| Eun Ji Won 은지원 |
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Eun Ji Won performing at the Lolipop Concert, in May 2010 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Eun Ji Won |
| Also known as | G1, G (지), Eun Cho Ding (은초딩) |
| Born | June 8, 1978 |
| Origin | South Korea |
| Genres | K-pop, hip-hop, R&B, rap |
| Occupations | Rapper, singer, dancer, composer, producer, Host, Entertainer |
| Years active | 1997–2000 (Group) 2000 - present (Solo) |
| Labels | Daesung Entertainment (1997-2000) SD Entertainment 13 Creative Unit[1] CH Entertainment GYM Entertainment (Current) |
| Associated acts | Sechs Kies, Movement, Clover |
| Eun Ji Won | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 은지원 |
| Hanja | 殷志源 |
| Revised Romanization | Eun Ji-won |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ŭn Chiwŏn |
Eun Ji Won (born June 8, 1978[2]) is a Korean rapper, Host, dancer, composer and former leader of Korean Hip hop group Sechs Kies (젝스키스). Sechs Kies was divided into The Black Kies, which were the three rappers and The White Kies which were the vocalists. Eun Ji Won was the leader for The Black Kies and rapper and leader of the group Sechs Kies.
He was the oldest member in the group. Eun Ji Won has pursued a solo career since 2001 with his first single track "A-Ha". He recently returned to the K-pop scene in 2007 with the Latin-hip-hop single track titled "Adios". A year later in 2008, he returned with a new single album G Code with the title track being "Dangerous", also with a Latin-hip hop rhythm. Besides working as a singer, he currently appears as a member on KBS' Happy Sunday: 1 Night 2 Days as well as a bell line member in the KBS variety show Star Golden Bell.
Eun Ji Won recently wedded with a two-year-older South Korean woman from Hawaii whom he had met 13 years ago during his study abroad.[3]
He graduated from Seoul Yeudo Elementary School (서울 여의도 초등학교), Yoon Joong Junior High School (윤중 중학교) and Korea Kent Foreign School in South Korea. After moving to the United States, he attended Hawaii Pacific University in Hawaii, where he was known as Matthew Eun. During his life in Hawaii, he lived with Kang Sung Hoon as a roommate.[4] His granduncle is Park Chung-hee, former president of South Korea. Subsequently, Eun's first cousin once removed is the prominent Korean politician Park Geun-hye, the daughter of the late president Park.[5]
Eun Ji Won's nickname during Sechs Kies was "soy sauce" (깜시) because of his dark skin colour. "Eun Cho Ding"(Eun elementary kid) is his recent nickname and was given to him on KBS' reality-variety show Happy Sunday: 1 Night 2 Days because of his "kid (junior-high or elementary student)" like actions.
Eun Ji Won and Kang Sung Hoon were the first to be discovered by Daesung Entertainment's co-president who was vacationing in Hawaii. The two were discovered and cast at a nightclub. Kim Jae Duc and Lee Jae Jin were in a dance group Quicksilvers in their home town of Pusan where one of the members sent a tape to Daesung Entertainment.[6] During an open audition, Jang Su Won was cast and accepted. Finally, Ko Ji Yong was introduced to Daesung Entertainment by Kang Sung Hoon because they were friends since elementary school. The pair initially desired to debut as a duo, but could not do so after the debut of H.O.T..[7] Lee Ho-Yeon, the president of Daesung Entertainment, decided to form a six-member group, in which Eun performed as a rapper.
The group debuted in 1997 and disbanded in 2000. Eun described his days as a Sechs Kies member as hectic. He recalled that members would disappear into their parents' homes to avoid the schedule.[8] He had said that the group's record label planned much of their media appearances without consulting the members. During this time, the group has gained prominence that rivaled H.O.T..
