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YG talks about Big Bang’s contracts ending next year
YG Entertainment head Yang Hyun-suk expressed Sunday his wish for Big Bang, one of K-pop’s top dogs, to continue under his agency.
The five-member band is finally slated to make their long-anticipated comeback beginning May 1. It comes three years after their last effort together.
During hiatus, its members — G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, Seungri — carried out solo activities in both acting and singing.
But with members approaching the age deadline for South Korea’s mandatory two-year military service for men, and with their agency contracts ending next year, Big Bang’s future is unclear.
“When we first made Big Bang, idol groups were only expected to last four to five years,” Yang said in a press conference held after Big Bang’s Seoul concert, according to Yonhap. “At that time, we made Big Bang with the thought that they would be a long-lasting group, and I feel we’ve kept that promise for nine years. I want them to keep going another nine years.”
Yang said he does not see why the group cannot keep going with members serving in the military, as the group has so far been maintained by members’ solo activities.
He said, when asked why he thinks Big Bang has been a long-lasting group: “Good music, the charming combination of the five members, and an acceptance of their talents. I have done nothing.”
Big Bang performed their newest tracks, “Loser” and “Bae Bae,” for the first time during the tour. They will release a new single once a month from May to September before releasing the full album, “MADE,” in fall.