Big Bang - Shout Out To The World! (English Translation) [2009]

Becoming the first Underground rapper in YG [~ Pt.Four~]

Back then, the dream of being a singer was overshadowed by “being a famous underground rapper”. Since there were only a few “overground” rappers that was successful based purely on talent in the industry, so I had a thought that “to do real rap, I had to do do real underground Hip-hop”. During Grade 9, I met and dated a girlfriend when I was performing for clubs. We dated for a year before I was signed into YG Entertainment. She was older than me and because there were a lot of other smart university students, I wanted to show myself off a little too.

The voice that I had about my unforeseeable future was slowly diminishing and I told my girlfriend about my strong passion. My future started to look brighter and better. Telling people about my dream made me realize that it was becoming more realistic. I found that my passion was stronger than before when I had the thought of becoming a rapper that people approved.

That was also the first time I wanted to “become a rapper on TV”. How I got to make a street rap CD to hand to Jiyong was because of that girlfriend. However, after I entered YG Entertainment, we broke up before our 1yr anniversary. I was lucky to be a YG trainee and I looked forward to “rapping as much as I wanted”. I was even more looking forward to working with music composers so we could exchange ideas. My dream of being a rapper was slowly folding out.

During my time as a trainee, along with my dream of being a rapper, the thought of being a music producer was running through my mind as well. Just like Mr. Yang Hyun Suk, I had an ambition where Hip-hop and R&B music enthusiasts could go to one place to spread their wings. I realized that if I wanted to be an accomplished music producer, I had to go through that process on my own. I had to step forward if I wanted to be a rapper or a singer.

However, as my days of a trainee were about to end and as I went to my last audition, the reality of the situation versus what I thought were completely different.

“Our plan is to produce a group where dancing is a major element during their group activities. For the members who are chosen to be in the group, their actions will be recorded for a documentary.”

I was astounded when I heard the above 3 points.