can write and produce their own songs can survive longer as genuine artists. That is my formula of ‘YG singer=producer’. If iKON and WINNER had made debut with songs written by other famous songwriters, they could have earned a lot of money so far, but that success will not last long. Fostering trainees as both a singer and a songwriter and helping them to plan for a long-term future is YG system and my job.”
Just as BIGBANG did in their early days, iKON went through a harsh training process led by YANG. YANG made them write songs every day and rejected the songs right away. “After about 50 songs rejected, they began to write really good songs. I thought that was the right time”, added YANG, saying that he thought so in summer this year.
YANG went on to say, “I believe that the job that artists should do is to perform well on the stage and concentrate on their music. Let’s say a star-player who scores a goal well works as a coach, defender, and goal keeper, too. Can such a team be successful? The YG organization is like a defender and I myself is like a coach. A team needs all the three positions to be successful. There are not many things you can achieve alone”.
“I believe that actors should concentrate on acting and singers should concentrate on singing. Even if one fully concentrates on only one job, it is not easy to succeed. BIGBANG is like a star-player with successful career and iKON is a rookie player, and the power of YG organization is to pass the ball to those players as much as possible, for them to concentrate on what they should do. It is not just because of myself that YG could be as successful as now”.
In reality, there are many cases where a team with star-players lose games. It all boils down to strategy. As YANG said, the rule of the game is that when the three of “star player, team work, and coach” create a perfect harmony, such a team wins the game.
No rookie idol group has made their debut with such a big popularity as iKON. iKON with seven hot boys: B.I, BOBBY, KIM JIN HWAN, SONG YOON HEYONG, KOO JUN HOE, KIM DONG HYUK, and JUNG CHAN WOO is making their official debut in the music scene on the 15. Not only B.I and BOBBY who have already built formidable fandom by performing in Mnet’s “Show Me the Money”, but also other members are all star-players with a substantial number of fans. Even though their debut itself has been somewhat delayed because they had to go through YG’s harsh process for debut, nothing can stop them now.
After releasing debut single on the 15 this month, iKON will release half single on the 1 next month and full album on November 2. The title of the debut album is “WELCOME BACK” and it is filled with 12 songs written by the members themselves. They will also hold a debut concert on October 3 at 6pm, at Olympic Gymnastics Hall in Seoul. It is an unprecedentedly mega-scale debut plan for a rookie idol group.
YANG said, “I don’t think YG made BIGBANG. BIGBANG has made YG. I expect that iKON will also make YG.” One thing is clear. We have waited for you, iKON.
2015. 9. 14.
