T.O.P #2 on Mnet Super Idol Chart Show's Top 10 Male ‘Visual’ Idols:
1. Super Junior's Siwon
2. Big Bang's TOP
3. 2PM's Nichkhun
4. TVXQ's Changmin
5. Shinee's Minho
6. ZEA's Siwan
7. 2PM's Taecyeon
8. Super Junior's Donghae
9. Infinite's L
10. EXO's Kai
*Visual = good-looking, handsome, etc.
After creating much buzz as “Bijinah,” (Rain + Tae Jin Ah) singer Tae Jin Ah revealed he would like to collaborate with G-Dragon next.
Tae Jin Ah had an interview session with SBS’ Midnight TV Entertainment, which aired on January 29. The singer discussed his collaboration stage with Rain and the performance of “La Song” on SBS’ Inkigayo.
During the interview, Tae Jin Ah revealed he accepted Rain’s request to perform together without hesitation and said, “I’m actually three years older than Rain’s father. I would enjoy more of these types of opportunities.”
Photographed for the "Pop Goes the World" portfolio in THR's music issue, the Korean rapper, songwriter, producer and fashion icon talks about his dream collaborations, international travel and the challenge of learning English.
Imagine Justin Timberlake's boy bander-turned-credible musician pedigree and Kanye West's genre-bending artistic daredevilry, and you'll get an idea of G-Dragon's standing in K-pop -- though his reach is expanding rapidly beyond Asia.
Juggling equally successful careers as a solo artist and as frontman of the group Big Bang, whose 2012 world tour drew 800,000 fans to sold-out shows on four continents, the rapper, songwriter and producer says, "Before I was physically there in different countries to meet my fans in person, I didn't really realize how famous I was."
The 25-year-old, né Kwon Ji Yong, also has attracted recognition from Western peers. A few years ago, Ludacris paid a visit to the Seoul-based YG Entertainment, the record label and agency where G-Dragon, Big Bang and Psy are all signed. "We were showing him some music videos that YG came out with," recalls Danny Im, a former labelmate who now hosts the talk show Danny from LA on cable network Mnet America. "When they saw GD, they didn't know who he was, but they went, 'Yo, that kid's a star.'" The video was "Knockout," a track from the Big Bang subnunit GD&TOP, and produced by Diplo. The in-demand DJ returned for G-Dragon's 2013 solo album Coup d'Etat, a bold mashup of hip-hop, EDM, punk rock and Korean folk that charted on the Billboard 200 and also featured contributions from Baauer, Boys Noize, Sky Ferreira and Missy Elliott.
Still, G-Dragon, who has recorded a yet-unreleased song with Justin Bieber, says there is only one artist on his wish list: "Pharrell [Williams]! Ever since I got into writing hip-hop music, he's been my only living idol." (For his part, the newly minted Oscar nominee has tweeted that GD is an "amazing talent. Korean art is vast and next level. Time to collab.")
Was there a moment when you truly realized that you and/or Big Bang had become incredibly popular on a worldwide level?
When I went on the Big Bang Alive Galaxy world tour in 2012 and my first solo world tour in 2013. Before I was physically there in different countries to meet my fans in person, I didn’t really realize how famous I was. Through the world tour experiences, I was able to figure out where we stand in different countries, which helped us learn how we should plan things going forward.
Do you now think about the international market, and not just the Korean market, when you're working on a new record?
Definitely. Nowadays, I can interact with my fans all around the world via SNS and YouTube, and they can monitor my daily life. I study my fans all the time and what I learn from them will definitely be reflected in my future work.
How many frequent flier miles do you think you have?
I’m not sure. Maybe a few million?
You and your bandmate Taeyang recently returned from Paris Fashion Week, where you sat front row at shows like Yohji Yamamoto, Thom Browne, Saint Laurent, Lanvin and Comme des Garcons. What do you wear on long overseas flights?
I don’t care. I just try to look good always.
"Big Bang is in their 8th year right now, but the members’ solidarity and abilities continue to grow. When I debuted Big Bang, I said on BIGBANG TV (Big Bang’s documentary) that ‘Big Bang will become a group who will keep on going for a long time with their fans.’ If anything, I have kept that promise and I will definitely continue to do so in future.”
It’s evident that nothing has changed about the affection and trust that Yang Hyun Suk has for Big Bang, who have gained recognition internationally. He was speaking to the press after Big Bang’s concert in Seoul ended on January 26.
“It’s fairly common for groups to disband after being active for not very long. Seo Taiji and Boys retired after 4 years and it was too bad we had to part with the fans, but that’s definitely not going to happen with Big Bang.”
