Frank Kogan

Good to know!

After some reflection, and taking personal feelings out of it, the conclusion I have come to is that this is a group with really serious issues, both individually (mania, dysfunctional families, etc) and collectively (codependency, etc). These are fundamental issues that go all the way to the core of the personality of each member of Big Bang, and maybe can't ever be fully resolved... you sense that they continually attempt to move on but continually end up in the same place.

On the other hand, as artists, they have a strong sense of narrative and they never repeat themselves. They have a consistent sound (electro + whatever genre is being brought in currently), consistent song structure**, and consistently distinct vocals***, but the albums are never the same twice in a row, either in terms of the storytelling or in terms of the sound.

It's also a well known fact that GDragon's hair is never the same for two albums in a row, lol. Seems like a silly thing to comment on but I think appearance is common ground for fans, because you might not be able to talk about what they sound like or what message the music/MVs are sending, or follow a subtle long-running narrative (which is probably not a single narrative anyway), but everyone feels qualified to talk about hair and makeup. :p GDragon got most-attractive member TOP to follow him on the hairstyle change thing starting with their joint record, and second-most-attractive member Seungri (and TOP) to follow him on "masculine crossdress" during the 2011 Tonight promotions - because they look good no matter what they wear? OTOH, for Alive, everyone in the group followed him in changing their hair, including Daesung and Taeyang, who are famously resistant to any kind of change in appearance once they have found something that works for them.

** GD and TOP "talk" to each other in the rap verses, presenting two points of view on the relationship (whichever one is currently under discussion); Taeyang expresses jealousy or regret on the bridge; the other two alternate on the chorus or (if Taeyang has the chorus by himself) present commentary in the verses. (In the dark days of 2009-2011, when all the songs became about how much everyone wanted to sleep with GDragon, Seungri was sometimes written as embroiled in the drama, while Daesung was usually written as maintaining distance from it.)

*** I actually think this is because both GD and the CEO of YG Entertainment sometimes use a "divide and conquer" leadership strategy where you punish one person by pointedly being more affectionate with another person who is currently in your favor. The excluded member is hurt and has to work harder; and in the meantime, fills the affection hole by attracting more attention from fans. Well, this is a kpop strategy in general LOL, which variety show hosts also participate in when they repeatedly ask audience members to pick favorites. It seems to really be a serious psychological issue for Big Bang, though, which they appear to have resolved (consciously or unconsciously) by each member working to carving out a distinct niche group of fans. TOP gets the conventionally attractive girls or shy girls, Seungri gets the less conventionally attractive girls or brash girls, Daesung gets older people of both genders, and Taeyang gets the fanboys, many of whom are international fans (because the shame of being a teen boy in Korea and admitting you like a group like BB is too great, I imagine) and also, sometimes inherits GD's former fans. It's actually a major reoccurring joke-that-is-actually serious that no one ever picks GD as their favorite. I think GDragon gets the new/inexperienced fans, and the crazy ones, haha. Other artists also like him. Anyway, as a further part of their need to differentiate themselves the way twins would do they each have a distinct vocal style - what YG Entertainment is now calling a distinct "color" and emphasizing by dressing them all up as cartoon characters. Anyway...