Lee Gi-kwang

Lee Gi-kwang was born on March 30, 1990 in Naju, South Korea. Gi-kwang found interest in hip hop and had particular liking to many classic hip hop acts. He was backed by his family to pursue a musical career and for a record company debuted under the stage name 'AJ'. He was known as the solo singer AJ or Ace Junior when he first debuted and released a mini-album "First Episode: A New Hero” on April 4, 2009. He met controversies when his name created dispute netizens for having a similar name with Paran’s AJ (Later became the new U-KISS member). He now goes with his original name when he redebuted with Beast. He debuted as an actor through High Kick Through the Roof and was also cast in a role for My Princess. He also became an MC for different shows such as Hot Brothers

The name "AJ", which is common not only in Korea but also overseas, has created disputes netizens since many expressed their dissatisfaction over him having the same name as Paran's AJ. Cube Entertainment responded by saying that AJ’s name is different from that of Paran AJ’s for his (Cube's AJ) name is short for ‘Ace Junior’. The company later announced that he would continue activities under a different name, but no changes were made until it was revealed that AJ would no longer continue activities, as he will have been preparing to debut as a member of Beast. Since the group's debut, he is known as Gi Kwang, or Kikwang.