Mino (rapper)
Song Min-ho, better known by the stage name Mino, is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, music producer, artist and actor. After a stint in the two-year ballad group BoM from 2011 to 2013, he joined YG Entertainment, leading to his debut in 2014 with the boy band Winner, formed through Mnet survival program WIN: Who Is Next. Alongside label-mate Bobby, he is also part of the hip hop duo MOBB, formed in September 2016.
As a solo artist, Mino first gained recognition as a contestant in the rap-survival program, Show Me the Money 4, where he finished as the series runner-up, and became the best-selling artist among the show's history with his single, "Fear". He made his official solo debut with the studio album, XX in November 2018; its lead single, titled "Fiancé", became his first number one hit in South Korea, spawning to number one on Gaon's digital and streaming monthly charts for the month of December. It also became his first single to receive a platinum certification from the Korea Music Content Association after achieving sales of 2.5 million digital copies.
In television, he is currently a series regular in tvN variety programs, New Journey to the West and Kang's Kitchen. In addition, he appeared as a judge in a variety show called Sing Again, which has recently gained popularity.
Biography
Early life
Song Min-ho was born on March 30, 1993, in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. He has a sister named Song Dan-ah, who is one year younger than him and was previously a member of the defunct girl group "New F.O." Mino also has a cousin named Song Gun-hee, better known by the stage name "#Gun", a rapper who was under Starship Entertainment. Mino graduated from Hanlim Multi Art School in 2011.2007–2012: Career beginnings and BoM
In the early years of his musical career, Mino was an active participant of the Korean underground rap scene, performing under the name Mino or Hugeboy Mino. Among others who would later become well-known, Mino often performed with underground rappers-turned-idols, namely Block B's Zico and P.O, and Phantom's Hanhae. He auditioned and trained under Stardom Entertainment for several years before attaining a position in the line-up for the boy band, Block B alongside trainees Zico, U-Kwon, B-Bomb and Jaehyo. However, due to not being of legal age at the time, his father consulted with the company on his behalf in terms of business regarding the contract and ultimately was unable to reach an agreement. In result, Mino left to pursue his career elsewhere.Starting from scratch, Mino joined and trained under Y2Y Contents Company for nearly two years before making his debut on July 27, 2011, as a rapper under the stage name "Tagoon" in the ballad boy band BoM. While promoting with the group, despite writing five songs among their releases, the executive of the company did not register nor credit Mino's contributions for copyright and instead forged another person's name to receive royalties. Mino reported that he made as little as ₩10 won during his time at the company. BoM disbanded within two years of their debut in March 2013.
2013–2014: Debut with Winner and rising popularity
In 2013, YG Entertainment reached out to Mino upon discovering a video of him covering Big Bang's La La La in his March 2012 appearance on Channel A cable drama The Strongest K-POP Survival. After a successful audition, Mino was accepted by the agency and joined as a trainee. That same year, he appeared on Mnet survival program WIN: Who Is Next as a contestant under "Team A". Initially, he was appointed as the leader by Yang Hyun-suk during the first episode of the show, however, due to an injury part-way, he was replaced as leader by Kang Seung-yoon. Seeing the synergy and improvement in performance, Yang Hyun-suk made the change permanent in benefit of the team. On October 25, during the finale episode of the survival program, Team A was announced as the winners of the show. Team A was set to debut under the name, Winner.Winner officially made their debut on August 17, 2014, with the studio album, 2014 S/S and the double A-side singles, "Empty" and "Color Ring". The ten-track album also featured Mino's first solo release titled, "I'm Him", which peaked at number 15 on the Gaon Digital Chart. Upon their debut, the quintet shot to instantaneous success with "Empty" topping all South Korean charts including Gaon, earning them the title "Monster Rookies". Their unprecedented success earned them multiple awards that year including Top 10 Artist at the Melon Music Awards and "Most Popular Korean Group" at the Tudou Young Choice Awards. The group also went on to becoming the fastest act to win on a televised music show, within four days through Mnet's M Countdown.
In October 2014, Mino was featured in labelmate senior Epik High's lead single "Born Hater" from their studio album Shoebox, alongside Beenzino, Verbal Jint, and labelmates iKon's B.I and Bobby. The single peaked at number 3 on the Gaon Digital Chart, selling almost 1.5 million digital copies. The song was later performed for the first time at the 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards. That same day, he also had a collaborative stage with South Korean singer, IU, performing her single "Friday". In December 2014, Mino co-hosted the 2014 SBS Gayo Daejeon alongside South Korean actress, Song Ji-hyo and singers 2PM's Nichkhun, CNBLUE's Yonghwa, Infinite's L and B1A4's Baro.
