Former Big Bang member T.O.P returning with first solo music since 2014
T,O.P is poised to return with a studio-length album this year.
Former BigBang member T.O.P is returning with his first solo music since 2014.
The 37-year-old K-pop star - whose real name is Choi Seung-hyun - took a step back from showbiz in 2020 after being charged with smoking marijuana at home.
He would go on to star in season two of Netflix's hit dystopian survival thriller series Squid Games, which aired in December 2024.
After teasing new music, a source has claimed the rapper will release an album sometime between October and December this year.
The insider told The Korea Herald: “T.O.P’s studio album is scheduled for release sometime in or after October. He has completed recording and plans to shoot several music videos. An art director of Squid Game will oversee the production."
His last single was 2014's Doom Dada.
In an interview with NME in January, T.O.P teased his musical comeback: “What I am currently hoping to do is share with the world T.O.P – me as a musician – because I will be sharing my music [for the first time] in almost a decade.”
After hitting rock bottom, music was the one thing that helped him through.
He explained: “In order to quite literally live, I turned to creating music.
“That’s when I learned that, only when I was in my music [or] standing in front of the mic, I was able to breathe.”
The album looks set to be his most personal work to date.
T.O.P said: “Over the years, I spent a lot of time really thinking about and regretting what I have done, and I spent a lot of time on self-reflection as well."
Before rising to global fame, T.O.P honed his craft as an underground rapper, eventually signing with YG Entertainment and making his official debut in 2006 as the lead rapper of BigBang. The group quickly soared to prominence, becoming one of Asia’s top-selling acts and earning recognition as one of the most successful boy bands worldwide. During a brief hiatus in 2010, T.O.P teamed up with fellow BigBang member G-Dragon to release the joint album GD and TOP.
T.O.P left BigBang in May 2023, and he later admitted that due to his shame around his smoking scandal - which led to a 10-month suspended jail sentence in 2017 - he has no plans to return to the group.
He said in January: “Regarding moving forward on my own, I felt that if I faced criticism and backlash, it was something I could endure alone. However, as long as I remained part of BigBang, the guilt could not be erased, and I believed I could no longer let the team suffer because of me.
"The reason I cannot return is, honestly, because I feel too ashamed to face the other members.”
