GD&TOP, “Natural Hip-Hop… Acknowledged by other rappers”

The duet who made 4 hit songs, with a selling record of 15 thousand copies.

Lee Eun Jeong reporter:

“Before, they made songs using their brain but now, they made them using their hearts. Not using their mind but using their instinct to make sincere music, they have reached their dreams by doing this.” 

I’ve met the two members of Big Bang, G-Dragon (Kwon Ji Yong, 23) and TOP (Choi Seung Hyun, 24) in a café in Yoeui-do recently and we spoje about their first duet album, GD&TOP.

With this album, they’ve created a harmony between G-Dragon’s sharp yet light voice with TOP’s heavy and low-toned voice. Just like a harmony between tenor and bass.

While Big Bang’s rap is made to be heard more like the type of popular songs, this two have put a lot of genre like electronic, disco, and rock into their hip-hop based music. They even bravely challenge to put an underground-like tone in some of their songs.

As the result their title songs, ‘Oh yeah’ ‘High High’ ‘Knock Out’ ‘Don’t Go Home’ and the other songs released at the same time, and their album pre-order reached the number of 15 thousand copies.

“The thing that make us really proud is, those rappers who only can speak their critics towards us now even gave us their acknowledgement. And also it seems like the underground rappers have changed their mindset towards us. Mindset like because we’re just members from an idol group we can’t create a significant result in hip-hop, and that our hip-hop was mainstream, this kind of stereotype have changed.” (GD and TOP)

“Personality…freedom in thinking”

The two rappers’ music, stage performance, and fashion showing their strong personality. This is the reason why everything in every step they take will be a trend. “Our mindset is the fruit of freedom,” the two members said.

Different from the idol groups, the way this two make their own music, and the difference starts from how they compose their own music.

“From the moment I open my eyes I would go to the studio. There I will eat my meal, and when there’s inspiration I will start to compose, when my idea is all stuck I will play games or dance around. We might said we stayed up all night long for composing a song but actually the real time we use to make the music is probably less than an hour.” (G-Dragon)

“We didn’t think of it as working. We write the lyrics while having chit-chat, we will go in to the recording room when we feel like it. Everytime we come into the studio it’s like we’re piling up the colors for the song little by little. Perhaps that’s why you can feel the freedom in the output too.” (TOP)

Of course as a composer they have gone through some agony as well. G-Dragon said that:

“’Mr. Inspiration didn’t come again’ When I said things like this I feel like I’ve been squeezing my brain but there’s nothing came out, in times like this I feel that making music is like working. But it’s just like an actor learning their script in an acting relay, as a composer we also doing this (composing) like we’re having fun.”

This two also give dramatic changes in their performances and their fashions. The adjustment between the basic lineout of the song with the stage setting and lighting keep changing also. The two members said that:

“Lately in the music world what important is the song, it’s not about the appearance of the singer, it's not a game with a winner or a loser. In order to receive public’s attention we have to provide them with something interesting to see and talk about. We’re showing various type of performances and trying various styling, almost like doing a fashion show, it’s all for the people who always wanted new things."

“You’ve broken those stereotypes about rap music”

Because you’ve made your music without giving attention in other aspects you’ve met with a rock named ‘deliberation’ now. ‘Knock Out’ is claimed using lyrics that are too vulgar while ‘Don’t Go Home’ is a little bit too suggestive; you’ve been banned from some TV station because of the censoring issue.

“Rather than worrying about TV station’s censoring, I think it’ll be more meaningful to make a song that will make all of the music fans out there feel satisfied. Actually I don’t have that good kid image so the broadcasting company could act partial like that. Haha~ And about ‘Knock Out’ actually I took the inspiration from drama , in that drama Kim Seon Ah have this dialogue saying “I’m going to knock you out! I will knock you out!” so I wonder why in the drama this kind of lines didn’t become any problem while in the song it does become a problem?” (G-Dragon)

Although they received criticism but their music showing some ‘experimental’ feel in some of its parts. The track ‘Knock Out’ that composed by American famous DJ and producer, Diplo, at first its almost feel like a boring track but after the rap with the beats added it has become a track with a very thick sense of hip-hop. In ‘Baby Good Night’ there’s acoustic guitar combined with dreamy-like rap. In TOP’s solo song ‘Oh Mom’ there’s a feel of rock sound, and in G-Dragon’s solo song ‘What Should I Do’ there’s a feel of a rock and roll rhythm. Both of them said that “We wanted to break the mindset that ‘if the two rappers doing music, they’ll only do those raps you couldn’t understand’” They also said that, “Both of us have strong colors but as we tried to mix it more colors will come out.”

