The History of iKon
Prior to the group's formation, group leader B.I featured on MC Mong's 2009 song "Indian Boy". He performed with MC Mong at the 2009 SBS Dream Concert, as well as on You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook. Group vocalist Ju-ne also made a pre-debut appearance aged thirteen on the SBS variety show Star King. He also competed on SBS's K-pop Star in 2011.On 3 January 2011, B.I and Jinhwan joined YG Entertainment as trainees, as did Bobby a week later. The three trained together for a year and formed the basis of what was to become "Team B". On 18 April 2012, Ju-ne and Yunhyeong joined Team B, followed by Donghyuk as the sixth and final member on 5 November 2012.
In 2013, B.I, Bobby, Jinhwan, Ju-ne, Donghyuk, and Yunhyeong competed as Team B on the Mnet reality survival show WIN: Who Is Next, competing against other trainees in "Team A" for the chance to debut as a group. The program involved three rounds of performances and public voting, after which Team B eventually lost to Team A, who debuted as Winner.During the program, Team B released two singles: "Just Another Boy" and "Climax". The members of Team B appeared as backup dancers in Taeyang's music video for "Ringa Linga".
In June 2014, Team B appeared in the reality survival program Mix & Match, a follow-up to WIN: Who Is Next. The aim of the show was to determine the final lineup of iKon, According to YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun-suk, the group's name derives from the intent to become an 'icon for Korea', hence the 'K'.While Bobby, B.I, and Jinhwan were confirmed members, the remaining members of Team B competed against three new trainees; Jung Jin-hyeong, Yang Hong-seok, and Jung Chan-woo, who had previously appeared on Korean television as a child actor.It was reported that 150,000 fans applied to attend the final performance of the show, and before the announcement of iKon's official lineup, YG Entertainment's blog server crashed. The final lineup contained the three remaining members of Team B, with the addition of Chanwoo.
Following the programs success, the iKon members held fan meetings in Korea, Japan, and China. In September, approximately 40,000 Japanese fans applied for 2,000 tickets at a fan meeting at Osaka Tojima River Forum, while more than 50,000 Chinese fans applied for their fan meeting in Beijing. The program was aired on 29 December 2014 on the CS channel in Japan.On 15 December 2014, iKon performed as the opening act at Bigbang's Japan Dome Tour 2014-2015 X. On 28 January 2015, Billboard listed the group as one of the "Top 5 K-Pop Artists to Watch in 2015". They were the only group on the list that had yet to debut.
iKon released their second studio album and the second of the group's four-part album series named Return on January 25, 2018. The lead single, "Love Scenario", is a mellow, yet relatively upbeat, reaction to breaking up, with a circuitous melody that guides the rhythmic dance track. Their second studio album features 12 tracks that were all co-written or feature lyrics by members B.I and Bobby including Psy, Big Bang's Taeyang, and Epik High's Tablo, also had a role in songwriting tracks alongside some frequent collaborators, including Choice37 and Teddy Park."Love Scenario" also topped the Gaon Weekly chart for six weeks, the first artist to achieve this milestone. The group was named top artists of the first half of 2018 by Genie Music, as they topped daily chart for 35 days.