Mino from Winner: the lead rapper, artist and fashion lover who wants to get away from his hip hop image
- Under a different name, Tagoon, Mino made his debut with a band called BoM before joining Winner in 2013. He is a solo artist too and was in hip hop duo MOBB
- The talented rapper is also an artist and has appeared on the catwalk for Louis Vuitton
The road to fame for most K-pop idols is fairly straightforward: impress judges during an audition for an idol agency, train for a few years and debut on an idol survival television programme.
But Mino from boy band Winner walked a different road to stardom, making his debut twice and training under three entertainment companies before becoming one of the most talented rappers in the K-pop scene. Here’s a look at his life so far.
His early life
Mino was born Song Min-ho in the South Korean city of Yongin in March 1993. He has two younger sisters, one of whom is Dana from the short-lived K-pop girl group New. F. O.
There are times when I wonder if I’ve been hiding, and there are times when I wonder if I’m living under a mask. So I thought I needed to look into myself more
In 2011, Mino spent a year training with high school friend Pyo Ji-hoon, in the hope they would both debut with Block B. When Pyo was eventually removed from the debut line-up, Mino told his agency that he would also leave if his friend was removed, Pyo told the South Korean variety show Happy Together.
Mino went back to training with Block B after Pyo called his parents and convinced him not to give up on the opportunity. Pyo would return to the group and debut as Block B’s rapper, under the name P.O.
