BIGBANG: K-pop princes of gender-fuckery and family dysfunction

because forapper asked me to, and because we're obsessed with these guys right now and we think everyone should be too.

Best boyband in the world at the moment, and label-mates with ilxor faves 2NE1 and PSY. Their leader, G-Dragon, just had an excellent, lengthy interview with XXL recently, which serves as a good introduction to them as any: http://www.xxlmag.com/features/2012/12/korean-rapper-g-dragon-talks-k-pop-hype-new-ep-and-past-scandals/

Oh and don't worry about the thread title for now, it's just a reference to complicated fangirl history XD.

For your EOY2012 consideration, however:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAbokV76tkU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qnV55LUFVM
(^^ thanks for nominating this already, abcfsk.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ULhmadHkg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJnICByeL8Q

'crayon' is such a monster.

The GD & TOP album was pretty great in parts as well.

Yes, it was. Some ilxors may have already seen it on the gay rapper thread, but here's "Knock Out" again, from last year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5s2XFZxf6w

Yeah that G-Dragon album? e.p? that opens with 'one of a kind' is terrific. 'Crayon' is top ten of the year for me definitely.

my gf has big bang socks

she also plays 'bad boy' a lot

still kind of sad i've never made it to one of the kpop nights in london yet (i am afraid of being an uncool koreaboo obv).

i like how being a pop artist has freed G-dragon to basically pastiche everyone he likes - much less of the burden of authenticity, so it's okay for him to adopt a ridiculous southern drawl for like one line, or do a li'l wayne impression for half a video.

When I saw 2NE1 in Newark earlier this year, they were advertising a BIGBANG show and I briefly considered going, but didn't. Then I saw the video for "Fantastic Baby" and totally regretted my decision.

Yeah that G-Dragon album? e.p? that opens with 'one of a kind' is terrific.

EP, though it might be more accurate to call it a mini-album. It's really good - apart from "CrayOn" and "One of A Kind", I also love "Light It Up" with rappers Tablo and Dok2, and "That XX", a love triangle acoustic ballad with an amazingly gorgeous video.

i like how being a pop artist has freed G-dragon to basically pastiche everyone he likes - much less of the burden of authenticity, so it's okay for him to adopt a ridiculous southern drawl for like one line, or do a li'l wayne impression for half a video.

Oh GD's definitely an excellent pop chameleon - in fact, his ability to adapt various genres to fit BigBang's sound and aesthetic (and the different members' strengths and interests) is a huge part of the appeal. I mean, it's one thing to be Madonna, it's quite another to turn yourself and all your friends into Madonnas. But that's kind of exactly what he's done.

Their first big hit, "Lies":
http://youtu.be/NeDeZUqNiVo

And while we're at it, what might be my favourite BIGBANG track, "Heaven" is basically everything I ever wanted in a pop song: Piano house + R&B vocals + gorgeous swooping strings + cute boys. :D My only regret is that no one told me that there were pop stars who were making songs like these four years ago.

They only shot a video for the Japanese version but I much prefer the Korean version.

haven't herad the g-dragon EP but alive is a top release of 2012 for me for sure

Dutifully reporting to thread XD. Here's the NYTimes review of their show at the Prudential Center in Newark (I was there):

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/arts/music/bigbang-performs-at-the-prudential-center.html?_r=1&

I'm not sure if I do think everyone else should be obsessed with this group. Their latest (more than a little bit nihilist) songs are one thing, but if you do decide to take the plunge and go through their whole catalog it quickly becomes a crazy mess. Here's what I wrote about it a while ago:

"I have just gotten to the stage where I like the voices enough to try to figure out what’s unformulaic about their formulaic pop songs. Even the normal-sounding ones (Tell Me Goodbye, Somebody to Love) are actually, under the surface, deeply weird - but of course you have to care about the voices/music first before you can be bothered to care about this. And actually, considering they don’t make this music anymore, I’m not sure I do care enough to keep digging... Remember is a really good song though.

Personally, I always assumed their ~dramatic~ love songs were about different people (but the same relationship style). However, if some/all of them are about the same people whom you have to see every day - and then you add in depression, mania, co-dependence, teen angst, headgames, love triangles, and (most of all) the need to keep all of this a secret - and then being rewarded for it with increased attention and record sales - the extreme drama of the songs is in many ways more justified. Although, also, more messed up. ^^ YG, you should have let these guys out more when they were just starting out, so they didn’t have to resort to so much in-group drama just to have something to occupy themselves with off stage! (Or in a kinder interpretation: giving the people what they want at the cost of your own mental health.)"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGSTqAioYdo

In fan-speak, Big Bang are kings, not princes. I believe there have been female "kings" in Korea in the past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP3RSQdXVak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxZ_b6ryzfI

yay you're here. ^^Love that performance, one of their best. Also "Cafe" from the same session: http://youtu.be/xQhW_VnNz-c (terrible sub-titling on this vid though lol)

btw re 2NE1: they were originally put together to be a female version of BigBang. Their unofficial debut was a duet with BB in this amazing video, which also happens to be a cellphone ad: http://youtu.be/zIRW_elc-rY

Ya, that was a good show. I think because M-SOUND PLEX is a real music show (for real music artists), and everyone got to do a solo stage, the group was in a good mood that day.

In front of a very unimpressed audience of ministers of arts and culture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ1p60eK8F8

ft. a young Park Bom of 2NE1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2okiCu-VU8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGffBqA0T_g

Fangirl favorite, also demonstrates that prior to about 2010 Big Bang songs only really need three people (GD, TOP, Taeyang) for effective performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHL3ZTVj3PM

Rock version of Lee Moon Sae song they adapted for 2008 album Remember:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VKLKANyRik

Speaking of advertisements, this is an advertisement for FILA:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OQHTpHjnC4

haha girl, slow down! also maybe we should try to cut down on the youtube embeds before it quickly gets unwieldy - I always have that problem with the rolling threads.

I am going slow! I didn't even bother sharing their other two advertisement songs (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Co3xha-RM";>Lollipop 2</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhWJXIGb8ao";>GMarket Party</a> - which must have been played everywhere because I *still* hear bits of it in other K-rap songs - though I suppose that could just be be me).

That's not even getting into Seungri's tireless efforts to promote Samsung through his own cellphone fancams at their concerts. If you've ever wondered what it might feel like to be on stage with Big Bang, wonder no more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zazs3vpbFDg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RI_edmyNac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWxujFPvKaQ

>_> HTML. Here's the first part again:

I am going slow! I didn't even bother sharing their other two advertisement songs (Lollipop 2 and GMarket Party - which must have been played everywhere because I *still* hear bits of it in other K-rap songs - though I suppose that could just be be me).

I also didn't really those last three fancam links would pop up as embeds, BBcode fail.

lol to make it easier - on the youtube page, click 'share' and just copy the shortcode. ilx doesn't embed them.

