Big Bang's new subunit,�GD&TOP, officially released their debut album on Christmas Eve. They're burning up the charts and heating up stages right and left with their numerous performances of "High High", "Knock Out", and "Oh Yeah" through�both public and cable TV music programs. 10asia recently sat down with T.O.P for a lengthy interview, through which he was able to convey his inner thoughts about his self-produced music and his views on the general public. Check it out below. == > Out of all days, we're having an interview on Christmas Day. (Laughs) You even had a performance yesterday, I feel like I'm tiring you out even more. T.O.P:�No, it's fine. (Laughs) How was our performance? > I uploaded some pictures onto my Twitter, and some of my followers were raging, because I was watching a performance as good as that all by myself. (Laughs) T.O.P:�Then I'm thankful. (Laughs) To be honest, when we're doing performances, there are times when there are problems with sound, but even in the worst situation, our job is to make it into the best. I'm thankful to all the people who helped us in order for us to have some fun. Even when I'm going on music programs, I feel warmth and excitement in our promotions because of the people who are taking care of us, and who've created such awesome stages. > I think your image on stage has changed since last time. At the "YG Family Concert', the way you suddenly approached your fans very closely at the standing section, and also your rapping... it's a different feeling. T.O.P:�It was never anything I calculated beforehand. When I'm on stage with Jiyong, we have a basic outline on what to do, but we also always perform ad-libs. I think it's a sort of strength that we got after promoting together through the years. It's the same with acting, but when you're on stage, the sentiments you show on stage are never calculated, but it's the feel of the music that we're trying to convey. In the end, I think it's that kind of strength where we get our confidence from. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnUYB-y_dHI == > For this album, you seem to display more confidence in your stage manner and your lyrics. Your 'smoky makeup and innate freedom' expression for 'Knock Out' are also fun to watch. Is there any special reason? T.O.P:�Rather than a special reason, I've actually been questioning myself a lot over the past year. Before, I used to think, "Why am I doing this?" There were also a lot of aspects about my work that gave me a hard time, and I began to think about whether I was carrying a load that was too heavy for me. But as I grew older, the question changed into, "What does the general public want from me?" > Was confidence the answer to that question? T.O.P:�I had thoughts of people feeling vicarious satisfaction and obtaining life confidence from watching entertainers on stage. I think that's why my rap lyrics started to move towards songs like 'Turn It Up' and of those in this new album. It wasn't to show superficial elegance, nor was it a bluff. Even if I do show off, I had hope that my pride in my own work would help my listeners feel pride in their own selves. I don't know how the listeners thought of the song, but I spent a lot of time writing those lyrics. > Is that why you wrote names of famous brands, so that you could create a brand out of your own name? It felt like you were trying to say, "You can accept me that way, that's why I'm�" T.O.P:�I became a bit bold. To be honest, since I'm a type to think and worry a lot, I was actually a bit cautious in that aspect. When I look back, I dwelled on questions of what the general public wanted and what suited me the best. I think the direction I'm moving towards now is a lot more refreshing. I also wish for people who lack in confidence to listen to my music and gain more strength. Whether or not I'm showing off, I want to express sincerity to people casually and not provokingly (laughs). I believe that's one of the ways I express myself. > Before, it felt like you were digging deeper into your inner self, but now you're thinking of ways to influence other people. How were you able to shift your mindset? T.O.P:�I think I began to expand my thoughts about the world. The world is so chaotic, but there are still people who live difficult lives without the ability to obtain strength. But those very people are either people who look over me and Big Bang, or people who listen to our music. I wanted those people to feel vicarious satisfaction when listening to anyone's music. That's why I began to think of different methods to allow people to feel that satisfaction.

> Are these thoughts derived from your awareness of being an artist? Because to be able to think of doing anything for others, you would first need to recognize your responsibilities and your role. T.O.P:�To be honest, when I was in my younger mindset, I didn't really like people's interest and love, as they felt burdensome. I never derived joy from it. As I threw away that greed, other things came more natural to me - musical greed. But thoughts of having to do something with my music also disappeared. In the past, when we released a new song, I think I said, "We hope for a lot of your interest" a lot, but now it's okay if people don't show interest. Instead, I want to become a person that amplifies a person's interest. That's why I wanted to return the amount I received, and that's why I forced myself a lot to study more about music. I have so much more to show everyone. > Is this in any way related to your own life situation? You were active as an actor for some time, and then released all your music at once through this album. T.O.P:�When I returned from acting in 'Into the Gunfire', I saw that GD was already producing music, and I too started working on Big Bang's album the moment I came back. During that time, the flow of the music had changed drastically. Many brilliant artists were promoting at the time as well, but I was absent from that flow while I was away. I had to take a step back to reorganize my thoughts. > I think the way you express yourself has changed as well. Before, you said you act out a fake character, but for this album, you've depicted yourself as "someone you can only meet in speakers or through earphones." Did you shape yourself into this character? T.O.P:�Yes. Compared to others our age, we get to stand in front of a huge amount of people. We may receive a lot of praise and criticisms, but after experiencing that process repeatedly, I got tired of it. That's why I wanted to maintain a certain distance from people, and wanted to become a person you could only see on stage or hear through music. However, since the #1 priority is to satisfy the listeners, this album became a project over which we stressed about a lot on how to merge these two aspects together. > In a way, don't you think you're a really unrealistic person? Because the Big Bang members aren't exactly people who live in realistic lives. T.O.P:�I do think of those things. When I have a drink with GD and talk about it, we realize that our lives are bittersweet. There are parts about our work that are hard to cope with at our age. We may have lost a lot, but we've also achieved just as much, which is why there are times when we feel like we're living in a dream. There are even times when it's hard to differentiate between reality and dreams.

