# Bobby (rapper)

Kim Ji-won (Korean: 김지원; born December 21, 1995), known by his stage name Bobby (Korean: 바비) is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, and member of iKon. In 2016, he formed a sub-unit with Mino under the name MOBB. He is best known for finishing in first place on Mnet's survival show Show Me the Money 3.

## Early life

Kim Ji-won was born on December 21, 1995, in Seoul, South Korea. In 2005, he and his family moved to Fairfax, Virginia, where he auditioned for YG Entertainment and later met Kim Jin-woo of Jinusean in New York City. In January 2011, he was signed as a trainee under the label.

## Career

After over two years of training, Bobby participated in the 2013 survival show Win: Who Is Next? under Team B. He started using his stage name Bobby, named after his idol, Bob Marley. Because Team A won the program, Bobby continued training under YG Entertainment. In November 2013, while still a trainee, Bobby appeared in the music video for "Ringa Linga" by label-mate Taeyang of Big Bang alongside B.I and Jinhwan from Team B, Winner's Mino and Taehyun, and Blackpink's Lisa.
In May 2014, together with B.I, Bobby competed on Mnet's Show Me The Money 3. He finished in first place under Team Illionaire, mentored by Dok2 and The Quiett. Throughout the show, Bobby released the singles "Go", "L4L (Lookin' for Luv)", "YGGR#HipHop", and "Guard Up and Bounce". Following the show's conclusion, he participated in Mix & Match, where filming began in midst of appearance of Show Me The Money. The show resulted in the debut of Team B, alongside trainee Jung Chan-woo, under the group name iKon.
In October 2014, Bobby featured in Epik High's single "Born Hater" alongside Beenzino, Verbal Jint, B.I, and Mino, and in November 11, he featured in "I'm Different" by Hi Suhyun, a project unit composed of Lee Hi and Lee Su-hyun of Akdong Musician. In the same month, he also featured with Dok2 in Masta Wu's track "Come Here". He performed "Born Hater" with Epik High at the 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards, also performing "Come Here" and his single "YGGR" together with Dok2, The Quiett and Masta Wu. He was featured on GQ Korea's 2014 Men of the Year list and on December 4, 2014, he appeared as a guest at GQ Party.
In September 2015, iKon released the warm-up single "My Type", followed by lead singles "Rhythm Ta" and "Airplane". On October 4, the group attended their first music show, SBS' Inkigayo, receiving their third win for "My Type". The group released their debut album on December 24, 2015.
In March 2016, Bobby featured on Lee Hi's single "Video" from her studio album Seoulite. Bobby also made an appearance on the ninth episode of Show Me the Money 5, featuring in Reddy's song "Like This", which they performed onstage together. In September 2016, Bobby released the single "Holup!" (Korean: 꽐라) as part of a four-track extended play (EP), The MOBB, a collaboration between Bobby and Winner's Mino under the group name MOBB. They released the lead singles "Full House" (Korean: 붐벼) and "Hit Me" (Korean: 빨리 전화해) on September 9 alongside the music videos.
In March 2017, Bobby and B.I featured in Psy's single "Bomb" from his studio album 4x2=8. Bobby released his first solo studio album, Love and Fall, on September 14, 2017, for which he served producer and participated in writing and composing for all songs on the album. Bandmate Donghyuk and Katie Kim featured on the track "Secret", and label-mate Mino featured in the track "Up". On November 29, Bobby released the Japanese version of his debut solo album. He released his second studio album, Lucky Man, on January 25, 2021.
Bobby released his first solo single album S.i.R on March 21, 2023.

## Personal life

On August 20, 2021, Bobby announced in his Instagram post his upcoming wedding to his fiancée, who was expecting their first child in September. In September 2021, his fiancée gave birth to a son.

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details, chart positions, and sales :
| Title | Details | Peak positions | Peak positions | Peak positions | Peak positions | Peak positions | Sales |
| Title | Details | KOR | FRA | JPN | TW | US World | Sales |
| Love and Fall | Released: September 14, 2017 Label: YG Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download | 4 | 113 | 39 | 7 | 2 | KOR: 39,068 JPN: 1,535 |
| Lucky Man | Released: January 25, 2021 Label: YG Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download | 4 | — | — | — | — | KOR: 54,221 |
| Sir.Robert | Released: February 28, 2024 Label: 143 Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download Track listing "Intro" "Beak" (새) (feat. Huh) "Why Stop Now" (feat. Jung Sang-soo) "Harmless" (무중력) (feat. Chanmina) "Hercules!" (feat. Justhis) "Moon" (feat. IHwak) "Cherry Blossom" (벚꽃) "I'll Do That" (너가 그러라한다면) "Drowning" (feat. Sole) "20s 30s" (2030 머릿속) "Help Me Out o Kill Me Not" "F" | 31 | — | — | — | | KOR: 12,976 |

