Rapper ZICO Replaces BIGBANG's Daesung in 'Real Men's Travel' Sequel

Rapper ZICO is joining SBS Plus and MBN's travel variety show "Real Men's Travel" (Sangnamjaui Yeohaengbeop) as its new youngest member, replacing BIGBANG's Daesung. The second season premieres in October.

"Real Men's Travel" follows a group of instinct-driven men on unscripted trips shaped by whatever they feel like doing next. The first season, "Real Men's Travel in Kyushu" (Sangnamjaui Yeohaengbeop in Kyushu), aired in May and paired martial artist Choo Sung-hoon and singer Kim Jong Kook with Daesung as the maknae. For season two, ZICO steps into that role alongside Choo and Kim Jong Kook.

Daesung hinted at his exit during the season one press conference, calling himself a guest and telling the next cast member to "study up." Kim Jong Kook and Choo tried to talk him out of leaving, telling him there was no one else like him. In the end, the seat went to ZICO.

ZICO has driven some of the biggest challenge crazes in South Korea in recent years, with a run of hits including "Any Song," "New New (Prod. ZICO) (Feat. Homies)," and "SPOT! (Feat. JENNIE)." He has also built a track record behind the scenes as the producer who shaped the sound and concept of boy group BOYNEXTDOOR.

The new season pairs him with two very different personalities. Choo tends to move on instinct before he speaks. Kim Jong Kook takes no shortcuts when it comes to training and fitness. Producers are betting the mix will lead to an unpredictable kind of chemistry.

Preview photos show the three matching in identical T-shirts as they walk the streets of Taipei, a city known as one of Asia's food capitals. Other shots capture them laughing with their arms around each other, Choo and Kim Jong Kook lifting ZICO into the air in the middle of a pool, and the three sitting by the water in what looks like a serious conversation.

"Just the idea of Choo Sung-hoon, Kim Jong Kook, and ZICO together is already beyond imagination," the production team said. "Even we couldn't predict how their trip would unfold. Please look forward to it."

They added that viewers who expect ZICO to play only the hip young member may be in for a surprise. "He showed a side of himself we didn't see coming," the team said. "It made us wonder if this instinct had been in him all along."

For ZICO, best known as a chart-topping rapper and producer, the show is a chance to step further into mainstream variety, a stage that has long served as a bridge between K-pop artists and general audiences in South Korea.