How Did Bang Si Hyuk Start “Big Hit Music”? It Was JYP Who Helped Kickstart HYBE’s Beginning

What is now known as HYBE used to be called Big Hit Music. Before that, it was Big Hit Entertainment. Recently, HYBE’s chairman, Bang Si Hyuk, explained how he started Big Hit Entertainment and where he got the idea for the name.

On November 1, Bang Si Hyuk and JYP Entertainment‘s founder Park Jin Young (also known as JYP or J.Y. Park) appeared on tvN‘s popular talk show, You Quiz on the Block, hosted by comedians Yoo Jae Suk and Jo Se Ho.

Bang Si Hyuk worked at JYP Entertainment as a producer, and they wrote hit songs together. However, after years of working together and having a conflict while on a trip to the United States, Bang Si Hyuk decided to leave JYP Entertainment and start his own label.

He then revealed a behind-the-scenes fact that it was Park Jin Young who gave him the idea for his agency’s name.

I was working as a producer at Jin Young’s company, and he liked me, so we were shareholders, and I co-managed. Eventually I thought, ‘I can do this on my own, right?’ The nickname Jin Young had for me was ‘Hitman’ back then, and so I used the ‘Hit’ part, and took the ‘big’ in ‘make it big,’ and I named it Big Hit. Now it’s called HYBE.

— Bang Si Hyuk

Park Jin Young explained why his nickname for Bang Si Hyuk was “hitman.” It started because of Bang Si Hyuk’s last name, “Bang.”

In the United States, I had to introduce Si Hyuk to people, back when we distributed CDs. His last name is ‘Bang,’ but I felt like it wouldn’t leave an impact.

— Park Jin Young

Bang Si Hyuk added that back then, he would hear jokes about his last name sounding like an onomatopoeia for a gunshot sound. Therefore, Park Jin Young decided to go along with the gunshot sound theme—and that’s how “hitman” was born.

So, I chose the word ‘sniper’ and chose ‘Hitman Bang.’ At that time, Si Hyuk was so innocent, so when I told him to do it that way, he did.

— Park Jin Young

Both “Hitman Bang” and “Big Hit Music” started with a simple nickname, but they are now considered global household names.

During JYP Entertainment’s success in the late 1990s with the rise of JYP groups, such as g.o.d, Rain, and Park Ji Yoon, the two wrote countless songs together. Whereas it takes a lot of time to work on one title song these days, Park Jin Young shared that he and Bang Si Hyuk used to write many songs in a short amount of time back then.

According to Forbes, Bang Si Hyuk’s estimated wealth is $2.9 billion, and Park Jin Young’s is ₩521 billion KRW (about $387 million USD). Supporting one another since their earlier days, the two businessmen have both reached success with their artists and are still maintaining their friendship with one another, as seen on You Quiz on the Block.

As Yoo Jae Suk said, their friendship is like a movie, and fans can’t help but be excited for their futures.