Dino, the youngest member of K-pop boy band Seventeen, will drop his debut album as alter ego “Pi Cheolin” in August, his agency said Monday. Dino will release his first EP, “Gilboard,” under the persona on Aug. 3, Pledis Entertainment said. Pi Cheolin is portrayed as an enthusiastic 1990s-style producer and the CEO of a fictional K-pop agency, Bong. The character has been developed through Dino’s various content and performances. The EP’s name combines the Chinese character for auspicious, “gil,” and the English word “board” from the U.S. Billboard music chart. It refers to a tacit ’90s music ranking based on how often street vendors selling bootleg cassette tapes blasted a song through large speakers to attract passersby. The grassroots ranking was considered a much more accurate indicator of a track’s actual popularity than official broadcast rankings or album sales. Pledis said the title reflects Dino’s ambition to “turn the streets into a stage and spark nationwide excitement, while also conveying the hope that everyone’s lives will be filled with good fortune.”
