G-Dragon Coup Dtat Album

Review
http://hallyu-centre.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/g-dragon-coup-detat-album-
review.html

For Kpop fans, this second studio album from the leader of the Korean boy
group BIGBANG has been well anticipated after the success of his 2012
album, One of a Kind. From the title of this album and the imagery of the
album cover, you would think this album is going to be a hardcore Hip-Hop
album full of controversial messages, similar to back in the day Eminem.
However, anyone who has these expectations, I advise you to burn that
picture that youve painted again and get a new canvas. Lets remember
that this guy is from South Korea and despite his popularity and fame he
still needs to watch his tongue or his music would not even exist to us.
While this album may not be a literal coup detat, this is G-dragon
expressing all his emotions and feelings and doing what music he wants to
do, which is a rarity for Kpop idols but is slowly becoming a regular
occurrence. Also with all the American features on this album, this could
G-Dragons entrance in to the US charts. Regardless, I do have to give the
guy props for being able to turn the peace sign into his initials. Now that is
revolutionary.

Lets take a look at the title track. The track starts strong with what seems
to be a reference to Gill Scot Herons The Revolution Will Not be
Televised (People/The revolution will not be televised/The revolution is in
your mind/The revolution is here) which gives such a powerful strong
start and it really feels like G-Dragon is going to deliver to us a coup
detat. However, this doesnt last long. You expect him to go all out and
tell us what is wrong with the world and the music industry. In reality,
Coup DEtat is just a track that talks about his success and popularity.
Funny how he says that this wont be televised and yet this exact song is
televised. A little hypocritical and a cop out. The music itself definitely
gives the feel of a revolution but we have DJ gods, Diplo and Baaur, to
thank for that. The dark trap sound of the instrumental mixed with the
monotonous 3 note chorus really helps create a foreboding atmosphere.
Musically, it is a great choice for the opening song to the album as it
definitely grabs the listeners attention, but whether it maintains their
attention is a different story. Just make sure foreigner fans dont look up
the translation. I agree with Contagion at Allkpop who believes this song
really comes to life when paired with the music video. The MV makes
references to his past by using sets and items from his previous music
videos such as Crayon. The MV shows him battling with his past
experiences and what I assume to be the birth of an improved Jiyong. For
the visuals, he gets full marks. However, while Contagion can ignore the
fact that he completely missed the mark with the song even being
remotely related to a coup, I am not as forgiving. I can accept that the
whole album wasnt going to be a coup, that may have come off as too
strong but Jiyong, please refer to the Oxford Dictionary next time so you
dont get your definitions confused. Theres no point using a language if
we dont respect its definitions. It seems GDs taken a leaf out of Kanyes
Blood on the leaves. Maybe he was purposefully trying to be
controversial but without stepping on too many toes. G-Dragon and Mr.
West have a lot of similarities. They both have been rapping since they
were basically in pampers and their fashion sense is definitely one of a
kind, the only difference is that one of them gets invited to fashion shows
around the world. Sorry Kanye, maybe when they deem you sane again
and you actually create shoes people cant make themselves for less than
five pounds.

Although G-Dragon is meddling in other genres he makes sure to never

stray too far from what his longtime fans are used to. Throughout the
years G-dragon has become known for his hybrid of hip-
hop/EDM/Rap/Dubstep. Its a sound that is hard to pinpoint and locate on
the music genre spectrum but regardless, it is a sound that is authentic to
G-Dragon. On his 2012 EP One of a Kind that signature G-dragon track
was Crayon and in this album it is MichiGO. Im starting to see a trend
that G-dragons songs that have his signature sound have something
related to craziness. Crayon is a combination of G-dragons first name
which is Jiyong and the word 'crazy'. Its a simple mathematical equation
really: Crazy + Jiyong () = Crayon () AKA Jiyong Crazy.
Additionally, michi in Korean means crazy and and so MichiGO is a pun
meaning go crazy. With simplistic lyrics for the chorus, the occasional
English word and phrase combined with onomatopoeic words, its clear to
see why this song is addictive to both Koreans and foreigners.

