SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) — G-Dragon, the leader of the popular boy band BIGBANG, hit an unexpected snag when he returned as a soloist after four years: his band mate T.O.P’s recent drug scandal.

“It was mentally and physically hard to prepare for the album because many things happened in the process,” the singer said during his individual concert at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Saturday, the first leg of his concert tour of 19 cities around the world.

G-Dragon, however, did not directly mention the drug scandal involving T.O.P.

T.O.P was hospitalized Tuesday from an apparent overdose of benzodiazepine, a day after he was indicted without detention on charges of smoking marijuana. He is suspected of smoking the banned substance four times with a 21-year-old female trainee singer at his home in Seoul in October last year.

This file photo shows G-Dragon. (Yonhap)

“Kwon Ji Yong,” the fourth solo album by G-Dragon, conquered iTunes album charts in 39 countries upon its release on Thursday, despite the scandal. Its title track “Untitled” also swept the number one spots on major domestic online music charts and all five category charts on China’s QQ Music.

“I felt great upon hearing the good news,” the 29-year-old rapper-singer said after performing three of his hit songs “Heartbreaker,” “Breathe” and “A Boy” on stage.

“I came to open this concert without any troubles thanks to you. So, I thank you once again.”

Kwon Ji-yong is G-Dragon’s real name. As the title suggests, the album has a strong autobiographical aspect to it, with lyrics focused on G-Dragon’s personal character and growing pains as he is about to enter his 30s.

“Personally, it was a time to look back on me pondering over what is the true nature of myself and who this guy Kwon Ji-yong really is after many years of life under the stage name G-Dragon. It was a precious time that I realized what I did not know of myself and what I had forgotten.”

After Seoul, G-Dragon is scheduled to perform in three Asian, eight North American, four Oceanian and three Japanese cities in the world tour titled “Act III, M.O.T.T.E.”

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[일간스포츠=이미현 기자] YG Entertainment is definitely doing a good job this year. It must have set its mind to make 2017 a year to work hard, and as a result, eight songs out of the top 15 songs in the charts are YG songs.

As of 9 AM on June 10, songs of YG musicians are dominating all the top spots of Melon. The No.1 spot was taken by G-DRAGON’s “UNTITLED”. The second and third place went to G-DRAGON’s “BULLSHIT” and “SUPER STAR”, respectively. PSY’s “I LUV IT” and “NEW FACE” were at No. 7 and No. 8. G-DRAGON’s “MIDDEL FINGERS-UP” took the No. 10 spot, WINNER’s “REALLY REALLY” was ranked 14^th and G-DRAGON’s “DIVINA COMMEDIA” ranked 15^th.  

YG musicians have been releasing new albums continuously since April. First it was WINNER, and then, SECHSKIES, PSY, iKON, and G-DRAGON each made a comeback and released new albums. TAEYANG will be the next to make a comeback followed by BLACKPINK. 

The comeback of YG musicians were a joy to music lovers, and they are dominating the charts. The peak is G-DRAGON, who made a comeback on June 8. His new song has been at the No.1 spot on eight major charts for two days in a row. His new album did not fail anyone’s expectations and showed his true ability as a musician. It is also No.1 on the iTunes charts of 39 countries. He has established his presence as a solo artist with his new album “KWON JI YONG”.   

Global star PSY is also doing well on the charts. He wanted to revive his original passion for music when working on his new album. His “I LUV IT” and “NEW FACE” have gained great popularity and got PSY invited to a lot of events. 

WINNER is also doing its part. The group released “REALLY REALLY” in April, and the song is still high up on the charts. It has contributed a great deal to YG’s amazing work this year. WINNER has been through a lot, such as losing a member, but it has come back with a force and found its true color. 

Five YG artist teams have made a comeback in the first half of this year. And, there’s more to come in the latter half. It will be interesting to see how well they will do on the charts too. 

2017. 6. 10.

Source: YG Life