### Extended plays

List of extended plays, with selected details, chart positions, and sales :
| Title | Details | Peak positions | Sales |
| Title | Details | KOR | Sales |
| Robert | Released: October 10, 2023 Label: 143 Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download | 26 | KOR: 7,593 |

### Single albums

List of single albums, with selected details, chart positions and sales :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales |
| Title | Album details | KOR | Sales |
| S.i.R | Released: March 21, 2023 Labels: 143 Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download, streaming | 8 | KOR: 30,554 |

### Collaborative albums

List of collaboration albums, with selected details, chart positions, and sales :
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Sales |
| Title | Details | KOR | JPN | US Heat | US Rap | US World | Sales |
| The Mobb (with Mino) | Released: September 8, 2016 Label: YG Entertainment, YGEX Formats: CD, digital download | 2 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 1 | KOR: 31,744 JPN: 14,855 |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Sales | Album |
| Title | Year | KOR | US World | Sales | Album |
| "L4L (Lookin' For Luv)" (feat. Dok2 and The Quiett) | 2014 | 7 | — | KOR: 467,722 | Show Me the Money 3 |
| ""YGGR#hiphop" (연결고리#힙합) | 2014 | 4 | — | KOR: 1,064,002 | Show Me the Money 3 |
| "Go" (가) | 2014 | 16 | — | KOR: 402,975 | Show Me the Money 3 |
| "Raise Your Guard and Bounce" (가드올리고) | 2014 | 4 | — | KOR: 523,402 | Show Me the Money 3 |
| "Anthem" (이리오너라) (with B.I) | 2015 | 6 | — | KOR: 202,061 | Welcome Back |
| "Holup!" (꽐라!) | 2016 | 9 | 3 | KOR: 219,671 | The MOBB |
| "I Love You" (사랑해) | 2017 | 24 | — | KOR: 82,363 | Love and Fall |
| "Runaway" | 2017 | 63 | — | KOR: 31,199 | Love and Fall |
| "U Mad" | 2021 | 150 | — | — | Lucky Man |
| "Drowning" (feat. Sole) | 2023 | — | — | — | S.i.R |
| "Cherry Blossom" (벚꽃) | 2023 | — | — | — | S.i.R |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. ||||||

#### As featured artist

| Title | Year | Peak positions | Peak positions | Sales | Album |
| Title | Year | KOR | US World | Sales | Album |
| "Born Hater" (Epik High feat. Beenzino, Verbal Jint, B.I, Mino, Bobby) | 2014 | 3 | 5 | KOR: 1,266,060 | Shoebox |
| "Come Here" (이리와봐) (Masta Wu feat. Dok2 and Bobby) | 2014 | 8 | 4 | KOR: 275,664 | Non-album singles |
| "I'm Different" (Hi, Suhyun feat. Bobby) | 2014 | 1 | 3 | KOR: 936,740 | Non-album singles |
| "Video" (안봐도 비디) (Lee Hi feat. Bobby) | 2016 | 21 | 6 | KOR: 160,960 | Seoulite |
| "Bomb" (Psy feat. B.I and Bobby) | 2017 | 14 | — | KOR: 166,479 | 4X2=8 |
| "Rise (Remix)" (Mako, The Word Alive & The Glitch Mob feat. Bobby) | 2017 | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Super Asia" (TPA feat. VaVa and Bobby) | 2019 | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Ok Man" (Mino feat Bobby) | 2020 | 4 | — | KOR: 114,008 | Take |
| "Lucky!" (개이득) (Kim Jae-hwan feat. Bobby) | 2023 | 152 | — | — | J.A.M. (Journey Above Music) |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. ||||||

### Songwriting and production credits
## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2013 | Win: Who Is Next | Contestant |
| 2014 | Show Me the Money 3 | Contestant |
| 2014 | Mix & Match | Contestant |
| 2017 | King of Mask Singer | Contestant |
| 2017 | Living Together in Empty Room | Cast Member |
| 2023 | Boys Planet | Guest Mentor |