:D Thanks for the tip!

I just found this group. Glad to see that they are on the radar. I don't really like the overstated pop grinders but this RnB thing really does if for me. I love this shit

http://youtu.be/2GRP1rkE4O0

Taeyang sounds much like Trey Songz in this song. I really enjoy this one too. Maybe more- it sounds like a Terius Nash tune to a degree.

http://youtu.be/3bRrGsNymUI

Only Look at Me is such a good song.

Taeyang's 2010 RnB album (made it onto the actual Billboard RnB chart, iirc):

Where You At
Wedding Dress
I Need a Girl

And here's an RnB song with the rest of Big Bang, from their 2008 album Remember:

http://youtu.be/1kXzSRevJxE

<3 "Foolish Love". It's all about Taeyang/Daesung/Seungri, for one. also, "I Don't Understand": http://youtu.be/LzHGULf-wiM

Next up, BigBang rock songs?

Kinda hated "Love Song" at first cause it's BigBang doing Coldplay/U2, but really, it's more them beating Coldplay at their own game lol: http://youtu.be/IKZEmLvYVF0

With Korean punk band No Brain: http://youtu.be/iLan2n0Hqrg

"Bingle, Bingle": http://youtu.be/I3DlN0XNxtE

Not particularly fond of this one tbh, even though it's TOP at his most tragic. TOP, "Oh Mom": http://youtu.be/OjJSTATwnkc

G-Dragon, "Obsession/Nightmare": http://youtu.be/1nULVqV87uI

I am against Love Song, but it has an interesting music video. Basically, the second half of the video is flipped so that while the group appears to be travelling forward in a straight line and out of the wreckage, they are in fact walking back the way they came, and as the song ends they are exactly where they started. And then a car drops out of the sky and explodes.

On mobile internet, otherwise I'd link to blog that dissects this video excruciating detail XD. I will say that I liked it when they did it live. There's only one place for this kind of giving myself over to this feeling stadium rock, and that it's in an actual stadium.

Re the No Brain song, this is the clearest evidence yet that Big Bang are, secretly, an emo band. When I watch this video I am reminded that BB's first, premature, tour of the US supporting Se7en happened in 2006, when Fall Out Boy and MYChem ruled the airwaves. I kind of suspect TOP of being a Fall Out Boy fan. Along with Pharell, during GD&TOP promotions the American artist GDragon most resembled style-wise was Pete Wetnz.

Another interesting thing about that video is that you can see them kind of reprising their roles from it in the Fantastic Baby video, I.e. Gdragon is the crazy one, TOP is the one who looks good in a uniform, Daesung and Taeyang are interested in showing off their muscles, and Seungri is the one at the center of a crowd. Except that he's ditched the innocent clown/entertainer image for one where he's being scratched up by catwomen in latex bodysuits, but anyway.

Bingeul Bingeul is great mainly because Daesung has a totally credible K-Rock voice. Also GDragon and TOP slewing accusations back and forth like child, and the electro-rock build. I really like this track.

Obsession/Nightmare is a mess, but once again has an interesting video. The chorus sounds a bit like it was inspired by Epik High's "Fan" (which is a better song).

I love Oh Mom, actually. The instrumental feels a bit empty, but it's an emotionally affecting song. One of those sad songs that can make you feel sad, too, when you listen to it. Definitely TOP at his most tragic, yeah.

Please forgive typos, I'm on mobile internet at the moment.

Another interesting thing about that video is that you can see them kind of reprising their roles from it in the Fantastic Baby video, I.e. Gdragon is the crazy one, TOP is the one who looks good in a uniform, Daesung and Taeyang are interested in showing off their muscles, and Seungri is the one at the center of a crowd. Except that he's ditched the innocent clown/entertainer image for one where he's being scratched up by catwomen in latex bodysuits, but anyway.

i feel that yg is really conflicted in how to present daesung. i see him playing two roles even on alive: the cheesy balladeer who sings "wings" and the musclebound bad boy from "fantastic baby" and "monster."

i have really enjoyed all the GD stuff from this year, but TOP is probably my fav member of bigbang. i like his voice and icy demeanor. it's a pity! i think he might be dealing with depression again, or something like that, cuz his role has really shrunk it seems. not a big fan of taeyang and it seems like he has assumed TOP's role as GD's sidekick.

feels funky gossiping about the idols like that but i suppose that's what kpop fandom is all about.

monster is my favorite m/v of the year.

correct on all counts, esp the part about the gossiping (but there's always so much going on! :/). but yeah, don't think TOP is dealing with the world tour and constant travelling very well. I think they're all exhausted tbh - Taeyang just had a nosebleed onstage in London.

Monster m/v is a thing of wonder - the hair! the outfits! I just wish I liked the song more.

Roz, weren't you calling Daesung a tragicomic? I think both sides, the cheesy entertainer and the bad boy, exist. But also that he gets slotted into that role (bad boy) on BigBang stuff because he has the voice/looks to carry it off, plus a policy of "just singing the lines no matter what they are." It's Daesung's solo stuff that's more balladeer... perhaps that's his preference. I like Rock God Daesung, myself. Trot God Daesung is good too. In the alternate universe where Daesung is the main star of BigBang... (they would be entertainers who kept their innermost feelings to themselves, not artists who alchemized them into music).

Daesung is my favorite as a person, but TOP is my favorite as an artist. Agreed that Taeyang is back in his original role as GD's sidekick. I think he was booted out in favor of TOP around the time they debuted, which is why it's TOP and not Taeyang on their first two singles ft. Park Bom. I think Daesung was briefly a favorite, too, around the time they hit big with Lies, but that all it amounted to was more karaoke on radio shows. TOP is a better artistic foil than Daesung because he's a fellow artist and rapper. He also keeps his own perspective, unlike Taeyang who is more of a follower.

Actually I think Seungri was in the sidekick role for a while after they moved to Japan, which is why their 2009 Japanese album sounds like oversexed NSync (erm...) Then TOP again for GD&TOP, and then briefly Daesung when they both were pariahs, and also Seungri because he cried when GD became a pariah etc, and now Taeyang again finally. I kind of see Alive, Still Alive as GD&TOP breakup records actually ^^ As well as records renouncing deep, emotionally charged, dysfunctional relationships in favor of a kind of unthinking nihilism.

Monster is like Haru Haru Pt. 2. I like that the beat has more piano than Haru Haru. It was great the couple times they did it live, real musical theater stuff. I think the look of the MV might have been inspired by Tarsem Singh's 2006 movie The Fall. TOP's look is also a Chanel look for 2013 (and he's been wearing a lot of Chanel lately).

Artistically, though, I think GD's main squeeze at the moment is actually Tablo (of Epik High). He's stepping up his game as a rapper and wearing more baseball caps and graphic tees. The way he mugs for the camera in CraYon is classic Tablo. GD is all over Epik High's album <i>99</i> as well.

bad boy might be my favorite song of the year

Bad Boy acapella: sounds like church music.

