12: My solo album was a gamble.

Kwon Jiyong’s ‘Heartbreaker’ saw the light of this world on August 18, 2009. This day also happened to be G-Dragon’s birthday.

”It was actually scheduled to be out in April, but I didn’t like it. I didn’t feel like a piece of work that I’d been looking forward to for ten years; there was just something missing. I didn’t know how long it would be til my turn to go solo came again.. That one album was a gamble for me.”
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During the preparation of his solo album, Big Bang started Japanese promotions. During the months they were active there, if there was nothing on G-Dragon’s schedule for even a single day, he would fly back to Korea to work on the album and fly back at night. While the other members felt the freedom of being able to shop and have fun without being watched or followed, G-Dragon was out of his mind looking for performance outfits.

”Writing songs, buying performance outfits, being at meetings via webcam..I think my album was the only thing I was thinking about for 24 hours a day. I wanted to make an album that I had contributed to as much as possible. I wanted people to think not just that it’s been ‘made’, but ‘Kwon Jiyong made this’. I even went a little over the top by concerning over things like font, colour and decoration. I wanted to release an album that seemed more like a wrapped up gift than a normal, standard CD. So that people can open the case like a present and anticipate what might be inside, even if its not expensive. I think the album designers might’ve thought I was a big weird; I would call in the middle of the night whenever I got a new idea. (laughs)”

He became totally immersed in working on his album.

”Heartbreaker is about being hurt by love. To express that my heart had been crushed, I made all the dancers wear my mask and do different dances. It was to show different emotions coming out of the same face.”

He experienced a lot of differences to when he was making an album with the other members. He had to fill in every aspect himself, letting him mature more as an artist and realise how valuable the other members really were.

”I learnt so much from making my album. I met with a lot of people from different fields. It was also my turn to play the ‘Cutesy’ part that Daesung and Seungri usually take responsibility for. But I had to show a serious side to the higher ups. Anyhow, I was able to mingle with a lot of different people and learnt more interpersonal skills.”

When an artist releases an album, they usually put all their effort into promoting it. However promotion of G-Dragon’s album through newspapers and TV stations was minimal as YG Entertainment considers performances more important than promotions.

”I was really worried because we had barely promoted. Then I found out about something called ‘Me2day’. It’s like a blog. President Yang told me ‘This is the one way we have chosen to promote. You can do your own promoting.’ He’s always like that. He’ll open the road for us bit by bit and we have to find our own way through it. Anyway, I started showing fans bits and pieces like an outfit for a music video and a strand of my newly dyed hair. I wanted to be the one to show them my music first before any music portal sites so I even gave them 30 second snippets of a few songs. I kept thinking things like ‘If they check for updates before they go to bed and there has been an update, they’d be happy that they can talk about it the next day at school, right?’ I think it was a heart-fluttering period for both me and the fans.”

Thanks to G-Dragon, Me2day also received huge popularity. The site that had only had tens of thousands of members suddenly had hundreds of thousands. Again, G-Dragon started receiving attention from a huge number of people but just as he felt like he was starting to communicate with his fans, he was accused of plagiarism. This was just one day before the release of his album.

11: Big Bang more relaxed after solo activities

It is uncommon for people to know the individual talents and names of each member in an idol group, especially now that they are pretty much flooding the music industry. If one person stands out, another tends to be shunted aside. But Big Bang is one of those rare groups where every member plays their individual role in the group so well that they stand out as a whole.
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”If you look at normal idol groups, they usually have one, or sometimes even up to three members who are given all the attention and the rest of them kind of just blend in. And the maknaes aren’t allowed to talk. But we take turns being the one in the spotlight; it was me in our first album and Taeyang in our second.”

Because Yang Hyun Seok believed that singer groups lasted longer if each member was given a chance to show their individuality and ambitions, Big Bang’s members were able to distinguish themselves by showing their talents in various fields. It is also crucial for passionate youths like them to be active in their lines of specialty.

”My forte would be writing and composing while Taeyang’s is looking and dancing like a foreign singer. To put it straight, he’s got style and a sort of moderate beauty. Cute Seungri does his musicals, Daesung showed prominence in variety shows and Top is becoming more and more determined to show himself as an actor through dramas and movies. After working as individuals, I think we’ve become even closer. We admire each other a lot more too and the topics of our conversations contain way more variety nowadays. We’re more relaxed now, not as in we’ve gotten cocky but as in we feel like we can see further now.”

While the other members continued to show different sides of themselves in their various fields, G-Dragon consistently worked on his solo album. The thought that noone knows how many years it would be until his next solo album, and that this might be the last chance to show Kwon Jiyong as a person kept him going.