> You receive endless judgements from other people; it must be difficult trying to go in the direction you want to go to, while thinking of business-related problems at the same time. T.O.P:�I think about it all the time. But I think I've almost reached the answer to those problems. Musically, for example, instead of thinking, "What does the general public like and what kind of trend will we go for?", it's better to do what I want to do, and go for something that's never been tried before but not going too far, because if I make the wrong choice, there are still some good people out there who would catch me right away. If I believe in those people, I will always be able to go towards a new direction with a type of boldness that's not too bold. > It's not easy to live in Korea as a star, but it seems like both you and GD have already reached nirvana. T.O.P:�I have reached nirvana. (laughs) I'm joking. I think I've just boldly let go of myself. (Laughs) I know that people make premature judgements regarding myself or the Big Bang members. But it doesn't matter. Moreover, I think it's those people who give us the motivation to keep developing ourselves. I'm not saying we enjoy reading negative comments, but if those kinds of perspectives exist, then it's a reason for us to work harder. This is something I think of all the time, but the greatest strength of the Big Bang members is that we have fun in making those efforts. It's not because we have greed for something, but we have fun in working hard. I think that is our greatest strength. > I think that's why your lyrics in this album have character. Rappers feel like fake characters, but at the same time, you can express what you want to say in your most confident manner. T.O.P:�When we decided to promote together, the first thing we talked about was writing lyrics that only we have the capability to write. After all, at our young age, a vast amount of people anticipate us, as well as dole out criticisms. We wanted to write lyrics about us in that sort of situation. There are people who may call this a bluff. However, we really wanted to write lyrics that were hard to refute against. Kind of like, "This is what we are, you think you can refute?" > I think your 'Intro' song especially gave that feel. The sound was close to being old school hip hop; you essentially went back to the rap music you listened to in middle school. T.O.P:�That's right. We wanted to show the foundations of GD and myself through the sampling of old school hip hop music. Through this, we wanted to ask what kind of rap was more sincere. Because I talked about my stories and current life through my own methods. > Was 'Oh Mom' the opposite of that method? The song was different from your other songs with GD, in that it wasn't about the person people saw you as, but actually about your own personal life. T.O.P:�'Oh Mom' is based on a true story. I can't tell the story in detail, but you can consider it as a gift that I wanted to give to a friend who was gravely ill. It is an incredibly meaningful song to me - to be honest, it wasn't actually a song that was in the tracklist, but I really wanted to add it in, so we ended up putting it in. > 'Oh Mom' is a rock song. The drums in the background were intentionally made to sound like they were real. Is there any special reason why you wanted to go for this selection? You could've gone for the rhythm in a different direction. T.O.P:�I wanted to give it an analogue, manual feel. In other words, you could say I was going for a warmer approach, but these days, the domain of popular music is always quickly changing, and there are a lot of cases when people forget a song after two or three weeks. I think that's why lots of people are getting tired of music.�Electronica music is good, but when you lean too much on one side, you get exhausted. That's why I wanted to go for a more analogue approach for the fans. GD and I also have a lot of interest in rock music these days. That's why my style of rapping has changed a lot too. Before, I used to rap with a heavier and huskier voice, but this time I worked hard in trying to give it a more comfortable feel. If you were to make out a picture, then it's like undecorated wood (laughs). > Your rapping in 'Baby Goodnight' was particularly impressive. If your previous raps jumped out in front of the melody to take hold of the whole song, your raps in this song were closer to melting into the melody. Your lyrics like 'whipping cream' matched well with the melody of the sound too. T.O.P:�I went for that approach to express the inner sentiments, and for 'Baby Goodnight', we also tried to take out the stimulating elements in order to make it easier for the ear. These days, many people are saying songs over three minutes are too long, and if the song doesn't have that attention-capturing moment, it gets too boring. But I felt that there are already a lot of songs out in there in the world that aren't boring to listen to. We wanted to show the people who like Big Bang or just us two members (especially those in their teens or 20s) that there is music like this out there. Even if it's really long or not trendy, music is still music. > I think that aspect of music matches well with your personal goals and your thoughts for the general public. T.O.P:�Our songs were derived more from our instincts rather than complicated thoughts, but we're people who have reached great success as Big Bang from such a young age. To be honest, we're kids who are sensitive in their desire to do music. In that time, we've felt a lot, and we wanted to express those sentiments, but we also wanted to discover our purposes. When we take a step back to reflect on ourselves, we get to see the bigger picture and our purposes become clearer, little by little. That's why we want to give confidence to the general public, and I want to become an life 'vitamin' for both me and the people around me. > Your confidence sure is a "knockout" (Laughs). There might be people sharpening their blades every time you go on stage to attack - what do you think it's going to be like? T.O.P:�Our blades are sharper. (Laughs) Source: 10asia