The #KPOP wave is set to hit Miami next when when G-Dragon (@IBGDRGN) performs at @AAarena. https://t.co/r0KMX8U3VI

— Miami New Times (@MiamiNewTimes) July 18, 2017

On July 25, an international pop music mega-star will swoop down upon American Airlines Arena. He’s sold millions of albums and drawn countless screaming fans to his side, and it’s likely you’ve never even heard of him. His name is G-Dragon, and he’s the most popular singer in South Korea.

It might seem perplexing that an artist from a tiny East Asian nation, one that doesn’t even rave about nuclear weapons, could draw enough people to fill the AAA. The reason, as it turns out, has as much to do with politics as music. In the late '90s, South Korea began to aggressively subsidize its entertainment industry in an attempt to compete with Japan and the United States as a cultural exporter. Along with film and television dramas, the nation flooded money into pop music, funding enormous labels that created dozens of pop groups and drew from the latest international trends in music. By every measure, K-pop and the Hallyu — "Korean Wave" — succeeded in increasing Korean global stature, but they also resulted in some of most exciting popular music being made today.

Bigbang, "Bang Bang Bang" (2015)
Girls Generation may have the best song, but Bigbang is the undisputed king of K-pop. They are not subtle about it — the band's symbol, which you’ll see at any show by them or one of their members, is a golden crown. If you want to know what the Hallyu is all about, it’s right here in one of the behemoth group’s bombastic videos: insane costumes, dynamic dancing, and production values that match, even surpass, those of their Western competitors. And this isn't even their best song — the group has a massive back catalog, having been active since 2006.

Source: Miami New Times

After news of Taeyang filming his new music video, further details about his comeback have been revealed!

The singer will be coming back with two title tracks which will have separate music videos as well. It has been reported that Taeyang has been involved in all aspects of his new album and was a part of planning meetings and submitted his own ideas. He will also be working on directing his music video with another director. Reports promise that the new music videos will be different from those we have seen from the artist thus far.

Meanwhile, Taeyang has started his “White Night” world tour in Japan and will hold concerts in Seoul on August 26 and 27.

Stay tuned for updates!

Source (1) via Soompi

[스포츠조선닷컴=정유나 기자] BIGBANG’s TAEYANG has started shooting the music videos of his new solo songs, signaling that his comeback is near.

It’s been three years since TAEYANG released a solo album, and today (Jul.18), it’s been announced that TAEYANG will be releasing two new songs. He will also be shooting two music videos to add variety.

TAEYANG has participated in all the meetings and even contributed his own ideas into the production of his new album. The music videos will be directed by someone TAEYANG has never worked before. Therefore, it is highly likely that the two music videos will be different from his old ones.

Amidst high expectations for TAEYANG’s solo comeback, the second ticket sale to TAEYANG’s “WHITE NIGHT” concert, which will take place on August 26-27 at the Jamsil Stadium, will begin at 8 PM on July 18.

The first ticket sale took place on July 13. Since it was such a long time since TAEYANG held a solo concert, competition to get the tickets was fierce. There is only a month to go until TAEYANG’s concert, and there surely will be fierce competition at the second ticket sale as well.  

TAEYANG’s Seoul concert will kick off his world tour, and it will also be TAEYANG’s first solo concert in three years. The last time was his “RISE” concerts in 2014. The “WHITE NIGHT” concerts will be a chance to see a side of TAEYANG that is different from “BIGBANG’s TAEYANG”.  

TAEYANG will hold concerts for his tour at the Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium, Japan on August 5-6.

2017. 7. 18.

