Former Big Bang member and actor T.O.P (Choi Seung Hyun) released the first studio album of his career "Another dimension" on April 3.
This album marks T.O. P's comeback as a solo artist 13 years after "Doom Dada" in 2013.
The album includes 11 songs, including 2 title tracks "Studio54" and "Desperado", along with other songs showing T.O. P's unique and unpredictable artistic style such as "Self crucifixion", "A small, filthy show window", "Another dimension holy dude !!!!!!!!!!", "Stendhal syndrome"...
Desperado" is a song that expresses moments of love in a frank and direct way, with house music colors combined with hip-hop inspiration from the 1980s.
T.O. P participated in the entire album production process. The project also features Grammy-winning sound engineer Ilko, American artist Ed Ruscha, and art director Chae Kyung Sun of the Netflix series "Squid Game".
Notably, as soon as the album was released, fans discovered that some of T.O. P's songs mentioned Big Bang, even the male rapper directly mentioned personal scandals in the past.
In "A small, filthy show window" - a song dedicated to his fans - T.O. P moved with the words: "Leaving the glory of the past, starting again with new determination/ I apologize but I once loved/ I leave, Big Bang!".
In the song "Studio54" there is a line: "I'm very sorry but I loved my 20s with Big Bang, no need to argue/My fans, broken, full of scars".
In particular, in the song "Self crucifixion", T.O. P directly inserted audio clips related to his past marijuana scandal, including the program host's news and controversy surrounding his blocking fans on social networks.
The song has passages mentioning: "T.O. P (Big Bang) accused of using banned substances"; "Choi Seung Hyun officially on trial for drugs"; "Overdose shock, he was hospitalized for emergency treatment"; "T.O. P, real name Choi Seung Hyun, used marijuana"; "Where will T.O. P's career go?"...
The album "Another dimension" has created many mixed opinions among the public and the music scene.
Some netizens criticized T.O. P for saying that he "interpreted" past mistakes into "artistic pain" or "a story of a broken soul".
Critics also recalled T.O. P's previous statements, such as saying he would not return to the Korean entertainment industry, and the action of erasing Big Bang's mark on his personal page, saying that his lyrics are too self-defensive.
Conversely, the supporting audience believes that the repeated phrase "I am very sorry" is a sincere apology, expressing T.O.P's feeling of guilt towards former members as well as fans.
In a previous interview with the magazine, T.O. P once said: "I realize how much hurt I have caused to those around me, my family and fans.
Amidst controversies about the album, all 3 current members of Big Bang, Taeyang, G-Dragon and Daesung, have successively posted publicly supporting T.O.P on social networks. This action shows that the members still respect and silently support the male rapper after many years since he left the group.