2015–2017: ''Show Me the Money'' and mainstream success
In April 2015, Mino appeared in the Mnet rap survival program Show Me the Money 4 as a member of "Team Zipal" competing under Zico and Paloalto. He finished the show as the series runner-up behind rapper Basick. Through the program, Mino released numerous singles including Fear, Turtle Ship, Moneyflow, and Okey Dokey. Namely, the single "Fear", featuring labelmate senior Big Bang's Taeyang, went on to becoming one of the best-selling singles of the year, as well as the best-selling single ever in any Show Me the Money series. "Fear" went on to earning Mino the Discovery of the Year award at the Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards, and a nomination for the Hot Trend Award at the MelOn Music Awards.In September 2016, Mino and labelmate Bobby of iKon was formed as the project sub-unit, MOBB. Together, they released a four-track single album titled The Mobb, with the double A-side singles, "Full House" and "Hit Me" on September 9. The Hip-hop duo's success earned them the Best Hip-Hop/Rap Artist at the Seoul Music Awards. Ahead of their release, Mino also released the digital single, "Body" on September 8. "Body" peaked at number 13 on the Gaon Digital Chart and number 4 on the Billboard World Digital Songs Chart.
Through the MBC variety program, Infinite Challenge, Mino was cast for the show's "Hip hop & History Special" alongside Zico, Bewhy, Dok2, Gaeko and DinDin. He partnered with the comedian Haha to create a single that fused hip hop with the history of South Korea. Ultimately, that collaboration led to the single "Shoot", which peaked at number 3 on the Gaon Digital chart.
Outside of music, in January 2017, Mino joined the cast of tvN variety program, New Journey to the West alongside Kyuhyun of Super Junior from season 2.5 onward. His appearance on the show marked his first-ever fixed regular appearance on a television series since his debut. Mino went on to obtaining the infamous names Song Mojiri and Song Garak. On December 5, 2017, Mino appeared on tvN cooking variety program, Kang's Kitchen, a spin-off variety show of New Journey to the West, as a cast member.
2018–present: Solo debut and critical acclaim
Through the release of the second studio album from his group, Winner, titled Everyday on April 4, 2018, he released the solo B-side single, "Turn Off the Light", which peaked at number 74 on the Gaon Digital Chart.On July 20, Mino featured and co-wrote on labelmate senior Big Bang Seungri's sub-title track "Where R U From" from his studio album The Great Seungri. The single went on to peaking at number 84 on the Gaon Digital Chart. Mino also made an appearance in the music video, which was later released on July 27, as well as on Seungri's live performance on MBC's Show! Music Core and SBS' Inkigayo on July 21 and 22 respectively.
Mino made his official solo debut on November 26, 2018, with his first studio album XX, and the lead single "Fiancé". He described the song as a fusion of trot and hip hop that samples the Korean trot song "소양강 처녀" from 1969. Fiancé went on to top numerous charts, including the Gaon Monthly Digital Chart for the month of December. The song also garnered Mino several awards on music programs for the number one hit. His single also earned him the Best Hip-Hop Award at the Golden Disc Awards and multiple nominations including Song of the Year at the Gaon Chart Music Awards. He began promotions through his first music show appearance on MBC's Show! Music Core on December 1 and later achieved his first solo win on a music show through Mnet's M Countdown on December 6.
On October 30, 2020, Mino released his second self-produced solo album Take, with the lead single "Run Away" which peaked at number 55 on the Gaon Digital Chart. This album includes the first track called "Love and a Boy" which Mino wrote, composed, and arranged entirely by himself.
On July 16, 2021, AOMG producer Gray posted a video on Instagram of himself and Mino with "#smtm10 #producer" officially announcing that the duo would serve as judges and producers for the tenth season of the popular hip-hop survival show, Show Me the Money. In six years, Mino went from contestant on the fourth season to producer in the tenth season. Gray and Mino's team was named "Team Graynoma" and included contestants Be'O, Mudd the Student, Anandelight, Geegooin, and Unofficialboyy. Several Team Graynoma songs went on to dominate the South Korean music charts including the team's song Breathe ; Be'O's Limousine ; and Mudd The Student's Dissonance .
On October 7, 2021, it was announced that Mino will be holding his first ever solo concert, entitled "Maniac" on November 19. The event will be held simultaneously in-person at Seoul's Olympic Hall and online as part of 'YG Palm Stage 2021'. During Mino's solo concert, he shared the stage with Bobby from Ikon and Winner bandmate, Kang Seungyoon. Those in attendance at the concert included Mino's Winner bandmates Jinwoo and Seunghoon, Twice's Jeongyeon, YG labelmates from Treasure and IKon, and Blackpink's Jennie.
After the concert, Mino announced that he would be releasing his third studio album To Infinity and its lead single "Tang!" on December 7, 2021. To Infinity topped the iTunes Album charts in 14 countries on the day of its release. Artists featured on the album include ILLBOI, Gaeko, Bobby, sogumm, and sunwoojunga.
On July 21, 2022, it was announced that Mino would be attending the 'Start Art Fair Seoul 2022' held at The Seoul Lightium, Seongdong District, Seoul from September 1–6.
In August, Mino made his debut with the Netflix film Seoul Vibe, which was Mino's big screen debut.