Source: YG Life

It is impossible not to get caught up in the frenzy surrounding South Korean artist G-Dragon’s recent comeback. The musician, who was born Kwon Ji Yong and rose to fame as part of hip-hop group BIGBANG, governs such a level of influence on music and fashion in his home country that he’s often hailed the ‘King of K-Pop.’ His formidable status at home has also garnered him press and followers in the farthest corners of the globe. Naturally, Kwon’s first release as a lead artist in three years, the self-titled EP Kwon Ji Yong,topped charts in multiple different countries recently. His ongoing world tour, ‘ACT III, M.O.T.T.E, Moment Of Truth: The End’ consists of over 30 dates across the U.S., U.K., Europe, Oceania and Asia, making it the largest concert tour lead by a Korean solo artist.

‘ACT III, M.O.T.T.E’ has received rave reviews from fans and critics alike, which is what pushed me to fly to Thailand to catch Kwon on the Asian leg of his tour. The Bangkok stop took place on July 8th at IMPACT Arena, and has been making headlines for the fall Kwon took mid-performance. However, for those in attendance, there proved to be far more to the show than the reported stage accident.

Most fans I spoke to at the venue had flown in from elsewhere for a chance to rapper, singer-songwriter and producer live. They were surprisingly an older crowd, aged between 18 and 35, who had supported Kwon from the very beginning of his decade-long career. Having learned my lesson at Justin Bieber’s disastrous India debut in May, I was keeping my expectations in check, but the excitement in the arena was infectious. From the moment the lights went out to signal the start of the introductory video, it became clear that ‘ACT III, M.O.T.T.E’ was about to be a completely different story.

Like the new EP it follows, the tour serves as an intimately honest reflection on Kwon’s struggle to find the balance between being a celebrity and being himself. The word ‘motte,’ aside from standing for ‘The Moment Of Truth The End,’ means ‘mother’s womb’ in Korean.  Everything from the stage lighting to the costumes and Kwon’s microphone were a deep red, signifying the ‘birth’ of his stage persona and the ‘rebirth’ of the human being behind it who had to learn to live with the side effects of fame.

The show guides the audience through three acts, which each symbolize the different stages in Kwon’s career. ‘Act I: G-Dragon’ is the personality we have been familiar with since 2006: the world famous rapper, singer-songwriter, producer and leader of BIGBANG. During this tour, Kwon harkens to those roots by bursting onto the stage with “Heartbreaker,”the title track off his 2009 solo debut album. The current tour makes no compromises on production value: he’s supported by a live band, a hundred beams of red light and a posse of very enthusiastic dancers. The energetic opening is followed by more pop-soaked hits from early on in his career, like “Breathe,” “A Boy,” and “Obsession,” setting up a chronological progression of his repertoire for the rest of the evening.

‘Act II: G-Dragon vs Kwon Ji Yong’ signals a swift change in tone with a macabre video showing the artist strapped to a gurney and being ‘operated’ upon–the creation of a superstar depicted as a painful, surgical process, serving as a commentary on the superficiality of the entertainment industry. Kwon then dives into the darker, more hip-hop and dubstep-influenced tracks from his 2012 EP One of a Kind and his 2013 sophomore studio album Coup d’Etat, records that cemented his prowess as a songwriter and producer. The rapper jumps genres effortlessly, introducing rock-infused live takes to his electro-hop hits like “MichiGO” and “One of a Kind,” bringing in gritty dancehall on “R.O.D.” and wrapping it all up neatly with sharp choreography. The show takes a break from the fast pace when Kwon belts out the acoustic “That XX,” the R&B ballad “Black” and the cheerful fan anthem “Who You.”

‘Act III: Kwon Ji Yong’ follows shortly after, and is easily the most intimate of the three segments. The first clue that you’re stepping into Kwon Ji Yong’s territory instead of G-Dragon’s is the screening of a video prior to the third act that features interviews with the rapper’s parents, friends and colleagues. BIGBANG bandmates Daesung and Taeyang, “Gangnam Style” hit-maker PSY, label mate CL and various other collaborators share personal anecdotes about the man behind the celebrity, giving fans a small idea of what Kwon is like behind the scenes.