According to the YG Entertainment CEO, the biggest contributing factor to Big Bang’s longevity is their solid skills as musicians. “As time goes by, Big Bang has gone beyond just Asia, they’ve gained recognition on the world stage, in America and Europe as well. The group has been praised for their musicality in the New York Times and other mainstream American media, and also by Billboard.”
He says his role is to ensure that Big Bang has the support they need to showcase their abilities. “Big Bang has long had free reign on their music. I’m just beside them to give them advice and whatever they need, so I’m kind of like salt.”
YG is changing, and that is something that Yang Hyun Suk knows well. He has been a night owl for many years, but became an early riser this year and is now fully dedicated to his work.
G-Dragon has been selected as the new endorser of LG U-plus' newest and fastest network yet, the 800MHz LTE8:
Photos from LG U-plus' website and social networks:
Of all the street-style stars to descend on Paris in the past few weeks, some of the flossiest — and most original — have been rapper G-Dragon and singer Taeyang, of South Korea's beloved boy band Big Bang. Spotted in the front row at most of the bigger couture shows and fall menswear shows, they caused a general spectacle with their penchant for bejeweled boleros and multi-colored hair.
This is the first time G-Dragon has appeared at Fashion Week since a brief, pink-haired appearance in 2012, but Taeyang has been on a roll. He caused a frenzy with street-style photographers last summer in Paris, attending the men's shows with a foot-high faux-hawk and kilts of tartan-plaid and bandana-print (with matching bank-robber face-gear). G and Tae have a mutual distaste for rules regarding color, fit, or gender. To that end, during the shows in Paris, the boys greeted many admirers, including Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, Alber Elbaz at Lanvin, and Carine Roitfeld at Saint Laurent.
IU and Yoo Inna talked about attending Big Bang's concert last weekend at Yoo Inna's radio show. Some translations from the show:
IU: Yoo Inna and I went to Big Bang’s concert. My voice got hoarse from screaming too much. My arms also hurt now because I shook my lightstick so hard at the concert. I couldn’t brush my teeth this morning.
Yoo Inna: Big Bang’s concert was so cool.
IU: Yeah, it was cool. It wasn’t just “Whaa, this is fun,” but “This is awesome!” I was like, “Wow” and “Ohhhh..” Whenever I thought, “Is this all right?”, more amazing stages came.
Yoo Inna: I wonder how each Big Bang member can be that attractive and talented. I think people really need to go to a Big Bang concert.
IU: I was surprised the audience sang a song while Big Bang was preparing for the encore. It was just daebak (amazing)!
G-Dragon shared what he truly thinks of Big Bang on the dance floor.
On January 26, Big Bang rocked the stage at their concert titled “2014 BIG BANG +α IN SEOUL” at the Olympic Park Sports Stadium in Seoul. After two days of performing for a full audience, it was time to wrap up the successful series of concerts.
In the middle of the concert, the leader said with a wide smile, “Today is the last day of our concert tour. We have held shows for two days, and maybe it’s because this is the last day, but the response has been very good.”
“Our next song is an old one,” G-Dragon said as he introduced “La La La,” “Now, we are very bad at sharp dance moves, but around our debut era, we did the best we could.”
At this point, T.O.P gave a taste of the choreography, and showed some of the moves without any background music. G-Dragon commented, “You can only imagine how much we practiced, if we still remember the choreography that well. Our ankles became strong.”
Taeyang reminisced the past, “Let’s think about our rookie days and do our best,” and Daesung said right before the song hit, “We will show you some real sharp and clean dancing.”
During the concert, G-Dragon also announced the group’s upcoming comeback, which will take place this summer.
S tay with us for more updates! ^^
S tay with us for more updates! ^^
YG Entertainment’s head Yang Hyun Suk talked about BIG BANG’s comeback.
In the afternoon of the 26th, after the end of BIG BANG’s concert in Seoul, Yang held a press meeting in a restaurant located in Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. In the meeting, he said, “I’m thinking about BIG BANG’s comeback with a regular album in this summer. I think it will be in July or August.”
Before Yang’s statement, BIG BANG’s member G-Dragon shouted in the concert, “The only way to give back to your love is to release an album. It will be this summer. We have released only a few regular albums under the name of BIG BANG, so it is time to release one more, isn't it?”
Then, G-Dragon went on to say, “Summer is not that far. We will do our best producing our new album, while standing on the stage as a solo artists, too. We will come back with a new album made by the complete team of BIG BANG, which you like. We will come back as a singer who you can take pride in. Please wait for us just a little more.”
Yang respects G-Dragon's plan and stated, “We have no schedule for G-Dragon from this March onward. We will make/let him concentrate only on the works for BIG BANG’s new regular album. He writes good songs so fast, so I think there will be no problem with BIG BANG’s comeback in this summer.”
