BIGBANG Unleashes Fifth Mini Album “Alive” and Full MV for “Bad Boy”
The long wait has finally come to an end!
BIGBANG has finally unleashed all six tracks of their fifth mini album, “Alive.” They also revealed the full music video to their second title track, “Bad Boy.”
As reported earlier, BIGBANG has already made it official that they will promote this album with all six tracks as their title song. Following “Blue,” that was released on February 22, BIGBANG is expected to promote “Bad Boy” as their next title track. The rest of the songs, “Love Dust,” “Ain’t No Fun,” “Fantastic Baby,” and “Wings,” will be promoted at a later date.
Without further ado, here is the full MV for “Bad Boy.” Enjoy!
3 attractions of Big Bang’s comeback
Immediately after the anticipated song ‘Blue’ was released on 22nd, it has already become a big topic on Youtube and music sites. Moreover, it is a comeback which is the biggest, the best and the company has spent most money on. We can also see a variety of colors in the album. The revealed song has already received a lot of love before Big Bang releases their mini album. We can feel the love even more if we look at the album from several perspectives.
#1 There are 6 title songs
Big Bang will come back with an unprecedented 6 title songs. In this album, the six title songs are BLUE, FANTASTIC BABY, AIN’T NO FUN, LOVE DUST, BAD BOY and Daesung‘s solo, WINGS.
Before Big Bang has made their comeback, each member was featured in CF teasers which were released one by one at the midnight of every day. From the short clips, we can see that each of them gives out different feelings and it might be an indicator that the album will show the varied colors of Big Bang.
It is expected that Big Bang will have a round of unusual promotions by looking at the title tracks of the 5th mini album. Other groups choose only 1-2 songs to focus on promoting in order to bring out a consistent feeling. However, the songs which Big Bang are going to promote carry different feelings. It is expected that we will have a wide multitude of music styles to hear from Big Bang and that their performances will be fun to watch.
Yang Hyun Suk on his plans for Big Bang, 2NE1 & new groups
Yang Hyun Suk, member of the legendary group Seo Taiji and the Boys during the 1990’s has since reinvented himself as a leader in K-Pop’s global success. Fifteen years ago Yang Hyun Suk founded YG Entertainment which currently houses some of K-Pop’s biggest stars Se7en, Big Bang, and 2NE1.
“I am not a child of a tycoon, so I began with nothing. Originally, I started out with little money and YG was just a tiny corner shop, which was up until I discovered Jinusean and 1TYM.” YG Entertainment is now considered to be one of the top three record labels in Korea.
A lot has changed around Yang Hyun Suk since the early days. He maintains a beginner’s mindset in the sense that he remains curious about new things, as he shared his motto, “Live better tomorrow than you did today.”
Yang Hyun Suk revealed his upcoming global plans for his artists, “Big Bang and 2NE1 will focus more on performing at festivals to further their global promotion. The United States and Europe are more fitting for 2NE1 and Big Bang. Meanwhile, Se7en will concentrate on his Japanese promotions. Each of our artists have strengths that match the local as well as global markets.”
“Alive” receives 260,000 pre-orders
Not only has their MV for ‘Blue‘ garnered over 8 million views on Youtube, Big Bang has also received unending love calls from various variety programs, and now, pre-orders for their new album ‘ALIVE‘ has surpassed the 260,000 mark.
Big Bang will be making their long-awaited comeback with their fifth mini-album ‘ALIVE’. According to their agency YG Entertainment, 240,000 copies of the album were pre-ordered as of February 27th, and an additional 20,000 copies were requested from overseas, totaling 260,000 copies.
Not only is their album in high demand, the boys also guest-featured on SBS ‘Healing Camp‘ on February 20th, and will also be featuring on ‘Running Man‘, ‘Strong Heart‘, and ‘Infinite Challenge‘.
In addition to endorsing major brands such as North Face, Lotte, G Market, Soul by Ludacris, and Fubu, Big Bang is in discussions to sign CF contracts with two new corporations. Furthermore, the boys will be embarking on a world tour, hitting 25 different cities in 16 countries. YG revealed, “We have received requests for performances in Europe, South America, the Middle East and more, and it looks like we may need to extend our World Tour.”
Big Bang chosen as “Sunny10” models
On the 28th, Coca Cola announced that BIGBANG will continue to endorse Sunny10 Sparklingade.
Last year, Sunny10 had G-Dragon and T.O.P as their main advertisement models and they did a re-make of Sunny10’s CF song, which was a big hit.
This year, with BIGBANG’s comeback, all the members of the group will be working as Sunny10’s Sparklingade models.
