Lee Kikwang - Biography

Lee Gi Kwang/Lee Ki Kwang/이기광

Main article: AJ (singer)

Birth Name: Lee Gi Kwang (Hangul: 이기광)

Date: March 30 1990 (90/03/30) (20 years)

Position: Dancer singer Main

Official Website: PLAY AJ

Official FanCafe: WITH AJ

AJ (Lee Gi Kwang) 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.

Debut: 2009

AJ was trained under JYP Entertainment for four years before transferring to JYPE’s sister agency, 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.

AJ has now switched from a solo artist to a group member named BEAST. He is now known as Gikwang, or Kikwang.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.

Controversy

The name “AJ”, which is common not only in Korea but also overseas, has created disputes among netizens since 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 activities under 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 as a member ofBEAST. Since the group’s debut, he is known as Gi Kwang, or Kikwang.

Black Face in Korean Commercial

“Group BEAST’s member Lee Kikwang transforms into an African American, causing laughter. On July 25th’s [2010] episode of MBC TV ‘Hot Brothers’, a ‘Don’t get worked up under any situation’ test took place in the recording while they underwent extreme situations meant to stimulate their heartbeats.

Lee Kikwang did an imaginary CF filming, and made up to look like an African American. Following this, a series of crummy situations occurred, breaking the common belief that filming a CF is a cool thing. In the end, Lee Kikwang was turned into an African-American and was embarrassed endlessly in extreme situations and unexpected outfits.

However, when Lee Kikwang was filming the watermelon CF, he put out all his acting skill, and after several NG’s, he just narrowly succeeded at the watermelon CF. But right after, he was hit with another challenge. A surprise guest appears and questions the true identity of Lee Kikwang in front of all the staff and guests.

The surprise guest (Yoon Doojoon) said that they knew Lee Kikwang well, and that the ‘Lee Kikwang’ standing in front of them, dressed up as an African American was not really BEAST’s Lee Kikwang, accusing him and making him helpless.”

Upon viewing the commercial, many international fans of Kpop and the groups Beast were upset. The racist portrayal of African Americans caused a great uproar that was seen in popular blogs amongst fans of various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Other Kpop news sits chose not to report on the issue. The controversy also sparked discussion regarding Korean’s attitudes towards different races and the xenophobia attributed to Korea, a dominantly homogeneous country. Some comments from native Koreans within the country reflected a concerned attitude towards the depiction as well. The issue ended subtly, with no word from MBC or Cube Entertainment regarding the matter.

The episode of ‘Hot Brothers’, did however, continue to air as scheduled.

Other Activities

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. 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, with a second season BEAST ALMIGHTY. He also has an acting role as Kang Sae Ho on MBC’s “High Kick Through the Roof”

Gi Kwang is featured in K.Will’s music video for the song’Present’, and he´s the rapper of Ahn Jinkyung’s title song ‘Love is Pathetic’ . He was also chosen as the model for the ‘Ice Tea Tio’ from DongSuh Foods and he appeared in the LG TrommCF with model Lee Nayoung.

Gi Kwang was casted as the comical role in the drama ‘My Princess’ starring Song Seunghun and Kim Taehee.

On December 29, 2010, Gi Kwang was awarded with Popularity Award from the 2010 MBC Entertainment Awards.