HYPEBEAST, a top street fashion magazine with a massive subscriber base exceeding 60 million, has been annually spotlighting 100 luminaries since 2013. In its 2023 edition, G-Dragon from BIGBANG earned a distinguished spot, being the sole Korean idol to grace this year's Hypebeast's Top 100 Influential People list. The magazine particularly praised G-Dragon's fashion brand, Peaceminusone, for its impactful releases, underscoring the global influence of the South Korean rapper. Moreover, Hypebeast acclaimed G-Dragon's shoe line, Kwondo1, as one of the previous year's most significant fashion launches.
G-Dragon was the first Korean celebrity to be listed on HYPEBEAST in 2013, and since then, he has been selected 7 times (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023) more then any other Asian musician. This year's list featured only five Koreans, each a standout in their respective fields. These include Kim Jiyong, known professionally as JiyoungKim, Im Dongjoon from POST ARCHIVE FACTION, Kim Hankook of Gentle Monster fame, Jo Youngmin representing Thug Club, and notably, G-Dragon, who was the sole idol to make the list.
On the 2023 list, there was only 11 musicians, ASAP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, Bad Bunny, Drake, Frank Ocean, J Balvin, KID Cudi, Action Bronson, Travis Scott, Taylor the Creator, with G-Dragon as the only Asian representative.
Following the news, netizens showed their appreciation to G-Dragon:
"Wow daebak"
"There are so many people boiling with rage at GD right now ㅋㅋㅋ Do you think it's easy to end up there?"
"GD is GD, he lives in his own world. The fangirls don't even have to do slavery work for him to get acknowledged, this is what a real star is"
"Wow but why are so many people trying to bring down GD's achievement... You can simply not care about him...? The more you leave hate comments, the more you turn GD into a hot topic"
"Wow"
"Congrats!"
"People are really asking what he did? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You guys are so funny, GD is GD alright."
It's G-Dragon, so not really surprised! 💪🏻