While we have seen rapper One around here and there such as in shows like Show Me the Money or in collaborations, there was never really an official debut from him and he had actually disappeared for a while after his gig on SMTM 5. But it seems like we now know why and that’s because he had been slowly preparing for his official debut with YG Entertainment, hence, why he had been away for so long (he was kept in that YG dungeon).
Just like YG’s latest group BlackPink did with their debut, One released two songs: “Gettin’ By” and ‘heyahe.’ After giving both songs a listen, my favorite is unarguably ‘Gettin’ By’ because it’s soft, easy to listen to, and mellow while ‘heyahe’ for me sounds like a typical hip-hop song that I’ve heard plenty of times from other artists. But One sounds amazing in both and he has definitely improved over the many years he’s been rapping as evident in both of these songs.
I gave ‘Gettin’ By’ a listen to first and upon the first minute, I was really enjoying the song. And then to my surprise, I discovered that Cha Cha Malone was the producer behind the song which then made me not surprised because I mean, c’ mon, it’s Cha Cha and I absolutely love all of his songs (he’s such a great and talented producer it makes me so amazed at how there is not one song from him that I don’t like??). The song itself is just really great and then to know that Cha Cha was the person behind the song made it even better for me. ‘heyahe’ didn’t stand out as much to me because like I mentioned above, there are songs out there that sound similar to it and I didn’t really care as much for it.
One has worked hard in getting his name out there as a rapper from debuting in 1PUNCH with Samuel of Produce 101 S2 to making appearances in both SMTM4 and SMTM5, but having a hard time achieving this because he wasn’t so successful in both seasons although he tried his best and worked his hardest. He complained about how people noticed him more for his looks (he definitely got the looks though and boy knows it himself too), but used that as a reason to work even harder and to prove his talent and effort in being an artist. I had actually forgotten about him for a while until I found out he was making his YG debut. I totally forgot that he was even under YG and now that I recall he’s under YG, I’m even more surprised because 1) YG actually took the time to focus on him and give him a debut. I thought they would keep him in the dungeon forever 2) they gave him not one but two songs 3) they debuted him as a solo artist (for now) and not in a group. Wow, it’s a miracle y’all. But another part of me is sad because although he has debuted and YG was wise and good enough to give him their attention, I’m afraid this attention won’t last for too long. As always with YG’s other groups and artists, they usually only make a few comebacks within the first few months or first year or so and then they’re placed back into the dungeon never to be seen or heard of ever again. And this is unfortunate because YG Ent. has such talented and great artists and groups with so much potential, but YG himself and the management isn’t as talented so so much potential is wasted. I’m afraid that this might be something that will happen to One but honestly if it does, I wouldn’t be surprised either. YG doesn’t learn and they probably will never learn so as someone from the other side who can’t do anything about YG’s bad management, if there’s anything that I’ve learned, it’s that we as fans should take as much advantage as we can right now of One because who knows when’s the next time we’ll get to see him again probably never.
I know this is impossible and it will never happen, but I sometimes wonder what it would be like if One was to join WINNER. It would allow for an odd and unbalanced formation as there would be 2 vocalists and 3 rappers and a member addition would obviously make fans very upset, but I don’t know – is it weird that I can kind of see One in WINNER and him being an okay fit? Especially because he himself looks mature and classy and WINNER is more well-known for their classy, mature, and professional image (whereas compared to say iKON) that I think he wouldn’t make too bad of an addition to WINNER. But of course, that would never happen and One is gonna be himself and WINNER is gonna be 4 but a girl can always dream and think right?
It’s great to see One back and while my support and care for him isn’t as strong as it used to be when I first discovered him, I hope he reaches great levels of success now that he’s officially in the industry. It’s taken him quite a few years to reach this point and it definitely wasn’t the easiest so I’m glad he’s finally getting to show his fans what he’s worked so hard for and has had to overcome to get to this point of his life.
Source: YG Entertainment @ youtube
MaryMeKpop 