Coca Cola said, “Idol group BIGBANG’s trendy and stylish character matches Sunny10’s Sparklingade’s image. Because of this, we decided to go with BIGBANG for Sunny10’s new CF. BIGBANG making a comeback to the public after a long a break and Sunny10’s Sparklingade are both fresh and we believe that Sparklingade’s 10% fruit juice will grab younger consumers’ attention and love.”
B.A.P to begin follow-up promotions with “Secret Love”
A few days ago, we reported that B.A.P would be concluding their promotions for “Warrior” and will aim for a comeback sometime this spring. Well, it has just been announced that the six boys have chosen “Secret Love“ to be their follow-up track!
TS Entertainment, the group’s agency, revealed, “B.A.P has concluded their promotions for their debut track ‘Warrior’ through ‘Inkigayo’ yesterday and will begin their follow-up track ‘Secret Love’ starting this week. We will be showing a 180 degree transformation of the boys through ‘Secret Love’.
They continued, “We had a hard time deciding on which song to follow-up with but ended up choosing ‘Secret Love’ in order to show a whole different image of B.A.P to fans.”
“Secret Love”, featuring SECRET‘s Song Ji Eun with lyrics written by Bang Yong Guk, tells a sad love story about two celebrities having to secretly date. Fans are curious to know whether or not Song Ji Eun will be joining B.A.P’s stage performances for the song.
B1A4 stands for “Be the One All for One”
B1A4 clarified the meaning of their group name.
In the episode of SBS TV’s Challenge! 1000 Songs that aired on February 24, B1A4 made a guest appearance and gave a short interview.
Host Lee Hui Jae asked if B1A4 had a meaning, and B1A4 said, “It stands for ‘Be the One All for One.’ It means we’ll try our best as everyone wishes.”
B1A4 also said they had recently been selected as the most promising K-pop star of 2012 by 270,000 people from all over the world. Lee asked Gongchan, “Gongchan seems like he’s never heard of this,” and Gongchan said, “Yes, I didn’t know about that.”
Teen Top “We Don’t Have Crazy/Extreme Fans”
Some idol groups are having problems because of extreme and crazy fans but Teen Top states that they don’t have such problems. In an interview with Sports Dong A, Teen Top stated, “We believe that we don’t have extreme fans. We don’t have fans that chase us when we are in cabs. I think our fans know that it makes us uncomfortable and they protect our privacy.”
Yang Hyun Suk, “I don’t have the courage to make another group like Big Bang anymore.”
YG Entertainment’s CEO, Yang Hyun Suk (43), has revealed, “I don’t have the strength or courage to create a group like Big Bang anymore.”
When CEO Yang recently held an interview at the Seoul Mapo-Gu YG Building, he stated, “Although I will be producing more groups in the future, I don’t think I will ever be able to find new group members that could harmonize with each other as well as Big Bang does. All of them match up to each other perfectly like a man and woman would do when they are in love.”
According to his explanation, Big Bang may not be the best looking and may not be the best dancers out there, but each member holds a distinct individuality as a weapon that allows them to perform freely, which is the main reason why they receive so much love from their fans in and out of our country.
“Usually in both Korea and Japan, group dancing (synchronized dancing) is the most popular characteristic people look for in groups. However, Big Bang shows a lot of free moves and dances within their performances. That is why I think they receive a lot more response from different countries outside of Korea and Japan.”
Yang Hyun Suk talks about Big Bang’s “Alive Tour” preparations Read
YG Entertainment’s president, Yang Hyun Suk, shared his confidence and excitement over Big Bang’s fast approaching comeback.
Big Bang is scheduled to begin their promotions in early March. The group is to hold concerts on March 2 through 4 at Korea’s largest indoor venue, the Seoul Olympic Park Gymnastics Stadium.
Big Bang’s highly-anticipated comeback to the music scene will be nothing short of big. There are plans set for the group to perform in 20 cities around the world. Their “Alive World Tour 2012” will take them to Asia, North America, South America, and Europe. The fact that they are planning on having a World Tour is adding to the public’s excitement.
Even though Big Bang has many things to prepare for between the promotion of six title tracks and the concert dates in March, the members along with YG are ready. This is an extremely meaningful comeback for the members, their company, as well as the music industry.
CN Blue and F.T. Island Release Promotional Videos for Upcoming Los Angeles Concert
With CN Blue and F.T. Island’s Los Angeles concert two weeks away, they have both released promotional videos for the event. Their joint concert “Stand Up” will be at the Nokia Theater in LA on March 9 at 8PM. This event was created by CJ E&M‘s K-Pop concert brand, “M-Live,”
Big Bang’s Rise in Worldwide Popularity
Big Bang’s comeback is causing a syndrome at home in Korea and abroad.
