Meet The Father of BTS, Bang Si-hyuk
Bang Si-hyuk, born on August 9th, 1972, professionally known as “Hitman,” is a South Korean lyricist, composer, producer, and record executive. He is the founder and co-CEO of Big Hit Entertainment. In this article, Byeol Korea are going to take a deeper look into his career and his achievements, so stay tuned and keep on scrolling!
Reason Why “He Gone Mad”
Big Hit Entertainment CEO Bang Shi Hyuk gave a speech at his alma mater Seoul National University.
On February 26th, Bang Shi Hyuk attended the 73rd Seoul National University graduation and spoke about the source of his success. The CEO, who majored in aesthetics at the prestigious university, was personally invited by the university president to be the commencement speaker for the event.
During the speech, Bang Shi Hyuk said, “I thought a lot before standing here today. I’ve already become part of the older generation and the things that I say may sound like boring words by an oldie. And in a negative way, it could be seen as me boasting that BTS succeeded. But isn’t it true that Big Hit Entertainment and BTS are hot these days? So I want to boast a little and talk about my life journey at a time that meets the point of your lives.”
Bang Shi Hyuk then pointed to the emotion of anger as a source of his energy. He described the difficulties many of his colleagues still face in the music industry, such as unfair trade practices, unjust distribution of content, and being undervalued in society, and also voiced his frustration at the way idol fans are groundlessly criticized and belittled for enjoying K-Pop content.
He explained, “I am not a revolutionary. However, I cannot overlook the irrationality and senselessness of the music industry. Ignoring and settling are not my ways of life. And it’s not because I have a great dream or a big picture of the future. It’s because it’s in front of me and I feel that it’s unfair. And now, I feel that anger has become my calling. Getting angry so that workers in the music industry can receive a fair evaluation and proper treatment, getting angry about the unfair criticism and belittlement of artists and fans, and fighting so that what I think of as common sense can be realized, are my ways of showing courtesy to music which I loved and was with all of my life, my respect and gratitude to fans and artists, and the final and only way to become happy.”
He explained, “Everyone, I’m someone who gets angry a lot. Looking back at my life up until the point where today’s Big Hit could exist, the clear image that I thought of was ‘angry Bang Shi Hyuk.’ I was angered by the easy-going attitude of working just enough, and I lived every day as if it was the last without compromise due to my calling to make the best content. I’ve been that way since birth, but also because I could not betray the promise I made with fans who felt healed and moved by music.”
He added, “Countless irrationalities and senselessness will exist in your future journey no matter what path you choose as you enter society. What will you do when these irrationalities and senselessness have an ill effect on your efforts as you pursue happiness? I ask that you get angry and face them just like the ’embodiment of anger’ Bang Shi Hyuk. Only then will the problem be solved. Only then will society change. I hope you remember that everything is up to you. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to become a fighter of small, everyday things.” (source; Soompi)
Establishing Big Hit Entertainment
Bang Si-hyuk is the founder and co-CEO of Big Hit Entertainment. Big Hit Entertainment was founded on February 1st, 2005, and signed the vocal trio 8Eight, consisting of Lee Hyun, Baek Chan, and Joo Hee, in 2007.
In 2010, Big Hit Entertainment and JYP Entertainment signed a joint management contract over the boy group 2AM. That year, Bang Si-hyuk launched nationwide auditions and signed RM as the first member of BTS, who was then followed by the other members of the group. BTS made their debut under Big Hit in 2013.
Forming the Boy Band BTS
Bang Si-hyuk heard RM’s rap and decided to create a hip-hop idol group centered around RM. After he saw RM’s rap, Bang PD thought that he has to debut this talented kid! And held an audition to create a rap/hip-hop group.
As quoted by koreaboo, with RM’s reputation growing, RM was invited to audition for an underground hip-hop agency. This was where he met Untouchable‘s Sleepy, who was a judge at the audition. Sleepy was so impressed by RM’s rapping skills, he saved his phone number and passed it along to producer Bang Shi Hyuk.
Through the introduction, RM ended up auditioning for Big Hit Entertainment and became the first member to join BTS in 2010. The second member was Suga. Wanting to take his music to the next level Suga decided to audition for Big Hit Entertainment. He had seen a flyer promoting a rap competition/audition called “Hit It,” and felt that it was a good fit for him. Although he didn’t win the competition, Suga ended up getting 2nd place and joined Big Hit Entertainment as a producer/trainee.
The next member was J-Hope. He decided to audition for Big Hit Entertainment next. With his dance skills, a strong understanding of rhythm, and potential for rap, J-Hope was accepted into the company. He moved to Seoul and became a full-time trainee. Despite years of training, however, J-Hope was almost left out of BTS’ line-up until RM convinced Big Hit (as well as J-Hope himself) that BTS needed J-Hope. He returned to the group, and the rest is history.
The 4th member is Kim Seokjin, aka Jin. He got street-scouted when he was a college student. A representative from Big Hit Entertainment saw Jin as he was exiting a bus, and convinced Jin to audition for Big Hit. Then, the maknae of the group, Jun Jungkook auditioned for the 3rd season of Superstar K in his hometown of Busan, Korea. Although he was eliminated from the auditions, various agency recruiters saw something special in him.
Jungkook was scouted by 7 different entertainment agencies. Some of these agencies included JYP Entertainment, FNC Entertainment, and Starship Entertainment. Out of all of the agencies, Jungkook ended up going with Big Hit Entertainment.
And Kim Taehyung, aka V. One day, he followed a friend to a Big Hit Entertainment audition. He had only come to the audition to support his friend, but someone from the rookie development team saw V and urged him to audition. So he called his dad, got permission, then auditioned on the spot. He was the only person to pass the audition in Daegu that day.
The final member is Park Jimin. He attended the Busan High School of Arts, where he was a top student in the Department of Dance. Jimin had a natural talent in dance. As a promising young contemporary dance student, one of his dance teachers urged Jimin to audition for Big Hit Entertainment.
After being encouraged by his teacher, he went and auditioned. He passed the audition in Busan and moved to Seoul to become a trainee. Although his training period was the shortest, Jimin became the final member of BTS due to his natural skills.
