On 3rd October, iKON successfully held their concert-like debut showcase at Seoul’s Olympic Gymnastics Arena. It has been a long time coming for the group, who first gave fans a taste of what to expect with the release of their “warm up” track, “My Type” (취향저격).
But success didn’t come easy for YG Entertainment’s new 7-member K-Pop idol boy group, and fans who have been following them since 2013’s “Who is Next: Win” survival program would know.
It has been a long and painful process for iKON, the group that had to toughen up and go through several rounds of eliminations. They first competed against another group of trainees known as Team A for the chance to debut as the group WINNER.
Team B eventually lost to Team A and continued as trainees, before letting the 2014 “Mix & Match” survival program decide their fate.
Fast forward to sometime in October 2014, it was revealed that iKON’s debut was slated for January 2015. Unfortunately, the plan fell through as the group had to make way for their sunbaes’ (read: senior YG group BIGBANG) long-awaited “MADE” series comeback first. At that time, an insider revealed that iKON had already “made over 50 songs in preparation for their official debut”.
As promised, as soon as BIGBANG wrapped up their “MADE” series promotions, YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun Suk quickly released an iKON debut teaser. This was followed by the release of iKON’s double title tracks, “Rhythm Ta” (리듬 타) and “Airplane“, off the first half of their debut album, “Welcome Back“.
And the rest, as they say, is history 🙂
During their Seoul Olympic Gymnastics Arena showcase, the boy group’s opening performance kicked off with a short reel of their bittersweet journey to becoming iKON. We’re not even going to deny that it ignited some feels in us, because these guys sure have come a long way since 2013.
Watch, and just you try to not be emotional:
UPDATE (29th October, Thursday):
Oh no, not again. YG Entertainment announced that iKON’s album and double digital single release (2 songs and 2 music videos) has been delayed. YG Entertainment has done it again!
According to a post on YG-Life, the double digital single is now set for release on 16th November while the album and new music video release are set for 14th December.
It has been recently announced via YG-Life that iKON will be delaying their album and their double digital single, which includes two songs and MVs.
[iKON – WELCOME BACK : RESCHEDULING ANNOUNCEMENT]
originally posted by https://t.co/XZQ3IOI9MY#iKON #WELCOMEBACK pic.twitter.com/nYTH9LIegm— YG FAMILY (@ygent_official) October 28, 2015
Ugh, what a bummer 🙁
For more information, hit up iKON’s Facebook page.