The announcement of Big Bang’s fifth mini album, “Alive,” has been attracting much attention all over the world. On February 22, the first single, “Blue,” was released and since has been doing very well on domestic charts as well as overseas through iTunes. The single’s music video has gained immense viewership on Youtube as well reaching over 6 million views in three days.
The single “Blue” was made available at the same time on digital music sites such as MelOn, Naver, and MNET. Within an hour the newly released track had achieved an “all-kill” on the domestic music sites. “Blue” has continued to be at the top spot since its release.
The music video for the single also was released on February 22. After a day of being revealed to the public the video pulled in over 1 million views. Currently, the view count stands at over 6 million views. The popularity of the video is spreading worldwide and continues to grow even higher. The map shows where exactly the popularity of “Blue” is the strongest.
Heartfelt Confession on “Entertainment Relay”, “We’re Sorry for Causing Trouble for Our Fellow Singers”
Group Block B revealed their feelings about the Thailand interview through KBS 2TV “Entertainment Relay”.
This is the first time Block B is revealing their thoughts and feelings through broadcasting after the interview controversy blew up. In the recent interview with “Entertainment Relay”, the Block B members said, “We believe we made a huge crime against Thai citizens,” as they lowered their heads. Block B’s leader Zico especially said with an apology, “We caused trouble for our fellow K-POP singers.”
“It was due to my lack of talent, and it was our fault so please do not see this as a problem about K-POP as a whole,” he requested.
Block B delivered their apologies to their Thai and Korean fans, their fellow singers, and their families. They will also reveal their current circumstances and their future plans.
(more…)
Block B’s P.O. hospitalized, Shock from Suicide Petition
Block B member P.O. has been admitted to a university hospital on February 24th. Born on 1993, P.O. just graduated from high school last month and is Block B’s youngest member.
Recently Block B has faced a controversy due to an interview in Thailand and have been receiving criticism from netizens. They released an apology video and team leader Zico has shaved his head in remorse, but the wrath of some fans has not died down.
After the controversy erupted, P.O. has been in a state of panic in the past week and has received a huge shock from a suicide petition held by some rash netizens. During the broadcasting of Mnet “MCountDown”, P.O. participated in the pre-recording, but was not present at the live broadcasting, raising curiosity from the viewers.
Regarding P.O.’s hospitalization, Block B’s agency BrandNewStardom stated, “It is true that P.O. is currently hospitalized. It seems that he received a huge shock due to the recent controversy, but we don’t have an exact diagnosis yet,” avoiding an exact response.
Senior representative from Brand New Stardom interviewed about Block B’s controversy + VIDEO [Block B Apologies]
By now, anyone who’s a fan of K-pop is aware of 7-member idol group Block B. One of the boys’ interviews which took place in Thailand January 30th has stirred major controversy, and the boys have been receiving slanderous remarks from the public and the media alike.
The most sarcastic of remarks said, “They sure did their noise marketing properly,” deeply upsetting the members and their agency. When Star In caught up with Block B backstage at Mnet‘s ‘M! Countdown‘, all the members wore long faces. When approached for an interview, their manager denied the request. Instead, Star In met with a high ranking representative from their agency to ask a few questions.
– Did you neglect to act upon the situation, knowing what happened?
▲ Not at all. I didn’t know at first because I didn’t travel with them to Thailand for the interview, but I was shocked upon seeing the fans’ criticisms. We were going to release an official apology on the 20th, but the controversy had already caught fire by the 19th. The attacks coming at us were so uncontrollable we didn’t know how to control the situation at hand. We got one step behind, and after that, everything got really difficult.
– Are you saying that this is unfair?
▲ No. We deserve to be criticized, 100%. I am responsible as well. The apology statement was typed online after the members personally wrote it by hand. The Block B members were heavily disciplined and they learned a hard lesson. But to see the netizens’ comments be turned into news articles without proof or confirmation was really hurtful.
K-Pop royalty Big Bang releases ‘Blue’
Article from Yahoo Philippines:
K-Pop royalty Big Bang solidifies their “K-Pop blue blood” status with their latest release titled “Blue.”
Known for their hard-hitting hip-hop electronica hits like “Tonight” and “Love Song,” G-Dragon, Taeyang, T.O.P., Daesung, and Seungri returns with their newest mini album titled “Alive” with “Blue” as the first track off the mini-album. “Alive,” Big Bang’s fifth EP consists of seven new songs and is set for release on February 29, 2012.
