Bobby (rapper)

Bobby
Bobby at the Seoul Music Awards 2016
Background information
Birth name	Kim Ji-won
Also known as	Bobby Kim
Born	(1995-12-21) December 21, 1995 (age 21)
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genres	K-pop hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper composer songwriter
Instruments	piano guitar drums
Years active	2013-present
Labels	YG Entertainment
Associated acts	Epik High, Dok2, Masta Wu, The Quiett, Lee Hi, iKON, MOBB
Website	www.ygfamily.com

Kim Ji-won (Hangul: 김지원; born December 21, 1995), better known by his stage name Bobby (Hangul: 바비) is a Korean American rapper, producer and songwriter. He is known as a member of South Korean boy group iKON, signed under YG Entertainment.

He is the winner of Mnet rap competition Show Me the Money season 3. Alongside Mino, he is part of the hip hop duo MOBB, who released the four-track album The Mobb in September 2016.

Bobby was born in Seoul but later moved to Fairfax, Virginia in the United States with his parents and lived there until finishing middle school. He later passed YG's audition in New York and moved to Korea at age 17.

After joining YG Entertainment on 10 January 2011, he participated as a trainee in the 2013 survival show WIN: Who is Next, competing against other trainees for the chance to debut as a group. He was a member of the trainee group "Team B". After the show had ended, he made a cameo appearance with the rest of Team B in the music video for Taeyang's single "Ringa Linga", and contributed to the lyrics for Winner's debut single "Empty".

In May 2014, he successfully auditioned for the third season of the rap competition Show Me The Money, going on to win the series overall as part of team "Illionaire" with Dok2 and The Quiett of Illionaire Records, winning $100,000 and a special concert. The songs from his performances during the series charted well on digital charts in Korea. On September 13, he appeared in the Illionaire Records 11:11 concert alongside Dok2, The Quiett, and Beenzino.