On May 18, 2000, Sechs Kies held a press conference to announce their departure from the k-pop scene. As a few members shed tears, they explained their situation in little detail. Lee Jae Jin later stated that the group initially intended to depart from the record label, and did not intend to disband. After the press conference, one last music video, entitled "Thanks" was released, which is a rare music video made after their final concert. After the disbandment, he said that he had not seen bandmate Ko Ji-Yong for seven years; Ko moved to the United States to study abroad and has not returned since.[9]
Though Sechs Kies disbanded in 2000, in 2002 Eun Ji Won performed alongside former Sechs Kies members, Kang Sung Hoon, and J-Walk's (Kim Jae Duc and Jang Su Won). Most recently in 2007, Eun Ji Won performed with J-Walk on various music shows as both returned to stage around the same time. They performed on KBS' Yoon Do Hyun's Love Letter where they performed their own Sechs Kies track, "Couple" and on KBS' Music Bank 'Special Stage' where all three performed Eun Ji Won's "Adios" and J-Walk's "Light Storm". Just recently, Eun Ji Won and J-Walk performed "Couple" at Lee Soo Geun's wedding on March 2, 2008. Eun Ji Won was featured on J-Walk's third album's title track, "My Love", where he was also featured in the music video.
After Sechs Kies ended, Eun Ji Won started his solo career in 2000 under the name G1. He first debuted with the single track "A-Ha" on October 27, 2000. He composed and penned all songs from his first single album. Eun Ji Won released his first regular album on March 29, 2001 with the title track "Murmur". With the success of his first album, Eun Ji Won refined his style and attempted new experiments with his music in his second album.
Eun Ji Won then hit it big with his third album with the title song "Drunken in Melody" which was released on September 5, 2005.[10] He later released a repackage album of his third album which included a 'Winter Version' of "Mikasaro" and "Never Ever" from his first single album. "Drunken In Melody" earned him the Hip Hop Award from the 2003 SBS Gayo Awards and KMTV Korean Music Awards. He has also performed this song twice on stage with Tiger JK of Drunken Tiger on KBS' Yoon Do Hyun's Love Letter.
Eun Ji Won has starred as the leading-male role in the romantic-comedy movie Marrying High School Girl (여고생 시집가기) with Lim Eun Kyung which was directed by first-time director Oh Duk Hwan. It was in theatres on December 23, 2004. Eun played as Park Ondal, a transfer student to the same school as Pyung-Gang (played by Lim Eun Kyung). The two star in an "inspired by Korean legend" tale about a high school bad girl who must get married to someone named "Ondal" before her sixteenth birthday and have a baby within one year after marriage, otherwise she will die.
Although he disappeared from the mainstream k-pop, in mid-2006, he joined Movement (무브먼트), a group of rappers and hip-hop artists from all over Korea. Many of these singers are also well-known among the k-pop industry while some are well known as underground artists. Members of Movement include Drunken Tiger, Tasha (Yoon Mi Rae), Dynamic Duo, Epik High, TBNY, Leessang, Yang Dong Gun (YDG), Bobby Kim, Buga Kingz, Ann, Double K, and many more. Movement held a concert on May 13, 2006 at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Many artists of the Movement have also been featured in Eun Ji Won's albums.
Eun Ji Won returned with a new single titled "Adios" after a two-year-and-six-month hiatus from the music industry. His new single Love, Death, Introspection (사랑 死랑 思랑) was released on October 30, 2007. It has four new tracks and an instrumental version of his title song "Adios". Mr. Tyfoon, Baek Ji Young and Sat Byul (샛별) were featured in this single album. "Adios", which is a Latin hip-hop track, was composed by Keeproots and the lyrics were written by Mr. Tyfoon. Tiger JK from Drunken Tiger, Mr. Tyfoon and Eun Ji Won himself helped in producing this single album.[11][12] He now works under 13 Creative Unit, which is part of Eyagi Entertainment, who also produces the female singer Hwang Bo, and actress Park Si Yeon.
In mid-2007, he has appeared on a new reality-variety show Happy Sunday: 1 Night 2 Days produced by KBS. He has replaced Kim Jong Min on MBC's Come To Play (놀러와) who left to serve his military duties. Kim Jong Min was also part of the 1 Night 2 Days cast and was replaced by MC Mong. He was also part of the cast on SBS' Burst! Mental Concentration (작렬! 정신통일) before the show ended in September 2007 due to low ratings.
During the production of his fifth album, Eun Ji Won selected 20 songs from over a hundred songs. In 2007, Eun Ji Won performed at the DKNY Party. He has stated that starring on TV shows and his fifth album do not have anything to do with each other.
