last k-pop

When will G-Dragon be releasing his solo album?

On August 18 2009, G-Dragon released his first solo album with the celebration of his 21st birthday.
This year, he is planning to unveil another solo regular album on the same date as 4 years ago.

Just like the first album, he will be in charge of composing and writing every song, plus the album production.
The album will consist of 10 songs.

This weekend marks the finale of his grand solo World Tour. For the past few months
G-Dragon has been performing 25 times around the world, and the ending will be held in Singapore.
As soon as he crosses the finish line of his World Tour, he will be devoting his whole energy on another project,
which includes his album jacket shooting and wrapping-up process of his 2nd solo regular album.

His 2nd regular album is like pulling out a diamond from a treasure box
because the album was already in the process of making when a mini album was released last September.

What is special about G-Dragon’s 2nd solo album?

With the 2nd solo album, what we decided to do was to have one legendary foreign artist
feature in it rather than have several. There were many male rappers on the list,
but what YG was looking for was a female rapper – and there was just one. We found the answer so quickly
and we were unanimous on choosing this artist.

And she is – Missy Elliott.

If you know a tiny bit about hip-hop, you would know this legendary artist.
I feel that an introduction of her is unnecessary as everyone knows her, so here’s a very simple background.
She is a hip-hop legend who produced a huge number of big hits that set her apart from other artists.
If you are unfamiliar with hip-hop, just take a peek of her songs “Get Ur Freak On” and “Work It” on YouTube,
and you will recognize her in a matter of seconds.

Missy Elliott partnered with Timbaland, and their amazing synergy produced the following songs:
1997 – SUPA DUPA FLY (Album): “The Rain”
2001 – MISS E… SO ADDICTIVE (Album): “Get Ur Freak On” and “One Minute Man”
2002 – UNDER CONSTRUCTION (album): “Gossip Folks” and “Work It”
2005 – The Cook Book (album): “Lose Control”
These songs put her on a global stardom, and the musicians she teamed up with also include
top-notch artists like 50 Cent, Jay Z., Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, and Mary J. Blige.
But unfortunately she had to stop everything abruptly for health reasons,
which halted all music related activities including releasing another album.

This is why it was extra difficult for G-Dragon to ask her to feature in his song.

For the last several months, YG has spared no effort in asking Missy Elliott to feature in G-Dragon’s song.
We have been sending her G-Dragon-related information including his songs. And finally,
we were able to win her interest for G-Dragon’s creativity and music, and now she will be
featuring in G-Dragon’s new solo album.

Any more details on the song featuring Missy Elliott?

This track is a song by YG’s main producer, Teddy, that has a very unique hip-hop beat like
other Missy Elliott’s tracks. Missy Elliott and G-Dragon exchanged ideas extensively over the phone,
and they decided that G-Dragon would come up with the lyrics and rap for demonstration,
which will be given to Missy Elliott in the U.S., who will then add her own rap to complete the song.

G-Dragon’s song featuring the female hip-hop legend breaks away from the convention
with a hint of Korean taste. The tinge of a voice sample from a Korean traditional folk song “Nilliliya”
makes it a one-of-a-kind, classy hip-hop track.

Diplo, the world-renowned DJ and a songwriter, who has been part of ‘Knock Out’,
will also be participating in this album.

I will come back with more details on G-Dragon’s album and a track list soon!

When will Taeyang announce his solo album plans?

To be continued… see you all tomorrow!

2013. 06.25 FROM YG