GD's success on the world wide web

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

G-Dragon's SNS Manual

 

“Twitter is a waste of life,” said Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United about social media (social networking services: SNS). Celebrities’ statuses are often destroyed because of a few words they write on SNS. But G-DRAGON (GD) is far from doing this. He has 2.6 million Twitter followers, and 2.16 million on Instagram. Among the followers are Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, Lilly Allen and Thom Browne. Pharrell Williams directly messaged GD to ask him if they can collaborate. Just this proves how the world’s entertainment businesses have their eyes on GD.


In 2012, “Rolling Stone” reviewed GD’s song “Crayon.” In 2013, men’s magazine “Complex” and “Fuse TV” interviewed him. In 2014, “Hollywood Reporter” chose him as one of the 10 Global Pop Icons. GD was the only Asian on the list, while Grammy’s Song of the Year winner Lorde was included. He has gone beyond a star of simple reviews and interviews, and has positioned himself as an icon. He cuts across the range of “Complex,” a magazine trendy people read, to “Hollywood Reporter,” one of mainstream entertainment media.

Yet it’s early to say that GD is a star in the U.S. But media coverage of GD in the U.S. is definitely growing. GD’s status on SNS symbolizes where he stands in the world. His name may not be familiar yet, but Western pop and fashion icons want to befriend him. In other words, he is a “hipster.” GD would be popular among hipsters, who are after things that will become popular in the future

The way GD uses SNS shows why “Hollywood Reporter” chose GD as an icon among many other K-Pop stars. His photos on Instagram are like a series of magazine pictures. Touring around the world, meeting big stars like Chanel’s head designer Karl Lagerfeld, and wearing outfits and accessories given to him personally by top designers like Rick Owens are few of the many stylish photos that make his page special

GD reveals through SNS a lifestyle of big stars in a stylish way. His messages are precise and short. He writes about the country he is visiting or something like “Night and day switched… I should have a proper lifestyle.” He rarely responds to fans’ mentions, or sometimes retweets if he agrees with something. He reveals the lifestyle that people desperately want to know, while keeping a distance by holding back on saying too much.

He reveals things like going to Chanel’s Haute Coutre, or Barbara Palvin talking to him personally to the 2 million plus followers. It might just be simply “cool,” but he makes it look like a GD-edition of Vogue on SNS. Like an editor of the magazine, he reveals his daily life with such class. He attracts people who are interested in parties, celebrities, fashion and Chanel.

GD’s SNS itself says “Follow, Follow Me,” and is highly influential. In its interview with GD, “Complex” wrote that worldly fashion brands have been working hard to work with GD. After GD was shown wearing a particular brand, their sales soared. A producer from a giant agent said GD is the only star that has an influence on sales after wearing a high-fashion brand.

It’s not only about his fashion sense. BIGBANG’s Japan Dome Tour attracted 770,000 fans in 16 concerts. That’s about 100 billion won in profit. This excludes the profit from GD’s solo World Tour. Last year, Bon Jovi ranked #1 in the highest concert profit, with $205 million. So for a Korean artist to profit this much overseas with just a few hit songs is impossible. It’s only possible when there is demand from the fans.

GD’s SNS shows how it’s done. His music, fashion, parties, travel, friends, and his overall lifestyle is exposed by TV, magazines and SNS. In a nutshell, GD is “hip.” This is the most important aspect in the global entertainment business in 2014.

GD does not run his SNS self-consciously. If just putting thoughts into it led to success, then celebrities would not have wasted their life on it. GD’s fashion, music, and concert make it all possible. “Complex” reviewed not only GD but also the producers involved in the album, and the entire “COUP D’ETAT” album. In another article, they wrote about a fashion brand GD likes in detail. GD and his entertainment agent YG’s enthusiasm for the interview made it all possible. And GD did not miss Paris Fashion Week, especially Chanel’s Haute Coutre, despite his extremely busy schedule.

When Matthew Bellamy from Muse mentioned GD and T.O.P’s performance on his SNS, GD and YG actively promoted GD so he can be positioned as a “hip” artist. World-renowned music and fashion icon Pharrell Williams wanting to befriend GD means a lot, and GD has to work hard to fulfill that expectation. GD reveals that process on his SNS, and successfully rose to a star that attracts attention from trendy people across the world.

