Lee Gi-kwang

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This is a Korean name; the family name is Lee.
Lee Ki-Kwang
Lee Ki-kwang.jpg
Born (1990-03-30) March 30, 1990 (age 34)
Gwangju, South Korea
Occupation
Musical career
Genres
Years active 2008–present
Labels
Associated acts
Korean name
Hangul 이기광
Hanja 李起光
Revised Romanization I Gi-gwang
McCune–Reischauer Yi Kigwang

Lee Gi-kwang (Korean: 이기광, Hanja: 李起光; born on March 30, 1990) is a South Korean idol, singer, dancer and actor. He was a solo singer under Cube Entertainment, also known by his stage name as "Ace Junior" (AJ) when he debuted. He released his first Mini Album "First Episode A New Hero"[1][2] which features the works of the famous composer Brave Brothers. He is the main dancer, lead vocalist and visual of Beast.

Early life

Lee Gi-kwang was born on March 30, 1990[3] in Naju, South Korea. Gi-kwang found interest in hip hop and had particular liking to many classic hip hop acts. At first he was backed by his family to pursue a musical career but eventually he passed an audition and became a trainee. However he got eliminated from the previous agency and was asked by the former president of his current agency to join the agency without auditioning making him the company's first trainee (and debuted under the stage name 'AJ'). He was known as the solo singer AJ or Ace Junior when he debuted and released a mini-album "First Episode: A New Hero” on April 4, 2009.[4] He met controversies when his name created dispute among netizens for having a similar name with Paran’s AJ(Later became the new U-KISS member). He now goes with his original name when he redebuted with Beast.[5] He debuted as an actor through High Kick Through the Roof[6] and was also cast in a role for My Princess.[7] He also became an MC for different shows such as Hot Brothers,[8] Win Win[9] and SBS Inkigayo.

Career

Debut: 2009

Lee Gi-kwang was trained under JYP Entertainment for four years before transferring to Cube Entertainment. He made his debut on April 2, 2009 on Mnet M!Countdown.[10] He was dubbed by Korean media as the next Rain.[11] On June 17, 2009, AJ opened for Lady Gaga's Korean showcase.[12]

Gi-kwang has now switched from a solo artist to a group member of Beast. The group debuted on October 16, 2009 on KBS Music Bank with their single "Bad Girl". He serves as the main dancer and lead vocalist in Beast. Band members Yoon Doo-joon, Yong Jun-hyung, Jang Hyun-seung and Yang Yo-seob were once backup dancers for Gi-kwang when he was still performing as AJ.[13] Ace Junior was the topic of a short-lived reality show, Diary of AJ, which was hosted by MTV. The show ran on two episodes on May 9, 2009 with a total of two episodes showcasing his Journey on his debut as AJ.

Controversy

The name "AJ", which is common not only in Korea but also overseas, has created disputes among netizens since many expressed their dissatisfaction over him having the same name as Paran's AJ. Cube Entertainment responded by saying that AJ’s name is different from that of Paran AJ’s for his (Cube's AJ) name is short for ‘Ace Junior’. The company later announced that he would continue activities under a different name, but no changes were made until it was revealed that AJ would no longer continue activities, as he will have been preparing to debut as a member of Beast. Since the group's debut, he is known as Gi Kwang, or Kikwang.[14]

Beast

Beast (비스트, stylized as BEAST or B2ST) is a boy band from South Korea that consists of six members, under Cube Entertainment. Originally known as B2ST, an acronym for Boys 2 Search the Top. However, their name was changed to BEAST (Boys of East Asia Standing Tall). They released their first mini-album Beast Is The B2ST on October 14, 2009, and made their first live performance on KBS's Music Bank 2 days later. The group has released a total of 8 mini-albums, "Beast is the B2ST", "Shock of the New Era", "Mastermind", "Lights Go On Again", "Midnight Sun", "Good Luck", "Time", "Ordinary" and 2 full-length albums called "Fiction and Fact" and "Hard to Love How to Love".

2010 - present

After he was switched from a solo artist to a group member of Beast, their journey to debut was the topic of a reality show, MTV B2ST, which was hosted by MTV. Later, there's another Beast show - Beast Almighty, also hosted by MTV.

Acting

Gi-kwang had an acting role as Kang Sae-ho on MBC's "High Kick Through the Roof".[6] He was cast as the comical role in the drama My Princess starring Song Seung-hun and Kim Tae-hee on 2011.[7] He also played Lee Ji-ah's patrol partner in 2011 drama Me Too, Flower!, where his character was Jo Ma-roo. He also had an acting role as himself as the lead actor in "20's (Twenty Years Old)" and a role as Kyung Sook who is terminally ill with leukimia on KBS Drama Special "My Friend is Still Alive".

On August 3, 2015, Lee Gi-kwang made a comeback appearance on small screen as Lee Se-won on SBS's Monday-Tuesday Drama "Mrs.cop". His role was as the youngest detective on the team along with Kim Hee-Ae as Choi Young-Jin, the captain of the team.

MC Activity

He was selected as MC for MBC's Sunday Sunday Night segment Hot Brothers.[15] Gi-kwang was chosen as the new MC for the KBS show 'Win Win'.[16]

Yoon Doojoon, Gi-kwang and IU appeared as special hosts on Music Core on August 21, 2010.[17]

Gi-kwang, together with IU, were selected to be new MCs of Inkigayo in replacement of CNBlue’s Jung Yonghwa from 20 March. The two were paired with the existing MCs, 2AM’s Jo Kwon, and f(x)’s Sulli.

