Akdong Musician
| Akdong Musician | |
|---|---|
 Akdong Musician (2014) |
|
| General information | |
| origin | South Korea |
| Genre (s) | K-pop |
| founding | 2012 |
| Current occupation | |
| Lee Chan-hyuk Lee Soo-hyun |
|
Akdong Musician ( kor. 악동 뮤지션 , short: AKMU ) is a South Korean K-Pop duo under YG Entertainment, which made its debut on a television show after winning. The duo consists of Lee Chan-hyuk and Lee Soo-hyun.
history
2012-2013: K-Pop Star
Lee Chan-hyuk and Lee Soo-hyun lived with their parents in Mongolia for about 5 years before coming back to South Korea and starting their music careers. The two were homeschooled by their mother. The two siblings, who called themselves Akdong Musician, became part of the Proteurment Agency. Under the company they made several stage appearances and even released an original song called "Galaxy" which was later used as the soundtrack for a Samsung Galaxy S4 advertisement.
In August 2012, the duo took part in the pre-rehearsals of "K-Pop Star 2" , which took place in the Jamsil Arena in Seoul (South Korea). The two passed the preliminary round and were allowed to play in the first round of the show, where they sang a cover of Miss A's "Breathe" and an original song called "Do not cross your legs". A member of the jury, Park Jin-young , founder and former CEO of JYP Entertainment , praised the bond between the siblings and the techniques they incorporated into their performances. Singer and representative of SM Entertainment " BoA " emphasized the original song of the two and praised the text of it. During Yang Hyun-suk , founder and CEO of YG Entertainment , the two as "true artist" by the people who had auditioned for the show. The duo continued to receive positive reactions from the jury until after their second performance in the third round. The jury noted that her lack of self-confidence was the main reason for her rather poor performance in the subsequent rounds. Even so, they eventually won the competition.
Some of their original songs during the competition were released under LOEN Entertainment. "You are Attractive", for example, was released on December 12th, immediately reaching number one on the Gaon Charts . Although they were not signed under an entertainment agency after the competition, they participated in a few commercials and composed several songs. One of those songs was "I Love You" for the TV series All About My Romance .
On May 24, 2013, one month after K-Pop Star 2 won , the siblings signed an exclusive contract with YG Entertainment .
2014-2015: debut with Play and the first concert
Akdong Musician's debut album Play was released digitally on April 7th and physically on April 9th, 12 months after winning K-Pop Star 2. The album Play has 11 songs all of which were written and produced by Lee Chan-hyuk. The album has 3 title songs, each with its own music video. The first song "200%" was chosen by Lee Yang-suk. And the second song was chosen by Akdong Musician himself, it is called "Melted". The third song "Give Love" was decided by the fans. The album reached number 1 on the Gaon Charts and landed at number 2 on the Billboard US World Albums Chart. Akdong Musician's debut stage was at K-Pop Star 3 on April 6th.
The music video "200%" was released on April 7th with the digital album. It hit the charts shortly after it was released, and the other songs on the album were also quite high. The music video for "Melted" was released on April 14th. The third and final song was "Give Love", which was ranked highest after "200%" and "Melted". The Mostuk video for "Give Love" was released on May 2nd.
On June 16, Akdong Musician participated in the YG Family cover project and released a cover of Taeyang's " Eyes, Nose, Lips ".
Akdong Musician's first live concert tour called " AKMU Camp " was from 21-23. November at Blue Square Samsung Card Hall, Hannam-dong, Seoul .
On October 10th, Akdong Musician released a digital single called "Time and Fallen Leaves" (kor: 시간 과 낙엽; RR: Sigan-gwa Nagyeop), which was written and produced by Lee Chan-hyuk. This was originally supposed to be Play's theme song, but it was held back until October because it suited the fall season better. The song also reached number 1 on the Major Real-Time Music Charts. It also reached number 1 on the weekly Gaon Digital Charts . The song has not received a music video so that the audience can interpret their own story into it.
On November 5th it was said that Lee Soo-hyun should be part of the YG Family sub-unit " Hi Suhyun " with Lee Hi. Their debut single "I'm Different" (kor: 나는 달라) was released digitally on November 11th.
On October 9th, 2015 Akdong Musician released the song "Like Ga, Na, Da" (kor: 가나다 같이) together with a special video in cooperation with Korea's " Hangul Day ". The song is a joint production by YG Entertainment and Woori Card as part of an official Hangul Day campaign.
Since 2016: Puberty series and time out
On May 4th, 2016 Akdong Musician released their first EP called Spring (kor: 사춘기 상), which was the first recording of the first album series called Puberty. The album was represented with the two singles "Re-Bye" and "How People Move". On April 26th, Akdong Musician released a short film to announce their comeback. This short film begins in a fantasy-like world until things turn to a dark and creepy end. Following the album's release on May 4th, five songs debuted in the top 10 of the Gaon Digital Charts , with "Re-Bye" becoming a chart topper. Billboard named Spring the fourth best K-pop album of the year.
To promote Spring, Akdong Musician held a mini-concert in Seoul Forest Park in front of 10,000 people. The duo spent the rest of the year performing across Asia.
After Spring Vol. 1, it has been confirmed that a short film called "Spring To Winter" will be released on December 22nd that will promote their new album. The second album in the Puberty series. The short film was released on January 1, 2017. In the short film, Akdong Musician himself is portrayed as the two argue against each other and dissolve. While the songs of the new album act as the soundtrack in the background.
On December 24th, 2016 it was announced that their second themed album, Winter, will be released on January 3rd, 2017. This album contains eight tracks. "Last Goodbye" (kor: 오랜 날 오랜 밤) and "Reality" (kor: 리얼리티) are released as singles. Winter debuted in the Top 10 of the Gaon Albums Chart . "Last Goodbye" became the second best song in the first half of 2017 in South Korea. The duo then embarked on a South Korean tour with concerts in seven cities across the country, including eight sold out concerts in Seoul.
On March 15th, 2017 Akdong Musician released a digital single in cooperation with Yang Hee-eun called "The Tree" (kor: 나무).
On July 20th, 2017 Akdong Musician released their first single album called Summer Episode, with two theme songs called "Dinosaur" and "My Darling". Notably, the single "Dinosaur" is the first time the duo have experimented with the EDM genre, while "My Darling" is a cheerful acoustic track.
On September 13, 2017, YG confirmed that Chan-hyuk would have to complete his military service on September 18 . Until it is completed, Akdong Musician will take a break. Soo-hyun will continue as a solo artist and actress.
On June 4, 2018, Lee Soo-hyun became a radio DJ for KBS Cool FM, Volume Up.
Members
- Lee Chan-hyuk (kor: 이찬혁) - lead vocals, songwriter, composer, producer
- Lee Soo-hyun (kor: 이수현) - singer
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 KR
|
|||
| 2014 | Play |
KR1 (69 weeks) KR |
|
| 2017 | winter |
KR8 (17 weeks) KR |
|
| 2019 | Sailing |
KR4 (11 weeks) KR |
|
Web links
- Official website on ygfamily.com
Individual evidence
-
↑ Chart sources:
- Gaon Album Chart. Retrieved February 10, 2018 . (KR)
-
↑ Play sales in South Korea:
- 2014 년 Album Chart (35,583). Retrieved May 13, 2018 .
- 2015 년 2 월 Album Chart (1,019). Retrieved May 13, 2018 .
- 2016 년 5 월 Album Chart (939). Retrieved May 13, 2018 .
-
↑ Winter sales in South Korea:
- 2017 년 2 월 Album Chart. Retrieved May 13, 2018 .