Roz, weren't you calling Daesung a tragicomic?

yep. He's got that whole sad clown thing going, you know? outside of Bigbang, he's a throwback to the classic Korean entertainer before the idol machinery was created. (There's that joke that BigBang have managed to conquer all demographics, including senior citizens, because of Daesung and his love of trot and musical theatre.) And it's taking really long for him to release a full solo album because I think YG's trying hard to reconcile those two extremes.

And really, it's a crime that he doesn't have one yet, because zomg his voice. When I saw them live, I was just awestruck by how much control he had over it - powerful but never overpowering.

TOP and Dae are my ws/wkiw respectively, but G-Dragon's definitely the one I'm most fascinated by. mainly because he seems the most messed up. Also I want to raid his wardrobe (he looks about my size).

re Monster: GD's said before that it was a conscious attempt on his part to recreate the mood of Haru Haru and Lies. I dunno, it doesn't have the same dramatic effect for me as either of those - the piano is pretty, but it just feels a little overstuffed.

yeah I definitely find g-dragon the most interesting

have been tempted at several points this year to get my hair dyed platinum blonde though like TOP

Only if you wear it with your princess tiara. XD

Okay that Bad Boy acapella is really tripping me out! I never noticed those harmonies in the final choruses before.

It's really something, isn't it? This is another trippy one: http://youtu.be/bjLPR4LQE5k

GDragon reminds me of my ex.

That was maybe a bit dramatic. My ex has a number of mannerisms that are similar GDragon's, probably because she's a fan. She was also the ego-prop of a narcissistic parent, like GD was (still is?).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/dec/16/big-bang-review

It's so lazy and condescending that find myself tempted to be one of those righteously aggrieved fans who write long forum screeds about how the reviewer is wrong wrong wrong wrong because the group is so so so so much more. Sheesh.

oh boy...

actually, hearing that Taeyang performed a CB song did piss me off. seungri though... smh

as for the review, well, it seems as if VIPs have already taken care of that in the comment box.

There's a kind of condescension, or at least ethnocentrism, to that Guardian review: their stage is "world class" because Laurienne Gibson is involved, one wonders whether Seungri even knows what he's saying about Chris Brown and Rihanna, the most notable thing about them is that they are indistinguishable from other teenybopper pop acts (not foreign at all!), etc.

The comparison to a Bieber or a One Direction concert is fair, and appears to have been meant as a compliment. It is misleading, though. The core difference between those acts and BigBang isn't polish, spectacle, passion, or style of music - that's the difference between One Direction and most K-idol acts. What sets BigBang apart is that while they technically occupy the "safe boyfriend" space discussed in e.g. this WSJ article, they are, in fact, not safe at all.

I forgive Taeyang covering Chris Brown because it's a good and appropriate song. Also because he and Seungri appear to have switched places on GDragon's naughty/nice list and I just feel bad for the dude. Seungri's joke, on the other hand, was in poor taste - but then that's Seungri all over.

http://vimeo.com/57595669#

Have been expecting this moment (when GD finally declares himself G-O-D) forever. Thought he'd done it at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, but that turned out to be a mishearing(?) of TOP declaring himself T-O-P. But here it is finally.

this is one of those moments where I just find him too embarrassing to look at. the edginesssss... it hurts. thank you based GD.

lol

http://25.media.tumblr.com/ede8292c06dc725df7ca3444ab2a190b/tumblr_mh3qyvcTxe1qzjb8ko1_1280.png

man why aren't these songs in my life right now?

Damn.

:O

Yeah, and what ever happened to the tracks Ludacris and Travie McCoy were supposed to have collaborated on???

Not to mention Skrillex/TOP (just kidding).

Maybe the Missy Elliot track, the Ludacris track, and the Travie track will be on GDragon's solo CD (take 2), due out later this year. I mean, we can only hope.

i'm kind of worried that the reason the track's been held back is that maybe it's... not very good?

that's one possibility.

actually, I think it might be Teddy. There's been rumours that he's suffering from an extended creative block or something - he's also apparently the reason 2NE1 hasn't had anything new released in over a year, apart from "I Love You". :/ as good as GD is with melodies and lyrics, he can't handle the actual production side on his own.

LEDApple 'Love Song' (cover). It's honestly... way better than the original, ha ha. Well, they are a rock band.

And their Mr. Taxi is great and hilarious as well.

Harlem Shake - GDragon Edition

And Big Bang make cameos - as Teddy bears! - in labelmate Lee Hi's It's Over.

A friend says that because the song is about dumping a bad boy, they are there to represent all Bad Boys everywhere. Let's go with that interpretation (please).

Seo Hyun Seung, YG's in-house video director, is seriously my favourite person ever.

actually, considering the attention given to K-pop videos, I'm surprised there doesn't seem to be a lot of talk about directors in general - really think some of them deserve to have a Directors' Collection series like the ones they used to compile for guys like Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze.

I'd buy Hwang SooAh's. Doesn't she direct like 90% of Loen's music videos? Including all those famous ones by Brown Eyed Girls.

Oh yeah, she's great. She directed Ga-In's "Bloom" as well, one of my favourite videos ever, because of how matter-of-fact it is about sex/masturbation/female sexuality.

Don't know for sure if Seo directed that Lee Hi MV but I wouldn't be surprised if he did - it's kind of messed up! Typical of YG videos generally of course but still, pretty sinister for something that's supposed to be really cute and fluffy.

I mean, if the blue bears are really supposed to represent bad boys/the boys of BigBang, and the other pink animals are supposed to represent women/Hi, you've got:

- the narcissistic bear reading about himself in Complex magazine (which helpfully says Bad Boy on the cover)
- the puppeteer bear
- the bear who's carrying Hi, drops her then goes ¯\(º_o)/¯ "What?"
- the bear riding and spanking a pink rocking horse (holy shit.) (also, this is definitely Seungri right? Haha.)
- the playboy/two-timing bear - in one scene, he's surrounded by a gazillion pink animals, in another he's cuddling a pink bunny and a pink bear at the same time
- the violent bear who knocks over and kicks her shopping cart
- the addict bear with candy all over his mouth
- and of course, the obvious G-Dragon and Taeyang bears

http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/10769135.html?thread=1071842543#t1071842543

Where I steal from Roz and go into exhaustive psychoanalytic detail on the BigBang bears.

For the record, I find the Taeyang bear to be the most hilarious one.

my favorite is jelly bear

kinda feel sorry for Lee Hi that that video tells you so much more about BigBang than about her, esp since she already tends to come across as a bit of a blank, personality-wise.

Yeah, and she is being aged backwards, too: from cute teen who wants to be adult and sexy, to cute teen in baby-doll clothes.