Gi-kwang, SNSD's Tiffany, and CNBlue's Yonghwa were also MC for SBS K-Pop Super Concert in America on November 10, 2012.

He also being MC on December 14, 2012 along with Infinite's Woohyun, Moon Hee-jun, and Danny Ahn for 2012 Melon Music Awards

Featuring

Gi-kwang was featured in K.Will's music video for the song, Present.[18]

Gi-kwang was featured in Ahn Jinkyung’s title song, ‘Love is Pathetic’ off of her second mini album ‘BE THE VOICE’. This will be his first project that he will be rapping in.[19]

Gi-kwang was featured in Sunny Hill's 'Midnight Circus'.

He was also chosen as the leading man in A Pink's MV, "I Don't Know".[20]

On July 12, 2011, it has been announced that Gi-kwang will be taking part in producer Brave Brother’s sixth project album, in a song called "Break Up" featuring Gi-kwang and Electro Boys. Fans were especially excited because this was Gi-kwang’s first solo song since his original debut days as ‘AJ‘ before he joined Beast.[21]

On February 8, 2012 Gi-kwang also appeared in Ailee's debut music video, "Heaven".

CF

He was also chosen as the model for the ‘Ice Tea Tio’ from DongSuh Foods.[22] Gi-kwang will be doing CF filming of LG Tromm with model Lee Nayoung.[23]

Awards

On December 29, 2010, Gi-kwang was awarded with Popularity Award from the 2010 MBC Entertainment Awards.[24]

Discography

Mini-Albums

Album # Album information Tracklisting
1st First Episode: A New Hero
  • Released: April 4, 2009
  • Length: 12:40
  • Language: Korean
  • Format: CD, digital
  • Label: Cube Entertainment
  1. "Intro" - 0:51
  2. "Dancing Shoes" - 3:11
  3. "2009" (Feat. Hyuna) - 2:07
  4. "Wipe the Tears " - 3:27
  5. "Dancing Shoes (Instrumental)" - 3:04

Music video appearances

These are a collection of the different members' appearances in other artists' music videos as well as notable acting performances in music videos.

Year Song Title Artist Video
2010 Present K.Will starshipTV

Hosting

Year Title Roles TV Network
2010 M! Countdown Christmas Special Co-Hosted along with Son Dong-woon & Yong Jun-hyung Mnet
2011 Inkigayo Co-Hosted along with IU SBS
2012 Inkigayo Special Co-Hosted along with Jung Yong-hwa & Tiffany SBS
Win Win Co-Hosted KBS2
SBS Kpop Concert in America Co-Hosted along with Jung Yong-hwa & IU SBS
MelOn Music Awards Co-Hosted along with Nam Woo-hyun & Moon Hee-joon & Danny Ahn MBC
2014 Style log Co-Hosted along with Gayoon OnStyle

Filmography

Year Title Type Role
2009 Diary of AJ TV Documentary (MTV) Himself as AJ
High Kick Through the Roof TV Series (MBC) Kang Sae Ho (강세호)
MTV B2ST TV Documentary (MTV) Himself
2010 MTV Beast Almighty TV Show (MTV) Himself
Idol Maid TV Show (MBC) Himself
Hot Brothers TV Show (MBC) Himself
Win Win TV Show (KBS) Himself
2010 Idol Star Athletics Championships TV Show (MBC) Himself
SHIN PD Variety Show TV Show (SBS) Himself
2011 My Princess TV Series (MBC) Geon Lee (건이)
Inkigayo TV Series (SBS) Himself
Exciting Cube TV TV Show (Mnet Japan) Himself
Me Too, Flower! TV Series (MBC) Jo Ma Roo/ Pink Chicken
School Variety TV Show (KBS) Himself
2012 Running Man EP 127 TV Show (SBS) Himself
Win Win TV Show (KBS2) Himself
Sammy Adventures 2 Movie Ricky
Invincible Youth 2 TV Show (KBS2) Himself
2013 Running Man EP 127 TV Show (SBS) Himself
Running Man EP 162 TV Show (SBS) Himself
2013 Idol Star Athletics Championships TV Show (MBC) Himself
Crackle Class TV Show (tvN) Himself
My Friend Is Still Alive Drama Special (KBS) Kyeong-sook
Weekly Idol TV Show (MBC Every1) Himself
Happy Together TV Show (KBS) Himself
Hello Counselor TV Show (MBC Every1) Himself
2014 20's (Twenty Years Old) Mobile Drama (tvN) Himself
Showtime Burning the Beast TV Show (MBC Every1) Himself
Running Man EP 199 TV Show (SBS) Himself
Weekly Idol (MBC Every1) Himself
Hello Counselor (KBS) Himself
Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education TV Show (KBS2) Himself
Cackling Class TV Online (tvN) Himself
Style log TV Show (OnStyle) Himself
Family's Dignity Full House TV Show (KBS2) Himself
Law of the Jungle TV Show (SBS) Himself
Cool Kiz On The Block TV Show (KBS) Himself
Witch Hunt TV Online (JTBC) Himself
2014 Idol Star Athletics Championships TV Show (MBC) Himself
2015 Infinity Challenge TV Show (MBC) Himself
Happy Together TV Show (KBS2) Himself
2015 Idol Star Athletics Championships TV Show (MBC) Himself
One Night TV Appearance TV Show (SBS) Himself
New Life For Children TV Show (MBC) Himself
Mrs. Cop TV Series (SBS) Lee Se Won

Awards

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2010 MBC Entertainment Awards Popularity Award[24] Hot Brothers Won
2011 MBC Drama Awards Best New Actor My Princess Won

References

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External links

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