G-dragon is known for his impressive lyrical ability to paint images via his
word choice. In this album it seems he gives the best of both world with
songs that really make you paint an picture in your head such as "Black"
and "Crooked" that are more lyric focused. Then, on the other side you
have songs that are more music focused. Black takes you through so
many colours in the song (black, gold, red, white) youd think hes rapping
the Dulux colour paint wheel. But it does intensify the meaning behind his
lyrics such as red/ [Those lips are
red/just like red lies]. The connections he makes are minor but have such
a big effect. A personal favourite line from Black is
[Hope is the parent disappointment and despair]. This lyric really
makes you think about the times you've had hope or hoped for something,
which is usually after experiencing disappointment and despair. G-dragon
is not only able to create poetic lines but also painfully truthful lyrics. The
Korean version of this track features his label mate Jennie Kim who is in
the recently debuted girl group BLACKPINK who at the time was only a
trainee. G-dragon also recorded an English version with American singer
Sky Ferreira taking the parts of Jennie Kim. When it comes down to which
version is better, my vote goes to Jennie Kim and the Korean version.
Skys singing ability is undeniable however, what is deniable is the English
lyrics. As cute as the English chorus is, (If you ask me what happiness
is/When this life is done/ Maybe when this love is gone/If you ask me what
happiness is/Youre smile out under the sun/ But Im always on the run)
there is no real connection between them and the rest of GDs Korean
lyrics. It seems like they told an English speaker the general idea of the
song and told them to write lyrics with the only brief being include the
word happiness. The English version of the bridge gets off the hook as it
does still hold the same idea as the Korean bridge, just with not as much
depth or poetic license.
"Crooked is another song in which G-Dragon shows off his wordsmith
skills. To non-Korean speakers this track may appear to be a pop punk
song for you to jump around to and have a laugh. But it is the lyrics that
create such a contrasting image to the music. The lyrics display such raw
emotion ( // ) [You
used to promise me with your pinky finger/ but in the end/ Nothing ever
last forever] that people can relate to because he chooses words that
really resonate with people like a pinky promise and we all know, there is
nothing worse than breaking a pinky promise. Dont worry G-Dragon, you
dont want to be with the kind of girl who breaks pinky promises, theyre
the crooked ones.
GD is a fan of creating lyrics that dont match the mood of the music but
there is one song that breaks that stereotype which is Window. A
melancholy song with melancholy lyrics. This kind of feel of feel compared
with all the craziness that happens earlier in the track makes this song
even more beautiful. My only request is that this songs appears earlier on
the track list to add more dimension. You get the impression that hes not
trying to hard to impress and that there is a lot more sincerity in this
track. GD has channeled his inner Drake in this track. You get the feel that
GD listened to Take Care while creating this, all he needs is his Rihanna
and he could be the Korean Drake.

Many Westerners who listen to Korean pop music for the first time are
quick to say that it is just a bad imitation of American pop music. But the
Korean music of today is actually built off the Korean protest songs of the
past which they originally got from the West. When Korea was still a
colony under Japan, due to Japans ties with the Western world, the
Japanese elite brought over western music known as Changga. This music
holds a lot of European influences. Korea wanted to be more successful
like Japan which to them, meant being more modern therefore, they
adopted Changga as their popular music. When Korea wanted to be an
independent country from Japan and China, for their pro-independent
movement, they used the Changga genre for their protest songs which
ironically was given to them by the Japanese. To Korea, to be viewed as an
independent and strong country, they needed to be modern like the West
so that they could be taken seriously. Fast forward to now, South Korea is
one of the leading countries for technology, skin care, cosmetic and health
surgeries. Despite being leaders in so many different areas and the Hallyu
Wave taking over, South Korea is still seen as small fish in this big pond. It
appears all South Korea is known for is North Korea with a raging Kim Jong
Un and Gangnam Style. Within Asia, South Korea has a made a name for
themselves but put them next to western countries and they fall a bit flat,
even if they are leaders in so many different areas. Fair? I think not. While
the west already made their mark in South Korea, it appears G-Dragon is
trying to leave a bigger print of the East in the West.

