Asian Pop Muzik: Lee Gi Kwang (Be2st) Profile

Ki Kwang (Korean: 이기광) was a
solo singer under Cube Entertainment,
better known by his stage name as "Ace Junior"
when he debuted. He released his first Mini Album
"First Episode A New Hero" which features the works
of the famous composer Brave Brothers.
He has now become a member of Beast.

Career

Debut: 2009

"AJ" 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.
He was dubbed by Korean media as the next Rain.
On June 17, 2009, AJ opened for Lady Gaga's Korean showcase.

He 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 is one of the main
dancers and a lead vocalist in Beast.
Yoon Doojoon, Yong Junhyung,
and Yang Yoseob were once back dancers
for Lee Kikwang which he began to tear
up as he said “Sorry” to his BEAST members,
whom featured on the episode in congratulating
him on his MC debut for KBS 2TV 'Win Win'
airing on August 10, 2010. 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 netizenssince 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 activitiesunder 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 asa member of BEAST. Since the group's debut, he is known as Gi Kwang, or Kikwang.

Beast

The group has released five Korean

mini-albums and various singles.

Gi Kwang is the lead vocalist

and the main dancer of Beast.

2010 - present

Ever since, he was switched
from a solo artist to a group member of BEAST,
together with them they showcased their journey to
debut on the topic of a short-lived reality show,
MTV B2ST, which was hosted by MTV.
He also has an acting role as Kang Sae Ho on MBC's
"High Kick Through the Roof" and was selected as
MC for MBC's Sunday Sunday Night segment Hot Brothers.
Gikwang was chosen as the new MC for the KBS show 'Win Win'.

Gikwang is featured in K.Will's
music video for the song, Present.
He was also chosen as the model for the
‘Ice Tea Tio’ from DongSuh Foods.
Gikwang will be featuring 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.Yoon Doojoon,
Gikwang and IU appeared as special hosts on
Music Core on August 21, 2010.
Gikwang will be doing CF filming of LG Tromm
cf with model Lee Nayoung. Gikwang was casted
as the comical role in the drama ‘My Princess’
starring Song Seunghun and Kim Taehee.
On December 29, 2010,
Gikwang was awarded with Popularity Award
from the 2010 MBC Entertainment Awards.

Gi Kwang together with IU were selected to

be new MCs of Inkigayo in replacement of

CNBLUE’s Jung Yonghwa from 20th March.

The pair will be paired with the existing MCs,

2AM’s Jo Kwon and f(x)’s Sulli.

He was also chosen as the leading

man in A Pink's MV, "I Don't Know."