Big Bang's G-Dragon Admits He Almost Decided To Stop Releasing Solo Albums While He Was Working On 'Coup d'Etat'

There was a time while he prepared to record his chart-topping double album "Coup d'Etat" where the stress nearly caused Big Bang frontman G-Dragon to give up on releasing his own albums.

At a press conference on Monday at Seoul's Cais Gallery, the site of the rapper's current "Space Eight" art exhibition, G-Dragon discussed the tremendous pressure to deliver a solid follow-up to his first solo album, 2009's "Heartbreaker," and his 2012 EP "One of a Kind."

"I have put a lot of thoughts into this album. I thought of quitting solo music but the love from the fans made me return to where I am now," G-Dragon said, according to an online press release from the rapper's record label YG Entertainment.

"Because I was often alone in taking care of a lot of things, I thought much about how to produce something new. It wasn't so much an artist's block, though. My ability to make judgments was starting to blur as I didn't have anyone to listen to my album and evaluate it."

A problem the rapper claims was compounded by the increasingly short attention span of pop music fans when it comes to musical trends.

"Music trends are changing rapidly," G-Dragon said.

"Just looking at this year, I could not think of a hit song of the year or a song that was liked by a wide range of people. So for someone who wanted to produce a song that could fit into both categories, I was haunted by many inexplicable feelings."

The Big Bang rapper also felt the strong weight of expectations from his fans around the world.

"I had to fight a lot of inner conflicts," G-Dragon said.

"It delights me that the fans love my music, but on the other hand their love puts pressure on me to produce better [material] next time. More experienced artists call this 'growing pains'. I have no choice but to work harder."

The rapper also explained his reasons for the motif of the number eight in his art opening.

"Eight is my lucky number," G-Dragon said.

"My birthday is 18th of the eighth [month of August], 1988. It may sound superstitious, but I like the sound of the number and it also looks like [the mathematical object called a] Mobius strip. So I've always thought a lot about the number eight...the gallery is divided into eight different sections."

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Big Bang
G-Dragon
Coup Detat
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