[NEWS] BIGBANG HAS RETURNED - BIGGER AND BETTER

After experiencing hardships, Big Bang has returned - bigger and better.

Big Bang marked its return after a year on February 29 with the release of its new mini album Alive. After becoming one of the leaders of the hallyu wave last year, a series of setbacks from Daesung’s car accident to G-Dragon’s marijuana scandal put a halt to the group’s activities and brought the group’s existence into danger.

But returning as a much more mature group, Big Bang made all its tracks off of the new mini album title tracks and found success on the music charts and even ended up on America’s Grammy Awards homepage and on Billboard to prove it was Korea’s representative idol group.

In addition, actress Han Ga In even took time out of her busy shooting schedule for MBC’s The Sun and the Moon to attend Big Bang’s concert recently, while Shinhwa, who is preparing for its impending comeback, selected Big Bang as the most eye-catching among idol groups.

Enews decided to examine the merits of Big Bang who has not only captivated regular people but friends, seniors and juniors in the entertainment world.

I Am

G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung and Seungri form the five member Big Bang. The five were different from the start. Even before the group’s debut, they introduced themselves to the public through the tvN show Big Bang The Beginning.

Big Bang The Beginning was a document program that aired in 2006 to explosive popularity showcasing the group’s formation from its training days. Also drawing attention was member Jang Hyun Seung who was eliminated from the group, right before its debut, who then went on to join the group B2ST at Cube Entertainment.

From its 2006 debut onwards, the group sought to set itself apart from others by self-producing and met earned huge success through Lie off its first mini album and Last Goodbye from its second album. Afterwards, Haru Haru, Red Sunset and Tonight all became big hits as well.

Leader G-Dragon especially made a name for himself as not just an idol singer but a singer-songwriter penning tracks like This Love, Lie, Last Goodbye and more. In addition, each member’s unique color allowed them to find success through dramas, movies musicals and variety programs as well as solo and sub-unit groups such as GD&TOP.

Charm

Big Bang’s merits draws not only from leader G-Dragon’s singer-songwriter status but also each member’s unique and developing colors. While many idol groups are strong as a team, it’s not as common to see individual members produce the same results on their own, but this is not the case for Big Bang, as all its members have seen tremendous success.

T.O.P. transformed into an actor for the movie Into the Fire and the drama Iris and even received a rookie actor award while Daesung found success through the SBS variety program Family Outing and Night by Night. Seungri also had a stint as host for MBC’s Show! MusicCore.

Big Bang wields tremendous influence not just in music but in fashion as well and has emerged as cultural icons. While most other artists relies on their fashion coordinators to create their own style, Big Bang is at the forefront of the fashion trend, creating their own style and merits.

Crisis

Though Big Bang had its series of ups and downs, the 2010 car accident by Daesung and G-Dragon’s marijuana incident brought the group into its most dangerous period.

After much time had passed, some of the members appeared on SBS’ Healing Camp to discuss these incidents and shared, “If it was not for this recent crisis, Big Bang may have disbanded,” as the members revealed the group had lost focus after five years and it was through this crisis the group turned itself around, learned more about their own selves and became a closer unit.

In the end the big crisis turned out to be the strength and energy for Big Bang to leap to new heights.

After releasing its new mini album Alive on February 29 the group held a series of successful concerts in Seoul in front of some 40,000 fans. It will release an album in Japan on March 28 and tour five cities in Japan in May through June and afterwards move on to perform 25 concerts in 16 different countries for its 2012 Big Show- Alive. For Big Bang who even made it onto the homepage of the Grammys and Billboard, people are looking to see what new heights Big Bang will reach.

-08.25.2011 Interview by reporter Oh MiJung

No doubt that Big Bang is one of the biggest idol groups in Korea, and it’s guaranteed that it’ll stay on top for a while. Most idol groups last only five years, usually facing problems with their record companies.

Big Bang, however, doesn’t seem to fit this formula. It′s five-year contract with YG Entertainment (or YG) came to an end, but the members continued their relationship by extending their contract for another five years. During a time when trouble between idol groups and their record company makes recurring headline news, Big Bang re-signing with YG with no controversy is a rather unusual event.

G-Dragon: We didn’t really have to think too much about the contract, but there seems to be so much talk from people around us. I’ve been with YG since I’ve started training with them, so I’ve never even thought about working with another company. The other members have felt the same way for a long time. We don’t know anything about other companies. YG has a system that lets us produce and perform our own songs, and other companies don’t offer this. I’m really comfortable here.

TOP: YG made us, and it’s also a company that fully supports and understands us. We know that we can’t do what we want without this company, so we resigned with them. We didn’t have to think twice. It’s just unfortunate that something like this received so much media attention. I guess that means idol groups are having a lot of contract problems these days.

Taeyang: YG listens to what we have to say, and they give us so much support with whatever we do. They know us really well, too.

YG is known for supporting each entertainer’s individuality, as well as creating a platform where singers can explore their full potential (while having fun, of course). It’s understandable why the members of Big Bang are so strongly devoted to this company.

G-Dragon, Daesung: YG is more like a family. It’s easy to communicate with them. We’ve also become really close with the staff, so I didn’t want to part ways.

The five guys demonstrate their unique talents, performing as musicians, actors, and entertainers. Though they are a boy band, they write and compose their own music. When complimenting for being an ‘ideal band’, they smiled, saying they were flattered.

TOP: We want to show people that idol groups can produce good music.

G-Dragon: People think that idol groups are only allowed to function within a certain system, but we want people to understand that there are companies like YG that allow us to create our own music, as well as give us room to freely discuss our opinions.

Taeyang: The five of us learned a lot from each other.

Daesung: What happens after debuting is more important. It’s crucial to keep developing your talents.

Source : enewsworld.com
Translation credit: Stewart Ho
Translation credit: Esther Oh