Just days after his show-stopping, electrifying performance with Missy Elliott in Los Angeles, K-Pop heavyweight G-Dragon released five out of 14 slated tracks from his upcoming album, “COUP D’ETAT,” scheduled for full digital release on September 5th. Besides Missy, “COUP D’ETAT PT. 1” showcases a star-studded list of musical collaborations, including “Black” featuring indie sweetheart Sky Ferreira, “R.O.D.” with YG producer and former Quest Crew member Lydia Paek, and “Coup D’Etat,” the album’s first single, with producers Diplo and Baauer. With this star-studded list of impressive team-ups and creative, diverse productions, GD is establishing himself as an international music force, and we can’t help but smile at this singer-songwriter-producer-rapper’s cross-continental success.
Immediately upon release, GD found himself in an interesting musical competition on the charts; two of his title tracks, the old-school “Who You?” (admittedly, one of my favorites) and the cool slow jam “Black” competed for the top spot on the Melon charts. In addition, all of the released songs took up the first five spots on both the Mnet and Naver charts, a true display off the star’s immense popularity.
This little taste of GD’s new music has undoubtedly piqued our interest that much more in the hallyu megastar. His releases, including 2009’s Heartbreaker and last year’s One of a Kind, are always an auditory adventure, definitely straying away from the majority of songs on both the K-Pop and American Top 40 scenes. To say that we’re wanting more is definitely an understatement.
