Big Bang (빅뱅) is a Korean hip hop & R&B group composed of five members. Each member has a diffrent part within the group, such as singing or rapping. They are considered to be the new face...

Big Bang (빅뱅) is a Korean hip hop & R&B group composed of five members. Each member has a diffrent part within the group, such as singing or rapping. They are considered to be the new face of the YG Family.

A documentary was broadcast on GOM Player, which increased their popularity.

History

2006: Debut and success
Big Bang made their debut at the YG Family concert, held on August 19th, 2006 at the Gymnastics Arena in Seoul Olympic Park. The group originally consisted of six members, but one was dropped in the ninth episode of their documentary video. Originally, two were intended to be dropped, SO-1 and Seung Ri. However, only SO-1 was dropped with Seung Ri still in the group.

Big Bang released their first single, "The First Single Album," on August 29, 2006 with the song "This Love" getting high requests among radio stations. Their second single "Big Bang is V.I.P." was released a month later on September 28, 2006. Again, it was a success. On November 22, 2006 they released their third single entitled "B I G B A N G 0 3". In December 30, 2006, Big Bang had their very first concert titled, The Real. The concert was a success, filling all 12,000+ seats. They also released a music video of their cover song from Israel "My Girl", with Tae Yang as the soloist, bringing much of the attention to him. The following month, their first album "Since 2007" was released, with a total of 110,408 copies sold.


2007: Breakthrough success and the song "Lies"
On February 8, 2007, Big Bang released their live concert album entitled "1st Concert Live Album - The Real" with 26,787 copies sold. They also released their own fragrance, "BB Bud's My First Fragrance (나의 첫번째 향기)," on May 18, 2007 after Se7en, another singer under the same company, released his “Touch by Se7en”. The fragrance sold over one million won after two weeks of its release, beating out "Touch by Se7en," which sold 60,000 won in Korea, Japan, and China in 2006 and 2,700,000,000 won combined in 2007.

In May through July, Big Bang held their first national tour concert in Korea, titled, Want You. The group successfully toured a total of five cities, Incheon, Daegu, Changwon, Jeonju and Busan. The national tour concert was a great success as all the concert tickets in each cities were sold out, earning an estimated total of 16 million won altogether.

2007 also brougth forth various solo activities for the group. Lead vocalist Tae Yang was expected to release a solo single in September of 2007, with him becoming the first member to go solo. However, September brought nothing from him and there have been no further information about it since. According to representatives for YG’s Yang Hyun-suk, this solo endeavor came about as a result of Tae-yang’s recent performances as well as his vocal contributions to Lexy’s album. Another member, T.O.P. (Tempo), was also cast into the drama I Am Sam. T.O.P. was also featured in Red Roc's music video, Hello. Other Big bang members have featured in various songs with Dae Sung in Nemo's digital single, "Now, Us" (이제,우리..), released on October 15. 2007. G-dragon was featured in "So In Love Part2" and Tae Yang in "I Should've Loved You a Bit More" (조금만 사랑할걸), both songs from Kim Jo Han's new album, "Soul Family with JOHAN" released on October 25, 2007.

Aside from solo activities, Big Bang released a new mini album in August entitled, Always. Big Bang had held their Showcase/Fanmeeting for the mini-album on August 19, 2007. The mini-album was well received by the fans and listeners, especially the song "Lies," which lead singer G-Dragon wrote and composed. "Lies" has been complimented as a well-made, appealing, and unique song by many critics.

"Lies" became the biggest hit of 2007 in South Korea, allowing Big Bang to win 1st place for the first time in Korean TV music program in " SBS, Popular Songs" on September 9, 2007. "Lie" also swept first place in all four music programs in Korea ( MBC, SBS, KBS and Mnet) within weeks, and topped numerous online and offline charts for unbelievably long periods of time, including Juke-on (for which is #1 for 7 consecutive weeks and Melon (Music site) for 6 consecutive weeks. The group also received the Best Male Group, and Song Of The Year in the 2007 MKMF Award, contributing to their hard work. In addition, Big Bang won the "Song of the Month," (Digital Music Award) from Cyworld 2 months in a row, selling more than 330,000 songs in 6 weeks after the release of their mini-album. Big Bang also filmed the music video for their song "Always" in Hawaii. The music video was released in November.