To sum it up, GD is “hip,” and it is a result of him designing his life that way. He knows his goals, he focuses on what suits him, and he is aware of people’s expectations and also his own. So he designs a life he wants. This is a huge plus for using SNS properly, but is also important for celebrities to shape their own brand as they are exposed on SNS continuously. Doing good music or acting is the basis. If they want to remain a star, they have to design their entire life in a stylish way to show it to the public. That’s how the rules in the field are changing now.

Baauer talks about working with G-Dragon

Superstar DJ and Producer Baauer is visiting Australia in March for the Future Music Festival. We had a chance to talk to him about his experience of working with G-Dragon on Coup d'Etat.




One thing I wanted to talk to you about, when you worked with the Korean pop artist G-Dragon on Coup d’Etat. Can you tell me what that was like and how it came about?

Baauer: Someone showed me a couple of his music videos a while ago and it blew my mind! I thought this guy’s so fucking tight and this is like way cooler than anything that I’ve seen come from America. I was really stoked on working with him. Originally it was through Diplo. Diplo was making some shit for him and he hit me up and said let’s go in on this project with G-Dragon together. That was one where it was sort of an on-line thing, back and forth. It was so exciting to get a cut on his record. I think it’s really awesome because I’m a huge G-Dragon fan.

Are you likely to work with him again do you think?

Baauer: Yeah I’d love to. The relationship is still going and I would love to work with him again. I think it’s very possible.

Twitter updates

"please look forward to the performances in yokohama as well #bigbang #fanmeeting #yokohama"

"Uh...? Huh...? Ah? What? #Harpersbazaar please look forward to it"




Sources: yg-life | bigbangupdates | IBGDRGN@twitter

Comments

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

Um...never thought i'd see "hipster" and "gd" together. Ever.

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

Really? Certainly not the first time I've heard (or thought) it. Especially during 2008, that whole headband phase.

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

looking at my icon and that picture, 2008 was a good year

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

My most fav bigbang song ever sunset glow came out in '08, so yay!

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

same same!

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

Ahh baby gd so cute! I just don't associate hipsters with lambos and chrome hearts

[babyonions.livejournal.com]

Coup was reviewed by Pitchfork tho
And they didn't give him 0

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

XD
OMG bb, this is why I love you


Also we need to talk pets... how is your bunny?
Did you have him tattooed? or does he have a microchip maybe?
I'm getting all worried for my baby, she's gonna have a microchip soon, I need to be reassured

[babyonions.livejournal.com]

Bc of my hipster knowledge? I try lol

You have to microchip her? Poor kitty :(
I only know about dogs and microchips and from what I heard, it's not a big thing, it will probably be more stressful for you than for her, don't worry
But bunny needs to be sterilized. She had a few fake pregnancies and I didn't want to do it before bc it's a big surgery, but her hormones are wild. I need to make an appointment, but I'm totally putting it off, I'm scared

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Yeah, now that we have a garden she will probably go out a lot, maybe even outside of the garden and I want people to be able to get her back to us if she get lost... and I don't want people to think she's a stray cat and have her euthanized.

Poor lady bunny ><
My lil princess is sterilized, she was completly out the first day, really groggy, she couldn't walk straight and I think she was in a lil' bit of pain for 2 days, but after a week she was all good.
Lady bunny is a lot smaller though, so I don't know how it's gonna be for her. But it's for the best I think.
Be strong mama

[babyonions.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's smart. Bunnies don't have a sense of home and direction like cats do, so when bunny is in the garden, someone needs to watch her, especially bc we have woods behind the house and if she's gone, we'll never find her. People don't recommend letting bunnies out, but she's so happy when she's running around and exploring, I can't break her heart

I know she'll be fine in the end, but I'm procrastinating bc I can't look at her when she's in pain
And I'm thinking of getting another bunny later this year, lady needs a gentleman tbh, and in that case, she needs to be sterilized

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

awww she's gonna have a lil' man that's so cute.
One of my bestie had a Flemish Giant and he just loooooved being outside, he was so happy

[babyonions.livejournal.com]

Flemish Giants are so adorable, I live for bunnies and rabbits tbh

[kaninasan.livejournal.com]

lolol

[whomp.livejournal.com]

it's not something i want to hear again. ever.

