“MIXNINE” Versus “Show Me The Money”—Former SPEED Member Taewoon Picks The Tougher Survival Program

Former SPEED member Taewoon has opened up about his past life as a K-Pop idol in the YouTube channel Singosik – The Return of Idols. 

But what’s wrong with being a former idol member in the past? It’s a fact. I was a former idol member in the past, I am currently a former idol member and I will always be a former idol. I don’t understand why people always have to comment on it though.

— Woo Tae Woon

Taewoon has been active in numerous shows in the entertainment industry since his debut, most notably the survival programs Show Me The Money Season 4 (2015) and Season 5 (2016) as well as MIXNINE (2017). They were vastly different shows, with the former being a competition among rappers while the latter was among K-Pop idols.

Though one may expect Show Me The Money to be harsher due to the constant dissing of fellow contestants and its free atmosphere, Taewoon actually considered MIXNINE to be the tougher show.

I’ve tried both MIXNINE and Show Me The Money, right? MIXNINE was much harder.

— Taewoon

He pointed out that it was more difficult because of how competitive it was. The contestants, consisting of former K-Pop idols or unknown ones, were desperate to succeed and debut.

When you look at them, they seriously put everything in. They don’t even sleep.

— Taewoon

The hardships of Show Me The Money where people looked down on “idol rappers” like Taewoon did not compare. K-Pop survival programs require more out of their contestants. Singing, dancing, rapping and having numerous rehearsals—it was a vastly different concept than underground rappers going head-to-head.

[MIXNINE contestants] have so many things they have to do.

— Taewoon

Taewoon was eliminated in the thirteenth episode of MIXNINE at rank 20. He is now a solo artist and producer.

Check out the full interview below.