10: I don't know where it ends

Most of the songs G-Dragon has written have gone on to be huge hits ('Daebak' s). The song ‘Lies’ on Big Bang’s first mini album (released in 2007) which he had originally written for himself became a massive hit, as did ‘Last Farewell’, ‘Haru Haru’ and ‘Sunset Glow’ to follow.
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”Even though people kept telling us we’d become 'a huge hit', it didn’t feel like it at all because we weren’t allowed to go out. The only places we’d go were broadcasting stations, living quarters and practice rooms. We were still nothing but kids and people continued to say “what do we do with them?”. Even though we kept getting number 1, we didn’t feel any different. When the audience cheered and clapped for us, we just thought ‘it’s only because we’re singers’. Whenever we went on stage people would clap, but we wouldn’t be able tell at all since we’d be singing.”

There’s a saying that celebrities often hear, and repeat to themselves over and over again: “The next one is the most important”.

”I think that’s what’s hardest about being a celebrity. Even if we do really well, it’s always ‘next time is more important’. Normal people might think being a celebrity is easy, but it really isn’t.”

Even when they’re on hiatus, celebrities can’t let their guard down. Anxiety in the form of thoughts like ‘I must try even harder’, ‘I can’t give up now’, ‘The next one is more important’ continue to taunt them.

”I just don’t know where it ends. Whenever we see fans who say ‘Big Bang helps us build our dreams’, I realise ‘Man this really isn’t just a joke’. I feel increased responsibility.”

However the Big Bang members aren’t really the type for excessive breaks anyway. When they’re given a holiday, they spend the first couple of days at home before crawling back to the practice rooms because they have nothing to do.

”It’s not like we plan it or anything but even during our days off we see each other dancing or writing lyrics...Practice is like a regular part of our lives now. That’s why we write more songs than others and have more to choose from. I think we’ve come this far because we don’t want to disappoint our fans.”

Even through the times where he had no choice but to run, G-Dragon learned to keep his balance with the thought and determination not to disappoint his fans. We finally start to feel and understand what it was he ran so hard for.

9: What's with President Yang?

So once YG Entertainment’s President Yang Hyun Seok decided the song G-Dragon had written for himself, ‘Lies’ would be used as a Big Bang song, G-Dragon started to rewrite it for the group.

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”I felt so weak knowing I had to rewrite it from the beginning. Still, I did it and showed the other members, worried about whether they’d like it or not. It was a lot different to the music we’d done til then so at first the members just looked really blank after hearing it. I was sitting there quietly thinking ‘They don’t like it? Oh well I can’t do anything about that. Then Taeyang said ‘Let’s do it!’”

G-Dragon still doesn’t know what emotions the other members felt at the time. Just the fact that he was letting them hear a song he had written for his own solo made him nervous. In other words, he was worried about what the other members might think of the piece he had written based on his own taste.

”I was nervous. Of letting them hear... But after editing the lyrics and giving it to them so they could work out their own parts, things unravelled nicely. Our President is a pro. If he tells us we should release something at a particular time or something, it always gives us the best possible results.”

G-Dragon would write countless songs and President Yang would listen and choose the best. President Yang was usually more like an easy-going neighbourhood hyung or uncle but when it came to work he had the best ear for music and trends.

”I think HyunSeok hyung has psychic powers. (laughs) After listening to a bunch of songs, he’ll just sit there without a word, rolling his eyes once in a while and he’ll decide not only what songs to use but when to release them too. If I send him all the songs I’ve written, he cuts them down. Sometimes he doesn’t even listen to a song for a second. Rather than calculating it, he sort of just goes ‘No not this’ or ‘I have a good feeling about this one’. Every song he’s said he has a ‘good feeling about’ has been a huge hit’. It’s really scary and constantly makes me wonder ‘What’s with this person??’”

President Yang is a good hyung, teacher, and secret hill to G-Dragon. Because he himself was once a singer, he is a President who understands how his singers feel. Their hardships, what gives them strengths...He has made a good system based on these things.

”The music we want to do, the clothes we want to wear, the performances we want to do..he lets us do it all. In the end, ‘Lies’ turned out to be a huge hit because I did what he said.”

14: I like girls who are like cats.

“The lyrics and melodies of the songs I’ve written are all my own experiences. Even just indirect experiences through talking to others or watching movies and stuff. When I’m in love I can only think of happy lyrics, while when I’ve just broken up only sad lyrics come to mind. Songs like ‘She’s Gone’ are a collection of the emotions I felt while watching particular movies.”