[ckino (from livejournal.com)]

over exposed or not, imo he's unique and I like him because of that.

[torontok.livejournal.com]

Lets see if the Justin Bieber collab gets him more exposure.
That pic lmao. who did they photoshop over Taeyang?

[ckino (from livejournal.com)]

That's YG right?
I saw one ps of that pic with mino behind gd. it was funny as hell

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

aw yeah, I saw that one as well. I'm sure mino would save it if he saw it haha.

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

don't you recognise our favourite ceo?

Usually I'm all for gd getting more exposure but I'm not sure if I want that collab to happen though.

[torontok.livejournal.com]

oh god, i thought it was jyp for a hot second. lol, time to put my glasses on.

i want it to happen, only if its a complete hot mess

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

By the way, I'm curious what music videos Baauer is talking about here (that blew his mind) . Question: what is your favourite GD MV?

Mine is Crayon, followed by Crooked and She's Gone.

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

I love Butterfly

[kaninasan.livejournal.com]

Crayon and That XX, for completely different reasons

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

I really liked That XX when it came out, because it was so different from what he'd previously done (more ballad-like)

[kaninasan.livejournal.com]

i like it also bc the MV adds a whole other meaning to the song

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

yep, it's one of those songs that you like a lot more after having watched the mv.

[miwa201.livejournal.com]

crooked

[dewi-matahari.livejournal.com]

It's probably Crayon or Knock Out (since Bauuer's buds with Diplo) - both of those MVs are insane and look like nothing produced in Western pop, at least not since the hey-day of Missy Elliott/Hype Williams multi-million dollar videos.

I love That XX and A Boy, but GD's videos are all generally great, even for songs I'm not that fond of (like Coup D'etat and Michi-Go). He puts a lot of thought into them - lots of in-jokes, hidden messages and symbolism. He's also pretty lucky that he gets to work with Seo Hyunseung (YG's video director), who is a total visual genius - most of YG's best videos are by him.

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

yes, Crayon and Knock Out are among the best videos out there and do have that specific brand of weirdness that gd (and top) does so well. Knock Out was also the video and song that got me impressed with & later hooked to Big Bang/k-pop, so it wouldn't be the first time.

I wish GD would explain more often about his videos, especially Coup d'État which is chock full with symbolism, but also other ones. perhaps then some of the charm would be gone though, and the point is that everyone can have their own interpretation, idk.

[dewi-matahari.livejournal.com]

Yeah trying to figure out what they mean is part of the fun! Though sometimes I think GD's just trolling with some of this stuff, esp anything that references his drug scandals or sexual exploits haha.

[ababobaby.livejournal.com]

butterfly <3

my little cousins loved it

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

Breathe.

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

Breathe is pretty sexy

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of madness in Breathe! I like the bed surrounded by musical notes too.

[ckino (from livejournal.com)]

Knock out and A Boy (I like BB because of this song)

[mollyana.livejournal.com]

Same. I never can choose between 'Butterfly' that was artisctically cute and 'She is gone' that was original and kind of funny, both mv are well done.
My all time favorite GD song is 'A boy', but I can't bring myself to like any of the mvs of the Heartbreaker era because i dislike his hair so much in that era. I really liked 'That XX' mv when it was out but then my friend who study audiovisuals explain me how technically bad that mv was filmed and it kind of ruined it for me.

'Knock out' still my favorite gdtop mv. It was simple, classy, flassy without being tacky.

[snoaz.livejournal.com]

She's Gone funny? It freaked me out when I first saw it, particularly the ending haha. But I like it because it's a really great song and the concept somehow fits Jiyong well, that kind of 'dark' look, how to explain.

I agree! I have never liked the Heartbreaker hair. Over time I've come to appreciate it somewhat though, especially Breathe I now like (he's so playful in the video, honestly rather sexy? apart from some of the questionable styling). But Heartbreaker I still don't like, I wonder why that song was chosen as the title song and then they shot that aggressive video with it.

The mv I personally cannot enjoy because of the hair is One of a Kind. The yellow dreads are the biggest hair tragedy ever.

Knock Out is still as perfect as it was in 2011.