PSY Drops Music Video Teaser For “LOVE” Featuring BIGBANG’s Taeyang

PSY has released a teaser for a surprise music video!

On July 13, a music video teaser was revealed for “LOVE” featuring BIGBANG’s Taeyang from PSY’s recent album “4X2=8.”

Directed by Parris Goebel, the fun music video will express the warm lyrics about love with bright choreography from the ReQuest Dance Crew.

The full video will be released on July 17.

Check out the clip below!



Source: Soompi


Sandara Park Fangirls over G-Dragon in 1st Ep of Her New YouTube Show

To be fair to Dara, who wouldn’t fangirl over G-Dragon? After opening her new YouTube channel a few days ago, Sandara Park has finally shared the 1st episode of her new web series, “DARA TV!” For episode 1, the former 2NE1 member goes on an adventure to G-Dragon’s recent solo concert in Seoul, where she proceeds to fangirl over the BIGBANG leader. However, the fangirling only increases when CL arrives onstage to perform an awesome collaboration with G-Dragon! After getting super excited at G-Dragon’s solo concert, Dara then takes us through what she gets up to during a day off. After performing some solo car karaoke (to 2NE1, Ed Sheeran, and Ariana Grande), Dara arrives at the gym for a relaxing workout. After a delicious lunch afterwards, she then readies herself for a second workout (WOW) of the day. Needless to say, a day in the life of Sandara Park is equal parts awesome and relaxing! Check out the 1st episode of “DARA TV” right here and let us know what you think.
Source: SBS Kpop Asia

BIGBANG’s G-Dragon Belatedly Revealed To Have Made Generous Donations To Children’s Hospital

On July 11, a source from Seoul National University’s Children’s Hospital shared, “BIGBANG’s G-Dragon made two generous donations that totaled to one million won (approximately $89600).”

In 2011 and 2012, G-Dragon made two donations to the children’s hospital and wanted his donations to remain private. The source continued, “With cases in which the individual wants their donations to remain private, we do not make announcements about them separately.”

This is not the first time that G-Dragon has made charitable donations to good causes: last year, the artist made a donation of 81.8 million won (approximately $71,100) to both the UN Refugee Agency as well to the construction fund for a convalescence hospital for patients with Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Meanwhile, BLACKPINK’s Jennie revealed how G-Dragon helped her with on-stage performing and SEVENTEEN’s S.Coup’s expressed his admiration for the artist.

Source (1)


Source: Soompi


BLACKPINK’s Jennie Shares How G-Dragon Helped Her With On-Stage Performing

Recently BLACKPINK’s Jennie revisited her stage performance with BIGBANG’s G-Dragon.

On July 10, BLACKPINK appeared on the MBC FM4U radio show “Jung Yoo Mi’s FM Date.” On the show, they talked about their long training periods and how they felt during their first No. 1 win after their debut.

Jennie said, “In the past, before our official debut, I once performed with G-Dragon on stage. I had no idea how to look at the camera and felt lost. G-Dragon told me that I needed to look at cameras with red lights. Later when I debuted with BLACKPINK it was a big help.”

Jennie featured in G-Dragon’s song “Black” in 2013.

Source (1)


Source: Soompi


SEVENTEEN’s S.Coups Shares Just How Much He Respects BIGBANG’s G-Dragon

SEVENTEEN’s S.Coups shared how much respect his has for BIGBANG’s G-Dragon.

On July 9, SEVENTEEN took to V Live for a broadcast. During the show, S.Coups chose G-Dragon’s “Untitled, 2014” as the song that he would recommend. He shared that he almost cried when he heard the song for the first time, showing just how much he respects the senior singer.

Meanwhile, SEVENTEEN recently made a comeback with “Don’t Wanna Cry” and have been cementing themselves as a multi-talented group.

Source (1)


Source: Soompi


K-Pop Lyric Writer Kim Eana Says She’s Inspired by G-Dragon and Tablo

On July 10, famous K-pop lyric writer Kim Eana made an appearance on SBS Love FM’s “Two Men Show” and said she’s inspired by two talented hip hop musicians, G-Dragon and Tablo.

She said, “I’m inspired by G-Dragon and Tablo. Lyrics writers have rules about spacing words, but GD himself breaks the rules and creates a brand new style. I’m absolutely inspired by such style. And Tablo usually uses literary words even though most of lyric writers write in a colloquial style. The surprising thing is that Tablo uses literary words but his lyrics are very rhythmical.”

Kim Eana has written lyrics of a variety of popular K-pop songs such as IU’s “You & I”, “Good Day” and Brown Eyed Girls’ “Abracadabra”. She earns over a hundred million won (about 90,000 USD) a year.

Source: Enews via KpopBehind

Awesome Official BIGBANG-Themed Beach House Opening Its Doors In Japan


BIGBANG’s official merchandise mascot is holding another special event for their Japanese fans. 

Thanks to previous successful fan events in the last few years, YGEX Japan announced the return of KRUNK X BIGBANG’s Beach for the summer. 

Fans visiting the event will be treated to a BIGBANG-themed beach party and food items such as “T.O.P’s Island Burger”, “Taeyang’s Sunset Nasi Goreng”, and more.

Including their very own cocktail and “Kamakura Beer”! 

Official merchandise is also available at the pop-up event. 

KRUNK X BIGBANG will bring their yearly treat to Yuigahama (Kamakura) Beach from July 15 to August 31.

This will be one of their many themed fan events after “Cafe” and “Beach Resort” in previous years. 

Source: KRUNKXBIGBANG Japan via Koreaboo

BIGBANG and GD are only two singers who cause very high traffic on Korean online music sites


Who do you think is the most popular and influential k-pop star? There could be various opinions, and it’s not easy to determine the ranking of k-pop stars by measuring their popularity. But, how about the traffic of online music sites? If the traffic of online music sites increases rapidly when a k-pop singer releases his or her new album, yeah it means the k-pop singer is very popular and influential. The traffic is recorded in real time, and there are people who analyze the data.

So, here’s a statement from the senior researcher of Gaon chart. According to him, BIGBANG and G-Dragon are only two singers who cause very high traffic on Korean online music sites.

 When PSY’s new album was released on May 10, the traffic of online music sites didn’t increase rapidly even though he is a very famous singer. However, When GD’s new album was released on June 8, the traffic increased very rapidly, and the album caused very high traffic on online music sites. I’ve been observing the traffic of Korean online music sites for a long time, but the traffic increased very rapidly only when BIGBANG and G-Dragon released their new albums. The reason why they cause very high traffic on Korean online music sites is because all the tracks of their albums receive great attention from music fans. The other singers can’t cause very high traffic because music fans are interested only in their title tracks.

Source: KPopBehind

T Singapore Cover Story: The Shining Sun – Taeyang


Generation Y is an age where one is defined by what one does or has achieved. Those who make up the generation are also referred to as millennials or Gen Ys or Y-ny (whiny), and they are often seen as commitment-phobic, lazy, self-involved individuals who are incapable of functioning without a smartphone. Meet the 29-year-old man who will put all those tags to rest.

The fearless, jaunty Korean star Taeyang (which means ‘sun’ in Korean) who you see on stage and on screen is the alter ego of passionate, tireless Youngbae (his birth name). But beyond those two names and personas (which he distinguishes by whether he has makeup on or not) is another ‘life’, one that he chooses to share on social media.

Unlike most Instagram users who curate and fabricate their life on this medium, Taeyang’s account (@_youngbae_) is a beautiful collage of his life, shown in all its unfiltered glory — an aspirational one no less, that makes him a relatable figure to any of us; certainly to 7.3 million followers (more than the population of Singapore!) recorded at press time.

