What would have changed if Kang Daniel had a different choice 5 years ago?
In an article, a reporter expressed their regret after seeing the idol's career decline from being one of the most promising stars in 2019.
On May 22, The Fact highlighted Kang Daniel's recent status after he filed a criminal complaint against the majority shareholder of KONNECT Entertainment, the label he founded five years ago.
He sued the shareholder on charges of forgery of private documents, breach of trust, embezzlement, infringement on information and communication networks, fraud in the use of computers, etc.
As a result, a lot of employees left and were laid off, and artists signed under the label such as former GFriend and soloist Yuju also parted ways with him. Virtually, the company is already out of business.
With all of these disputes, The Fact then looked back on what went wrong with Kang Daniel's effort and hard work, and how he was left behind in the music scene despite being a top-tier K-pop idol from way back.
Looking back, Kang Daniel's glorious days started when he appeared in Mnet's survival show, "Produce 101" Season 2 in 2017. He established his popularity by ranking No. 1 and debuted as the center of Wanna One.
At the time, they were on par with BTS and EXO, if weren't for their disbandment in 2019.
Although his group met an unfortunate ending, Kang Daniel's stardom became stronger in the same year even more, after he established his one-man label, KONNECT, and started a full-fledged path as a soloist.
In the same year, he reached the peak of his career with his debut solo album, "Color on Me," which sold around 500,000 copies. It was the 7th best album in annual album sales in 2019 and he was also the 2nd best solo artist by only 20,000 copies compared to EXO Baekhyun's solo album, which ranked 6th.
To that extent, Kang Daniel's popularity and influence were unrivaled.
So what went wrong?
The media outlet then pointed out that his increasing responsibility after opening his own company hindered him from fully growing as an artist.
It was a crucial time when a systematic system and strong support system were needed by Kang Daniel to expand his career, but he struggled in that area as the CEO of his own label.
"...His influence is not as strong as before. In such a situation, Kang Daniel, as the company's representative, had to take on the role of recruiting various artists and supporting their activities. Even though he was just starting in society, he was carrying too much burden at a critical time when he needed to be cared for by someone."
The Fact added:
"As a result, Kang Daniel's establishment and operation of his agency ended in failure. His progress as an artist was not satisfactory. It is also a regret of what it would have been like if he had grown as a solo artist with a systematic system and support at that point five years ago.
Nevertheless, his outstanding skills and potential still raise expectations for his future actions."
READ MORE : Kang Daniel, Yuju, More Reportedly Leaving KONNECT Entertainment — Is The Agency Shutting Down?
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Written by Eunice Dela Cruz
