GD & TOP (album)
| GD&TOP | ||||
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| Studio album by GD & TOP | ||||
| Released | December 24, 2010; February 23, 2011 (Japan Edition) | |||
| Recorded | 2010 | |||
| Genre | Pop, alternative hip hop, hip hop, electro-hop, pop rap | |||
| Language | Korean | |||
| Label | YG Entertainment | |||
| Producer | Yang Hyun Suk, Masta Wu, G-Dragon, T.O.P | |||
| G-Dragon chronology | ||||
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| Singles from GD&TOP | ||||
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| Original album cover | ||||
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GD&TOP is the debut album of South Korean artists GD & TOP, members of Big Bang. Released on December 24, 2010, the album marks the first collaboration between the two away from their group. The duo promoted the album extensively, including a worldwide premiere showcase and numerous performances. Three singles were released for promotion: "High High", "Oh Yeah", and "Knockout". While "High High" went on to become a chart-topper, the latter two singles charted in at #2 and #3 respectively.
The album is listed by Gaon Album Chart as the fifth best-selling album of 2010 in South Korea, with 130,000 copies sold.
While working on materials with their bandmates for their next album, G-Dragon and T.O.P began to experiment with different styles. According to G-Dragon, the members were trying new "combination[s]" with their music, in which the vocalists — Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri — were to record their own music as a trio while G-Dragon and T.O.P were to branch off as a duo since they "hadn't been with our fans for the past two years." Although the division of the group was initially for Big Bang's materials only, G-Dragon and T.O.P saw a positive response to their materials from the fans and went to Yang Hyun-seok, the CEO of YG Entertainment, to allow the duo to release an album. After receiving Yang's approval, news of their collaboration was announced in November 2010.
G-Dragon and T.O.P co-wrote majority of the lyrics to the album, noting that as "rappers [...] we'd like to tell more stories for our fans to listen." In an attempt to create their own style away from their band, the duo opted for a more hip-hop genre to contrast the group's current genre of electronic music, though G-Dragon acknowledged the influence of R&B, acoustic, and electronic music. The two admitted to becoming "much more diverse [in their] attempts" to create their own style, as well as "how the music develops and the images that the melody and rap portray[s]." They later went on to say that "the reason we mixed such a variety of genres is because we wanted to bring out more of our character that we don't get to show when we're Big Bang." When recordings were done, 11 tracks were recorded, including a collaboration with singer Park Bom. The duo would later mention that after recording the album, they became "attached" to all of their songs as they "worked on each and every one of the songs in...[the]...album by staying up many nights." T.O.P's solo song "Turn It Up" was also included on the album as a bonus track.
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