Given their K-Pop royalty status, “Blue” immediately topped various music portal sites including Melon, Bugs, Naver, M.net, Soribada, and many others upon its release. Boasting of a new “icy-cool” look, Big Bang is again taking the K-Pop world by storm.
The YG X-Files “How Much Does YG Earn?”
Former singer of ‘Seo Taiji and Boys’ Yang Hyun-Suk currently representing YG Entertainment has stated that the revenue and operating profit were much higher than anticipated from that of the previous year.
On Feb. 9th, LIG Investments and Securities ‘YG Entertainment member idols X-File belonging to public (Jeong Yu-seok, an analyst)’ It is reported that this year’s sales had increased 122.7 percent to about 167 billion won, a 167.4 percentage higher than the anticipated 36 billion won. The current target price (based on 8 days) was predicted as 48,150 won but was 81,000 won, nearly doubling up ‘buying’ were revealed.
This report pertains to YG Entertainment’s singers Big Bang, 2NE1, Se7en, Gummy, Psy, Tablo, and Actors/actresses Yoo In Na, Kang Hye Jung, Jung Hye Young whose activities were more vigorous than ever this year, and thus saying the performance improvement was expected. In particular, Yang Hyun-Suk audience brought nearly 15.0% for SBS ‘Kpop Star’ in his appearance on episode ‘The Boss is at Work’ where he also predicted that Big Bang and 2NE1 would increase rapid growth in sales.
During Big Bang’s comeback activities last year alone brought a revenue of 29 billion won. This year’s scheduled comeback for Big Bang is expected to increase even more sales. The report says, the scheduled March 2-4th Big Bang concert is expected to raise the revenue of 4 billion won. They are working with the music industry in the United States for 2NE1’s collaborations, even more growth than last year is predicted to show up for them as well.
Big Bang reveals addictive preview of ‘Love Dust’
Big Bang is aiming to bomb the music scene again with its new single Love Dust.
The group released a preview and commercial of Love Dust through YG’s official blog and Naver Music.
While Blue was a calm and lyrical piece, Love Dust showcases a brighter mood and an addictive hook, living up to the expectations of those fans who were looking forward to the single ever since its unique title was released.
The commercial for the single features a laid back T.O.P. It seems as if he is taking a rest before a shoot, listening to music in a neat suit that contrasts with his mint colored hair.
SBS Strong Heart preparing for a “YG Special”
Lee Seung Gi’s last ep of Strong Heart to be ‘YG special’
On the 22nd, a related person from SBS said, “On the 15th March, at Strong Heart, ‘YG special’ where all the singers from YG entertainment will appear will be filmed. The production team are having meetings about various concepts such as Psy being the MC.”
March 15th is the date of the last recording of the current MC of Strong Heart, Lee Seung Gi. Lee Seung Gi is leaving the show in order to concentrate on his acting and singing activities.
SBS has been generous to YG artists. In 2010, when 2NE1 made a comeback on Inkigayo, for the first time ever, they performed 3 songs. In addition, in February 2011 when Big Bang made a comeback, a program called ‘Big Bang Show’ was made. Yang Hyun Suk is also active on SBS Kpop Star at the moment.
(more…)
Big Bang to have their “Inkigayo” comeback stage on March 11
Big Bang is having their comeback on March 11 in SBS’s Inkigayo.
A staff member of SBS’s variety shows said in an interview with TV Report, “Big Bang is planning to return on March 11 in Inkigayo. Yet, we’re not sure about the details such as how many songs they will be performing, but they’re certainly giving returning performance on March 11.”
Because Big Bang has experience of performing three of their new songs in Inkigayo before, the group is likely to have another unusual comeback performance this time.
Originally, Big Bang considered returning to TV on March 4 after releasing its mini-album, but the group insisted to postpone the date to March 11 in order to focus on their upcoming concert.
Big Bang takes “April” award at 1st Gaon K-Pop Awards (120222)
The “1st Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards” took place at 7pm on February 22nd (KST) at the Blue Square Samsung Card Hall.
Big Bang became one of the the “Artists of the Year” taking the #1 spot for the April of 2011 with “LOVE SONG“. Big Bang were not able to attend the Awards ceremony due to schedule issues so a representative of YG Entertainment received the award on their behalf.
The “Artists of the Year Award” is given to an artist(s) for each month and then again for each quarter for a total of 16 possible awards in the year with possible overlaps.
On/Offline Entertainment Media Star News and Gaon Chart co-sponsored “The 1st Gaon Chart K-pop Awards” and objectivity and fairness was the top priority. The award winners were determined based on Gaon’s aggregate data (digital music, album sales).
bontheblog|ㅂ| 