Kang Hyung-gu, better known as Kino, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, rapper, composer and dancer. He is best known as the member of the boy groupPentagon, which debuted in 2016 under Cube Entertainment. He releases solo music over soundcloud under the name Knnovation.
Name
At his group debut showcase, he explained the meaning behind 'Kino'. He said, “My real name is Kang Hyung-gu. I wanted to find a name that could show myself as a singer and in the team in the future, so Kino became it. 키노 is Kino, 'INO' is an acronym for innovation. K is from my original family name, Kang's K, Korea 'K'”.
Personal life
Kino was born in Seongnam, South Korea, on January 27, 1998. He has a younger sister. He lived in the Philippines for 3 months when he was a kid. He can speak Korean, Japanese, and English. He graduated from Hanlim School of Performing Arts in 2017 and got admitted into Sejong University as a practical dance major through non-scheduled admission. He is named as the dance master in the group. He’s friends with Park Ji-min of 15&, Yugyeom of GOT7, Woodz of UNIQ, Vernon of Seventeen and Nathan. Together they form a project group M.O.L.A. Kino was a former Power Vocal and JYP Entertainment trainee before joining his current agency, Cube Entertainment. He also regularly uploads demos for other self produced tracks on his soundcloud, "".
Career
Predebut: Pentagon Maker
Before his K-pop debut, he was a member of a dance team called Urban Boyz. He appeared in G.NA’s ‘Secret’ MV and promotional activities. He also appeared in Rain’s "Rain Effect". In 2016, he competed in the reality program Pentagon Maker.
2016—present: Debut with Pentagon
With the released of "Young", Cube entertainment confirm Kino to debut with Pentagon. He helped in creating the choreography for their debut track, Gorilla. Kino makes a cameo in the drama Hello, My Twenties! 2 with his bandmates as a member of Asgard. He also helped choreograph for Like This. During Pentagon's second self produced album Demo_02, Kino help choreograph "Runaway" alongside Jay Black. He also produced the song Violet in the album which got a Korean music video following the title track "Runaway" and later became the title track for their second Japanese mini album, Violet. In 2018, Kino broke the start with "In My Feelings Challenge" or also known as "Kiki Challenge" in South Korea which unveiled as official SNS on the 14th of July. Kino who appeared in the video with a hat on, grabbed fans as much as possibly drawing a killing part heart in "In My Feeling" and a basketball dribble dance. On July 17, he was cast with Gongchan of B1A4 and Yoo Seung Woo as the MC for "Bus King", a program where musicians surprise the bus passengers by performing series of songs to comfort the weary souls of youth in this age of daily life. Kino is part of the group M.O.L.A., which originally consist of Park Ji-min of 15&, Woodz of UNIQ and Nathan. He and Vernon of Seventeen joined later. The group is made up of several close friends who shares the same passion in music. They released an unofficial song "Chillin" on SoundCloud. Kino participated in his label mate, A Train To Autumn debut track, "That Season You Were In". On January 30, 2019, Cube Entertainment released an official statement through Pentagon's official Twitter account. The statement stated that Kino suffered an ankle injury. He contributed in composing "Always Difficult Always Beautiful" with Nathan for Wooseok x Kuanlin's debut extended play titled 9801 after he felt inspired by the San Junipero episode from British drama Black Mirror season 3. On March 27, the group held the comeback showcase for their eight mini album '. He participated all scheduled activities with the exception of performances. Pentagon continued promoting with a follow up song "Spring Snow". He was able to participate in the promotions for a week. In 2020, Kino debuted as a radio host on the Casper Radio's radio program, "Kino's KiSingBooth ". Casper Radio's production crew said they chose Kino to host because of his taste in a variety of music genres and books he likes and has helped a lot in this round's radio project. With the release of Pentagon's first studio album' on February 12, Kino co-composed "Die for You" with Nathan. He wrote the song using Harley Quinn from the movie Suicide Squad as an inspiration.
