YG Updates About Promotions For WINNER, iKON, BLACKPINK, CL, Lee Hi And More
Yang Hyun Suk wrote a lengthy letter to fans, where he gave in depth detail about YG Entertainment‘s promotional plans for many of their artists.
He first began with iKON, where he announced that B.I and Bobby will be debuting as a hip hop duo before releasing iKON’s new album.
“B.I recently asked me about an idea where BOBBY and he release a hip-hop duo album before releasing iKON’s new album.
iKON worked continuously hard last year after releasing many new songs, so I also thought it wouldn’t be bad for them to take a breather.
I was thinking about releasing B.I and BOBBY’s solo album sometime in the middle this year, so I agreed without much contemplation. They’re currently working on their music.
With their duo tracks and solo tracks combined, it will be enough to make a full album. Taking into consideration their recording, music video and post production timings, I think their album will be out around May.
As they’re both rappers, I think it’s inevitable that they both have a thirst to create hip-hop music regardless of iKON’s promotions.
As they’re simultaneously working on iKON’s new songs, we plan on announcing iKON’s new music after B.I and BOBBY’s hip-hop duo album.”
— Yang Hyun Suk
He moved onto WINNER, who asked for a delay in their new album that was originally set to release this February. Although no date has been set since the postponement, YG vows it will be out soon.
“On my business trip to LA, I ate dinner with WINNER to celebrate Kang Seung Yoon’s birthday. They asked if they could delay the release of their full-length album that was set to drop in February. They didn’t have enough time to record and work on their album due to their busy schedules near the end of the year, as well as their tour. They also wanted to work on two new songs.
As a result, we cancelled the music video filming that we had scheduled for February, and they are currently focusing entirely on their music. We will announce their new album’s release date as soon as they finish.”
— Yang Hyun Suk
He also mentioned the solo plans for each of the WINNER members. Mino is already working on his next solo album, Kang Seung Yoon’s is still in the works, and Kim Jinwoo and Lee Seunghoon’s solo tracks will be released as a part of their upcoming full length album.
“I asked Mino to work on his next solo album, and I believe his new solo album will drop sometime this year.
Kang Seung Yoon is working on his solo album. Truthfully, he’s been working on this for over a year, but as a leader Kang Seung Yoon put WINNER’s tracks as his priority, so his own solo album is being completed slower than expected.
We plan on releasing Kim Jinwoo and Lee Seunghoon’s solo tracks in their upcoming full-length album.”
— Yang Hyun Suk
He then announced that YGX scouted a female soloist, named ANDA, and plans on helping THE BLACK LABEL’s R TEE and YGX drop their first collaboration, titled ‘What Are You Waiting For’. It will release on March 6.
“On March 6, we’re planning on releasing a collaboration song between R TEE from Teddy’s THE BLACK LABEL and ANDA, the first female soloist from YGX.
The song’s title is called, R TEE X ANDA’s ‘What Are You Waiting For’. It’s a collaboration of R TEE’s composing and Anda’s singing.
R TEE is a talented composer and DJ from THE BLACK LABEL, who has worked on many hit songs like BIGBANG’s ‘FXXK IT’ and BLACKPINK’s ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE’ and ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’.
Anda had debuted before under another label, but we immediately scouted her to YGX after watching her music video, titled ‘Touch’, and after hearing that her contract expired.”
— Yang Hyun Suk
He didn’t go into details about the rest of the YG artists, but he did mention that SECHS KIES, Eun Ji Won, CL, Lee Hi, and AKMU’s Suhyun are working on their next album.
“I will announce more details about SECHS KIES’s album and Eun Ji Won’s solo album, as well as CL, Lee Hi, AKMU Suhyun’s news, as soon as more specifics have been confirmed.”
— Yang Hyun Suk
Check out Yang Hyun Suk’s full message to fans below:
“I think this will be the last FROM YG post for the first half of this year.
I’ll talk about iKON first.
I think 2018 was one of the most special years for iKON. They released ‘LOVE SCENARIO’ in January, which broke records and won them the Song of the Year awards from various annual award ceremonies. Right now, their YouTube views are close to 260 million. Their ‘KILLING ME’ music video that dropped in August also broke 100 million views. They’re both the first music videos to break 100 million views in the 5 years since their debut.I believe that this was only possible because of the composing and writing that B.I and the 7 members put in, and 2019 will be a year of improvements for the upgraded version of iKON.
Q. When is iKON releasing new music?
A. B.I recently asked me about an idea where BOBBY and he release a hip-hop duo album before releasing iKON’s new album.
iKON worked continuously hard last year after releasing many new songs, so I also thought it wouldn’t be bad for them to take a breather.
I was thinking about releasing B.I and BOBBY’s solo album sometime in the middle this year, so I agreed without much contemplation. They’re currently working on their music.
With their duo tracks and solo tracks combined, it will be enough to make a full album. Taking into consideration their recording, music video and post production timings, I think their album will be out around May.