“Big Bang rumored to have a new track with a sense of rock”

Around the half part of this month the two of you will go back to do activities as Big Bang. In the upcoming February 24th Big Bang will release a new album while in the February 25th until 27th you will held your 2011 Big Show Concert with approximately 4000 attendants in Seoul Olympic Gymnastic Stadium.

“Big Bang’s recording is almost finished. Until now Big Bang enjoyed energetic music and lyrical music, but this time we’re want to have something new, a track with a rock sense. I’m not really sure if it’s because the country was so screwed up back then, but people nowadays seems like they’re looking for some laughs without thinking everytime they switched the TV on. That’s why this time rather than heavy and machine-like music we want to show them some warm and exciting music” (GD and TOP)

The two members said that “Big Bang’s stage will be so much fun,” and also, “We also don’t know what lies inside us. Because to a singer a stage constitution is like a hidden stage, when we’re all on the stage we will be a very different person and when we come down we will become those fools who likes to fool around,” they explained while smiling.

Big Bang that received big popularity in Japan will continue their activities there on May until July, after their activities in Korea ended.

G-Dragon said that, “We have some ‘share’ that we have to do there,” and continuing, “This time we will be doing the promotions properly and for three months we will stay there. After that we will go back to Korea and we will keep doing activities inside the country until year-end. Anyway for now we have a worldwide composer participate for our album. It’ll be a very fresh turning point for Big Bang” he also explained.

“We’ve reached our dreams but we lost our image”

Big Bang boys that debuted on year 2006 has been receiving a lot of love since then, but there’s also a lot of gains and losses in their lives.

TOP said, “I no longer can differentiate between the feelings that I have to express in order of doing my job, or is it the usual me who have become very moody; I feel like I’ve lost myself,” and he added, “But through this kind of new experiences people can know themselves better.”

And G-Dragon who had been doing broadcastings since his childhood said, “Since I was a kid I always dreamed about becoming a singer who received a lot of love from many people,” and he also said, “Now I would be very satisfied if there are some friends who grew a dream of becoming a singer after they saw me. But I’ve lost my image. I’m such a good kid but now I have an image of a wasted, foolish, and unmannered kid,” he said that while laughing.

Source: Naver
Translated by: Winalicious@BigBangVIP.net

GD&TOP, “We want to break the prejudice on idols”

Unit, G-Dragon and TOP (GD&TOP) of group, Big Bang is now on the stage, breaking the concept of Korean idols.

Instead of melting the hearts of the public sweetly with tender music in the end of the year, the music they chose is the strong genre, which mixed electronica and hip hop properly.

G-Dragon and TOP who are easing their thirst for music as a unit, didn’t release a mini album, but instead they released the full album which evokes the desire to “dissect” it even from the album cover. Moreover, they are planning to meet the public with 5 songs from it. Starting with “High High”, “Oh Yeah”, and “Knock Out”. They’ll promote “Don’t Go Home” and “Baby Goodnight” from the middle of January.

Music industry usually puts a planning ability before the product itself, but as for Big Bang members, each member gets to plan out what they want or like and choose their own concepts. They are the idols who rock the stage, doing the music they like and pursue to satisfy their curiosity. Performing on many different stages is where their confidence show.

- Was the response as a unit different from being Big Bang?
GD: I’m glad that not only Big Bang fans, but also a lot of people and listeners who have mania taste in music seem to like it and approve it. This unit’s song will affect Big Bang’s next album for the better.

- This unit is very different from general domestic idols in music and concepts.
GD: We are different from the concept of idols that Korea have thought. If you watch today’s idols, you’ll see although they are called as “idols”, they are very good and very professional. I think it’s not just us, but also the other idols are breaking the rules of the concept called idol in the aspects of music. And I’m glad they do. I think the solid concept of Korean idol is disappearing and we are improving. If people were used to watching the idols singing, standing together, or doing group dances, I think they consider this unit more free on the stages compared to that.

- This unit’s music feels more like “doing what they like to do” instead of popularity. I think you are much pleased with it.
TOP: It’s just the two of us doing. So instead of worrying how we can make a lot of people like our music, we did the music we actually like. I think that makes us more confident. There are people who have prejudices on idols and we have the “instinct that want to break” those things. We have our greed.

- Are you satisfied with the response?
GD: We are very pleased till now and we are working hard on every single stage. Above all things, it’s so interesting to have the stages freely and to monitor those. As the development of internet, we check fans’ responses and also learn from them. I feel like I’m improving a lot myself.

- The three major terrestrial broadcasting stations banned “Knock Out”, requesting to MBC for a retrial of “Don’t Go Home”, I think you are a bit depressed.
GD: Not depressed, but it’s just sad that we prepared our best and they are not accepting us. It’s like we have this so much presents to give and we are so willing to perform you exciting stages, but it’s sad that we can’t give you those presents because of those broadcasting bans.