The third act also features a bittersweet video monologue from Kwon about his inner struggles, fears and his decision to let his fans in a little more. “In front of you guys… no, at least in this very moment, I wanted to be honest,” he says in the simple yet powerful clip. “I’ve been living as G-Dragon, but now I want to live as Kwon Ji Yong.”

On the Bangkok tour stop, the roar from the 20,000-strong crowd gave clear indication of their approval, which Kwon took as the perfect cue to jump into the songs off his Kwon Ji Yong EP. This segment of the show begins with “Super Star,” a track about the futilities of fame and fortune, keeping it simple with just Kwon, suspended on a platform 12 feet above the stage. The tongue-in-cheek “Middle-Fingers Up” comes next, lightening the mood and bringing back his dancers, followed by the ultimate anti-hater anthem, “Bullshit.”

At this point in the Bangkok show, Kwon paused to take a breather– finally displaying small signs of fatigue nearly two hours in– but smiled through it and thanked the audience for being there. Witnessing the rather menacing G-Dragon melt away into the shy Ji Yong was equal parts jarring and endearing. Though he declared the philosophical “Divina Commedia” to be his last song for the evening, Kwon bounced back for an encore five minutes later amid frantic chants of ‘Kwon Ji Yong!’ to perform two of the biggest hits in his repertoire: 2008’s Maroon 5-sampling “This Love” and 2013’s pop-punk offering “Crooked.” A second encore was imminent however, as he had saved the best for last: “Untitled, 2014,” the heartbreaking lead single off Kwon Ji Yong. Devoid of any rap, the single shows off Kwon’s stellar (but often overlooked) vocal abilities. The producer made his way out into the audience for this and (much to his numerous bodyguards’ chagrin) let fans touch him and hold his hand, prompting a small struggle between the first few rows as they attempted to make contact. He finally ended the night with a few emotional ‘I love yous’ to the crowd and was quickly whisked away by bodyguards, managers and camera crews before the audience could get out of control.

There were only two moments where things didn’t quite work out during the two-hour set; first was the audio trouble on “That XX” where Kwon failed to catch the key that band was on. He handled it by letting the backing track take the lead instead, rather than confuse everyone involved. The second, more dramatic turn of events was, of course, his accidental fall through a stage trap door during “A Boy.” Staff members panicked and rushed to help but Kwon had already brushed off the fall, and was back onstage within seconds to continue the concert in a display of pure professionalism and dedication.

As Kwon hits the cusp of his thirties and gears up for his two-year mandatory military service in 2018, he’s unsure when he will make the return to a live stage. ‘ACT III, M.O.T.T.E’  doubles as both the rapper’s solo comeback and his farewell, so his resolve to lay it all bare and give his fans the best show possible is evident. With precise choreography, stage direction, seamless costume changes and a plethora of pyrotechnics, ‘ACT III, M.O.T.T.E’’s high production value is impressive, but it is Kwon’s unwavering enthusiasm, electric stage presence and brutal honesty that indeed make it ‘the tour you cannot miss.’

All photographs courtesy of YG Entertainment.

Source: Rolling Stones India

Born Kwon Ji-yong, the rapper, singer, songwriter, producer and fashion designer shot to fame a decade ago with the hugely popular boy band BIGBANG before embarking on an equally stellar solo career in 2009. He says there is a lot hanging on the new album, and the tour, for him personally.

“People who have been watching me working on the new EP say that they felt very relieved after it was released,” he tells the Post. “However, I strongly feel that I’ve just started. It’s also the beginning of the world tour, which is an extension of the EP. Everything has meaning, especially as the aim of this solo album is to show the real Kwon Ji-yong, not G-Dragon.

“G-Dragon is a fancy person. People don’t expect upright images of G-Dragon and so I’ve been feeling some pressure about how I present myself. On the other hand, Kwon Ji-yong is an introvert, and has lots of things going on in his head. I have been hearing about how I am different onstage from offstage. This tour has been my first time to show Kwon Ji-yong himself to the public.”

