Bobby (바비)

When "Born Hater" surfaced in 2014 as part of YG Entertainment's *SMTM3*-adjacent showcase, it announced Kim Ji-won — known professionally as Bobby — as one of the more distinctively aggressive voices to emerge from the K-pop rap scene that year. The track, stacked with established YG artists, positioned the then-teenager not as a trainee making up the numbers but as a performer capable of holding his own in that company. That early credibility would feed directly into his career with iKON and, eventually, a solo path that extended well into the following decade.

Debut and Formation

Bobby came to wider attention through *WIN: Who Is Next*, YG Entertainment's 2013 survival competition, and later *Mix & Match* in 2014, both programs that would determine the makeup of what became iKON. He debuted as a member of iKON when the group launched in 2015 under YG, alongside members including Kim Jin-hwan, Jung Chan-woo, and Song Yun-hyeong. Within iKON, Bobby occupied a central performance role, contributing to the group's hip-hop-leaning identity.

His profile extended beyond the group through Double B, a unit pairing him with fellow iKON member B.I, where he was positioned as main rapper and face of the group, and through a brief formation — IT'S ONE — assembled for the 2021 Mnet competition series *Kingdom*, in which he again served as main rapper.

Music and Discography

Bobby's solo output reflects a consistent hip-hop orientation, though it sits within the broader K-pop commercial ecosystem he came up through. His first solo album, "Love and Fall", arrived in 2017, establishing him as a viable solo act rather than simply a group member releasing filler between iKON schedules. The record leaned into the melodic hip-hop mode that had become his working register — technically rooted in rap but not averse to sung passages or emotional directness.

The 2021 album "Lucky Man" marked a second full-length chapter in his solo career, arriving during a period when the broader iKON group had navigated significant internal changes following B.I's departure in 2019. Bobby continued to write and produce his own material across these releases, a practice that has been consistent throughout his career and distinguishes him within the idol system, where external songwriting is the norm.

The 2023 single "S.i.R" stands alongside "Born Hater" as one of his representative works — a marker of where his artistry had landed nearly a decade after that first prominent placement. His labels across his career have included YG Entertainment and, later, 143 Entertainment.

Activities

Beyond recording, Bobby has maintained a live performance presence both as a solo act and within iKON. In 2026, iKON announced the iKON FOUREVER WORLD TOUR, opening in Seoul at Jangchung Arena across May 16 and 17 before extending across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The tour — its name a play on "forever" and the four members participating — follows the completion of mandatory military service by Kim Jin-hwan, Jung Chan-woo, and Song Yun-hyeong, representing the group's first full performance together after approximately two years away from the stage. Bobby, who had become a father in the intervening period, is among the four members taking part.

Legacy

Bobby's career traces a relatively uncommon arc within the YG system: a trainee-era breakout that translated into sustained solo activity while the group framework remained intact. His involvement in songwriting and production across both iKON releases and his own solo records gives him a different professional profile from many of his contemporaries in K-pop, where credited authorship at his level of consistent involvement is not universal. With the 2026 world tour underway, he returns to the stage at a point where iKON's story has accumulated enough history — lineup changes, individual military service, the normal interruptions of a decade-long career — to give the reunion genuine weight.