TOP

2005–2006: Youth and debut with Big Bang

Main article: Big Bang

Big Bang at MTV Fast Forward, Thailand, December 2007

Before Son Hyun came to YG Entertainment , he read rap under the pseudonym Tempo with his childhood friend G-Dragon , who is another Big Bang singer. G-Dragon said they were “high school neighborhood friends” and they often read rap together. Despite the fact that their life paths soon diverged, G-Dragon contacted Seung Hyun when YG Entertainment announced casting for new members to create a boy band. They recorded a few demos and sent them to the director of YG. Yang Hyun-seok, the general director, invited Seung Hyun to audition, but refused, because it was believed that the plump young man did not match the ideals of the musician.

Son Hyun later said: “I went home and it hurt from being aware of it all. I wanted to join YG Entertainment. ” Six months later, he came back to the audition and took it. It is reported that he lost 20 kg in 40 days for the sake of obtaining a contract. Choi Seung Hyun received the pseudonym Thap (Korean:), which was invented by the artist Se7en. The alias is translated as top, including English. Starting from the English translation, the second pseudonym of the performer appeared, which eventually became the most famous - TOP Son Hyun became one of two rappers along with G-Dragon. For a place in the group fought the same way, Tae Yang , Dashon, Sonny and Chan Hyun Son. Later, Hyun Son was removed at the final stage of the show for survival, and Big Bang debuted with five people. In the first single album, Thap and Ji-Dragon presented a joint single "We belong together" together with Pak Bom. Later in the first full-length album, TOP presented a solo track called “Big Boy”.

The band gained tremendous success with the release of the song “Lies” (Korean:; Geojitmal) from their first mini-album Always (2007), which topped the charts after the release. The singles “Last Farewell” (Korean: 마지막 인, Majimak Insa ) from the mini-album Hot Issue and “Day by Day” (Korean: 하루 하루, Haru Haru) from the mini-album Stand Up also turned out to be on the top of the charts as weekly and annual.

2007–2010: Solo career development, TOP as an actor and GD & TOP

After the release of mini-albums and new singles, TOP began working on his solo career. In April 2007, he was noticed along with Te Yan and G-Dragon at the presentation of the single "Super Fly" by Lexy for her album Rush. At the end of the summer, he appeared in the Red Roc group's “Hello” video. Later, he became the first member of Big Bang, who made his debut as an actor in the KBS2 drama “I Am Sam,” portraying a fighter.

He was also in the role of MC on the Music Core. In 2008, he collaborated with R & B singer Gummy on the hit song I'm Sorry (미안), which lasted in the first place on the Melon chart for 4 weeks in a row, collaborated with singer Om Yun Hwa for her single “DISCO” with Xia, for the single “I only see you. " In the same year, he successfully entered the University of Dankook in the theater department. A little later, TOP suspended its solo activities to join the Big Bang promotional activities. A year later, he returned to the acting profession, playing Vic in the Korean drama Iris. TOP also recorded the song “Hallelujah” as a soundtrack for the TV show in conjunction with Te Yan and G-Dragon. After Iris , TOP and Sonny appeared in the teenage drama “My 19 ″, for which they released a song ^[15] called“ Because ”.

His appearance in the film “ 71: On Fire ” earned him several awards, including the Hallyu Popularity Award. The film also scored about 1 million views per week, which made it the best South Korean film for 2010. At the same time, TOP began to prepare again for his solo career. During the 2010 Big Bang Big Show, TOP performs their new single "Turn It Up". Later, he uploaded an official clip that scored over a million views in a few minutes. He became the first Korean musician whose song spread throughout the world on iTunes.

In November 2010, YG Entertainment announced that TOP and G-Dragon will release a joint album called “GD & TOP”. They released five singles: “High High”, “Oh Yeah”, “Knock Out”, “Don't Go Home” and “Baby Goodnight”. All five singles reached the top of the charts. Knock Out was number 1, while Oh Yeah and High High took second and third place. The album was released on Christmas Eve and quickly became number one, with a pre-order of 200,000 copies.

2011–2015: Continuing Careers

In 2011, Big Bang suspended its activities after the release of the Tonight album due to the Deson accident and the G-Dragon marijuana scandal. TOP, along with Big Bang, attended MTV EMA 2011, where they won the “Best Worldwide Act” category. It is also worth noting that, starting with the album “Tonight”, Thap begins to take part in writing the albums of the group on an ongoing basis. From the same album, GD becomes the main music producer of the group, and Thap is a regular co-producer.

In 2012, TOP starred in the film Obligation (also known as Graduate ), playing the son of a North Korean spy who was brazenly slandered. During the filming of the battle scene for the film, he injured the back of his hand, cutting himself on the glass and was later taken to the hospital for surgery. Filming was postponed for several weeks, but despite injuries, TOP continued to perform with Big Bang on a world tour. For his role, he won the Rookie Award, which took place during the Busan International Film Festival. He became the only Korean actor who received the award at the ceremony.

TOP was named one of the hottest sex characters in 2013. In November, he released the single “Doom Dada”. It was his first single 3 years after the release of “Turn It Up”.

In 2014, TOP played the lead role Ham De Gil in the South Korean film “ War of Flowers 2: The Hand of God”.

After he made his debut as a furniture designer in 2015 in collaboration with Vitra, he was awarded the Visual Culture Award.

2016-present: Out of Control, Sotheby's and army recruitment

In the first half of 2016, the shooting of the film Out of Control: the Phantom Drive (Russian: Unchecked) of a joint German-Chinese production takes place. TOP is filmed abroad for the first time, it is also the first film for him not Korean production. Such famous actors as Cecilia Chun and Michael Trevino are filmed with him. ^[2]

In the second half of 2016, TOP collaborates with one of the oldest auction houses in the world, Sotheby's . ^[3]

On February 9, 2017, the Son Hyun will begin the initial level of training in the army, which will last 4 weeks in the training camp of the city of Nonsan, and then he will be enlisted in the brass band of the special forces of the Mobilized Police. ^[four]

Collaborative albums

• GD & TOP with G-Dragon (2010)

Singles

• “Friend” (in Korean: 친구; in Russian: Friend; romanized: Chingu ) (TOP with Thayang )
• “Act Like Nothing's Wrong” (in Korean: 아무렇지 않은 척; in Russian: Pretend that everything is fine)
• “Hallelujah” (TOP with Thayang and G-Dragon ) (soundtrack to the drama “Iris” )
• "Turn It Up"
• “Because” TOP featuring Sunri (soundtrack to the film “My 19 ″ )
• "Of All Days"
• "Oh Mom"
• "DOOM DADA"

Joint singles

• “I'm Sorry” (Japanese version) Gummy (featuring TOP)
• “Buckwild” NBK Gray featuring TOP
• "Big Boy"
• “I'm Sorry” Gummy featuring TOP
• "All I See Is you" Zia with TOP participation
• "DISCO" Yum Jong Hwa with TOP participation
• "Digital Bounce" Se7en with TOP participation

• Fubu
• Calvin Klein - "The Brooklyn Boy"
• North Face ^[13]
• Lotte Department Store
• Sunny10
• LG Lollipop
• LG Cyon Suit
• LG Optimus ONE
• LG Cyon Clear
• Baskin robbins
• Nikon
• Fila
• 2% Water
• Eversense
• G Market
• Lotte duty free
• CJ Group CM TV
• Style m
• Bangs B-School

SBS Inkigayo

Mnet M! Countdown

Melon Music Awards

• ygbigbang.com/top - TOP official site