She's the baby of the company, and she is cute, but at the same time it's gonna be hard to grow up with that image. Although if she keeps hanging out with those crazy people at YG, "old beyond her years" will soon become a reality - matching her voice.

xp GDradgon goes trap:

https://soundcloud.com/reefanee/g-dragon-michigo-go

as pointed out on Omona... "MichiGO" seems like it was ahem, "inspired" by:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRQifBeJtKo

He loves @badgalriri, that's his fuckin' problem

Ha!

crossposting from k-pop 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrwnL62HObI

not sure what to make of the A$$ referencing

I see a Harlem Shake reference, a split between "nerd GD" and "maniac GD", and a looooot of kink either way.

And now I wonder whether he or was Zion.T's Babay.

Commenters on omona point out that there's a red shoes-ish storyline to the MV, along with lots of imagery suggesting that dude has a huge dick.

you mean his big shoes? lol

big feet

Big feet + that giant pink bouncy thing from the beginning of the MV, yeah.

not sure what to make of the A$$ referencing

lol GD is pretty much Nicki Minaj? Increasingly outlandish hair and outfits, multiple personalities, healthy dose of gender-play, ability to appeal to multiple fanbases at once...

<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/fe15c5523b4be0bc66ce37584f27e76b/tumblr_mq0qye6cqe1qzjb8ko1_500.jpg";>

Relevant to thread title :)

Whoops, html.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/fe15c5523b4be0bc66ce37584f27e76b/tumblr_mq0qye6cqe1qzjb8ko1_500.jpg

Nice, very Andrej Pejic of him. All three covers are pretty great.

Not necessarily in this particular shoot, but it's always fascinating to watch him navigate between super-feminine/alpha-male extremes.

GD's PR people working overtime on damage control:

http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/11549876.html

Can't really defend this one, it's pretty bad.

http://oi44.tinypic.com/2hgu175.jpg

It's not even good trolling: at least when Big Bang dressed as Bloods made it onto the world(starhiphop) radar, there was a pretty good song to go along with the viral outrage. This time the backlash against - not even cultural appropriation - but straight-up racist caricature, only spreads an unattractive picture of GD around.

And by unattractive I mean unattractive on the inside, of course.

Yeah he doesn't deserve a pass on this one (or on the other examples either tbh) and it's way past time that he/YGE got called out on it. Like it's impossible for them not to know that this stuff upsets people, given that the language barrier isn't exactly an obstacle for YG artists as it might be for other K-pop companies.

Yup.

Though I am doing some self-reflecting now, 'cause it's been obvious since forever that GDragon enjoys crossing lines and upsetting people. When the lines he crosses are lines I don't agree with, I generally cheer - like gender lines or restrictions on what idols are "allowed" to say on television, and so on.

Obviously, GD should continue to cross the lines I don't agree with, but not cross the lines I do agree with.

When I say I'm self-reflecting I mean that in a joking way, BTW, honestly I haven't been too invested in any of this for a while now. Losing your audience, dude(tte)!

Really excited for Seungri's solo album, especially after hearing that the single wasn't going to be "ft. G-Dragon and Taeyang", but was instead going to be a "90s house beat" club song:

13/8

BB Seungri’s 2nd mini album "LET’S TALK ABOUT LOVE"

I will introduce the first of it’s songs ‘LETS TALK ABOUT LOVE’. It wasn’t very hard deciding on the theme of this album. I wanted to make an album filled with songs about love since the easiest type of songs our fans and the public can relate to, as well and look forward to, are love songs. My age is twenty four. Wouldn’t you say this is the best age one can deeply talk about love? Love… Yes, love. I’m not sure if it was love or not, but I’ve had times I was happy and times I was in pain. It might have been love after all. A love song sung by three handsome guys, Seungri, G-Dragon, Taeyang. The combination of our three names is a little awkward however it does not feel any bit unfamiliar or distant. Because although they are my fellow team members, they are beings with an undoubtedly overflowing sense of existence (people whose existence makes it all the better)…. Because we were all working on our separate solo albums around the same time, there were many instances we would run into each other in the studios. I really wanted to work with my hyungs. Just thinking about it made me think that it would be so enjoyable. With classy beats and simple instruments, that was all I needed. I made my own part and the hyungs made their own separate parts. Jiyong hyung made an awesome rap part, Taeyang hyung finished off the awesome melody in the bridge of the song. It was so much fun. Though we are in the same team, it felt like I was working with different artists. It felt as if I drew a drawing and the hyungs colored it in. I’m feeling so confident with this song myself because it’s a song made by working with these awesome people. I think this will be a song that will uplift and heighten the anticipation of even the hyungs’ solo albums coming out in the near future. PS: Jiyong hyung, Youngbae hyung, I love you guys, really.

14/8

I will introduce the title song of this album 'GOTTA TALK TO YOU'. Do you remember my first solo debut? You will probably remember a 20 year old boy in tux sexy dancing with female dancers. Yet it was awkward to see a younger man pretending to be an older man.. Even now when I watch videos from back then, I can still feel the awkwardness. 4 years since, a long time has passed. Many things has happened to me. Things I cannot fully explain in words.. Now as a man I want to build a character that can attract female fans. I had to be different because I understood that I can only survive by having different colours than other male solo artists. So I tried to find a voice that I had never had before. From the very first line of 'GOTTA TALK TO YOU', you will experience a new singing style that is different from the styles that I had before. Before I became a member of Big Bang, I was a dancer. Maybe that's the reason why I seek songs that I can dance to, fast or slow. The composers of GTTY, Ham Seongcheon and Kang Wookjin have worked as club DJs. Because they are people who understand what kind of beats and music can excite people, GTTY is a piece that wouldn't be awkward to be played anywhere. Daebak GOTTA TALK TO YOU!

Read more at Omona They Didnt: http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/11616116.html

Teaser for ft. GD and Taeyang song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOLWAh9m9LY

So psyched, it's everything I wanted and expected from Seungri.

Haaaaa omg you're right, that's perfect

Aaaaaand... the album is out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZcxvQujCQ0&list=PLAYhz80dUVjTwLPYym8jAvLg2q03VR0pG

A little derivative in places, but overall really solid and... consistent! Dude as a consistent sound and vision for sure.

Also, I wasn't expecting much from the track with GD and YB on it but it's actually pretty great??? GD in no way attempts to steal the spotlight away from Seungri - if anything, YB is the ungracious attention-hogger here. Unexpected.