The songs G-Dragon (Real name: Kwon Jiyong, 23) writes are all his own experiences. Anyone who’s sharp would’ve picked up his true feelings while listening to his songs.

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“I think I have to write honestly so that the person listening can feel what I feel. So they can feel the pain for themselves and be moved. I don’t think it’s possible for someone to be touched by a piece of music that’s been made up from nothing.”

He has, of course, been in love. But the people around him just called it ‘cute puppy love’.

“I thought I was in love but my closest friends still tell me ‘You’ve never been in real love’. Maybe because I’m the type of person who suddenly gets really crazy about something and equally suddenly gets over it. Though I do date for a while...”

He’s also the type of person who gives everything he has to the woman he loves. Even to the point where it sometimes causes inconvenience to his work. He shows his natural unmade self, wanting to be seen just as Kwon Jiyong, not a celebrity; for this reason he is very open even in crowds.

“It’s childish, but I did all that stuff like letting out balloons from the trunk, and borrowing cafés for the day to do mini concerts. (laughs) I didn’t want my girlfriend to think of me as a celebrity so I would go to amusement parks with her with my face covered, and did everything she wanted to do. People say I’m an idiot for not caring about causing scandals. Even President Yang tells me that I have to be careful to meet the right girl.”

His ideal type is a girl who’s ‘like a cat’.

“I like girls who look have both looks and personalities like cats. I’m attracted to girls who run away when I try to catch them, but approach me and throw themselves in my arms when I stop trying. Someone I can lean on. Someone who can control me from above? I like girls who are fierce and strong. At least when I’m in love, I want to be able to have someone to lean on and rest with.”

After experiencing the sorrow of separating a few times, his thoughts on love have changed.

”I can never break up with someone first. I just can’t say it. If I start a new love in the future, I’m not going to give my all right from the beginning. I want to love slowly now.”

13: "The plagarism controversies were unbearable"

G-Dragon (real name: Kwon Jiyong, 23), whose heart had been aflutter in anticipation of his album’s release, felt despair. Just a day before its release his title track ‘Heartbreaker’ had been accused of plagiarism. His Me2day, which had thus far been a precious way for him to communicate with his fans now seemed like a cold-hearted and scary place.

”Regardless of whether it really is plagiarism or not, I think having the label of ‘plagiarist’ itself is just disgraceful. On the internet people were fighting about whether ‘It’s been plagiarised’ vs. ‘It hasn’t’; the company said they’d fly over to America to set things straight. It seemed like there was going to be a huge legal battle. Everything was just so hard to handle. It makes me happy to sing and dance in front of other people, that’s all..but the people seemed to only pay attention to the bad stuff, I thought I was gonna go crazy. But after contemplating for a while, I decided that singers should answer to any controversies through their performances.”

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He realised no matter what he said could change anything. So like actors speak through acting in cinemas, he thought singers should speak through their performances.

”I think the only place I can take responsibility for my music is through performing on stage. I always told myself that I’d apologise if I showed a disappointing performance to my fans. I think if I try my best to make people happy, they’ll realise the truth for themselves.”

Jiyong is used to being caught up in controversy from a young age. Does he have some strange power to turn little things into huge controversies? But the attention he receives from both fans and anti-fans are a driving force for him.

”If an online news article about me is released, the first comment is always someone bashing me. I’m human too, of course I check (laughs). The antis always see them first and leave hateful comments. I’m actually thankful in a way. If these people really hated me, they just wouldn’t pay any attention to me at all. I think they keep checking my articles because they still expect something of me in the end. Something along the lines of ‘I hate this guy, but I still can’t help being interested’, maybe. Because of people like that I feel like I have to try even harder.”

Popular singers just cannot be separated from the public. Affection and criticism are just opposite sides of the same coin.

”Rather than thinking ‘Let’s see who wins then’ about my antis, I think I just have to keep trying hard until they disappear. I cant ‘beat’ the public since artists have to work together with them. It’s like being a student. I feel like I’ve done my homework as a student and now I’m hoping that my teacher will compliment me.”

He’s even got the providence of the public figured out. He may be precocious but he doesn’t try to forcefully hide his pain from others.

”It’s a hundred thousand times worse when you’re in the position of the one being bashed. Korea is a small country so being in that position is really disheartening. I did understand but it still hurt so bad. I’ve just grown wings to try and fly higher; I’ve come too far to fall now and there’s no way back at this point anyway. I’m trying really hard- I truthfully just want people to be more understanding and like me more.”

На их коленях то он не сидел, я надеюсь...?!))
lol what? XDDDD я ещё от прошлого заявления не отошла))))

спасибо за статью, интересные факты однако)