- It’s very a stressing job. How do you ease that?
TOP: Two of us, with music.

- Your job is music and you relieve your stress with music?
TOP: The dream of Big Bang members’ have always been music and as our dream comes true, the music is always with us. It’s a job we need to pour a lot of emotions, so there are some hardships in controlling our feelings in some days. Also we are all kind of sensitive. Emotional ups and downs. Music makes us strong at those kind of moments.

- There were much expectation when people heard two of bigbang members are performing as an unit
TOP: I think there were a lot of people who were curious because the two of us are very characteristic and we both have very different tones and color. We wanted to give you the best interest by listening to our music.

- It seems you worked very hard on your MVs. Especially, “Knock Out” MV which released recently, was very interesting with all those new products of luxuries and fancy styles.
GD: It’s important to have details in music and we feel the importance of them more because they’re more known worldwide, not just in Korea. We think it’s all connected. People talk about our music, which makes others listening to our music, then they buy the album and go to concerts. So we work very hard on every single stage and so as on the MVs. We feel more responsibility because it’s showing to the world. It’s not like the old days.

- Maybe the next Big Bang album is more popular to the public than the unit.
GD: We, ourselves are very curious and looking forward to what 5 of the Big Bang members will be like. The reason why we are doing solo and unit performances, is because we want to express our own taste in music. So when we get back to as Big Bang, I think we have our responsibility to present you more like what people want and what they want to watch. I think it will contain much more feelings even though it’s an exciting music.

- Big Bang’s break was quite long. When you all come back, fans and many other people are expecting a lot.
GD: We’ll prepare many things and make you listen to great songs, as fans have waited for so long. (will Big Bang also do the triple title song strategy?) We, as a unit, had triple titles at first, but we promote 5 songs to perform in front of you with more stages. I think the title song itself doesn’t mean that much now. We’ll make our album full of great songs and that’s what we’ll perform. We’ll show you the various styles of the songs.
TOP: There are a lot of stages that can be shown, but we all say it’s the 3 week music days. (T/N: He means that No.1 music charts keep changing, longest is 3 weeks) We don’t have chances to show fans, no matter how hard we work, after about 3 weeks. But we’ll pass that limit and make ourselves “all-in” to working on Big Bang’s album. We’ll live up to your expectations as we come back in a long time. We’ll perform with pride.

- U.S. famous DJ, Diplo, who worked on “Knock Out” with you, said on his Facebook that he wants to work with you more.
TOP: It was really interesting and awesome to work with him. I think we can show you another surprising collaboration soon. It’s on the progress. We’ll let you hear many fresh and good ones.

- Maybe you can pick the charms from each other?
GD: TOP has very attractive eyes. There are many good looking eyes, but TOP has something deep in that.
TOP: Jiyong is just attractive himself.

- We are also looking forward to your members’ styles with your music. When will you change your hair style?
GD: I like to change my hair style, but I have no idea what perm I did because I kept changing and changing. Maybe I’ll change it again when my hair starts falling out. *laughs* I want to show you a lot of things, but I did everything that I wanted to do in this unit, so there are not many things left to show you. haha.
TOP: Actually my hair is falling out right now because I bleached my hair too many times. I heard this hair color is not an easy one to have, especially for Asians. I kept bleaching and at last my head was bleeding.
GD: Above all, I think the other three members will be very awesome. I myself is looking forward to it.

Source: Osen (via Nate)
Translated by: HuisuYoon @ 21bangs.com

GD & TOP, “We want to tell more stories as rappers”

A world premiere which went on air live through YouTube. This may sound somewhat grandiose but the stage that G-Dragon (GD) and T.O.P of boy band Big Bang stepped on ahead of releasing their album as a unit was small and simple. Instead, they revealed snippets of each song listed in the album and explained the background to them.
To the fans who were looking forward to a fancy comeback performance, this showcase in the format of a talk show may have come off as long-winded but their choice rather came off as the best method to express their affection for the album. And like the two said, them having worked on each of the songs will be like a welcome rain to fans who have long waited for Big Bang’s comeback to the local music scene.
Below are excerpts from their showcase held in Seoul on Tuesday, ten days ahead of the release of “GD & T.O.P.”

Q: The fact that you are using the same logo in promoting your album and in the accessories you wear stands out. Does it have any particular meaning?
GD: As you can see, it’s in the shape of a hand making the sign of a ‘v.’ While working on the album, T.O.P and I figured that our fans like it the most when they see us having a good time on stage. The mark is a bit similar to the Playboy logo as well but it means that two guys, who can be various types of men including attractive, sexy, and knowing how to have fun, have come out.
Q: T.O.P, your solo song “Turn it up” is listed as a bonus track in this album. Is this because you don’t plan to release solo albums anymore?
T.O.P: I think I should explain how the two of us came to release this album to answer that question. Ji-yong [G-Dragon] had been working on Big Bang’s album and after I finished working on my movie, we came to spend more time working together and making more and more songs that our agency didn’t think were too bad. So we abruptly decided to put everything together in the form of a project album and present it as a gift to our fans who are waiting for Big Bang’s album. Our CEO was the one who suggested us the idea of putting together an album containing songs the two of us have made and also including songs that one day will be released in our solo albums as the bonus tracks.
“We want to tell more stories as rappers.”

