Lee Gi Kwang

Gi Kwang (Korean: 이기광) was a solo singer under Cube Entertainment, better known by his stage name as "Ace Junior" when he debuted. He released his first Mini Album "First Episode A New Hero" which features the works of the famous composer Brave Brothers. He has now become a member of Beast.


Career

Debut: 2009

"AJ" was trained under JYP Entertainment for four years before transferring to Cube Entertainment. He made his debut on April 2, 2009 on Mnet M!Countdown. He was dubbed by Korean media as the nextRain. On June 17, 2009, AJ opened for Lady Gaga's Korean showcase.

He has now switched from a solo artist to a group member of Beast. The group debuted on October 16, 2009 on KBS Music Bank with their single "Bad Girl". He is one of the main dancers and a lead vocalist inBeast. Yoon Doojoon, Yong Junhyung, and Yang Yoseob were once back dancers for Lee Kikwang which he began to tear up as he said “Sorry” to his BEAST members, whom featured on the episode in congratulating him on his MC debut for KBS 2TV 'Win Win' airing on August 10, 2010.  Ace Junior was the topic of a short-lived reality show, Diary of AJ, which was hosted by MTV. The show ran on two episodes on May 9, 2009 with a total of two episodes showcasing his Journey on his debut as AJ.

Controversy

The name "AJ", which is common not only in Korea but also overseas, has created disputes among netizens since many expressed their dissatisfaction over him having the same name as Paran's AJ. Cube Entertainment responded by saying that AJ’s name is different from that of Paran AJ’s for his (Cube's AJ) name is short for ‘Ace Junior’. The company later announced that he would continue activities under a different name, but no changes were made until it was revealed that AJ would no longer continue activities, as he will have been preparing to debut as a member of BEAST. Since the group's debut, he is known as Gi Kwang, or Kikwang.

Beast

Main article: Beast (South Korean band)

The group has released five Korean mini-albums and various singles. Gi Kwang is the lead vocalist and the main dancer of Beast.

2010 - present

Ever since, he was switched from a solo artist to a group member of BEAST, together with them they showcased their journey to debut on the topic of a short-lived reality show, MTV B2ST, which was hosted by MTV. He also has an acting role as Kang Sae Ho on MBC's "High Kick Through the Roof"  Gi Kwang was selected as MC for MBC's Sunday Sunday Night segment Hot Brothers. Lee Gi Kwang was chosen as the new MC for the KBS show 'Win Win'.

Gi Kwang is featured in K.Will's music video for the song, Present. He was also chosen as the model for the ‘Ice Tea Tio’ from DongSuh Foods. Lee Gi Kwang will be featuring in Ahn Jinkyung’s title song ‘Love is Pathetic’ off of her second mini album ‘BE THE VOICE’ this will be his first project that he will be rapping in. Doojoon, Gi Kwang and IU appeared as special hosts on Music Core on August 21, 2010. Gi Kwang will be doing CF filming of LG Tromm cf with model Lee Nayoung. Gi Kwang was casted as the comical role in the drama ‘My Princess’ starring Song Seunghun and Kim Taehee. On December 29, 2010, Gi Kwang was awarded with Popularity Award from the 2010 MBC Entertainment Awards.

Ki Kwang and IU were selected to be new MCs of Inkigayo in replacement of CNBLUE’s Jung Yonghwa from 20th March. The pair will be paired with the existing MCs,2AM’s Jo Kwon and f(x)’s Sulli.