Maybe it's a case of low expectations being exceeded but really, I'm quite happy and satisfied with this release :D

Full album playlist:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAYhz80dUVjTwLPYym8jAvLg2q03VR0pG

Or https://soundcloud.com/seung-ri/sets/seungri-lets-talk-about-love, rather

GDragon ft SKY FERREIRA! And it sounds pretty good, too:

http://yijong.tumblr.com/post/60042295254

Jennie Kim is gonna sing this on the music shows, I think. But Sky sounds great here.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/1238723_512250275521645_1379211568_n.jpg

This tracklist looks like it could be the best or the worst album ever. Guessing you're excited about the Zion T track? :p

oh and about Seungri's record, I liked the first three songs, though Jennie Kim was pretty unnecessary on "GGBe" (find her unnecessary in general, but YG obvs wants to keep putting her on everything). Could do without the rest, which were just a little too derivative, esp the one that's basically Seungri's version of "What Goes Around..."/"Mirrors".

Don't you mean the first four tracks? Come to My might be the best song on the album. Unless that's the What Goes Around rip off you were talking about? In which case... I guess I kind of just expect Seungri to rip off JT, so it didn't even register, haha.

Apart from that I don't necessarily disagree, really.

These will probably disappear soon, so here's the rest of Part One of GD's album:

http://yijong.tumblr.com/post/60042403781
http://yijong.tumblr.com/post/60041666918
http://yijong.tumblr.com/post/60041872266

That first track with Missy is the worst of the lot, no wonder it was in the vault forever, lol. Missy herself sounds great but when GDragon tries to match her he sounds like a clown.

The rest of the album is decent! Very surprised that Teddy produced some of these, either they've been in development hell a long time or he's back on his game.

Diplo/Bauuer produced intro track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8T6771Sdj8

I'm actually not looking forward to the Boys Noize track because it's called I Love It, and I had very mixed feelings about Feeling. But I am looking forward to Zion.T and GD on the same track, I hope it's a love song like his song with Lydia Paek, that would be amazing.

Your daily dose of portentous symbolism, explained:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/164805066/G-dragon-s-Coup-D-Etat-MV-Symbolisms

Spell-checker auto-corrected that to "pretentious" symbolism and it was so perfect I almost kept it, ha.

"Crooked":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKhsHGfrFmY

Better, still not that great. Dude really shouldn't have gone on the road so soon after BigBang's world tour - feel like so many of these songs could be better if he had had more time in the studio and wasn't under any pressure to release this record quickly.

Wait, the Zion T/Boys Noize song is great! Might be my favourite right now:

https://soundcloud.com/shimei-chan/g-dragon-i-love-it-feat-zion-t

"Shake the World" and "Runaway" are good too - second half of this record definitely way better than the first. Full album here:

https://soundcloud.com/michelle-talunay-dela-cruz/sets/gd-new-songs

I like the first half more, but I think it's the featurings - GDragon doesn't know what to do with his voice when he's the only one on the track. In Shake the World he sounds like Taeyang, in Runaway he sounds like Zion T.

Speaking of Zion T though... that collaboration is the tortured-love-song I was hoping for, and more :D Very happy with this track and the duet with Lydia. We were so right about Zion T's "Babay".

Niliria is growing on me - I like the beat more now than I did before. I like Crooked too, but that might be my ex-Libertines fan self speaking. Was this video directed by Seo Hyun Seung, who put the Pete Doherty reference in Crayon, or by the director of the video for That XX, which also had a couple Pete Doherty references?

(I mean it's just generic British punk imagery, but because of the previous videos, I see a connection.)

The left turn into disco Michael Jackson territory on "I Love It" is unexpected but it works (somewhere in the YG building, Taeyang is silently weeping GD didn't ask him to guest on this track instead).

I like "Niliria" a lot, but mostly because of Missy. I know Seo directed "Coup D'etat", not sure if he directed "Crooked" too, but it doesn't really look like his style. The London punk look suits GD though.

Excellent graphics on this: http://www.complex.com/covers/g-dragon-interview-september-2013/

GD always says sensible things in magazine interviews when he has an album to promote

TOP's solo track is a banger.

https://soundcloud.com/bubblefeetgravitych3/doom-dada

Best part is where he rhymes Korean with Basquiat, obvs.

oh this is niiiice.

The video is out and it's FANTASTIC. lol, he wasn't kidding about the Dada:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAoME_aMm1w&feature=youtu.be

I like Taeyang's Ringa Linga a lot too! Even if he can't perform it live without losing the (forced) vocal tics. TOP's song is better (obv) because he's got a more versatile voice & is going harder & and it's got more than just most superficial trappings of ~high art~. But I like that Taeyang's sounds like a gospel ode to partying: choir boy gone bad.

BTW here's the GD/Hyundeong song with the "hong" rap part I was talking about in the other thread. Okay, now back to TOP.

I heard that the fast rap part at the end is the Korean alphabet.

yeah, and the line after the alphabet is from the national anthem iirc

still jamming this. Can we talk about the video for a sec? This is basically TOP letting all his weirdness and eccentricities shine and it's glorious.

I like how it starts by explicitly referencing "Turn It Up", with his back to the camera, silhouetted against the lights. In a way, this is him casting off the "Turn It Up"/BigBang icy cool playboy rapper persona, and embracing his actual personality, which is all about losing himself in art, films, and high-end furniture and goofing around like a demented baby.

And goddamn it, that face. He's so beautiful.

MIB appreciate Let's Talk About Love as much as I did (unless there's another song both are referencing):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X7k3LauAFQ

There's been much more relevant Big Bang news (as always), but this comes with a pretty dope song attached.

That's a really nice song

MIB always have good songs, even though their lyrics are kind of gross sometimes.

hmm I always thought Seungri was referencing this, he just replaced the word sex with a Korea-friendly alternative:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzfo4txaQJA

NICE. Yes, that's the reference I was looking for, thank you <3

Songs from Taeyang's upcoming album sounding GREAT live:

http://youtu.be/ZmaEKBAkKZ8?t=1m2s
http://youtu.be/ZFwwcc9bJlg?t=1m18s

Watching this it's kinda clear why he wanted to change up his style from Solar, the high-energy tracks are probably more fun to perform.

the hair though remains a tragedy

lol, true

one of his backup dancers had the old Taeyang mohawk. I think he's just taunting the fans at this point

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElxF92Dpz2E

lol these mad fools <3

I like the commenter on omona who pointed out that TOP barely dances Big Bang's songs, but goes all out for these 2NE1 numbers.

