▶ “I’m 20 years older than BIGBANG, but I really like being with them.”
- As BIGBANG swept music scene every month with their new songs recently, some criticize about YG’s monopoly.
“No matter what people say, BIGBANG is the leader of the Korean Wave and such a team has released their new album after three years of absence. From YG’s perspective, too, the album was born after a lot of difficulties. Rather than having a one-off promotion for such a precious album, I wanted to promote all the songs of BIGBANG’s new album. The scale of the team’s world tour is also getting bigger, so I wanted to show the music video of all the new songs to fans around the world. BIGBANG could not give any TV performance for “IF YOU” and “SOBER”, because of their world tour schedule. That may have disappointed Korean fans, but I would like to ask fans to understand that BIGBANG is going beyond Korea to promote themselves toward fans around the world, to show the excellence of Korea’s contents on the global stage. That is something that only BIGBANG can do.”
- Isn’t it true that other YG artists’ comeback is delayed because of BIGBANG’s promotion?
“It is not an exaggeration to say that BIGBANG is leading today’s YG. It is also true that other YG artists like WINNER and iKON are better recognized thanks to BIGBANG’s popularity. As BIGBANG has released their new album after three years of absence, I believe that now is the time to put my priority on BIGBANG. Other YG artists are also working on their albums. From September this year, many of them will come back or make debut. It is not that their new release is being postponed because of BIGBANG, but it is rather a win-win strategy both for BIGBANG and others.
- YG is a kind of public enemy for other music labels.
“I don’t understand why they call YG a public enemy. I released new albums even during the Olympic and Worldcup seasons. I have never taken the comeback of other labels’ artists into account when setting the time for comeback of debut of my artists. Rather, the issue for YG was that YG artists did not avoid other top singers’ comeback. I think YG is the label in Korea which does TV performance the least. That is also the biggest complaint of Korean fans. Performances in Korea are of course important, but I invest more time for creation of good contents and for promotion of those good contents in a wider market, because in the current world, good contents are naturally promoted worldwide through YouTube. Rather, because YG artists do not perform on TV shows that much, singers of other labels can have more opportunities for their own promotion, I believe.”
- YG artists mostly appear in SBS shows.
“That is true. For the past seven to eight years, my artists have appeared in SBS shows mostly. People think like that maybe because I am the judge for SBS TV’s “K-Pop Star” show. However, that does not mean that YG has some trouble with KBS or MBC. It’s just because SBS’s stage production suits the best with the direction we pursue, and it is not a matter of whether YG has a bad relation with any of the broadcasters. YG has long been refraining from having performances in TV music shows. Plus, since we do that only once or twice a week, we tend to choose SBS and Mnet whose stage production creates the best harmony with YG. If my artists should have performances in other music shows, too, they will have no time for any other thing than TV performances. Then, they will not have the time and energy to do something new.”
- The time of BIGBANG’s renewal of contract is approaching. Do you think there will be any more to be created by YG and BIGBANG together?
“As Jiyong and TAEYANG joined YG at the age of 13, they have been with YG for almost 15 years now. They are in their mid or late twenties, so they have spent more than half of their lives with YG. Thus, of course, BIGBANG and YG have similar characters and communication between us is very good. YG’s biggest advantage is that people who like the same thing are gathered together here. I’m 20 years older than BIGBANG, but I still like being with them. Listening to their ideas, I myself learn more. I believe that YG’s power comes from the sharing of information and feelings between its members.”
- T.O.P recently talked negatively about renewal of contract with YG.
“I think that was a joke made in an entertainment show. BIGBANG are the ones who have grown from a system called YG. You know, I like trees and I have a lot of trees in my home. When a tree is transplanted to another place, it suffers or even dies. I’m not the kind of guy who openly expresses my feelings, but I don’t think there will be any major disagreement, because BIGBANG is my family and we have been together for more than 10 years. Even if BIGBANG wants to leave YG to go their own way, I’ll help them. I really mean it. In the past, an investor asked me, “If Hwiseong, Gummy, Se7en, and Lexy terminate their contact with YG, how can you ensure the future of YG?” That was a very conservative question. In the end, I didn’t work with the investor. However, after that, I launched BIGBANG and 2NE1, and achieved good outcome with PSY and EPIK HIGH. As I have big curiosity for new things and more focused on goals for tomorrow, I have a belief that if I do my best now, good future will always come. This is not being complacent, but something that runs in my blood. What I hope for BIGBANG is that they become a long-lived idol group. They will be the 10-year-old idol group next year, and I hope that they can perform under the name of BIGBANG for a long period of time even when they grow older, just like Rolling Stones. And my wish is to support them to achieve that goal.”
- It seems that WINNER’s fans have some complaints.
“People have a misunderstanding that the company cares only about BIGBANG and iKON. However, that is really a misunderstanding. I feel the same sense of responsibility and duty for all the three brothers, BIGBANG, WINNER, and iKON. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but WINNER is now working on their new album. I think fans will listen to good news soon. Comeback of WINNER and debut of iKON at the same time is a plan that I really wanna try, as well.”
(This is some part from the interview so if you want to read the whole interview click here)
Source: YG Entertainment(isplus.joins)
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