K-pop boy group BIGBANG's leader G-DRAGON opened up about his five years as a trainee at SM Entertainment, recalling how he often felt, "It wasn't for me."
On October 30, G-DRAGON guested on tvN's talk show "You Quiz on the Block," hosted by entertainers Yu Jae Seok and Cho Sae-ho.
On this day, G-DRAGON responded to Yu Jae Seok's question, "I heard that you trained for 11 years. But were you a trainee at SM before joining YG? I didn't know that," with, "No one probably knows, but yes, I was an SM trainee."
G-DRAGON then shared how he ended up at SM Entertainment, saying, "It was really by chance. My family and I went skiing at a resort, and there were a lot of dance competitions back then. My mom always made me enter them. She would tell me, 'Go and come back with first place.' The host of that dance competition at the ski resort was Lee Soo-man. This was a long, long time ago, even before H.O.T. debuted, I think."
That was how G-DRAGON ended up training at SM Entertainment, though he explained that he gradually felt that he did not quite fit in.
"Whenever I looked at the artists at SM, I thought, 'I don't think I'm the right fit here. I'm too different.' I started getting called in less frequently, and I felt like I couldn't find what I was supposed to be doing there as well. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't see my future at SM."
He added, "So, I decided I should at least try learning rap. Luckily, in 2001, I got to participate in a compilation album with other rappers. I was 13 at the time, so my song was called 'I Am 13.' YG scouted me after listening to that song."
(Credit= tvN You Quiz on the Block)