What SKY-HI Saw Before THE FIRST — And What Happened After
Why the audition that created BE:FIRST was never just about forming a group
While THE FIRST is widely remembered as the catalyst for BE:FIRST, its significance goes beyond the birth of a group.
Rewatching a highlight version of THE FIRST, I found myself returning to what SKY-HI originally set out to do.
It didn’t start with the idea of forming a group.
It started with something closer to urgency.
Before the project began, SKY-HI spoke about a concern he couldn’t ignore.
He had seen too many talented people with nowhere to go.
Not because they lacked skill or creativity, but because the number of paths was limited. If you didn’t fit a certain mold, even strong talent could disappear without ever being seen.
He once described it as a mine full of diamonds left untouched.
Not because the diamonds weren’t there, but because no one was reaching for them.
That image stayed with me.
Not the idea of discovering talent, but the sense that it was already there, and simply not being reached.
At some point, that awareness turned into a decision.
He said that once you notice something like that, you can’t leave it alone. Someone has to act.
So he did.
He funded the project himself.
And in doing so, he put more than money into it. He put his own career on the line.
Not because success was guaranteed, but because, to him, it felt necessary.
THE FIRST didn’t come across as a calculated business move.
It felt more like a personal wager.
What followed didn’t always look like a typical audition.
It didn’t seem built only to narrow people down.
At times, it felt like the process was trying to understand them instead.
Decisions weren’t always predictable.
Some contestants stayed longer than expected.
Others left, but didn’t feel erased from the story.
Selection didn’t seem to be based only on who performed best in the moment.
It also seemed to ask a different question—who could keep going.
That idea still feels present now.
BE:FIRST exists because of THE FIRST. That much is clear.
But what’s more interesting is whether the original intention behind it is still there.
Not just in the group, but in the broader shape of BMSG.
You can see it in how artists are allowed to keep parts of themselves, rather than being fully reshaped.
In how different projects continue to place weight on growth, not just results.
In how there still seems to be room—imperfect, but real—for people who might not have fit elsewhere.
That doesn’t mean everything worked exactly as intended.
Maybe it wasn’t supposed to.
THE FIRST didn’t solve the problem SKY-HI pointed to at the beginning.
But it did change something.
It created a kind of entry point that hadn’t really existed before.
Over time, that way of thinking seems to have extended beyond BMSG itself.
The idea that individuality should be preserved—that creativity isn’t optional, but part of what defines an artist—has continued across BMSG’s later auditions.
At the same time, similar elements have started to appear more often elsewhere. Creative evaluations, once less common, are now harder to ignore.
It’s difficult to draw a straight line of influence.
But something has shifted.
Looking back, what stands out isn’t just the outcome.
It’s where it started.
A simple question:
What happens to the talent that never gets seen?
THE FIRST didn’t fully answer that.
But it made it harder to look away.
Written by Lily-K | BMSG Pulse