WINNER’s Mino and iKON’s BOBBY once released a unit album under the name MOBB, but there was never a unit album with B.I and BOBBY, who are from the same team. As they’re both rappers, I think it’s inevitable that they both have a thirst to create hip-hop music regardless of iKON’s promotions.
As they’re simultaneously working on iKON’s new songs, we plan on announcing iKON’s new music after B.I and BOBBY’s hip-hop duo album.
Q. When is WINNER releasing new music?
A. WINNER released their new single, ‘MILLIONS’ last year on December 19, and they just recently returned to Korea after finishing their first North American tour that started in mid-January and lasted about 2 weeks. On my business trip to LA, I ate dinner with WINNER to celebrate Kang Seung Yoon’s birthday. They asked if they could delay the release of their full-length album that was set to drop in February. They didn’t have enough time to record and work on their album due to their busy schedules near the end of the year, as well as their tour. They also wanted to work on two new songs.
As a result, we cancelled the music video filming that we had scheduled for February, and they are currently focusing entirely on their music. We will announce their new album’s release date as soon as they finish.
Q. Are there solo plans for the WINNER members?
A. Last November 26, Song Mino released his first solo full-length album, and his title track ‘FIANCÉ’ received more love and success than anticipated.
I asked Mino to work on his next solo album, and I believe his new solo album will drop sometime this year.
Q. Are there solo plans for other members?
A. Kang Seung Yoon is working on his solo album. Truthfully, he’s been working on this for over a year, but as a leader Kang Seung Yoon put WINNER’s tracks as his priority, so his own solo album is being completed slower than expected.
He’s released solo works starting from ‘Instinctively’ during 2010’s SuperStar K and 2013’s ‘It Rains’, but his new solo album will be his first in 9 years.
During our LA dinner, Kang Seung Yoon told me some funny stories of how he felt after first signing with YG. With the hit of his song, ‘Instinctively’ from 2010’s SuperStar K, he received a lot of offers from various agencies that had a very high signing bonus. I remember laughing with the members as he told us how he was taken aback when he met with YG, who told him that he would have to go back into being a trainee if he signed with us.
Kang Seung Yoon told us this story because he wanted to share how grateful he was to have met his members because he decided to sign with YG. The reason why I bring up this story that could be taken out of context, was because I wanted to share the honest feeling that I’ve seen from Kang Seung Yoon over the past 10 years.
There’s a saying that a lot can change in 10 years, but if someone asked me to choose which member never once lost their rookie-mindset and humility, I would immediately choose Kang Seung Yoon.
I think of him as a better person before a better artist, and it’s how I also feel about the 4 WINNER members in general. We plan on releasing Kim Jinwoo and Lee Seunghoon’s solo tracks in their upcoming full-length album.
The most memorable WINNER promotions of last year has to be their ‘EVERYDAY’ in April, Song Mino’s first solo album ‘XX’, and their December’s ‘MILLIONS’. I will work hard to bring double the joy to the WINNER members and their fans through more songs and promotions this year.
There are a lot of news regarding the other artists but I want to end it with the most recent track to drop soon from YG.
The Announcement Of YG’s Brother Label THE BLACK LABEL And YGX’s First Collaboration
On March 6, we’re planning on releasing a collaboration song between R TEE from Teddy’s THE BLACK LABEL and ANDA, the first female soloist from YGX.
The song’s title is called, R TEE X ANDA’s ‘What Are You Waiting For’. It’s a collaboration of R TEE’s composing and Anda’s singing.
R TEE is a talented composer and DJ from THE BLACK LABEL, who has worked on many hit songs like BIGBANG’s ‘FXXK IT’ and BLACKPINK’s ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE’ and ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’.
Anda had debuted before under another label, but we immediately scouted her to YGX after watching her music video, titled ‘Touch’, and after hearing that her contract expired.
To tell you a fun story regarding the song, ‘What Are You Waiting For’, we initially planned on giving this to BLACKPINK since it had such a good feel to it. But R TEE is preparing to enlist in the army soon so he had a strong desire to release the song under his name. We wanted to fulfill his request, so we scouted Anda to complete the song. This is the first collaboration between THE BLACK LABEL and YGX, but YG will also take special part in its promotions.
As mentioned through FROM YG, YG’s first scheduled promotion is BLACKPINK in March.
As YG has no other artists or tracks set to release before then, we plan on helping our brother labels.
I ask for your high anticipation and interest in R TEE and Anda’s ‘What Are You Waiting For’, as you’ll see why I wanted the track for my own artists after listening to it and why Anda was scouted after watching her music video.
I will announce more details about SECHS KIES’s album and Eun Ji Won’s solo album, as well as CL, Lee Hi, AKMU Suhyun’s news, as soon as more specifics have been confirmed.
Thank you for reading my long message, and I hope everyone is always happy and healthy. As always, thank you.
2019.02.11
FROM YG”— Yang Hyun Suk
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