To capitalize the success of their mini-album, Big Bang announced that they were going to release an official album in November, however, November brought forth no album and instead, another mini album entitled "Hot Issue." Big Bang's first Japanese album has been move to being released around January of 2008. Songs that are expected to be included are: "V.I.P. (Intro)", "BIGBANG", "LALALA", "Lies", "A Fool's Only Tears", "Always", as well a new Japanese song, "How Gee," (a new remix version from How Gee by Black Machine). All the songs will be re-recorded in English.

Big Bang's second concert has been planned for December 28, 29 and 30 with the title "BIGBANG is GREAT." Tickets will be open to the public on November 4th in Korea.

Members

Current members
The leader of the Big Bang is Kwon Ji Yong (권지용) but his fans call him GD or G-Dragon.(Yong in Korean means Dragon). He has been trained by the YG Family since he was 13 (Korean years) years old. During his training, Ji Yong and Young Bae were known as GDYB and had a lot of fans, even though they never released an album. Ji Yong has a great interest in fashion, saying that if he had not been a singer, he would've went into fashion industry. Besides rapping and beat-boxing, he writes and produces many of Big Bang's songs. He also wrote the hit single "Lies"(거짓말), which has topped almost every online and offline charts in Korea for more than two months since the release.

Tae Yang (동영배) has been with GD in YG Entertainment since he was 13. He started out as a rapper but is now one of the vocalists of Big Bang. He is known for being scared of girls, and is the shy, sensitive one in the group. Tae Yang had his first kiss on the MV of the Israel cover song "My Girl". Currently, Tae Yang is working on his first solo album. Tae Yang will be the first one to release the solo album from Big Bang.

The "Big Brother" of the band is Choi Seung Hyun (최승현), also known as Tempo or T.O.P. YG's staff calls him Keun Seung Hyun, meaning Big Seung Hyun, to distinguish between the two Big Bang members named Seung Hyun. Before joining Big Bang, he performed in clubs and even won KBS Radio's "Rap Battle" in 2003. Tempo is one of the two rappers in the Big Bang and is also very talented in beat-boxing. Recently, TOP has successfully finished filming his role as the school's top fighter in a Korean drama called, I Am Sam. His character's name in the drama was Chae Mu Shin and his talent as an actor has impressed the fans and the viewers as well.

Kang Dae Sung(강대성), the "Smiling Angel", is a vocalist in Big Bang. Fans praise Dae Sung's humorous personality and astounding vocals and dedicate numerous websites to him. During the auditions, Dae Sung was called "Unpretty Boy", but later, the staff team confirmed that Daesung is actually the most popular member in Big Bang. Dae Sung has an obsession with "Doraemon", a Japanese animation. Dae Sung has been also been known as "Gag/Comedy Genius Dae Sung" (Gae Chun Dae Sung in Kor.) with his great sense of humor and unique talent in imitating famous people and even animals.

Lee Seung Hyun (이승현), or known as "Seung Ri", is the "Little Brother" of Big Bang. His name when Big Bang debuted, was "V" which is derived from Victory. YG's staff calls him "Mag nae", which means "the youngest or baby in a family". Before joining Big Bang, Seung Ri was on "Battle Shinhwa", a show that was searching for the second Shinhwa, a very successful Korean boy band. However, he was rejected in 13th episode because even though he was a great dancer, his vocals failed to impress. However, the manager of YG recognized his talent and invited him to practice with the YG Family. Seung Ri's greatest talents are dancing and choreographing dance routines.


Former Member
Jang Hyun Seung (장현승), nicknamed So-1, was dropped from Big Bang in the ninth episode of their documentary, which was shown on GOM Television. He was considered to be a great singer and had a "pretty face". Unfortunately, he did not pass the audition to become a member in Big Bang, due to his shyness on stage. He is still in YG and is currently training until management feels it is the right time for his debut.


