Biography

South Korean singer and rapper B.I made his name in the latter half of the 2010s as the leader of K-pop boy band iKON before launching a successful solo career in the next decade. In addition to performing, he has maintained a consistent presence as a songwriter and executive producer both on his albums with iKON and solo releases like 2021's Waterfall and the 2022 EP Love or Loved, Pt. 1. Born Kim Han-bin in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, B.I trained under YG Entertainment in his late teens, and in 2014 competed on rap competition Show Me the Money 3. This led to the formation and debut of iKON, with B.I serving not only as leader but as a producer and songwriter. The group was an immediate success, topping Korea's Gaon pop chart with their 2015 debut, Welcome Back. iKON's subsequent run of tours and releases in both South Korea and Japan was demanding, yet B.I still made time for occasional solo endeavors including appearances on albums by Psy and Seungri. He left iKON in June 2019 after the release of their compilation album New Kids, though he was still credited as a songwriter and producer on their 2020 EP I Decide. After guesting on Epik High's track "Acceptance Speech," B.I made his proper solo debut with the single album Midnight Blue (Love Streaming) in early 2021. Released that June, his debut album, Waterfall, was a success, reaching number six on the Gaon chart, thanks in part to the popularity of the single "Illa Illa." Acting as songwriter and executive producer on each of his releases, B.I's success continued later in the year with the first half of Cosmos, his follow-up album. Throughout 2022, he released singles like "BTBT" featuring Soulja Boy and DeVita and "Keep Me Up," both of which were featured on his EP Love or Loved, Pt. 1 in November of that year. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi