[OSEN=??? ??] A warning is issued in the beginning of every month in the music scene, from May 1 this year. That is so-called “BIGBANG warning”. Nine-year-old idol group BIGBANG who has come back after three years of break. Nobody seems to be able to beat these five brothers who are resolved to project YG by releasing two songs every month. Girl groups stood against BIGBANG with their beauty and sex appeal, but failed, too. Eventually, “sad” BIGBANG presented in this hot summer season achieved a big success as well. Nobody can deny that BIGBANG is conquering the world.

BIGBANG in July is setting records too, following their big success in May and June. Ballad song “IF YOU” and summer song “SOBER” are sweeping the No.1 and No.2 places on major music charts on July 1 and 2. It is not just a one-off event. It has been like this from exactly two months and two days ago. BIGBANG is triggering a “BIGBANG vs. BIGBANG” competition every month they come back. That is why BIGBANG fans are saying “The only rival of BIGBANG is BIGBANG themselves”.

What is making the music scene angrier is that BIGBANG songs are staying in charts longer than expected. In fact, “LOSER” and “BAE BAE” released in May, as well as “BANG BANG BANG” and “WE LIKE 2 PARTY” released in June are still in top 10 on charts. With “IF YOU” and “SOBER” in the No.1 and No.2, all six songs of BIGBANG are ranked in top 10 on real-time charts frequently.

“IF YOU” is the saddest ever song in the history of BIGBANG. G-DRAGON took part in composing and writing the lyrics of the song. PK who composed BIGBANG’ “MONSTER” and Dee.P who composed TAEYANG’s solo “EYES, NOSE, LIPS” together with TEDDY also worked on the composition and arrangement of the song. Sad BIGBANG in midsummer is giving a special entertainment to fans and the public.

“SOBER”, another title track of July’s BIGBANG, is an exciting summer song. It is the first time for BIGBANG to release a new song in the summer season, in seven years since August, 2008, when their mini-3rd album with “HARU HARU” was released. “SOBER” is captivating music fans with a new and fresh mood that is completely different from “IF YOU”. TEDDY, G-DRAGON, and T.O.P wrote the lyrics, while TEDDY, G-DRAGON, and CHOICE37 composed the melody of the song. 

The new songs are creating sensation overseas, too. As of July 2 at 8am, “IF YOU” is in the No.1 on the iTunes single chart of nine countries: Brunei, Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Indonesia, while “SOBER” is in the second place on the same chart of Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Notably, “IF YOU” is drawing all the more attention as it is in the 22nd place on the same chart of the United States, the birthplace of pop music. 

The music video of “SOBER” unveiled with the song is also creating sensation. As of July 2 at 8am, it is recording 3,851,205 views on YouTube, soon to surpass four million within 32 hour from its release. The music video of “SOBER” is getting passionate responses from fans, by expressing the five members’ characters and free movements in a variety of colors.

BIGBANG who is releasing a single album with more than one song on the 1 of every month until August and finally complete “MADE” album on September 1, is seeing global fans in their world tour as well. A concert will be held in Thailand on the 11 and 12, and then BIGBANG will continue with their world tour to meet 1.4 million fans around the world in 70 concerts in 15 countries including the United States and Canada.

2015. 7. 2.
Source: http://www.yg-life.com/archives/53002?lang=en

[?????=??? ??] On April 26, I met YG’s head producer YANG HYUN SUK in an after-party of BIGBANG’s world tour concert. We naturally talked about BIGBANG who were to come back in May. It was immediately after YG’s announcement about the plan for BIGBANG’s comeback project “MADE SERIES” to release new songs on the 1 of every month from May to August, and then finally a full-length album in September.

YANG explained about why he decided to carry out “MADE SERIES”, “After the completion of BIGBANG’s new album, I thought. It is BIGBANG so the title track of their new album will stay in the No.1 place on charts for some weeks. However, in that case, only title tracks can stand under the spotlight. I thought the rest of the songs were too good to be just forgotten. So, we had meetings. BIGBANG will release two songs every month and they will shoot music video for at least one of the two, so the members and fans both will like it”.

Then, YANG set an ambitious goal, saying, “If I had a wish, I want BIGBANG take the No.1 on monthly chart for five consecutive months from May to September. Then, he went on to set the goal for the year 2015, “I know it’s just a formality, but I want BIGBANG to receive all of the album’s, song’s, and singer’s awards in the end-of-year music awards. I will do my best for promotion, to lead every song of the team to success. BIGBANG is coming back after three years of break, and nobody can deny the fact that they are the foundation of YG. It will not be easy, but I’ll do my best”.

Then, as of July 2 in the morning, total six songs including “M”’s “LOSER” and “BAE BAE”, “A”’s “BANG BANG BANG” and “WE LIKE 2 PARTY”, and “D”’s “IF YOU” and “SOBER” have been unveiled. Those songs have taken the No.1 on music charts upon their release, creating sensation. Their music videos are also well-made, and the number of views of those videos has surpassed 100 million on YouTube, drawing global popularity.

Can such popularity of BIGBANG continue until September? Can BIGBANG sweep end-of-year music awards as YANG wishes? I carried out an interim evaluation on BIGBANG’s performance so far, based on the record of their music, video (YouTube), and TV performances have set.



 Report card on TV appearances

BIGBANG left a strong impression. They did not appear in TV shows as frequently as other idol groups, but showed an unrivalled presence every time they appeared in TV. Since their first comeback performance in SBS “INKIGAYO” when “M” series was unveiled on May 1, BIGBANG’s flagship sophisticated image drew big attention. In the first week, they appeared only in “INKIGAYO”, not any other TV music shows.

One week after comeback, BIGBANG’s true power was shown in TV shows. Beginning from MBC “Show! Music Center”, they took the No.1 of SBS “INKIGAYO”, Mnet’s “M-Countdown”, and “Music Bank”. In that week, BIGBANG performed on the stage of “M-Countdown”, too. Even though BIGBANG appeared in TV music shows selectively, they earned total 9 No.1 trophies with “M” during May.

In the following month when “A” was released, BIGBANG could not appear in as many TV music shows as they did in May because of schedules for overseas performances, but they earned quite many No.1 trophies. However, there were some controversies in June. Because of a disagreement with “INKIGAYO”, a controversy over “arrogance” was triggered. The staff of “INKIGAYO” took issue with the fact that only some of the BIGBANG members came to receive the trophy and announced that BIGBANG will not be able to appear in the show any longer. In the end, “INKIGAYO” gave the trophy to BIGBANG even though it was belated.

BIGBANG’s performance in entertainment shows was more impressive than their comeback performance. In May, all the members appeared in KBS 2TV’s “Happy Together”, which was their first appearance in TV entertainment show in nine years. They made viewers laugh from the beginning to the end, unveiling a lot of stories they experienced so far. The staff of the show also gave BIGBANG a special treatment, giving 100 minutes for the special edition with BIGBANG.

In SBS “Running Man” in June, BIGBANG became easy and free to their heart’s content. They competed so passionately for every game, unveiling their fun and friendly personalities. The day’s episode of “Running Man” recorded the highest viewership rating in three months. Plus, BIGBANG boasted their talent in “Yoo Hee-yeol’s Sketchbook”, showing veteran fan service and stage manners by going back and forth between the stage and the audience seat.

Producer Kim Gwang-soo of “Happy Together” laughed and said, “The atmosphere was so good in the shooting, and the members naturally led the show with their conversations. The chemistry between themselves was much more matured and they had a lot to show, with their episodes accumulated so far. It took so long for editing, because there were a lot of fun stories and entertainments. Actually, some parts were more sensational but they were cut out in the process of editing”.

2015. 7. 2.
Source: http://www.yg-life.com/archives/53011?lang=en

[?????=??? ??] On April 26, I met YG’s head producer YANG HYUN SUK in an after-party of BIGBANG’s world tour concert. We naturally talked about BIGBANG who were to come back in May. It was immediately after YG’s announcement about the plan for BIGBANG’s comeback project “MADE SERIES” to release new songs on the 1 of every month from May to August, and then finally a full-length album in September.

YANG explained about why he decided to carry out “MADE SERIES”, “After the completion of BIGBANG’s new album, I thought. It is BIGBANG so the title track of their new album will stay in the No.1 place on charts for some weeks. However, in that case, only title tracks can stand under the spotlight. I thought the rest of the songs were too good to be just forgotten. So, we had meetings. BIGBANG will release two songs every month and they will shoot music video for at least one of the two, so the members and fans both will like it”.

Then, YANG set an ambitious goal, saying, “If I had a wish, I want BIGBANG take the No.1 on monthly chart for five consecutive months from May to September. Then, he went on to set the goal for the year 2015, “I know it’s just a formality, but I want BIGBANG to receive all of the album’s, song’s, and singer’s awards in the end-of-year music awards. I will do my best for promotion, to lead every song of the team to success. BIGBANG is coming back after three years of break, and nobody can deny the fact that they are the foundation of YG. It will not be easy, but I’ll do my best”.

Then, as of July 2 in the morning, total six songs including “M”’s “LOSER” and “BAE BAE”, “A”’s “BANG BANG BANG” and “WE LIKE 2 PARTY”, and “D”’s “IF YOU” and “SOBER” have been unveiled. Those songs have taken the No.1 on music charts upon their release, creating sensation. Their music videos are also well-made, and the number of views of those videos has surpassed 100 million on YouTube, drawing global popularity.

Can such popularity of BIGBANG continue until September? Can BIGBANG sweep end-of-year music awards as YANG wishes? I carried out an interim evaluation on BIGBANG’s performance so far, based on the record of their music, video (YouTube), and TV performances have set.



 Report card on music video+YouTube

110 million. That is the sum of views of BIGBANG’s music videos released so far since May. “LOSER” has the biggest number at 39 million, and “SOBER” surpassed 2 million views within 15 hours from its release. Compared to usual number of views for domestically-popular Korean idol groups who record 5 million or for globally-popular Korean idol singers who record 10 million, the number of views of BIGBANG music videos is proving the team’s global popularity.

The number has not yet approached the biggest number of hits recorded by BIGBANG’s mega-hit “FANTASTIC BABY” (150 million), but people expect that 100 million will be surpassed soon as BIGBANG’s popularity is spreading throughout the world.

Such popularity of BIGBANG’s music videos comes from, of course, their outstanding quality. YANG said that about 2 billion won was spent only for production of a teaser image for BIGBANG’s world tour. That shows how YG cares about the quality of video contents.

For BIGBANG’s “MADE SERIES” as well, enormous investment is put in every song, to maximize the quality. The video of “LOSER” was all shot in the United States. It drew a big popularity, by showing each member’s acting of inner pain just as the lyrics of the song say. Notably, the video of May’s second title “BAE BAE” stands out with colorful and sophisticated images. A bold and somewhat sensational fantasy was expressed in BIGBANG’s trendiness.

Critic Kim Yoon-ha said, “What made ‘BAE BAE’ funnier was its music video. The motto of every idol group is to play on the stage, but that is now easy. It is never easy to naturally play on the stage with all your heart. However, BIGBANG was just like that for ‘BAE BAE’, from the song itself to their performance of the song on the stage. They were not interested in looking good, and did not care about being silly. I liked them really enjoying and playing on the stage. Then, their comic and witty expression of BIGBANG’s flagship ‘sex appeal’ also made a good harmony with the music itself.”

The video of “BANG BANG BANG” was directed by Seo Hyun-seung, who had directed the video of “FANTSTCI BABY”, too. Fancy lighting, intense images, and dynamic but free performances are eye-catching. BIGBANG members show free and easy characters in the video of “WE LIKE 2 PARTY”, and they go unsober in the video of “SOBER”. In a making video, G-DRAGON talked about the concept of the music video, “It gives a dreamy feel. We’re not sober now”.

As G-DRAGON explains, BIGBANG members express an unsober state of mind by circling repeatedly on a rotating stage, in the music video of “SOBER”. G-DRAGON and blond girl’s kiss, as well as DAESUNG’s crazy drum performance are also eye-catching.

2015. 7. 2.
Source: http://www.yg-life.com/archives/53005?lang=en