Bobby

Kim Ji-won (; born December 21, 1995), known professionally as Bobby , is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, and member of iKon. In 2016, he formed a sub-unit with Mino under the name MOBB. He is best known for finishing in first place on Mnet's survival show Show Me the Money 3.

Early life Kim Ji-won was born on December 21, 1995, in Seoul, South Korea. In 2005, he and his family moved to Fairfax, Virginia, where he auditioned for YG Entertainment and later met Kim Jin-woo of Jinusean in New York City. In January 2011, he was signed as a trainee under the label.

Career

After over two years of training, Bobby participated in the 2013 survival show Win: Who Is Next? under Team B. He started using his stage name Bobby, named after his idol, Bob Marley. Because Team A won the program, Bobby continued training under YG Entertainment. In November 2013, while still a trainee, Bobby appeared in the music video for "Ringa Linga" by label-mate Taeyang of Big Bang alongside B.I and Jinhwan from Team B, Winner's Mino and Taehyun, and Blackpink's Lisa.

In May 2014, together with B.I, Bobby competed on Mnet's Show Me The Money 3. He finished in first place under Team Illionaire, mentored by Dok2 and The Quiett. Throughout the show, Bobby released the singles "Go", "L4L (Lookin' for Luv)", "YGGR#HipHop", and "Guard Up and Bounce". Following the show's conclusion, he participated in Mix & Match, where filming began in midst of appearance of Show Me The Money. The show resulted in the debut of Team B, alongside trainee Jung Chan-woo, under the group name iKon.

In October 2014, Bobby featured in Epik High's single "Born Hater" alongside Beenzino, Verbal Jint, B.I, and Mino, and in November 11, he featured in "I'm Different" by Hi Suhyun, a project unit composed of Lee Hi and Lee Su-hyun of Akdong Musician. In the same month, he also featured with Dok2 in Masta Wu's track "Come Here". He performed "Born Hater" with Epik High at the 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards, also performing "Come Here" and his single "YGGR" together with Dok2, The Quiett and Masta Wu. He was featured on GQ Korea's 2014 Men of the Year list and on December 4, 2014, he appeared as a guest at GQ Party.

In September 2015, iKon released the warm-up single "My Type", followed by lead singles "Rhythm Ta" and "Airplane". On October 4, the group attended their first music show, SBS' Inkigayo, receiving their third win for "My Type". The group released their debut album on December 24, 2015.

In March 2016, Bobby featured on Lee Hi's single "Video" from her studio album Seoulite. Bobby also made an appearance on the ninth episode of Show Me the Money 5, featuring in Reddy's song "Like This", which they performed onstage together. In September 2016, Bobby released the single "Holup!" as part of a four-track extended play (EP), The MOBB, a collaboration between Bobby and Winner's Mino under the group name MOBB. They released the lead singles "Full House" and "Hit Me" on September 9 alongside the music videos.

In March 2017, Bobby and B.I featured in Psy's single "Bomb" from his studio album 4x2=8. Bobby released his first solo studio album, Love and Fall, on September 14, 2017, for which he served producer and participated in writing and composing for all songs on the album. Bandmate Donghyuk and Katie Kim featured on the track "Secret", and label-mate Mino featured in the track "Up". On November 29, Bobby released the Japanese version of his debut solo album. He released his second studio album, Lucky Man, on January 25, 2021.

Bobby released his first solo single album S.i.R on March 21, 2023.

Personal life On August 20, 2021, Bobby announced in his Instagram post his upcoming wedding to his fiancée, who was expecting their first child in September. In September 2021, his fiancée gave birth to a son. As per news reports, Bobby got married in 2021.

Discography

Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected details, chart positions, and salesTitleDetailsPeak positionsSalesKOR FRA JPN TW USWorld Love and Fall Released: September 14, 2017 Label: YG Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download 4 113 39 7 2 KOR: 39,068 JPN: 1,535 Sir.Robert Released: February 28, 2024 Label: 143 Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download 31 — — — KOR: 12,976

Extended plays + List of extended plays, with selected details, chart positions, and sales Title Details Peak positions SalesKOR Robert Released: October 10, 2023 Label: 143 Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download 26 KOR: 7,593

Single albums + List of single albums, with selected details, chart positions and sales Title Album details Peak chart positions SalesKOR

Collaborative albums

+ List of collaboration albums, with selected details, chart positions, and salesTitleDetailsPeak chart positionsSalesKOR JPN USHeat USRap US World The Mobb(with Mino) Released: September 8, 2016 Label: YG Entertainment, YGEX Formats: CD, digital download 2 7 7 20 1 KOR: 31,744 JPN: 14,855

Singles As lead artist TitleYearPeak chart positionsSalesAlbum KOR US World "L4L (Lookin' For Luv)" 2014 7 — KOR: 467,722 Show Me the Money 3""YGGR#hiphop" 4 — KOR: 1,064,002 "Go" 16 — KOR: 402,975 Welcome Back"Holup!" 2016 9 3 KOR: 219,671 The MOBB "I Love You" 2017 24 — KOR: 82,363 Love and Fall "Runaway" 63 — KOR: 31,199 US World Shoebox"Come Here" 8 4 KOR: 275,664 "I'm Different" 1 3 KOR: 936,740 "Video" 2016 21 6 KOR: 160,960 Seoulite "Bomb" 2017 14 — KOR: 166,479 4X2=8 "Rise (Remix)" — — "Super Asia" 2019 — — "Ok Man" 2020 4 — KOR: 114,008 Take "Lucky!" 2023 152 — J.A.M. (Journey Above Music)"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Songwriting and production credits

Filmography

Awards and nominations