Big Bang G-Dragon, 2PM Junho, BEAST Yoseob: Breaking into the Japanese Music Scene As Solo Artists

More and more boy group idols are breaking into the Japanese music scene as solo artists. 

These solo artists are attracting attention for boldly taking on a new challenge in Japan. Big Bang's G-Dragon, 2PM's Junho, and BEAST's Yoseob are the main stars of these solo acts.

G-Dragon, the leader of Big Bang, will release his solo debut album in Japan on August 14.

An official from YG Entertainment said, "Although we haven't yet revealed any concrete details about the album, those in Japan are on edge with anticipation for it."

Prior to G-Dragon's Japanese debut, his solo world tour, 'G-Dragon 2013 World Tour: One of a Kind' will take him to 8 countries and 13 cities, and he will meet an estimated total audience of 550,000.

Last month,  G-Dragon finished strong with his dome performances on May 6 at Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome, May 20-21 at Seibu Dome, and on May 27-29 at the Osaka Kyocera Dome, and on June 1 and 2, he finished with his Nagoya Dome concert. This was the first ever that a Korean solo artist toured at the four great dome venues.

He has already firmly established his position within Japan as a solo artist, and his highly-anticipated Japanese debut album continues to garner interest.

Joon Ho of 2pm will enter the Japanese music scene on July 24 with 'Kimino Koe (キミの声)' a solo album which he himself produced.

Having gained recognition as a singer/songwriter in Korea, Joon Ho will showcase his composition skills in Japan as well with his solo album, the tracks of which were all originally composed by him.

In addition to composing his own songs, Joon Ho participates in all kinds of operations of production from music video production, album jacket design, to choreography, demonstrating his capabilities as a producer as well as singer/songwriter.

According to Japanese recording chain Tower Record, a total of three versions of Joon Ho's album have each placed 1st, 3rd, and 7th on reservation charts, showing that fans in Japan are highly anticipating his solo debut.

Yang Yo Seob of Beast is one step ahead of G-Dragon and Joon Ho in breaking into the Japanese music scene.

After making a successful debut in Korea last year as a solo artist with "Caffeine," Yang Yo Seob released his first solo album, "The First Collage" in Japan on May 15.  The album has 7 tracks, including a Japanese version of the title track "Caffeine" as well as a cover version of a Japanese song, "Another Orion."

Towards the end of May, Yang Yo Seob met with Japanese fans earlier through strategic promotion such as broadcasting and performances, ensuring a successful Japanese debut.

In order to commemorate his Japanese solo debut, Yang Yo Seob had had a mini live concert and talk time with about 3000 fans at Tokyo Odaiba's Zepp music venue to serve as a fan meeting event.  

Another album that similarly demonstrates Yang Yo Seob's popularity is his first Japanese solo album, "The First Collage," which in the first week of its release sold 9,781 copies and topped the Oricon Album Music Chart at number 5.

One music official observed, "Since all three guys have enjoyed popularity and recognition before in Japan through their group tours, the work needed to break into Japan as solo artists will be relatively easier for them." He went on to say, "Just as in Korea, solo tours are becoming more popular, there will be more of these guys breaking into overseas music scenes as solo artists."

Tags
Big Bang
G-Dragon
2PM
Junho
BEAST
Yoseob
Japan
solo
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