BIGBANG T.O.P's Career Path, From Rapper to Art Collector
BIGBANG's T.O.P will not officially renew his contract with YG Entertainment after being there for 16 years. Now the BIGBANG rapper will develop his career outside of music and become a businessman.
T.O.P debuted as a member of BIGBANG under YG Entertainment in 2006. He debuted with four other members namely G-Dragon, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri.
Before debuting as a member of BIGBANG, T.O.P was an underground rapper with the stage name Tempo and released a song titled Buckwild with NBK.
But the two separated when G-Dragon moved. Until one day, he was contacted by G-Dragon that YG Entertainment opened auditions for boy groups.
After that, the two of them started to make some demo recordings and sent them to the then CEO of YG Entertainment, Yang Hyun-suk. They were also asked to audition.
Despite having a good experience, Choi Seung-Hyun's journey to becoming a member of the YG Entertainment boyband was not immediately smooth. He was rejected because he was considered to have excess body weight to enter the "ideal idol" criteria.
However, this did not dampen Choi Seung-Hyun's enthusiasm to continue to attend the audition. He tried to lose weight with diet and exercise until he managed to lose 20 kilograms in 40 days.
Then Choi Seung-Hyun auditioned for YG Entertainment again and was declared passed. He was also given the stage name T.O.P by his senior at YG Entertainment, Se7en aka Choi dong-Wook.
When debuted in 2006, BIGBANG released an album titled BIGBANG Vol.1 which sold 48,000 copies. BIGBANG's name skyrocketed after they released their first mini-album, titled Always.
BIGBANG then released several Korean and Japanese albums, including Remember (2008), Number 1 (2008), BIGBANG (2009), BIGBANG 2 (2011), Alive (2012), MADE (2016), and Made Series (2016).
BIGBANG recently released the single Flower Road (2018) as their last farewell to their fans before a long hiatus due to BIGBANG members serving in the military.
Not only with BIGBANG, but T.O.P also has a solo career by releasing several singles. He has had several solo singles, including Big Boy (2006), Turn It Up (2010), Because (2010), Oh Mom (2011), Doom Dada (2013), and Hi Haruka (2015).
He also has a project duo group with G-Dragon (GD&TOP). The duo released three singles namely High High, Oh Yeah and Knock Out.
In addition to music, T.O.P has also spread his wings by becoming a dagger in the world of acting. He even became the first BIGBANG member to enter the world of acting by starring in the drama I Am Sam in 2007.
In the drama I Am Sam, T.O.P plays the role of Chae Moo-shin, a student who often gets into trouble and skips school. He later starred in several dramas and films, including Story of Men (2008), Iris (2009), Haru (2010), 71: Into the Fire (2010), Commitment (2013), and Secret Message (2015).
After completing the MADE World Tour 2015-2016 concert series, T.O.P has been serving the military since February 2017. The 34-year-old star started his duties as a police officer.
But soon he was charged and fined for illegal drug use in July 2017, causing him to lose his position as a conscripted police officer.
In January 2018, T.O.P started a new assignment as a public service worker for Yongsan city. During that assignment, he had time to stumble over the problem of violating the military norms. He then officially completed his military service in July 2019.
As reported by Larry's List some time ago, T.O.P in early October 2016 took a big step in his art career by becoming a guest curator of a special auction for Sotheby's Hong Kong.
He was also the co-curator of The Eye Zone exhibition at ArtScience Museum Singapore in 2015. Not only that, but he also lent part of his collection for the Yang Haegue exhibition at the Leeum Samsung Art Museum, South Korea.
"I dreamed of launching a small season to showcase my collection which I find beautiful, influential, and impressive," said T.O.P in the interview.
"If I can share this work with many people and happiness with them, I think it is very valuable and makes me happy as a collector," he said.
T.O.P has also 'shown off' his collection through BIGBANG's music video. Kohei Nawa's Deer collection was featured in BAE BAE's music video several years ago.