Taeyang's solo album out on Monday:

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/waves_of_light/19973005/8820/8820_600.jpg

01. Rise *INTRO*
Composer: Peejay, Taeyang
Lyrics: Tablo, Choice37, Taeyang
Arrangement: Peejay

02. 눈, 코, 입 *TITLE SONG*
(Translation: Eyes, Nose, Lips/Mouth)
Composer: Teddy, Dee.P, Rebecca Johnson
Lyrics: Teddy, Taeyang
Arrangement: Teddy, Dee.P

03. 1AM
Composer: Teddy, Choice37, Boys Noize
Lyrics: Teddy
Arrangement: Teddy, Choice37, Boys Noize

04. Stay with Me (Feat. G-Dragon)
Composer: G-Dragon, The Fliptones, JHart
Lyrics: G-Dragon
Arrangement: The Fliptones

05. Body
(Korean Title: 아름다워/Beautiful)
Composer: Teddy, Taeyang, PK, Dee.P
Lyrics: Teddy, Taeyang
Arrangement: Teddy, PK, Dee.P

06. Ringa Linga
Composer: G-Dragon, Shockbit
Lyrics: G-Dragon, Tokki
Arrangement: Shockbit

07. 이게아닌데
(Translation: This Isn't It/Not What I Meant)
Composer: Airplay, Jo Sung Hwak
Lyrics: Airplay, Jo Sung Hwak
Arrangement: Airplay

08. 버리고
(Translation: Throw Away/Abandon)
Composer: Taeyang, PK, Dee.P
Lyrics: Tablo
Arrangement: PK, Dee.P

09. Love You To Death
Composer: Happy Perez, Britt Burton, Taeyang
Lyrics: Tablo, Britt Burton
Arrangement: Happy Perez

Apparently the single is "a slow RnB song" that was added "at the last minute" and is the only track Taeyang will promote on music shows, though "Body" is getting a video from our favorite guy Seo Hyun Seung.

Or in other words holding the album hostage until Taeyang agreed to record and promote an RnB song seems to have worked out for YG.

Seungri endorses this album:

http://photos-c.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-frc/10401769_228202727390418_1378828382_n.jpg

http://instagram.com/p/oia9nNPNfM/

More Tablo, less GD is good for me.

The title of that last song is so dramatic though, haha.

Yeah, I'm looking to the combo of Tablo-style introspective lyrics and Taeyang-style sensitive vocals, ala No Tomorrow.

And the title of the last one is reminding me of Taeyang's vow to follow his girl to the grave in I'll Be There.

looking FORWARD... sheesh

Channeling D'angelo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwuAPyOImoI

He sounds amazing. <3

Haven't even listened to the whole thing yet but the album kicks off with an "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" sample um yessss

I cannot wait for that 'Body' MV because this song is a jam and right on time for the Michael Jackson revival:

https://soundcloud.com/givemesomesugar/taeyang-body-2-rise

FANTASTIC record, by the way. Love that the long delay is going to end up paying off for him after all, because sonically, this album is smack in the middle of current pop trends. Full album:

https://soundcloud.com/givemesomesugar/sets/taeyang-2-rise

It's a little too back-to-basics for me, but it's very Taeyang... the first five tracks are great, the last three are getting a little too close to hymnals for me to really embrace them as pop songs.

He really sounds like CL on "Eyes Nose Lips", huh.

I really love "1am" a lot, that's the other one he was doing at showcases last year... wasn't Ringa Linga supposed to be on this too?

I take it back, Taeyang is the best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kWBgBx_x5w

My favorite song got an MV: http://youtu.be/flVkp4S8CMc

Which was apparently filmed around the same time as Ringa Linga's, then shelved for mysterious reasons known only to Mr YG.

Also here's Big Bang #1 fanboy, Sungha Jung, doing a cover of Eyes Nose Lips http://youtu.be/1ivB0CEW_9o

And an official cover from AKMU; http://youtu.be/DTl4Ib4qbzg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg5nodeum-g

This might be closer to the gloomy record Taeyang originally wanted to make, actually

http://alwaystaeyang.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/interview-gq-korea-july-2014-taeyang-to-me/

Six years later...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlG0fz4WvoQ

And the new single!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk4-bBVLYyk

TOP's Pitbull-esque Cass beer commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqe27eq9lwg#t=51

It's funny 'cause we all know dude never leaves his house

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/aki_san/3432044/39219/39219_original.jpg

IT BEGINS

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/aki_san/3432044/38604/38604_original.jpg

family dysfunction?

Ask Roz!

I think that's a "YG family" reference though.

the group is more business-like than it used to be

lol errrr yeeah... it's partly a YG fam ref and partly a reference to weird dynamics within the group, particularly in the early days.

family dysfunction: now available in LINE emojis (I still like how everyone figured out the blue bears from Lee Hi's video were Big Bang without them explicitly saying so)

Wait I thought Kakaotalk was the big app in SK?

the dynamics in BB are def pretty odd still, now that you mention it.

co-dependence errwhere... and they're all from messed-up families to be begin with if you read their book

First promo pic of the new album!

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/waves_of_light/19973005/35077/35077_600.jpg

they have a book? in english?

In Korean, there's translated bits floating around here and there.

https://kumjae137.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/big_bang_-_shout_out_to_the_world.pdf

thanks!

new japan dome tour live album 'X' has some excellent rearrangements on it. this "blue" is like something off the final fantasy tactics OST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Utks47jeXU

yeah that's great. mildly amused by this version of "Haru Haru" which uses Ginuwine's "Differences" as a backing track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbj1vdB1-5M

also i thought i already posted their album/tour trailer but apparently not. Tarantino-themed... it's nice to see they're still biting Brown Eyed Girls after all these years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwV2I5tH4no

is it literally just using a ginuwine instrumental? makes me wonder if the new "blue" backing is just grifted, too

Videos are out!

BigBang cry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CTced9CMMk

BigBang get high
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKD03uPVD-Q&feature=youtu.be

Considering TOP's the 'actor' in the group his acting is shockingly bad in Loser, haha.

The song and video do briefly gel around 2:50 when GD drops the cross then himself, I think.

Bae Bae is pretty bold!

Very true to character too

I wish they'd stuck with that @2:50 sound and not regressed back to Taeyang singing over piano just cause the public liked it in Eyes Nose Lips :( But if it placates the generic public so they don't come howling about the drug references in Bae Bae then OK

Loser lyrics, translated by someone who can write: http://popgasa.com/2015/04/30/big-bang-loser/

Loser sounds like a return to the 2nd EP, I'm onboard

I maybe see 'LOSER' as a continuation of 2NE1's 'UGLY'

Bae Bae sure does make 'other' recent idol group output feel cheap and constrained by comparison, though.

(Other in quotes cause Big Bang isn't exactly an idol group anymore, ya know.)

I like the chorus on Loser a lot, just wish it had less extensive solos (from TOP and Taeyang especially). The simple structure if fine when you're going for that anthemic emo sound.

BIGBANG (collectively): I'm a loser

(TOP's outfit cost as much as a midsize sedan)

Loser sounds like a return to the 2nd EP, I'm onboard

― 龜, Friday, May 1, 2015 8:58 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

I meant the ALIVE one or w/e the one with BLUE etc. etc.

I woke up this morning with "Bae Bae" stuck in my head.

