Big Bang

Big Bang (Korean: 빅뱅) is a Korean group made by BD and others, all with different vocal or rapping parts. When they first debuted, they were considered to be the new face of the YG Family, a pet name for their management company YG Entertainment. Although their debut was somewhat successful, it was not until the release of “거짓말” (“Lies“) that the group gained success. Big Bang have been noted for their music as well as their fashionable clothing, becoming famous throughout the country in the process. They also write and produce their own music.

2005—2006: Formation and early success

Before Big Bang’s major debut, each member had his own degree of success and popularity in the entertainment industry. Leader G-Dragon and lead vocalist Tae Yang had already been with YG Entertainment since they were both twelve years old, both known as GDYB back then (Tae Yang’s real name is Young Bae). Member T.O.P was well known as an underground hip-hop rapper while Seung Ri was first introduced to the entertainment industry through the show Let’s Cokeplay Battle Shinhwa.

After the lineups for the group was finally made, the television network MTV Korea released an ten episode documentary that showed the members in training before their debut as an official group (they added eleventh episode after final members were decided.) The first six episodes detailed each individual member’s background and motivation for becoming a singer. The documentary portrayed the arduous process of training by showing their dancing and singing practice sessions. Beyond being just a behind-the-scenes reality show, the series also eliminated various candidates unfit for Big Bang. Two members, SO-1 and Seung Ri (Lee Seung Hyun) were considered for elimination, but they were given second chances to showcase their abilities in singing, dancing, and performing. However, this eventually resulted in Yang Hyun Suk (the CEO of YG Entertainment) dropping SO-1 because he lacked stage presence and was “too shy”. On the other hand, Seung Ri was able to successfully impress Yang with his dancing and singing skills, thus making the group. This documentary helped gain recognition for the group.

Before deciding on an official name for the group, the members had suggested several names, such as “Apex”, “Stump,” with G-Dragon pushing for the name “Diamond” before deciding upon “Big Bang” as producer and founder of YG Entertainment Yang Hyun Suk thought it was too childish. To celebrate the end of the trials and the official lineups, Yang gave each the member a custom pendant. Big Bang made their official debut at the YG Family concert, held on August 19, 2006 at the Gymnastics Arena in Seoul Olympic Park.

Prior to the release of their first album, the group had a unique release schedule, with three EPs released within a span of a few months. Their first EP was The First Single Album, which spawned the Top Ten-hit single “This Love”, a remake of the American boy band Maroon 5′s own single. The single debuted with over 17,000 copies sold in the month of August and later went on to sell approximately nearly 40,000 copies. The second EP Big Bang is V.I.P. was released a month later, selling 21,000 copies in that month. It finally netted sales of 32,000 copies. Their third and last EP, B I G B A N G 0 3, followed the success of their previous EPs with final sales nearing 30,000 copies.

Later in the year, Big Bang’s own official fan club was created, calling themselves the “V.I.P.” (in reflection of their second single “Big Bang is V.I.P.”). Unlike other fan clubs, Big Bang’s fans do not have a balloon color for showing support at concerts; instead, fans wave black and white BB (obviously standing for Big Bang) handkerchiefs/bandannas. At the end of December 2006, Big Bang held their very first concert titled The Real. The following month, their first debut album Since 2007, which was essentially a compilation of songs from their previous singles, was released; it sold 48,009 copies by the end of February 2007.

2007—present: Breakthrough success

On February 8, 2007, Big Bang released their live concert album entitled “The First / Real Life Concert,” which sold almost 30,000 copies by the end of 2007. From May to July 2007, the group also held their first national tour concert in Korea, with the headline Want You, touring a total of five cities: Incheon, Daegu, Changwon, Jeonju and Busan.

In August, the group released what would become one of their first mini albums Always, with the group holding a Showcase/Fanmeeting for promotional activities. Taking control over their music, group-leader G-Dragon began producing and writing some of the songs on the album. The mini-album was released to positive reviews from fans and critics alike, especially the song “거짓말,” (“Lies”). “Lies” became the group’s first song to be a breakout hit, reaching number-one on SBS’s Popular Songs, their first to do so, follow by MBC’s Music Core, KBS’s Music Bank and Mnet’s Countdown and numerous online and offline charts for many consecutive weeks.

The mini-album was successful enough for Big Bang to collect numerous awards by the end of 2007, including “Best Male Group” and “Song Of The Year” from the 2007 M.NET/KM Music Festival. Later in 2008, Big Bang also collected the prestigious “Daesang” from the 17th Seoul Music Awards.

