Members of Big Bang
G-Dragon
Career
2000—2009: Early life and debut with Big Bang
Inspired by the American group Wu-Tang Clan, G-Dragon expressed his interest in rapping and began taking classes at the age of 12. Under their tutelage, he joined in the release of the Korean hip-hop Flex album in 2001. Although he wrote his own lyrics for his song, he admitted that his "English was bad and the story behind the lyrics was the same old thing. Something like, ‘I’m young, but I’m the best’." G-Dragon first caught the interest of Sean of the hip-hop duo Jinusean from YG Entertainment, who later recommended him to CEO Yang Hyun Suk. After signing a contract with the record label, G-Dragon spent the first year cleaning after the other artists in the record label. He later met Dong Young Bae, another trainee. Together, the two were coined as GDYB. After six years of training and several featured appearances on other artists' albums, G-Dragon made his official debut as the leader of the group Big Bang alongside Young Bae (now using the stage name Taeyang) and four other trainees.
The formation of the group was documented on television, and though there were initially six members, one was dropped before the official debut. The group's debut was fairly successful, with their first album netting in sales of over 40,000 copies. It spawned several airplay singles, including "La La La" and "We Belong Together". The album also included G-Dragon's first solo song, a cover of the American alternative rock group Maroon 5's single "This Love". Following the release of the group's mini-album Always in 2007, G-Dragon began to involve himself more with the production of their albums. Always featured several songs composed by him, including the lead-single "Lie" (Korean: 거짓말; Revised Romanization: Geojinmal), which became the group's first number-one hit. Their following mini-albums followed its predecessor's footsteps: Hot Issue yielded "Last Farewell" (Korean: 마지막 인사; Revised Romanization: Majimak Insa) while Stand Up spawned "Day by Day" (Korean: 하루하루; Revised Romanization: Haru Haru); both singles were chart-toppers.
2009–present: Solo and career development
Aside from Big Bang, G-Dragon also made several solo appearances. After helping produce Taeyang's debut album, he recorded his own version of the album's lead single "Only Look At Me" (Korean: 나만바라봐; Revised Romanization: Naman Barabwa), titled as the part two version to the song. The single was released digitally. Along with Taeyang and T.O.P, G-Dragon was featured on singer Lexy's song "Super Fly" for her album Rush. In May 2009, he collaborated with the Japanese boy band W-inds. for their single, "Rain Is Fallin'/Hybrid Dream."
After Taeyang released his solo effort, G-Dragon released his debut solo album Heartbreaker, featuring collaborations with several artists, including Agariadne Dwinggo Samala VIP, Aldrekane Perkawido Samala VIP, Teddy of 1TYM, Taeyang, S-Kush, and CL and Dara of 2NE1. Initially scheduled to be released in April, the album was pushed back to August to coincide with his 21st (Korean years: 22nd) birthday. The album marked a change in G-Dragon's appearances as he dyed his hair blonde to match its concept. Propelled by its lead-single of the same name, an electronic pop song, the album sold over 200,000 copies and went on to win Album of the Year from the 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards. The second single, "Breathe", manage to chart within the Top twenty while his other songs — "The Leaders", "A Boy", "Hello", and "She's Gone" — went on to top various charts upon their release. Shortly after Heartbreaker's release, G-Dragon was accused of plagiarism by Sony Music when his tracks "Heartbreaker" and "Butterfly" were alleged to be similar to Flo Rida's "Right Round" and Oasis's "She's Electric", respectively. However, EMI, the record label that distributed "Right Round" said that they saw no similarities between these two songs. On March 6, 2010, YG Entertainment announced that they personally contacted Flo Rida's representatives requesting that he feature in G-Dragon's live album, Shine a Light, to which Flo Rida accepted.