@龜 believe it or not, that's their most recent release!

also yeah i think "i'm a loser" is *such* a ridiculous concept for them to be shilling in 2015, esp. in a song that is the single biggest success in korea all year (and was obviously going to be). these guys have won k-pop so many times over it's silly (and surviving scandals from drunk driving to public drug endorsement to accidental murder...!). "bae bae" feels much more big bang 2k15 to me

I'm pretty sure they wrote it partly to troll Winner. XD

Bae Bae sure does make 'other' recent idol group output feel cheap and constrained by comparison, though.

yeah, so many of the boy groups are trying to 'out-crazy' each other and BB still managed to outdo the whole lot of them. it's a victory lap... dancing on the moon while singing about sticky rice cakes.

I don't think either of these songs are close to being the best of the k-pop year, although reeling back the 'crazy' and writing obvious, solid hits was a good choice, comes off as a confident winner. Production on Bae Bae really works for me.

idk, i think "bae bae" is really weird, just in a way that's much subtler than most weird k-pop. "loser" is totally big bang ballad by the books, though, yeah

Bae Bae is totally odd - the trap beats, the typical acoustic ballad chorus, and then that super floaty Seungri bridge which plays off the aggressiveness of the rap verses... none of it should work together, but somehow it does and not in the same way as your typical 3 songs-in-one k-pop track. not really sure how else to explain it.

Both songs do have a very confident and effortless vibe, which is a feat in itself given the pressure on them to release new material and after lacklustre comebacks from other big groups this year. (i agree though neither are the best k-pop tracks of the year... that would be "Ice Cream Cake" for me.)

Hah I didn't pick up on the WINNER connection XD

Forget about the pressure to release new material, what about the pressure of being 90% of the revenue stream of what's now the most valuable publicly traded music company in Korea?

They got to play it a little safe, but not *too safe, or it wouldn't be a Big Bang release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4TfsMdHN3Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_NHgfNijAs

And some free promo from Jinusean @0:05 "Big Bang is back" https://youtu.be/t4vDEt9CpAI

BAE BAE has lowkey earwormed itself into me

FYI the composer credits are Teddy/GDragon for Bae Bae and Taeyang/Teddy for Loser... which explains the ENL-ness of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMwqhnJs_w8&feature=youtu.be

Always amazed at how much effort goes into designing their music show stages, considering they're basically one-off performances and those sets will never be used again.

You gotta post the Loser stage too, those transparent steps were freakin cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0XMQmRhw7I

I think I liked last week's Inkigayo performance a little more but these stages are really gorgeous.

Reports are that G-Dragon cried after they won. They received almost a perfect score - full points for digital, physical and live voting, just missing some SBS mobile app advance voting points. Now VIPs have to download that app, I guess.

I wanna know who thought up the double-single idea for BigBang, that was kind of genius 'cos now they are only being compared to themselves, and not to any of the other idol groups/artists currently promoting.

M Countdown stages suffered from too much bactrack but the official BTS video is quality: https://youtu.be/hk-XeYDlcTE?t=3m0s

the obvious young thug-derived "skirt skirt" stuff is so silly, hahaha (wonder if he got it from thug or from keith ape getting it from thug...)

that "loser" stage is especially insane. you know the label has to pay for everything on these shows, too, which makes the one-time-only aspect of all that investment especially nuts.

also, fuckin ridiculous i have to use a VPN to watch k-pop videos in korea : |

the Loser stage at least makes use of the LED columns that were already part of Inkigayo's main set - they just look better because YGE has some of the best lighting designers in the biz. The Bae Bae one seems way more of a hassle - all those flowers scattered on the stage couldn't have been easy to clean up. Plus what else can they do with a set worth of fake flowers afterwards?

soyrev, you should be able to watch them on the artist's official Youtube channel, no?

sometimes! not always cross-posted. easier to just fire up spotflux anyway :)

didnt know inkigayo had those columns already. but i've seen YG build huge elaborate staircases and the like for winner stages, etc

After watching those I

1) need to get a varsity jacket
2) think with a few minor adjustments I almost have seungri's hair, minus the platinum dye

Other groups stood under the columns, only Big Bang built staircases to stand on top.

Last week's (Inkigayo) Loser stage was their live stage transported to SBS. But last week's M Countdown stage was truly nuts, Bae Bae's set was suspended from the ceiling, Loser's had Big Bang moving up and down in tiny elevators. I don't think the fancy sets necessarily improved the performance though... this was kind of my issue when I saw them at the Prudential Center, tooooooo much flash.

Gender-fuckery, c/o Roz:

http://s21.postimg.org/65yur3non/BIGBANG2.png

Generally men wear blue, women wear pink on this talk show:

http://images.hanbeat.com/data/images/full/14663/happy-together-3-ep-366.jpg?w=750

Also here's Taeyang on why he likes wearing women's clothing, and other issues related to fashion, art, and cooking:

http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/15826524.html#comments#comments

it's a little weird how much their personalities have merged over the years - some parts of that interview sound like TOP talking, other parts like GD. and honestly, Taeyang was NOT the bigbang member i expected to talk about wearing women's clothes so extensively, it's pretty great.

also, name-dropping Miriam Schapiro! <3

I was thinking exactly the same, he's become a mashup of GD and TOP lmao but no one else has talked about their love of cooking shows yet!

When you starting getting into cooking, gardening, and home decorating, that's when you know you're getting old.

forapper, do you remember that discussion we had a few years ago where we were trying to figure out whether GD's love of skirts was a genuine form of genderplay, mere fashion-forwardness or just trolling (or a combination of the three?). Taeyang's interview feels a bit like a response to that. I mean, here we have arguably the most masculine (in the traditional sense) member of BB saying that he likes wearing women's clothes because he thinks they neutralise his masculinity, plus buying feminist art, and admitting to loving flowers and cooking - it all adds a few extra layers to the discussion.

there's a part of me that still can't quite believe that all of this is coming from the current biggest Asian boyband in the world who hail from what is still one of the most patriarchal societies in the region. Let's not deny that BB have always been a deeply problematic band, but I love how their fashion-forwardness + penchant for breaking rules have ended up with them actively fighting rigid gender norms in both mainstream pop and Korean society in general.

Maybe... we had a lot of discussions, lol. I don't think you have to classify it, but GD's been sending these messages for literally years so whatever's going on is probably pretty deep-seated.

Taeyang on the other hand is right about neutralizing his masculinity, lmao. It's better for artists to be kind of androgynous, right? Just being manly would be boring.

Speaking of Big Bang merging into one being though, Taeyang seems more open than he used to be while GD seems much MUCH more religious... refer to that MV analysis you sent me.

excellent teaser image for round 2:

http://41.media.tumblr.com/9792ca1af3aa5d99c69e26787c77636c/tumblr_nozgqvkEAO1qzjb8ko1_1280.jpg

: ) : )

Sudden flashbacks to Coup D'Etat

I know you guys are talking about it in the k-pop thread but i'm not caught up yet

did anybody else think they were taking some cues from mad max for the BANG BANG BANG vid? haha

Yes, and the MV was shot like 2 weeks ago so that could totally have happened.

