Akdong Musician Reveals Why They Chose YG Entertainment

Successful sibling rookie duo Akdong Musician recently revealed why they decided on making their debut with YG Entertainment. According to the competition rules for audition show “K-Pop Star Season 2,” the winner of the show could choose to debut with SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment or JYP Entertainment. 

The sibling artists told TV Report in an interview, “First off, we made our decision without any other motives. We reflected back on the entire audition process. YG gave us the most freedom. He heard us out as artists and allowed us to experience for ourselves what that would look like.” 

About SM and JYP Entertainment, they said, “Both companies taught us well. But YG didn’t try to teach us anything. Instead they told us, ‘You guys decide for yourselves, do something that’s fun for you.’ We liked that about them. They didn’t make us do any training. We used to listen to Epik High songs since way back, but when we met them it was comfortable and really fun. We liked that kind of environment.” 

According to the siblings, they lacked any prior knowledge about the company itself. They didn’t even really know who Yang Hyun Suk was. Since they had been living in Mongolia as missionary kids, it had been obviously difficult for them to become entirely familiar with K-Pop culture. 

“Before appearing on ‘K-Pop Star,’ we didn’t know anything about SM, YG, or JYP. We looked them up and studied hard before meeting the judges. We were shocked to learn that Yang Hyun Suk was such a noteworthy person in the business. We only knew that he had been a part of Seo Taiji and sang, ‘I Know.’ We even saw his dance practice clip. [Lee Soo Hyun starts doing the dance] It was amazing,” they admitted. 

They also talked about how their relationship with Yang Hyun Suk was a bit nerve-wracking after they signed an exclusive contract with YG Entertainment. They said, “At first, we were really nervous. We had heard that [Yang Hyun Suk] was a scary person. We naturally assumed that he would be that way. But when we met him as our CEO and not as a judge, he was even more candid in how he treated us. He took care of us as though he was our own dad. When we had our meals, he would even set out the side dishes for us so we would eat comfortably. The people around us were also very surprised (laughs).” 

Akdong Musician also expressed how happy they were with their decision to join the YG Family along with seniors Big Bang, 2NE1, Epik High and Lee Hi. 

“As part of the maknae group, we get along very well with our senior Lee Hi. The company adores all three of us equally. They also allowed us to go to the concert in Japan. Lee Hi thought she was going to always be the youngest one in the company, but instead is now called ‘unnie’ by Lee Soo Hyun. We’re really happy to be able to meet Big Bang, 2NE1 and Epik High. It’s fascinating that we’re now in the same company as the artists whose songs we listened to and sang along to all the time.”