{"id":387906,"date":"2026-01-04T16:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T16:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/387906\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T16:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T16:19:08","slug":"k-pop-rapper-t-o-p-to-release-new-solo-album-after-13-year-hiatus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/387906\/","title":{"rendered":"K-pop rapper T.O.P to release new solo album after 13-year hiatus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SEOUL \u2013 T.O.P, a former member of K-pop boy band BigBang, is getting ready to return with a solo album for the first time in over a decade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The artiste took to Instagram on Jan 1 to post a short teaser video along with the caption, \u201cA new album is on the way\u201d. The 38-year-old also referenced the phrase \u201cAnother Dimension\u201d, strongly suggesting it as the title or the overall concept of the upcoming release.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The rapper-actor, whose real name is Choi Seung-hyun, simultaneously launched a new Instagram account under the handle @topspot_pictures, where a teaser of his album was also posted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">This will be T.O.P\u2019s first solo release since his 2013 digital single Doom Dada, and his first major musical activity since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/life\/entertainment\/k-pop-rapper-and-squid-game-2-star-t-o-p-too-ashamed-to-return-to-bigbang?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular inline\" data-testid=\"paragraph-test-id\">parting ways with <\/p>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/life\/entertainment\/k-pop-rapper-and-squid-game-2-star-t-o-p-too-ashamed-to-return-to-bigbang?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular inline\" data-testid=\"paragraph-test-id\">BigBang<\/p>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/life\/entertainment\/k-pop-rapper-and-squid-game-2-star-t-o-p-too-ashamed-to-return-to-bigbang?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular inline\" data-testid=\"paragraph-test-id\"> in 2023<\/p>\n<p><\/a>. The comeback also coincides with the group\u2019s 20th debut anniversary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">T.O.P debuted in 2006 as a rapper and vocalist in BigBang, one of the most influential K-pop acts of their generation, while also building an acting career. But his activities were put on hold in 2016 when he was sentenced to 10 months in prison and suspended for two years for using marijuana while serving as a conscripted police officer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He returned to the entertainment scene in December 2024 with a role in the second season of Netflix\u2019s hit survival drama Squid Game (2021 to 2025), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/life\/entertainment\/in-season-two-of-squid-game-former-bigbang-rapper-t-o-p-plays-bizarre-version-of-himself?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular inline\" data-testid=\"paragraph-test-id\">where he portrayed the character Thanos<\/p>\n<p><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">In an interview with local media in January 2025, T.O.P expressed remorse over his past controversies and spoke about the role music played in his recovery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cI shut myself off from the world and lived between my home and my studio,\u201d he said. \u201cMaking music was the only time I felt like I could breathe. I made music to survive. I spent that time making the kind of music I wanted to hear, and through that process, I was able to endure the darkness and pain I carried.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cI created an enormous number of songs during that period,\u201d he added. \u201cOf course, I want to share them with my fans \u2013 I believe that\u2019s part of my responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Details about the album\u2019s release date and promotional plans have yet to be announced. THE KOREA HERALD\/ASIA NEWS NETWORK<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEOUL \u2013 T.O.P, a former member of K-pop boy band BigBang, is getting ready to return with a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-387906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}