In support of his album, G-Dragon staged his first solo concert at the Olympic Park in December 2009. Entitled Shine a Light, the name of the concert was derived from the lyrics to his song "A Boy". The concert subsequently sparked controversy following complaints of obscenity and suggestive content. The Korean Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs later asked the government prosecutors to investigate if G-Dragon or YG Entertainment violated laws on obscene performances in his concert. He was found innocent and was cleared of all charges on March 15, 2010.
In November 2010, YG Entertainment announced the collaboration album from G-Dragon and bandmate T.OP. Preceding t.he release of the album, the duo held a world-wide premiere showcase for their album at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo of Seoul, South Korea, which was also broadcast live on YouTube. To promote their album, the duo released three singles: "High High," "Oh Yeah," and "Knock out. " All three singles preceded the release of the album. The singles were commercial successes: "High High" was a chartopper while "Oh Yeah" and "Knock Out" both peaked at number two and number three respectively. The album was released on Christmas Eve, and debuted at number one on the Gaon Chart with pre-orders of 200,000 copies.
Artistry
G-Dragon's music is based on Hip Hop elements . Being inspired from music by the Wu-Tang Clan, he participated in the Hip Hop Flex album in 2001, when he was 12 years old. Ever since his trainee years, Kwon Ji Yong trained in the hip-hop genre. Known for his fashion, G-Dragon was named one of the "Style Icon of 2008". His contribution to his own work also garnered him praise as one of the best composers of 2008. Additionally, he won "Most Influential Men of 2008" sponsored by Arena on behalf of his style.
Controversy
G-Dragon was accused of plagiarism by Sony Music, as his tracks "Heartbreaker" and "Butterfly" are similar to Flo-Rida's "Right Round" and Oasis's "She's Electric", respectively. However, EMI, who also has rights to "Right Round" said that they saw no similarities between these two songs. On March 6, 2010, YG Entertainment announced that they personally contacted Flo-Rida's representatives requesting that he feature in G-Dragon's live album, Shine a Light, to which Flo Rida accepted.
Birth name :
Kwon Ji-Yong
Born :
August 18, 1988 (1988-08-18) (age 21)
Origin :
South Korea
Genres :
Pop, Hip-hop
Occupations :
Rapper, Singer, Producer, Composer
Years active :
2006 (2006)–present
Labels :
YG Entertainment
Associated acts :
Big Bang, Flo-Rida
Website :
T.O.P
History
Big Bang debut: 2005—2006
Prior to his involvement with YG Entertainment, Choi was an underground rapper and a childhood friend of G-Dragon, another member of Big Bang. G-Dragon stated that the two were "neighborhood friend[s] from middle school" and would often dance and rap together. Although G-Dragon later moved away and the two "became distant", he contacted Choi again when YG Entertainment was scouting for candidates to create a boy band. The pair recorded several demos and sent them to Yang Hyun Suk, CEO of YG Entertainment, who later asked Choi to audition. Choi was initially rejected by the record label, which deemed him too "chubby" to fit the "idealistic version" of an idol. Choi later stated that he "went home and exercised really hard because I wanted to join YG Entertainment." Six months later, he returned for another audition and was signed on.
Choosing the stage name of T.O.P. (Korean: 탑), he became one of the two rappers in the group Big Bang, alongside G-Dragon. The two were paired with four others: Taeyang, Daesung, Seungri, and So-1; a documentation of their training was aired to promote them. So-1 was dropped by the record label, and Big Bang made its official debut with five members. Their first album, Since 2007, was a fair success, and included T.O.P.'s first solo song "Big Boy." The group achieved mainstream success with the release of the song "Lie" (Korean: 거짓말; Revised Romanization: Geojinmal) from their 2007 mini-album Always, which topped several charts upon its release. The singles, "Last Farewell" (Korean: 마지막 인사; Revised Romanization: Majimak Insa) from the mini-album Hot Issue and "Day by Day" (Korean: 하루하루; Revised Romanization: Haru Haru) from Stand Up, became chart-toppers as well.