The G-Dragon persona, of course, is inseparable from BIGBANG. The five-member boy band took K-pop mainstream around the world – although they dislike the “K-pop” term themselves, pointing out its gratuitous ethnic categorisation, as if all Korean music is somehow the same. Probably the biggest act in Asia and the world’s most popular boy band, BIGBANG have sold more than 140 million albums worldwide, with music based on hip hop that also incorporates elements of R&B, electronic music and rock.

G-Dragon is the band’s main songwriter: he’s written 22 No 1 hits, including BIGBANG’s signature hit Lies, while his solo output takes in everything from glisteningly packaged pop to experimental electronic dance music and even folk – especially on the bold 2013 album Coup d’Etat.

His success has spread virally: first South Korea, then Japan, then the rest of Asia; then, unusually for an Asian pop star, the West started to take note. He was only the second Korean solo artist to undertake a world tour; has collaborated with Western musicians including Missy Elliott, Diplo, Boys Noize, Skrillex, MIA and Justin Bieber, as well as a who’s who of Korean artists; and describes Pharrell Williams as his musical hero. However, G-Dragon says he had little idea how popular he was around the world before he saw it for himself.

“I have to say I really was surprised on my first world tour. It was amazing to see what we’ve always dreamed of, right before our eyes. It was an amazing experience overall to realise we have fans supporting us in places that we were visiting for the first time. No words can describe how thankful I am for their support.”

Touring solo, he says, adds an extra level of physical exertion to the experience. “The biggest difference is stamina. Instead of having five people performing for two hours, one person is performing the whole time. I feel a bit lonely but it also becomes a way of concentrating on the show.

“I’m the type of person who commits to the fullest to whatever I’m doing. I’m not too sure if I’m keeping a good balance, though. I haven’t been getting much sleep and have lost a lot of weight preparing for this.”

Adding to the demands on his time, G-Dragon is also a cultural promoter, putting on contemporary art exhibitions in Seoul. Of course he’s also a fashion icon, the recipient of numerous style awards, known for his massively eclectic, boundary-pushing, androgynous taste. As well as working with the likes of Jeremy Scott, Hedi Slimane, Giuseppe Zanotti, Karl Lagerfeld and Raf Simons, and designing his own jewellery collection in partnership with Chow Tai Fook, he also has his own fashion brand, PeaceMinusOne; unlike his own frequently experimental fashion choices, its clothes are largely simple and practical.

G-Dragon had been training for the hard-working life of a pop star since early in his life. His road to fame started at the tender age of five, when he released a Christmas album as part of the band Little Roo’ra. He signed to entertainment conglomerate SM Entertainment (in which Post owner Alibaba Group owns a stake) aged eight, became interested in hip hop after a friend played him Wu-Tang Clan’s seminal debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), and contributed to the annual South Korean rap compilation album Flex in 2001 aged 13. He then moved to entertainment behemoth YG Entertainment, where he spent the first year cleaning the studio.

Despite serving such a long apprenticeship on the monolithic treadmill of the Korean entertainment industry, he has consistently managed to assert artistic control over his career, writing and producing his own music throughout.

There have been a few bumps along the way: an accusation of plagiarism from Sony Music, a failed drug test, a supposed onstage profanity – the reactions to the second and third of those were like he’d murdered someone – but they probably haven’t hurt, marking him out as a bit edgier than most Korean pop stars. When dealing with both the highs and the lows, it helps to maintain a good attitude, he says.

“I am usually positive and optimistic. If I get stressed or some results are not so good, I let it go by thinking ‘Oh well, it can be better next time.’ I don’t worry a lot and I’m not too serious about anything. I want to have freedom with everything I do.”

G-Dragon, Aug 25-26, 8pm, AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau, HK$1,388-HK$2,588, HK Ticketing

Source: SCMP