Q: So was the reason that you two came together purely because your CEO suggested it?
GD: We thought of a variety of combinations while working on Big Bang’s album. And we felt that we should show something new and different to us in the new album we would release since we hadn’t been with our fans for the past two years. So we tried putting together different combinations such as me with T.O.P, just the vocalists which would exclude us two, me and Seungri, Daesung and T.O.P but T.O.P and I saw the most results together. Our fans also liked the what we worked on so that’s how we came to release an album like this.
Q: Were there any difficulties you two experienced while working together?
GD: There weren’t any difficulties in particular because we’re like family. It’s rather the remaining three members who pressure us a lot. They tell us, “You have to do well. That’s the only way we’ll all do well.” I think we’ll have to work even harder.
Q: It seems to be YG’s trend these days but why did you set three songs as the title tracks?
GD: It’s probably why 2NE1 did it as well but we wanted to show a variety of performances since we’re making a comeback for the first time in a while.
Q: But don’t you not have enough time to promote all three songs?
T.O.P: We tend not to set constraints when it comes to time. But we consider both this album and Seungri’s upcoming album just part of the process to releasing Big Bang’s album. Our goal is to show our fans as much as we can in the shortest time possible.
Q: What’s the difference between Big Bang’s album and the album you two will release?
T.O.P: Like most of you can probably tell, we’re two very different people so when put together, we probably created a new type of music. We’re excited about the upcoming performances and fashion we’ll get to stage — we’re preparing a lot of things.
GD: I think our songs will be closer to hip-hop than when we’re Big Bang. And we’re both rappers so we’d like to tell more stories for our fans to listen.
Q: You made a lot of the songs yourselves but out of the three title tracks, two of them are by Teddy. That’s why it seems like the album will somewhat be a continuation of the vibe we get from Big Bang’s. Is there a reason you made such a choice?
GD: Teddy is our big brother who always tells us a lot of things. That’s probably why there’s the Big Bang-Teddy combination and the 2NE1-Teddy combination and hence, we wanted to show fans the GD-T.O.P-Teddy combination. So the music may come off as being similar to that of Big Bang’s but we made much more diverse attempts as in terms of how the music develops and the images that the melody and rap portray. I’m hoping fans will feel it as well after listening to our songs.
“We will focus on our local activities from now on.”

Q: Is there any song you’re particularly attached to other than the title tracks?
T.O.P: We worked on each and every one of the songs in this album by staying up many nights. That’s why I’m attached to all of them. There’s a different vibe to every song and we worked hard on all of them so I would like to say that the entire album is meaningful.
GD: And this album contains many genres. R&B-like rap, acoustic rap, there are strong hip-hop numbers and electronic sounds as well. The reason we mixed such a variety of genres is because we wanted to bring out more of our character that we don’t get to show when we’re Big Bang. We thought hard on how T.O.P and I could create synergy.
Q: Do you have plans to appear on television for programs other than music shows?
GD: We’ve always wanted to but you can probably tell that we’re not good at talking. We still get intimidated when we’re surrounded by a lot of people. We can fly around on stage but I still get scared and nervous of these type of occasions. However, as much as this album is important to us, we plan to make appearances whether they be on variety shows or radio shows so I’m hoping our fans are looking forward to it.
Q: And how are the other members of your group doing? They must be recording Big Bang’s album.
T.O.P: A part of us still wants to be secretive about our concept for Big Bang’s upcoming album. We’re all under the determination that we’re going to pour out the energy we’ve saved up on so you can look forward to it.
GD: Daesung is busy shooting a drama and I met Seungri yesterday who seemed pumped working on his solo album. We heard that Seungri is working even harder now that we’re going to come out with a new album and we in turn are stimulated as well when we see how hard Seungri works. Taeyang is taking a break after having promoted is solo album.
Q: You unveiled a music video today. Will music videos be made for all three title tracks?
GD: We’d like to be able to if we have time. We plan to start working on one of them.
Q: Big Bang pursues a singing career in Asia as well. Do you two plan to promote yourselves overseas as well as your duo unit?
GD: I think we haven’t been attentive to our career in Korea over the past two years so from now on, we plan on showing our fans various sides to us by focusing on our local activities.

Source: asiae
Credit: bigbanghaven
(via 21bangs)