Solo development: 2007—present
Following the release of the band's albums and singles, T.O.P. began working on his solo career. In April 2007, he was featured with fellow Big Bang members Taeyang and G-Dragon on singer Lexy's single "Super Fly" for her album Rush. Later that summer, he appeared as an actor in Red Roc’s "Hello" music video. He later became the first member of Big Bang to venture into acting, starring in the KBS2 drama, I Am Sam,. portraying the school's top fighter, Chae Musin. He also took the role of MC of MBC's Music Core on November 10, 2007, only to resign in April of the following year. In 2008, he collaborated with R&B artist Gummy on the song "I'm Sorry" for her album Comfort, and later with singer Uhm Jung Hwa for her single "D.I.S.C.O."
T.O.P later put his solo career on hold while he joined his group for their promotional activities. After more than a year of promoting Big Bang's materials, he returned to acting, playing the assassin Vick in the critically acclaimed Korean television drama Iris. T.O.P. also recorded the song "Hallelujah" for the drama's soundtrack with Taeyang and G-Dragon. Following Iris, T.O.P. and Seungri appeared in the teenage suspense drama, My 19.
T.O.P filmed the movie Into the Gunfire which released in June 2010. He is also in preparation for his solo debut. During Big Bang's Big Show concert in January 2010, T.O.P. performed his new single "Turn It Up." YG Entertainment released a music video teaser for "Turn It Up" on June 14, 2010 which revealed the release date for the full music video to be June 21, 2010. The teaser itself received over 200,000 views within 48 hours of its original posting on YouTube. The official music video was released at noon in South Korea, with over 1,000,000 views and comments in just a few minutes. He is also the first Korean artist to have his song release worldwide.
Discography
Digital singles
* "Buckwild" NBK Gray featuring T.O.P.
* "Big Boy"
* "I'm Sorry" Gummy featuring T.O.P
* "As If Nothing's Wrong" (Korean: 아무렇지 않은 척)
* "D.I.S.C.O " (Uhm Jung Hwa featuring T.O.P)
* "Friend" (Korean: 친구; Revised Romanization: Chingu) (T.O.P featuring Tae Yang)
* "Hallelujah" (T.O.P featuring Tae Yang and G-Dragon) (theme song of the drama Iris)
* "Turn It Up"
Filmography
TV series
* I Am Sam (2007)
* Iris (2009)
Films
* Story of Men (2008)
* My 19 (2009)
* Into the Fire (2010)
Birth name :
Choi Seung Hyun
Also known as :
T.O.P , Tempo
Born :
November 4, 1987 (1987-11-04) (age 22) in Seoul, South Korea
Origin :
Republic of Korea
Genres :
Hip-hop, Hardcore hip hop, K-pop
Occupations :
Composer, Lyricist, Rapper, Beatboxer, MC, Actor
Years active :
2006 - present
Labels :
YG Entertainment
Associated acts :
Big Bang
Taeyang
Early beginnings and debut with Big Bang
Taeyang's first appearance in the entertainment industry was in the hip-hop group Jinusean's music video "A-yo". The collaboration eventually lead him to successfully auditioning into the group's record label YG Entertainment, where he became one of the rappers alongside fellow trainee G-Dragon. The two were later coined as GDYB. In 2003, Dong provided the rap verse in singer Wheesung’s single "Player" on the latter's second album.
Although Taeyang was scheduled to debut alongside G-Dragon as the duo GDYB, the plan was scrapped by their record label. Instead, they were joined by four other trainees (T.O.P., Daesung, Seungri, and So-1) to form the group Big Bang. Before their official debut, however, Sol-1 was dropped and their final lineup consisted of five members. Choosing the stage-name Taeyang (Korean: 태양, meaning sun), Dong abandoned the idea of rapping to focus on singing. The group's formation was documented on television. Although their debut was fairly successful, the group reached mainstream success with the release of their mini-album Always, which yielded the number-one song "Lies" (Korean: 거짓말; Revised Romanization: Geojinmal). followed by "Last Farewell" (Korean: 마지막 인사; Revised Romanization: Majimak Insa) from the mini-album Hot Issue and "Day by Day" (Korean: 하루하루; Revised Romanization: Haru Haru) from Stand Up, both chart-toppers.
