So far, 2016 has been a year in which entertainment agencies are making an impact on the K-pop community. One example is through Cube Entertainment and 4Minute implementing dubstep into K-pop through their final hit song “Hate.” Another example would be SM Entertainment opening the doors of easier collaboration through SM Radio, which is responsible for some amazing collaborations between SM Town and JYP United (Baekhyun and Suzy, Unnies’ Slam Dunk , Triple T).
Although the accomplishments of the aforementioned K-pop entertainment agencies are noteworthy, it does seem that YG Entertainment is making the biggest impact as of late, especially with Black Pink. Just in their first week alone , Black Pink accumulated over 26 million views on their music videos of their debut songs and achieved both an All-Kill and Perfect All-Kill for “Whistle.”
Now, YG Entertainment is continuing to make an impact by teaming up Bobby of iKon and Mino of Winner to form a new K-pop duo known as MOBB. They recently made their debut and are making waves among the K-pop community.
[MOBB – ‘??(FULL HOUSE)’ M/V] (?? : YG FAMILY | ??? TV???) https://t.co/G8navR4LOj #MOBB #? #MINO #BOBBY #??? #?? #?? #FULLHOUSE #YG
— YG FAMILY (@ygent_official) September 8, 2016
From what YG Entertainment made known, Kim Ji Won and Song Min Ho — better known as Bobby of iKon and Mino of Winner respectively — debuted as a new duo known as MOBB right after both released solo songs. Just like Black Pink, MOBB released two debut title songs along with two music videos , as reported by Soompi .
The first song, titled “Hit Me,” features Kush and is co-written and co-composed by MOBB themselves along with a team of talented musicians. As for the second song, “Full House,” MOBB are the sole writers of the lyrics. However, they teamed up with Teddy (who worked on Black Pink’s debut) and Choice37 to compose. Also, K-pop fans, specifically YG Entertainment loyalists and Blackjacks (devoted fans of 2NE1), will notice a cameo made by CL.
In less than 24 hours, both music videos for accumulated over 700,000 views, which is technically very good. It is possible that both Bobby and Mino’s promotions, both pre- and post-debut, assisted in their rising popularity. In one interview, Bobby and Mino both explain the reason behind naming the duo MOBB in the first place.
“MOBB is a cool word that’s used in the hip-hop scene. It also refers to something like a crew in hip-hop.”
Also, the fact that both Bobby and Mino are well-known rappers of their respective K-pop boy groups signed under YG Entertainment was hype enough for any K-pop fan to anticipate them.
[MOBB – ‘?? ??? Feat. KUSH(HIT ME)’ M/V] (?? : YG FAMILY | ??? TV???) https://t.co/GBbPYDp3xU #? #MINO #BOBBY #??? #?? #????? #HITME #YG
— YG FAMILY (@ygent_official) September 8, 2016
Nevertheless, MOBB has been impacting their debut, making a wave among the K-pop community. One such sign of said impact is the fact their debut extended play (EP) a mini-album titled THE MOBB has topped the iTunes charts in seven different territories , as reported by AllKpop : Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Cambodia. MOBB was ranked No. 2 in Malaysia, Trinidad, and Tobago, and Estonia. As for the United States, it ranked No. 19 which is very good for the country holding on to the title of the most popular music industry in the world.
YG Entertainment is also helping sway the K-pop community too. During MOBB’s first music show recording, which took place on Thursday, September 8, YG Entertainment provided goodies for supportive fans. The goodies were Pepsi and pizza wrapped in boxes with MOBB’s name.
Since MOBB just made their debut just after Bobby and Mino’s solo releases, it is believed YG Entertainment will combine the three together as one cohesive promotion. For now, it is expected that MOBB will work on earning first place trophies to help build hype. Probably the best way to promote MOBB, however, is to have them collaborate with Black Pink. Getting both of YG Entertainment’s new musical acts together will surely make an impact.
[Image via YG Entertainment]