This is album is the perfect segway into America for G-Dragon. This album
has several features from Western artists such as Missy Eliott, Sky
Ferreira, Diplo, Baaur and Boys Noize. The song that is the perfect
example of blending the West with the East is Niliria which samples a
Korean traditional folk song and mixes that with hip-hop. While Ting Ooi at
United Kpop hasnt quite figured out the point behind Niliria, I would
love to help them understand. Its a PR song. Simple. Its a great song for
both of them to gain a fan base in the opposing country especially for
Missy Eliott who hasnt made an album since 2005 so she probably
needed this more than G-Dragon. Additionally, being able to say youve
made a song with one of the best female rappers of the USA is medal to
wear proudly. This is clear to see as they performed this song together live
at M Countdown in LA. GD and Missy are doing a better job of
international diplomacy than the world leaders are. I vote for Missy Eliott
in the 2020 US elections. However, Its fair to say that GD is no stranger to
America as he has toured America twice with his group BIGBANG, so what
audience is G-Dragon trying to appeal to with this very pro-America
album? GD has always created music that has leaned towards the hip-hop
genre and with that, his music will probably reach Asians who already
know about Korean music and Asian music in general, the black people of
America, non-Asians who are interested in Korean music and cultural
appropriators. Speaking honestly, cultural appropriators love to grab onto
anything that makes them appear to be a well-rounded individual who is
really invested in cultural diversity when the reality is, they are no
different than hipsters who like to claim they liked something before it was
cool and is the trend setter to something that did not need a cultural
hipster to use as a conduit to become popular. But if GDs plan is to
exploit the weakness of the cultural hipsters to become popular in
America, I do not blame him. Making someone elses weakness your
strength is how you win a war.

The fan system in South Korea is such a big deal it should be a business in
itself. The entertainment companies see this and exploit it and it's hard to
decipher whether it's morally wrong or genius. Its no secret the
performers dont make money off their actual music anymore, no matter
what country youre in. Its also no secret that concerts are the real money
maker in the music industry. So what is better than creating light sticks of
the logo or symbol of the artist and sell that to the fans, at an inflated
price, to bring to the concert to wave to show their support. Its almost
like a twisted sense of loyalty and you want to become these peoples
accountant just to tell them to stop buying these extra piece of
merchandise they can only use about two times. However, at the same
time you cant be too mad at those who seem to lose their mind when
their favourite idol is mentioned. The Korean entertainment companies
spend a lot of time marketing solely thinking about the fans, The
companies create fan names for these artist to make the fans feel like
theyre important and that they matter. They even create fan clubs in
which people have to pay subscriptions for perks no perkier than a
grandmas hip. This relationship between the fan and company sounds
more abusive but fans seem to be happy so who really is villain in this
situation. The dedication of a fan is strong. These fan clubs create chants
which always seem to fit into the songs of their artist. Thats a talent to fit
6 boys names into the space of 5 seconds. While some fans are not that
bad, despite lacking the understanding of smart financial investments,
other fans are in need of a psychological evaluation. In South Korea,
extreme fans are known as sasaengs. While stalkers come along with the
territory of being famous, sasaengs are a different breed of crazy with no
limitations, boundaries or sense of decency. There are accounts where
sasaengs have caused 3 and even 7 vehicle car accidents which even led
to the singers getting injured, all just to get closer to their 'precious
singer'. There becomes a point where we need to stop using the word fan.
Its similar to saying a pedophile just really likes children. I understand
wanting to be noticed by someone you admire but there is a fine line
between love and obsessed and maybe society needs to stop putting
famous people on such a high pedestal. People claim that famous figures
get paid too much but the real problem is that the average middle class
people do not get paid enough. People claim will now live in a equal
society but we are for from that.

It's fair to say when G-dragon is either pouring out his heart or performing
his signature style is he shines the most. This may be the catalyst that
creates a chain reaction of Korean artist becoming popular in America. I'll
give GD a 4/5 for doing so much in one album but sometimes less is more.