Solo career establishment
After contributions to singer Lexy's album, Taeyang was scheduled to release a solo album. Initially scheduled for a September release, the project was pushed back due to conflicting schedules with his group. Taeyang released his debut mini-album Hot on May 22, 2008, backed by a production team that included Teddy, Yang Hyun Suk, Kush, and his fellow member G-Dragon. Moving beyond the hip-hop genre of Big Bang, Taeyang incorporated mainly R&B songs into his album, stating that it was his "main focus". He expressed disappointment with the album, however, admitting that he did not write any of the songs; he later stated that he would do so in the future to express his "thoughts and ideas."
Taeyang's first mini-album Hot was well received by fans and critics alike, winning two trophies from The 7th Korean Music Awards for the 2008 Best R&B/Soul Song (나만 바라봐, "Only Look At Me") and the 2008 Best R&B/Soul Album (Hot).(Korean) He is the first "Idol group" or boyband member to receive such awards. The first single released was "Only Look At Me" (Korean: 나만 바라봐), an R&B song written by Teddy and Kush. Taeyang stated that the lyrics come from the perspective of a man who is "selfish" for wanting his girlfriend to be with him only, regardless of how he treats her. G-Dragon later recorded a "Part Two" version to the song. The second single was "Prayer (Korean: 기도)" which featured Teddy of 1TYM. Promotional videos were shot for both. In support of his album, he also staged his first solo concert, Hot.
Throughout the majority of 2009, Taeyang contributed to his group's activities, recording the song "Lollipop" with his group and labelmate 2NE1. He later flew to Japan to promote the group's Japanese albums. After activities ended, he went back to the studio to record and release his first digital single "Where U At", followed by another digital single, "Wedding Dress". Taeyang took his first attempt at composing by co-writing both songs with Teddy. Promotional videos were filmed for both "Where U At" and "Wedding Dress." "Wedding Dress" was voted #3 on an online poll for a Dutch radio station.
Taeyang's first full-length album Solar was released on July 1, 2010. Two versions of this album - the “Regular Edition” and the “Deluxe Edition” - was released. The regular edition contained 11 songs, while the deluxe edition, limited to 30,000 copies worldwide, had 13 songs, including “Only Look At Me” and “Prayer" from the previous album Hot. On the first day of sales for the limited Deluxe Edition of Solar, the 30,000 copies released by YG entertainment were sold out in online and offline stores.
On July 7, 2010, Taeyang released his solo album Solar on the iTunes for the first time in his music career. On July 9, 2010, Solar hit second place on iTunes' Top R&B-Soul albums chart in the United States and first place in Canada, making him the first Asian musician in history to attain such an achievement. The lead-single was "I Need A Girl" featuring his bandmate G-Dragon. His labelmate Sandara Park of 2NE1 starred in the music video for "I Need A Girl." The second single, "I'll Be There" and its music video were premiered on August 19, 2010 through Taeyang's official Youtube channel.
Taeyang's first international album, Solar International, breaks new ground as it will be the first ever K-Pop music release to be sold worldwide on iTunes as both an audio and video album. The audio version (complete with a digital booklet) hit iTunes stores on August 25, 2010 while the video version (bundled with bonus, behind the scenes documentaries) will arrive by September 10, 2010. The audio album combines both English and Korean hits from his past and present albums including "I'll Be There", "Connection (feat. BIG TONE), "Wedding Dress" and "I Need A Girl (feat. G-Dragon)." On August 26, 2010, Solar's International album made it to fifth place on iTunes' Top R&B-Soul albums chart in the United States and Japan, and third place in Canada.