Eun Ji Won also participated in Moon Ji Eun's debut mini album. Moon Ji Eun and Eun Ji Won are under the same label, Starship Entertainment. Not only did Eun Ji Won rap for Moon's title song "Fox", he was also featured in the music video. Moon Ji Eun first appeared in Eun Ji Won's 2003 music video "문득". Moon Ji Eun's mini-album was released on April 10, 2008.[13]
In June 2008, Ji Won collaborated with J-Walk (Kim Jae Duc and Jang Su Won, also formerly of Sechskies) to make a new song for J-Walk's album, entitled "My Love".
In late 2008, Eun released a new mini album called G Code. The title track from this album was "Dangerous", which was a sample of Kardinal Offishall featuring Akon's "Dangerous".
In early 2009, Eun Ji Won left CH Entertainment and started his own company called GYM Entertainment. The first artist to be released under his entertainment is female singer-rapper Gilme. He was also featured in Gilme's debut song "Love Cuts". He has performed this song on stage with Gilme during her promotions.
After a year hiatus from the music scene, Eun Ji Won recently released his fifth full-length studio album entitled Platonic, after four years and 10 months. The title track, "Siren", is an electronic-dance track blended with hip hop rhythms. In this album, Eun Ji Won collaborated with rapper Mr. Tyfoon, Gilme, and 1 Night 2 Days member Lee Su Geun.
In February, Eun Ji Won announced that he will marry a woman by the surname of "Lee", who is his first love. "Lee" is said to be three years his senior and was a contestant in the pageant of Miss Korea. The two have known each other since 1994 in Hawaii, USA. The two broke up in 1996 when Eun returned to South Korea to debut as the leader of Sechs Kies.[14] Eun met Lee 13 years later and since had a steady relationship with her. Eun's fiancée is the older sister of the wife of soccer player Lee Dong-Gook. A representative of GYM Entertainment said the two are looking for a wedding hall in Hawaii and have not decided on a official wedding date yet, but they are aiming to tie the knot in April.[15][16]
On April 7, according to entertainment sources, Eun Ji Won left for Hawaii to prepare for his wedding ceremony.[17] It was later revealed that his wedding ceremony will be taking place on April 20 (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time).[18] The couple had to cut their honeymoon short, due to Eun having to travel back to South Korea because of his schedule. Upon his return, a small party was to be held during the filming of 1 Night 2 Days on April 23 to congratulate him on his marriage. However, due to the Baengnyeong incident, episodes of 1 Night 2 Days was postponed. The episodes that were to be aired during the month of April was the trip where the members traveled along Korea's coastline. Thus far, only one out of four episodes has been aired. Therefore, the production team of 1 Night 2 Days had delay the recording until May 7. This allowed Eun Ji Won to extend his honeymoon.[19]
Although the filming for 1 Night 2 Days was pushed back, Eun Ji Won and his parents returned to South Korea on April 22.[20] Eun Ji Won was featured on an interview on SBS's One Night’s TV Entertainment upon his return. He stated that it was like filming for a photoshoot/commercial with his wife.[21] The couple's new home will be in Yeouido.
On April 29, the first photo of the wedding ceremony was released unexpectedly causing much interest from the public. In the photo, the couple is seen walking down the aisle with family and friends congratulating the new couple.[22]
On March 31, 2011, Eun Ji Won, Gil Me and Tyfoon formed a project group called Clover. The three formed this project group because they all had similar music styles. They promoted their title song "La Vida Loca" from their mini-album Classic Over and performed the song on various music shows.[23]
Eun Ji Won is the only member from Sechs Kies to ever face criticism since the group disbanded. Ji Won changed genres from pop music to hip hop and rap. An example would be former boy band member Moon Hee Jun of H.O.T who also changed genres of music. Moon Hee Jun became a rock artist instead of a pop artist after becoming a solo singer. Sechs Kies was also the rival of H.O.T. Many have criticized Ji Won now that he has claimed to be hip hop and rap, despite being a lead rapper in Sechs Kies. However, most fans are now enjoying his music and are supporting him.[24][25]
Albums
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CD singles
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Movie
Drama
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Variety show
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Eun Ji Won was the first DJ for the newly created program back in 2002.
| Year | Awards |
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| 1997 |
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| 1998 |
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| 1999 |
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| Year | Awards |
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| 2001 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2010 |
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| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by Kim Sung Min Kim Tae Won Lee Ha Neul |
KBS Entertainment Awards for Best Entertainer 2010 |
Succeeded by - |
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