Following his YG Entertainment exit, BIGBANG’s T.O.P is now planning to release his debut album as a solo artist. Sixteen years after being a part of one of the best K-Pop groups in the business, is he ready to go solo?
T.O.P revealed he graced the cover of Prestige magazine in Hong Kong in a post on Instagram on Wednesday, Mar. 2. Here, he talked about different topics, like his lengthy hiatus, mental health, and his first solo album plans.
BIGBANG T.O.P on Prestige
The 34-year-old star’s post featured the snap of the magazine cover, showing a collage of his face. He made the announcement in three languages, Japanese, Chinese and English, so all of his fans could follow.
The note read,
“In Prestige Hong Kong’s March cover story, rapper Choi Seung Hyun—better known as T.O.P—breaks his silence about his lengthy disappearance from public view, discusses how his love for art and music have helped him overcome the more difficult periods of his life, opens up about his new-found passion for changing perceptions of mental health and prepares to reveal his future plans, which include a debut album.”
By the looks of it, he will not only grace the magazine’s cover alone. He will also provide an interview to give fans a glimpse of his life and future endeavors.
It has been five years since he has been away from the spotlight. Now, he is ready to capture everyone’s heart again with his own projects and the much-awaited return of BIGBANG.
T.O.P Leaves YG Entertainment, Returns with BIGBANG
YG announced T.O.P’s exit on Feb. 7, the same day it revealed BIGBANG would make its much-awaited comeback. The group would return as a four-piece, with G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang and Daesung.
Fans would no longer see Seungri as part of the group after his early retirement following his involvement in the Burning Sun scandal.
Despite that, fans still have a reason to celebrate as BIGBANG would drop a new song after four years. It will also come with a music video that the V.I.Ps must-see.
“T.O.P’s exclusive contract with YG has ended, and he will be taking on a wide variety of new challenges as both an artist and an entrepreneur,” the statement read, via PhilStar. “We respected T.O.P’s desire to broaden the scope of his individual activities aside from just his promotions with BIGBANG, and he successfully came to an agreement about this with the other members.”
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Despite the exit, T.O.P will still participate in the band’s activities whenever he can and when the conditions are right.
Meanwhile, the rapper himself revealed he felt “happy” after breaking free from his music label. In a series of posts on Instagram on Feb. 9, he proved his decision was right with the way he celebrated the big move.
“Happy,” his Instagram Story read, per NME. “I’m so HAPPY.”
For more BIGBANG and T.O.P news, stay tuned to EpicStream!