Also known as :
SoL
Born :
May 18, 1988 (1988-05-18) (age 22)
Origin :
Seoul, South Korea
Genres :
R&B, hip hop, pop
Years active :
2006 (2006)–present
Labels :
YG Entertainment(South Korea)
Universal Music Japan(Japan)
Associated acts :
Big Bang
Website :
Seungri
Biography
Seungri is known for his dance skills the girlfriend actual of AJT. In his hometown, Gwangju, he was part of the dance group II Hwa. He has competed against his fellow Big Bang member Taeyang in several dance competitions, as well as against Super Junior's Eunhyuk, TVXQ's Yunho, and Shinee's Taemin. Seungri also choreographed some of Big Bang's dance.
Seungri became the first member of Big Bang to act in a musical with the performance in Sonagi in 2008. His next musical, Shouting, was performed in 2009 alongside another Big Bang member Daesung, who was unable to perform at the last minute due to a car accident. Seungri made his film debut in with the movie Why Did You Come to My House?, followed by My 19 alongside another Big Bang member T.O.P. The movie was released on November 12, 2009. Although his first solo song "Next Day" was recorded as part of Big Bang's album track, his second solo song "Strong Baby" was released as a promotional single for the group's second Korean album. In order to shed the "youngest member" look from Big Bang, Seungri promoted the single with a more mature look along with a stylized dance.
Personal life
After passing the college entrance exams, Seungri was accepted into Chung-Ang University and began his college education in spring 2010, along with Yuri and Sooyoung of Girls' Generation.
Singles
* 다음날 (Daeumnal, The Next Day) (Seungri Solo)
* Strong Baby (featuring G-Dragon)
Musical
* Sonagi (2008)
* Shouting (2009)
Film
* Why Did You Come to My House? (2009)
* My 19 (2009)
Birth name :
Lee Seung Hyun
Also known as:
Seungri , V.I
Born :
December 12, 1990 (1990-12-12) (age 19)
Origin :
Gwangju, South Korea
Genres :
K-pop
Occupations :
Singer, dancer, actor
Years active :
2006–present
Labels YG Entertainment
Associated acts :
Big Bang
Website :
Daesung
Career
Although his parents were against the idea of him becoming a singer, Daesung pursued a career as a singer and was eventually recruited by YG Entertainment after auditioning. He later appeared on a documentary show following the potential members of what eventually became Big Bang.
Their first appearance as a group was on August 19, 2006 at YG Family's 10th Anniversary concert. On September 23, 2006, they had their debut performance. The group had its first big hit with "Geojitmal" (Korean: "거짓말", "Lies") in 2007.
In between various albums and EPs as a group, the members were able to pursue solo activities. Daesung released his debut trot single "Nal Bwa Gwisun" (Korean: "날 봐, 귀순", "Look at Me, Gwisun") in 2008; he stated that although he was worried about dampening the group's image, he wanted to try something different. The singer also joined the reality-variety show Family Outing as a permanent member. The show revealed that his IQ was 110. He also joined the Korean production of Cats, playing the role of Rum Tum Tiger.
In the midst of Big Bang's break in early 2009, Daesung released his second trot single in early 2009, titled "Daebakiya" ("Korean: 대박이야", "Big Hit"). He was also scheduled to join bandmate Seungri in the autobiographical musical Shouting; however, the singer was injured in a car accident before the musical's run, and ultimately required surgery. The injuries forced Daesung to halt all activities; he eventually made his return in October 2009, joining his group for the Dream Concert.
According to his Agency, YG Entertainment, he is supposed to release his solo album during 2010 along with fellow bandmate T.O.P. Daesung's new song, "Cotton Candy", was released at the end of January.
Birth name :
Kang Dae Sung
Also known as:
Dae Sung
D-Lite
Born :
April 26, 1989 (1989-04-26) (age 21)
Origin :
Seoul, South Korea
Genres :
K-pop, K-hip hop, R&B, trot
Occupations :
Singer, MC, actor
Years active 2006–present
Labels :
YG Entertainment
Associated acts :
Big Bang
Website :
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