To those saying iKON is YG's fave, you thought wrong.The mistreatment iKON has received from YG Entertainment has been ongoing for years, and it’s been known since their debut. iKON debuted on September 15, 2015, started touring in January of 2016 without even doing a group variety show. iKON did 28 concerts, 12 in 6 DAYS in Asia, while they had to fly down to China frequently for a survival show they had to practice for. They even had to sleep on floors because they were touring and flying to China for that show back to back.
During this time, where they had a packed tour, with 2 concerts a day at times, when iKON couldn’t practice in China, they practiced backstage/outside of concert venues before flying to China.
iKON’s first tour, only months after their debut, gathered about 200K attendees across 15 shows. YG did not report the rest of the numbers. After a successful debut album and a well-received tour, instead of getting a comeback, iKON was sent on another tour with attendees totaling to about 300K. A week after their first tour ended. This second tour consisted of 25 concerts, with 20 being held in 10 days. Two years after their debut, iKON’s done 93+ concerts of +850K tickets. 62 of these concerts being held on a two-per-day basis.
During the 2nd tour, the one that extended into 2017, Hanbin got injured in his eye. The company made a statement that he wouldn’t be performing because of his injuries. They made a point that there wouldn’t be any refunds. Despite Hanbin not being able to see due to his injury, they still made him go up on stage.
Fans were upset at this. Hanbin wasn’t the only one suffering during this time. They all looked like they were spaced out and got thin to the point where members of other fandoms, people who don’t or didn’t know iKON, were worried.
What happened when iKON had trouble breathing on stage because of how exhausted they were? Nothing. Literally YGE did nothing to help them. The boys literally performed with oxygen masks in hand.
iKON’s one week break between these two tours ended with four concerts on September 10 and 11. Only a few days before their 1st anniversary. That’s how they reached their first anniversary.
YG is known for being expensive and brand conscious, but there’s been a number of occasions where they have snubbed iKON of these nicer things:
iKON appeared on TV in “brand new” white boots. As it turns out, these were white, repainted boots. The paint chipped off.
iKON performed on MelOn Music Awards with $8-30USD/piece mass ordered Rothko stuff.
iKON have worn each other’s daily and airport clothes to photoshoots and MVs.
Outfits from the first tour were recycled and reused during the second tour. Some of them were restitched.
Also about the 3 comebacks iKON got in 2018. 4 years since debut and 2018 is the only year that iKON was treated a LITTLE BETTER. Yes, just a little better because they may have gotten all that comebacks but they had low budget mvs, two of them were unpromoted. And now the person behind all those is not even with them anymore.
Love scenario was rejected three times before YG allowed it to be used. Majority of the songs released on those albums were written in 2016 or even earlier, YG just kept refusing them. Hanbin fought for their comebacks. Hanbin wants to secure iKON's stability first before his solo. He has a plan for it and he has everything planned out only to be kicked out from the group he dedicated his life into in just a matter of hours all because of something that happened 3 years ago. His career was ruined right in the middle of everything getting better for him and his group.
How about the mistreatment iKON got after Hanbin got kicked out? They had to go on tour not even a month after their leader was kicked out. They were clearly not okay, they broke down crying on stage and YGE profited off of iKON’s pain.
Booked them for more back to back tours. Made them rearrange their choreography and re-record their songs within less than a month. Made them perform on Hanbin’s birthday. Made them tour during Christmas.
iKON literally are NOT YG’s favorite. Also the fact that others ignore their mistreatment is disturbing. YG has never helped them when they needed it, they’ve never defended them when they needed it.
One fandom talking about their faves mistreatment doesn’t make the mistreatment of your faves disappear. Mistreatment is not a competition where you would argue who gets mistreated more because their humans too, iKON as well as every group out there. No one deserves to be mistreated.
Being idols or musicians isn't meant to be in constant pain & suffering. What we always prayed for as iKONICS is for iKON to be free from all the sufferings and for them to be truly at peace. Their happiness above everything without anyone holding them back. And no one could ever change what we stood for. We are here for Kim Hanbin, Kim Jinhwan, Kim Jiwon, Song Yunhyeong, Koo Junhoe, Kim Donghyuk and Jung Chanwoo and we will always be here for the seven of them always, no matter what.
Sources: https://www.change.org/p/yg-en...
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Three comebacks mean they were treated better? With the recordings, choreos, performances? They must have been exhausted.
and on the side note, there's a long history of YG mistreating their artists and groups. YG don't care about the artists, they just want sales. That's why YG never cared about physicals and push digital sales and world tours. They make their artists tour non stop.