2013 Delivered YG Entertainment Into A New Era
2013 was a year in which there a sense that YG Entertainment was about to undergo a changing of the guard. This year saw the contract expiration of two long time YG Entertainment artists, Gummy and Se7en. Se7en's contract expired in concurrence with his military inscription, while Gummy is now signed with C-JeS Entertainment. Actress Kang Hye Jung also left YG Entertainment to sign with C-JeS while her husband, Epik High's Tablo, remains signed to YG. While veterans may have departed from the agency, it became apparent that the future of YG was held not only by veterans of the agency, but with the trainees.
PSY Makes A Triumphant Comeback
PSY entered into 2013 with the stellar success of Gangnam Style. With Gangnam Style, PSY and YG Entertainment were able to achieve unprecedented market saturation for Korean pop music, worldwide. As a result of the success of Gangnam Style, PSY performed at the inauguration of South Korea's President Park Geun Hye on February 25th. While it was clear that Gangnam Style was a defining moment for PSY, it became unclear whether he would be able to top the meteoric success of the hit.
On April 13, 2013 PSY released the music video for Gentleman at his Happening concert. Happening was live streamed on YouTube to an audience of 150,000 viewers worldwide and had 50,000 attendants. YG Entertainment artists 2NE1, Big Bang's G-Dragon, and Lee Hi made special appearances at this unprecedented concert. Media worldwide awaited for the release of the music video for Gentleman as well as the stage performance, which introduced international audiences to Brown Eyed Girl's Abracadabra dance. Whereas 4Minute's HyunA was prominently featured in the music video for Gangnam Style, Brown Eyed Girl's Ga In was the female lead of Gentleman.
On May 3rd, PSY returned to Rockefeller Plaza to perform before a live audience for The Today Show in support of Gentleman. Days after delivering a solid performance at Rockefeller Plaza, PSY would join Super Junior's Choi Siwon and actor Lee Byung Hun for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute's 2013 Met Gala on May 6th.
PSY returned to Manhattan on November 7th for CJ Group's 60th Anniversary Party entitled the Spotlight on Korean Cinema which was held at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). PSY was joined by other luminaries in Korean entertainment including Lee Byung Hun, the female lead of Master's Sun Gong Hyo Jin, and Lee Jin Wook.
PSY concluded 2013 with his Gymnastics by the Moonlight concerts which were held on December 20th through December 24. PSY, along with YG Entertainment's Big Bang and 2NE1 would take seven out of ten spots on Billboard's 10 Biggest Selling K-Pop Songs In America list. While Gentleman was a success, PSY concluded 2013 by admitting that the song was not as well suited to him as previous singles. 2014 will be a promising year for the artist, who has announced collaborations with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Snoop Dogg for his upcoming project.
Epik High Celebrates 10 Years
On October 24th, Epik High celebrated their 10 year anniversary with a compilation video, album, and the single release 420. 420 featured was a rated hip-hop song that featured luminaries in Korean hip hop such as Dok2, MYK, Dumbfoundead, and Double K. Epik High's Tablo had an incredibly busy year in 2013 which included joining the cast of the variety show Superman Returns with his daughter, Haru. Superman Returns has provided audiences with a look at the softer side of the hip hop artist with hilarious scenes ranging from his defense of his daughter's short hair to other antics that are faced by men when they accompany their children on outings.
Lee Hi Develops Her Artistic Identity
Lee Hi, the runner up to KPop Star season one released her album First Love in two parts in March 2013. It's Over would become the standout single for the album which featured production from YG Entertainment's Teddy, Tablo, as well as Masta Wu. During 2013, Lee Hi developed her identity as a solo artist and concluded the year as part of YG's newest unit entitled BH. Lee Hi along with 2NE1's Park Bom would release a revamp of Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas, which attested not only to the popularity of the artist, but to her excellent vocal skills.