Members' profile

G-Dragon
Stage Name : G-Dragon (G-드래곤)
Real Name : Kwon Ji Yong (권지용)
Birthdate: August 18, 1988 (1988-08-18) (age 19)
Education Background: Seoul Korean Traditional Arts Middle & High School
Debut: DaeHanMinGook Hip Hop Flex 2001
Position: Leader / Main Rapper

Tae Yang
Stage Name : Tae Yang (태양); SoL
Former Stage Name : Young Bae Taekwon
Real Name: Dong Young Bae (동영배)
Birthdate: May 20, 1988 (1988-05-20) (age 19)
Debut: YG Family 2nd Album 2002
Position: Vocalist

T.O.P
Stage Name : T.O.P
Former Stage Name : Tempo
Real Name: Choi Seung Hyun (최승현)
Birthdate: November 4, 1987 (1987-11-04) (age 20)
Education Background: Seoul Art College (Majoring in Musical)
Position: Rapper / Beat Boxer

Dae Sung
Stage Name : Dae Sung (대성); D-Lite
Real Name: Kang Dae Sung (강대성)
Birthdate: April 26, 1989 (1989-04-26) (age 18)
Education Background: KyeongIn High School
Position: Vocalist

Seung Ri
Stage Name : Seung Ri (승리); V.I
Former Stage Name : V & Victory
Real Name: Lee Seung Hyun (이승현)
Birthdate: December 12, 1990 (1990-12-12) (age 17)
Position: Vocalist

Discography

Singles:
The First Single Album:
1. Intro (Put your hands up)
2. We Belong Together (Feat. 박봄 / Park Bom)
3. 눈물뿐인 바보 (A Fool's Tear)
4. This Love

Big Bang is V.I.P:
1. La-La-La
2. My Girl
3. V.I.P
4. La-La-La (Instrumental)

B I G B A N G 0 3:
1. VICTORY (Intro)
2. B I G B A N G
3. Forever With You (Feat. 박봄 / Park Bom)
4. Good Bye Baby
5. 웃어본다 (Try Smiling)

Albums:
Volume 1 - Since 2007:
1. Intro (Big Bang)
2. She Can’t Get Enough
3. Dirty Cash
4. 다음날 (Next Day) (Seung Ri (승리) Solo)
5. BIG BOY (T.O.P Solo)
6. 흔들어 (Shake It)
7. 눈물뿐인 바보 (A Fool's Only Tear)
8. My Girl (Tae Yang (태양) Solo)
9. La-La-La
10. This Love (G-Dragon (G-드래곤) Solo)
11. 웃어본다 (Try Smiling) (대성 (Dae Sung) Solo)

Concert Albums:
1st Concert Live Album - The Real:
1. B I G B A N G (Live)
2. V.I.P (Live)
3. My Girl (Live)
4. 눈물뿐인 바보 (A Fool's Tear) (Live)
5. We Belong Together (Live) (Feat. Park Bom)
6. Forever With You (Live) (Feat. Park Bom)
7. 웃어본다 (Trying To Laugh) (Live)
8. BIG BOY (Live)
9. 다음날 (Next Day) (Live)
10. She Can't Get Enough (Live)
11. Dirty Cash (Live)
12. This Love (Live)
13. La-La-La (Live)
14. Good Bye Baby (Live)
15. 흔들어 (Shake It) (Live)
16. Dirty Cash (For Fan - Original Track)

Mini-Albums:
Always:
1. 우린 빅뱅 (We Are Big Bang)
2. 거짓말 (Lies)
3. 없는 번호 (Unknown Number)
4. 아무렇지 않은 척 (Pretend To Be Unconcerned) (T.O.P Solo) (Feat. Ji 5. Eun / 지은)
6. Oh Ma Baby
7. Always

Hot Issue:
1. Intro - Hot Issue
2. 바보 (Fool)
3. But I Love U (Sampling By Rhu Of Redd Holt Unlimited)
4. I Don't Understand
5. Crazy Dog (Sampling By 환상 속의 그대 Of Taijiboys)
6. 마지막 인사 (Last Farewell)

: Erica Han |