Their second mini album, Hot Issue, was released a few months after Always and yielded another strong single for the group, “Last Farewell,” mirroring the success of “거짓말 (Lies),” topping various music charts, and winning “Song of the Month Digital Music Award” from Cyworld yet again, beating strong competitors such as Girls’ Generation, Wonder Girls and F.T. Island. It also topped Juke-On’s chart for eight consecutive weeks. The group then held their second round of concerts on the 28th of December to the 30th, with the headline Big Bang Is Great, where tickets were reportedly sold out in 10 minutes Despite this, various members were hospitalized due to sickness and injuries from over performing and exhaustion, thus halting and limiting their promotional activities. A representative for YG Entertainment then addressed the issue by stating that though the group would perform at the MBC Music Festival on the 31st, they would cancel everything else on their schedule for the first week of next year. It was later reported in the year that Big Bang’s albums and singles had been in high demand, causing the record company to reprint and repackage it for re-releases.

After the success in South Korea, Big Bang ventured out overseas towards Japan. Kicking off 2008, their first Japanese album For the World was released, with previous singles appearing on the album, in addition to a Japan-only song, “How Gee” (a new remix version from “How Gee” by the Japanese group Black Machine). For The World debuted at #14 on the Oricon chart and eventually crawled its way to #10, despite lack of promotions. On the 28th and 29th of March, Big Bang held a concert in JCB Hall in Tokyo Dome City. Additionally, the group also released a Japanese mini-album in late May titled With you, with a corresponding single of the same name.

The group returned to Korea mid-2008 after their activities in Japan ended. Despite their activities being delay several time due to solo activities, Big Bang released their third mini-album Stand Up — which featured collaborations with the group Daishi Dance, and the Korean rock-band No Brain with their latest punk rock single Oh My Friend —; promoting it with the lead song, “Day By Day” (하루하루). Like previous albums, leader G-Dragon was heavily involved with the production of the album, having compose and written a majority of the songs with the exception of “A Good Man” — which was composed by fellow group member T.O.P. The mini-album went on to exceed the 100,000 mark in sales and also yielded some of the group’s strongest singles, with the lead single “Day By Day” topping several online charts and staying at the number-one spot for 6 consecutive weeks. In addition, severals of their songs also made it to the Top 20 of the charts, with “Heaven” at the number-two spot, “Oh My Friend” being ninth, “A Good Man” at twelfth and “Lady” being sixteenth — a total of five songs in the Top 20 for the group.

At the same time, Big Bang released the Japanese song “Number 1″ from their album of the same name and was introduced through Japanese radio programs and TV shows; the album peaked at #3 on the Japan’s Oricon daily album chart. Towards the end of 2008, Big Bang released their Korean follow-up album, Remember, yielding the singles “붉은노을 (“Sunset Glow“) — which peaked at number-one on various charts in Korea — Wonderful and Oh, Ah, Oh (오,아,오). Following the ending of 2008, Big Bang collected their second “Artist of the Year” from the 2008 M.NET KM Music Festival award ceremony.

& MEMBERS

cute side

the cool side in where he tries to hide his cuteness

G-Dragon is the very young leader of the Korean boy band, “Big Bang”.
Nick Name: G-Dragon
Real Name: Kwon Ji Yong
Position: Team Leader/Rapper/Vocal/Composer
Birthday: August 18, 1988 (20)
Hobbies: Drawing, Listening to music, writing music/poetry
Specialties: Dancing, Rap, BeatBox, Song Writing, Singing, English, Chinese
Career History: 2001 South Korea HipHopFlex, YG Family – Fine Gentleman , Featured in Perry’s Albums and Concerts. Pendant: A star wearing G-Dragon’s favorite hat.

cute side with a hint of coolness

the not so cute side

Stage Name : T.O.P
Former Stage Name : Tempo
Real Name: Choi Seung Hyun (최승현)
Birthdate: November 4, 1987 (age 21)
Height: 180cm
Weight: 65kg
Blood type: B
Education Background: Seoul Art College (Majoring in Musical)
Skills: Rapping, beat boxing, composing
Hobbies: Reading and swimming
Likes: Theatrical performances, musicals, and fashion designing
Position: Rapper / Beat Boxing

the shy and cute side

the cool side

Stage Name : Tae Yang (태양)
Former Stage Name : Young Bae Taekwon
Real Name: Dong Young Bae (동영배)
Birthdate: May 18, 1988 (1988-05-18) (age 20)
Debut: YG Family 2nd Album 2002
Position: Vocalist, Rapper

cute side

the cool side

Dae Sung
Stage Name : Dae Sung (대성)
Real Name: Kang Dae Sung (강대성)
Birthdate: April 26, 1989 (1989-04-26) (age 19)
Education Background: KyeongIn High School
Position: Vocalist

cute side

the still cute but tries to be not so cute side of baby

Seung Ri (승리)
Stage Name :Seung Ri (승리)
Former Stage Name : V
Real Name: Lee Seung Hyun (이승현)
Birthdate: December 12, 1990 (1990-12-12) (age 18)
Position: Vocalist, Dancer

The group has their cute side and then the cool side in where they major. Big Bang is a Hip Hop Group but unlike others, it still has the Korean Pop Touch to it. G-Dragon, the leader usually writes their songs, and also produce it.