MOBB unlikely to become next BigBang

MOBB or MINO X BOBBY / Courtesy of YG Entertainment

By Kim Jae-heun

Yang Hyun-seok, the chief producer and founder of YG Entertainment (YG), must be struggling to find the next BigBang ― the record label’s most successful and lucrative hip-hop boy band.

Among the many businesses YG operates, music has been ― and still is ― its primary focus and BigBang is at the center of it. The band is scheduled to hold 16 concerts in four cities in Japan by the end of this year. But with all five members required to start their military service soon, YG Entertainment will inevitably face a considerable financial loss.

It is not only a matter of money but the talent agency will also lose its leading player in the K-pop market.

MOBB, or MINO X BOBBY, is YG’s new project revealed in September. The hip-hop duo is Yang’s experiment to test their potential to carry on BigBang’s popularity.

Despite his high hopes for boy bands Winner and iKON that debuted in January 2014 and November 2015, respectively, their popularity failed to compare with BigBang’s or even come close.

Instead, Yang gathered the two most popular rappers from each band and formed a unit group. It is rare for an entertainment company to make a sub-group consisting of singers from two different bands. But it had to be Bobby and Mino, who enjoy a certain popularity among YG’s rookie performers due to their achievements in seasons three and four of rap competition show “Show Me the Money.”

The two rappers were called to see Yang in July and given two months to prepare a solo track each and two songs as a team.

“Every time we would work on a song and take it to Yang, there was no single song he took immediately,” said Winner’s rapper Mino during a press conference at the YG building in Mapo, western Seoul, last Monday. “There was always one word or one part he wanted to improve. He wanted the songs to be topical. Also, they have to be loved by the public and not only fan groups. He takes the first impression of a song as very important as it has to leave a strong feeling after one listen, be it the sound or lyrics.”

MOBB was successful in that their new album, released Sept. 9, topped the iTunes album charts in seven countries and ranked 19th on the U.S. iTunes chart. However, such an accomplishment is not unusual for YG artists because its newly debuted girl band Black Pink’s mini-album, “Square One,” topped iTunes charts in 14 countries. The two singles, “Whistle” and “Boombayah,” also ranked first and second on American Billboard’s World Digital Song Chart last month.

Mino and Bobby admitted that they would hate just to copy the style of music of their senior YG artists.

The project duo’s hit songs include “Hit Me” and “Full House.”