South Korean rapper MINO first got on the radar for many hip-hop fans during the fourth season of rap competition series Show Me The Money in 2015, when he proved himself as being more than just an idol artist. Song Min-ho is the main rapper for the k-pop group WINNER, and he earned respect in the rap game, after securing a place with Team ZiPal under rappers Zico and Paloalto, along with Ja Mezz, AndUp and One on SMTM4. During the show he even managed to impress Snoop Dogg during a Cypher Mission round.
MINO made it to the finals with his skills on the mic, and finished the series as the runner up. Several songs and performances from the show became huge hits for him, including the catchy and fun "Okey Dokey," with ZICO, and "Fear" featuring Taeyang from BIGBANG.
But it wasn't just MINO 's lyricism and flow, it was also his style, confidence, swagger and rhythmicality, which earned him recognition and admiration. After the show, fans also saw a bit of that in MINO's 2016 sexy seductive hip-hop single "BODY." And a little more, after teaming up with fellow YG labelmate BOBBY, from iKon as part of a sub-unit duo, The MOBB.
But the artist seemed to go in a different direction with his first full-length studio album -"XX," which dropped in 2018, with less soulful hip-hop and more k-pop. The project did include the standout song - "FIANCÉ."
But now in late 2020, MINO has returned, with his second full-length album, "TAKE," featuring self-produced tracks, and sounding more authentic than ever. We hear the emotion and weight of his lyrics in songs like "Love and a boy" and "Run away." And he gets an assist from singers Zion.T and meenoi, along with established hip-hop star DPR LIVE, as well as SMTM5 winner BewhY and labelmate BOBBY, who won season three of Show Me The Money.
