YG’s ONE would have become a member of WINNER? “Was No.1 candidate after NAM TAEHYUN left the team”
[OSEN=김은애 기자] Surprising news about “ONE”, YG’s first male solo artist in 14 years since SE7EN who debuted in 2003, has been unveiled. He would have been a new member of WINNER, by the end of last year.
On June 28, an insider of YG said, “By the time when the news of NAM TAEHYUN leaving WINNER was released in October last year, YG’s head producer YANG HYUN SUK and WINNER members had rounds of meetings about how to deal with the crisis and fill the vacancy of NAM TAEHYUN”.
By then, the period of WINNER’s absence from the music scene was becoming too long and NAM TAEHYUN was one of the main vocalists of WINNER, along with KANG SEUNGYOON. Therefore, in the worst-case scenarios, WINNER had to be disbanded and that time was the biggest crisis and hardship for WINNER, as anyone could expect.
One of the two main vocalists leaving the team was like losing back tooth on one side of the mouth, so YANG and the rest of the WINNER members were thinking that WINNER needed to recruit an additional member. According to the insider, the No.1 candidate to be the additional member of WINNER was ONE.
That was an understandable decision, as ONE had appeared in “Show Me the Money 5” with the season’s runner-up SONG MINHO and he already made a close friend with the WINNER members of similar age with his friendly and social personality.
The insider said that there seemed to be no other option than ONE at that time.
It was not realistic to recruit one of the young unrecognized trainees as the new member of WINNER and it was also impossible to add an already famous artist as the new member of the team.
Eventually, YANG who had the final say decided to make WINNER a team of four members without adding a new member.
YANG made such decision, thinking that ONE was a rapper who had even competed in “Show Me the Money” and a new member should be a vocalist to replace NAM TAEHYUN.
The YG insider said, “The most conclusive reason why ONE did not join WINNER was because ONE had long been preparing for his solo debut and his debut songs to be released on July 11 were already completed by then”.
Of course, it is still premature to predict ONE’s success as a solo artist and the outcome of his solo debut. In the meantime, however, WINNER’s new song “REALLY REALLY” released on April 4 this year after the team’s restructuring into four members recorded the unprecedentedly greatest success since the team’s debut. The song is enjoying a long-run popularity, staying in top 20 of Melon’s chart for as long as three months all the way until now. In addition, SONG MINHO is enjoying great popularity for his appearance in “New Journey to the West” show and WINNER, for their appearance in “Animal Farm” show.
What would have happened to WINNER if ONE had joined WINNER? It is interesting to imagine the different possibilities.
Music fans are now paying keen attention to whether ONE will be able to record a remarkable hit following the footsteps of WINNER, after his solo debut confirmed on July 11. People are also expressing anticipation for WINNER and ONE’s collaboration performance.
Today, YG Entertainment released one more teaser image of ONE, in which ONE is winking so sweetly like ice cream, on the company’s official blog. ONE’s eye-catchingly handsome look captivates girls.
ONE has been sharpening his song-writing capabilities for the past two years since his appearance in “Show Me the Money 4 and 5”, for his solo debut. Finally, ONE is coming to the frontline of the music scene as a solo artist on July 11.
2017. 6. 28.