One gets to see his humorous, witty side, as he shares his daily anecdotes. In January, he shared an embarrassing episode as a victim of Europe’s infamous friendship bracelet scam in Milan, where he was invited to attend Fendi’s menswear show. He documented them in five Instagram posts, ending it with the picture of an unravelled bracelet a with caption that reads, “It was too weak… Our friendship is over… Maybe I need another 5 euros to get back my friend.. #sad”. Later, he also posted a series of self-declared “art” photography of his manager, asleep on a flight, against a setting sun seen through the window and captioned thus, “This piece is a masterpiece from this series. I’d like to thank the man who passed out and made this art possible and I’d also like to thank the sunset.”

His strong, determined character paired with a fun, #yolo attitude makes it easy to see how these traits have helped him get to where he is today, earning him respect from his peers and more.

He oozes confidence at almost every turn, and when I asked if he had thought he’ll be such an influential figure to this generation. He gave an enthusiastic “Yes!”. And when asked what scares him in our ‘Illustrated Interview’ series, he drew an ‘X’ and added the words, “Nothing”. That being said, he revealed that he never fails to say a prayer before going on stage; to clear his mind of any bad thoughts or feelings.

We take a closer look at what else makes him tick.

We are at an age where we are defined by who we are, what we do. How do you feel about where you are now?

I am at a place that I used to dream about and [have been working] towards since I was younger. I’m not exactly sure when I got to this point, but I feel very fortunate to be here though this requires a lot of responsibility and sacrifice.

How do you define yourself?

I define myself as Youngbae.

Realistically speaking, what kind of influence do you feel you have, being where you are right now?

I think I do have a lot of influence over the young people who follow me [on social media]. They learn from the way I talk, the way I act, the way I think and the way I am. And through my music, interviews or performance, I always want to relay a positive message.

 

How do you define success? What does being in the limelight meant to you?

Success is about knowing your role in this world and realising the purpose of your existence. Being in the limelight is great but it can be a challenge too.

 

Please share more about the challenges that you face.

Every new album is a new challenge. To me, a new album is about how myself, as an artist connects to and sympathise with the public. I think this creative process is always the most difficult but at the same time the most fun.

 

How do you overcome the challenges in a project?

There’s really only one way to get through this process and that is to approach each project as if it was my first time making music, when everything is new, fresh and exciting.

 

Were there moments when you felt like giving up?

There were probably a few times, but I don’t remember them now so I don’t think there was any time [that] crossed my mind seriously [about giving up].

 

Did you ever think you will be such an influential figure to those in your generation?

Yes, I did. I always have the passion for music and since I decided to become a singer when I was 12, I always imagined performing in front of thousands, even millions of people.

 

Who are the artists whom you look up to?

I look up to Michael Jackson, Prince and Freddie Mercury.

 

What is the difference between Taeyang (the one in the limelight) and Youngbae (the person away from the camera)?

It depends on whether I’m wearing makeup or not, or when I am holding a mic.

 

What do you do in your free time?

When I get some free time, most of the time I’m just home.

 

In what way is Youngbae just like anyone of his age in his generation? What kind of ‘real’ people’s problems do you have?

I think there are a lot of similarities. Before I was Taeyang, I was still someone’s son, someone’s brother, and someone’s friend and as I live through those relationships, I notice all the things that I lack. I think like everybody else, I get older too, and I haven’t seen a lot of people who age well. So I want to make sure to age gracefully.

 

Source: T Singapore

[Videos | Photos] Various Press Coverage of Taeyang’s Japan concerts


Taeyang mentions about his enlistment

Taeyang has told his plans to serve his time to the country by next year in a concert in Japan. By next year he would be 30 in Korean age and the number 30 is sort of a marginal line.

He said that he is currently working on a new album, the last one before military service. This year, he’d be focusing on his 2nd world tour, which started from this 9th of July. It is known to be his long dream to perform in a stadium since he became a singer. He said, “When I was young, I dreamed of performing in a stadium, and the dream came true thanks to you. I’m currently working on my new solo album. Even though there will be a long hiatus from next year, I wanted to sing a new song for you.”

Source: OllehelloKpopbehind


 

Chunichi: (online version)

Nikkan Sports: (online version)


Press photos

Credits as tagged, Nao_Nani, hitomisunri, akeake11 via BBU