'Show Me the Money' rapper One debuts as soloist

By Kim Jae-heun

Rapper One debuted as a soloist under the management of YG Entertainment, Tuesday, revealing his first EP “One Day.”

It took a year for the rapper to return to the stage after he barely made it into the top 10 on season five of the popular rap show, “Show Me the Money.”

“Thinking about it now, I needed the break,” said One during his debut press conference at CGV Cinecity in Cheongdam, Seoul. “If I had rushed to debut right after Show Me the Money ended, I would have had difficulties forming my identity as a musician.”

One first appeared on the K-pop scene as part of hip hop duo “1Punch” under Brave Entertainment with singer Punch in 2015. However, the duo broke up shortly after One rose to stardom for his good looks on “Show Me the Money: Season 4.” The handsome rapper moved to YG Entertainment after he finished the TV show competition, causing controversy for possibly betraying his team and his former agency.

One said he focused on producing the EP to find calm amid the stir revolving around him.

“I spent 10 hours in the recording room making tunes of various genres from house, punk, and minimal sounds. It was a process of repetition and I actually wrote some good songs that I am satisfied with. I can’t wait to reveal them all,” said One.

One’s new EP consists of two distinguished songs “Gettin’ By” and “Heyahe.”

“Gettin’ By” is a bright and warm sounding hip hop song written by American producer Cha Cha Malone of the label AOMG led by Jay Park.

“Heyahe” is also a hip hop song mixing trendy beats with a slow piano performance.

One said he hopes to enter the acting scene and appear in TV dramas and films in the future as well.

“I want to be an all-round entertainer. I am very into films and I want to be an actor one day. For now I will try to appear in as many TV shows as possible to make myself high profile. Not many people know about me yet,” One said.