Akdong Musician Emerge From Kpop Star To YG Entertainment's Newest Stars
Sibling duo Akdong Musician started off 2013 by making their way into the third round of Kpop Star 2. Brother Lee Chan Hyuk serves as the composer, lyricist, male vocalist, and guitarist of the group while his sister Lee Soo Hyun provides vocals. While the duo exhibited well honed talent, they often drew criticism from the judges of Kpop Star 2 for not producing music that is pleasing to the mainstream Korean pop music audience. However, that did not appear to hinder this success. As singer-songwriters, the team held an advantage over the majority of their competition having passed through the initial auditions for Kpop Star 2 with an original composition entitled Don't Cross Your Legs.
The duo remained competitors in the program even though they had already released a single that reached number one on the Gaon chart in December 2012 and were facing numerous career opportunities before the finale of Kpop Star 2. On April 14th, the finale of Kpop Star 2 aired with Akdong Musician emerging victorious. By the time the duo completed Kpop Star 2, they had participated in numerous commercials and had their song I Love You featured on the original soundtrack for the drama All About Romance. After a month without agency representation and much special, Akdong Musician announced that they had chosen YG Entertainment as their representation on May 24th.
The Leader Of YG's Newest Male Group, Kang Seung Yoon, Debuts
On June 20th, YG Entertainment founder Yang Hyun Suk began to elaborate on future plans for the agency and its talent which included the upcoming solo release of trainee Kang Seung Yoon. On July 16th, Kang Seung Yoon made his solo debut with the single It Rains which had achieved an all-kill by the following day. Following the release of It Rains, Kang Seung Yoon delivered an uptempo rock single with Wild & Young. The songs helped to establish his sound as a solo artist which is heavily influenced by alternative music and rock. Kang Seung Yoon would then go on to become the leader of Team A for the reality program WIN:Who Is Next.
'WIN:Who Is Next' And Introduction Of YG's Most Solid Male Trainees
In 2013, YG Entertainment scored a huge victory with the reality show WIN:Who Is Next. While audiences followed Team A and Team B throughout their journey on program, the true testimony to the success of WIN was seen in the week leading up to the Final Battle. As both teams prepared for the finale of the series, Yang Hyun Suk began to publicly announce that the losing team may face total expulsion from training within YG Entertainment. These cryptic messages lead fans of YG Entertainment who had not been closely following the program to grow more concerned and to provide their support to the trainees.
The significance of the WIN:Who Is Next was that the program would launch the first male group for YG Entertainment since the debut of Big Bang. The series concluded with Team A achieving victory and becoming the group now known as WINNER. The members of WINNER, Kim Jin Woo, Lee Seung Hoon, Song Minho, Kang Seung Yoon, and Nam Tae Hyun would face instantaneous stardom. Due to the overwhelming response regarding the Final Battle, YG Entertainment released an EP that featured songs from both Team A and Team B. WINNER would then go on to open for Big Bang's Japan Dome Tour and started another reality program which highlighted their journey to stardom entitled WINNER TV.
The Future of YG Entertainment
Jennie Kim of the yet unnamed YG girl group, featured prominently on three YG Family releases in 2013. She was featured on Lee Hi's album First Love on the song Special. Jennie Kim then feature on the song GG Be from Seungri's Let's Talk About Love . Jennie Kim would also feature on the Korean version of the successful single Black from G-Dragon's Coup d'Etat and would participate in live stage performances with the singer.
2013 was a momentous year for YG Entertainment and the YG Family artists. YG became leaders in Korean entertainment and K-Pop ambassadors to the world. As Yang Hyun Suk revealed the trainees of YG Entertainment through WIN:Who Is Next and through Jennie Kim, other agencies took notice and began to aggressively push their trainees into the spotlight. With the announcements of widespread collaborations in 2014, YG Entertainment will become even more spectacular over time.
Photo Credits:YG Entertainment,Kpopstarz,G-Dragon Instagram