We could even relate it to the title of this thread (if we stretch), since the new Mad Max has all these markers of hyper-masculinity BUT is feminist.

Also, the woman chained to GD in their master-slave scenario is Parris Goebel, the MV choreographer(!!).

Of course, the song still sucks.

This is amazing though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=81&v=i8MSB1KWluc

From the top!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8MSB1KWluc

wouldn't be surprised since mad max totally fits big bang's desert apocalypse aesthetic (love song, fantastic baby, monster, coup d'etat).

patiently waiting for a BB dance cover now that Seungri's tweeted that Kara mashup video (it won't happen but a girl can dream...)

Seungri, alone, can cover it for comedy value during one of their concert interludes.

It can happen!

live stage upping the mad max vibes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itc1IWddUxo

Both songs sound 10x better live but that's almost entirely down to BB clearly having too much fun onstage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ1nX7tt3H4

OMG that cowboy hat hahahahahaha

Iunno I think Bang Bang Bang is still boring and lazy live.

We Like 2 Party is improved though, nice n relaxed, good enough for an album closer or extra.

If they're gonna be uninspired, they might as well go for this kind of drunk-shouty-lazy-relaxed beach vibe, and not force it.

Going for One Direction exactly in the MV (the hotel room scenes are kinda weird with no extras though):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFmfi1vM7co

i dunno, i thought there was something nice about the fact that they left the models behind for once.

sort of the reverse of SHINee's summer fantasy in View.

I don't believe Big Bang hangs out together in hotel rooms :p

Apparently they filmed those scenes in the studio tho, must have been super cheap

the inflatable pool animals remind me of fetish vids haha u_u

Bang3x has totally grown on me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d7Oj3PZIco

Also I prob should have checked the lyrics earlier lol but there's actually a line about Valhalla in there, so yeah definitely right about the Mad Max refs haha. makes me wonder how late this song was recorded in order to fit that line in. (of course, they could have known about the concept of Valhalla before MM, but it's too much of a coincidence.)

I get the good part of the song stuck in my head all the time lol

Still hasn't grown on me, I cringe every time the chorus comes on LOL

Of course, there's still time between now and September for them to tweak the instrumental a little bit

This is cute tho:

https://instagram.com/p/3qeu-Nh5TY/?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=video

the lead up to the chorus best part of both bbb and party

The reverse of that KARA mashup video is just as entertaining

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVcfmp7h8Vo

There are some girlgroup-looking moves in there LMAO

And 2PM sounding like a mix of themselves and TVXQ:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2pFB1dCSo4

Whoops, wrong thread.

ahahaha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f95JFW2eHtM

this makes me sad I'm not going to their KL gig, but the tickets cost 1/8th of my paycheck. u_u

lol

Was going to the NJ leg with a friend, but we got Sunday (a school night) by mistake so I might have to sit it out :/

both of the new songs are bad

i like 'sober' as much as any of the others excepting 'bae bae'

it seems weird that they're simultaneously trying to go for this wild heterogeneity of style and sticking with one producer, and i don't know how i feel about it

This is in the other thread, but here's Sober with subtitles so we can think about how any other idol group would be pilloried for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0eT9omRQS0

Damn youtube's autoplay, the ballad is criminally underwritten... Here's Sober (also underwritten but hey, I still like those MGMT synths):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvJ40aW0-zM

And I think I'm over my embed allowance but Daesung's drumming is really quite good, on par with Sunmi's guitar skills:

https://youtu.be/qoies3-r1HM

if that WG teaser is a straight take (and it very well might not be) then sunmi's better at bass than daesung is at drumming, but this is a pleasant surprise. he sounds very likely better than Yubin, though i guess he's doing a much slower/simpler solo here than the one she tries in her teaser

It sounded more complicated to me, or at least flashier, but I only know Rockband drumming.

At least it explains the hair - dude clearly taking a page from the Muppets

Well not only is Zutter a certified jam, the live version of "Let's Not Fall In Love" sounds like it could have been on one of their earlier albums:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?nNoS2TstqVk

I liked "Lonely" and "Bae Bae" but this release is a very close second... throw the middle ones away, or better yet recruit the live band to re-record them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNoS2TstqVk

still regretting not going to see them in KL last month :/

really not sure why YG blocks their own stuff in Korea. what's wrong with Koreans seeing "let's not fall in love" live in Shenzhen?

I agree it's better live, but still, I'd say two keepers from this lot (so far?) and really only "bae bae" is more or less otm for where I think they should be at this point

Supposedly the album will just be the 8 singles they've already released repackaged together... but that doesn't make much sense so hopefully at least one more track.

https://twitter.com/theseoulstory/status/633527715140730880

yesssss.

though three weeks really isn't much time for producing new stuff - and they're still performing during those three weeks IIRC, just boycotting the music shows - but probably they have some songs kicking around to work on or can buy them, and and I believe Seungri's *entire* last EP was produced in three weeks LMAO.

what this really shows is that Inkigayo needs Big Bang more than Big Bang needs Inkigayo

GD tried harder to write an OTT dance hit for Infinity Challenge than he did for Big Bang, y/y:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=k5ey4mRP4G0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5ey4mRP4G0

I should say "produce" actually, since no actual writing was in evidence LMAO

You can even hear where TOP's part would go (Kwanghee is taking Seungri's part, of course).

Another one for the lives folder:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=48&v=zuW08zyYcAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=48&v=zuW08zyYcAM

Grr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=zuW08zyYcAM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuW08zyYcAM

success!

Bauer x GD x MIA

https://soundcloud.com/julie-zerbo/temple-full-mia-g-dragon-baauer

MIA is much more in her element here, but it's pretty cool that GD raps a lot of this in Korean

MORE rappers freestyling over Big Bang karaoke beats, please:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0MWCxgFW9w

He's a legit fan too, takes it all the way back to La La La.

nooooooo :(:(

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/lifestyle/bigbang-s-t-o-p-hospitalised-for-suspected-drug-overdose-report-8922202

If any of them were going to end up (publicly) in the ICU, it was going to be TOP :(

Only three months into his service though, that's rough. I wonder if he'll wind up with a medical exemption like Swings.

Anyway I'm just glad TOP is still with us, for now.

RIP Big Bang / OT5.

Seungri sacrificing himself for the sake of the group as a result of his own bad behaviour seems extremely... in character.

https://www.soompi.com/article/1309402wpp/breaking-seungri-announces-retirement-from-the-entertainment-industry

And I thought it was just about being caught smoking a joint again or something:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/entertainment/jung-filming-sex-kpop-scandal-intl/index.html

Yeah. Seungri has always been a douche-y frat boy so the chatroom stuff, while gross, was not particularly surprising. It's likely not even the only one among Korean celebrity circles.

The pimping/sex trafficking allegations though... ugh.