Rising Sun

As I open my iTunes and press play, a soft comforting voice begins to play. The singer is someone who sings in a language I can’t understand and a genre that I never thought I would enjoy.  I mainly listen to any form of rock music and strayed away from pop music. The singer I’m talking about is Taeyang of BigBang.

I can go into the history of BigBang but that’s another story of its own. This is about Taeyang and my thoughts on the Korean pop vocalist.

I’ve always liked his singing style and, yes, he’s not the best singer but his vocals are good enough for me to give a listen. But, I was more of a fan of something else: his style. His style is what made me notice who he was in 2012(the year I got into Korean pop music). His hair was pulled back into two braids and he wore all black with lots of gold jewelry.

Picture credit to YG Entertainment

I didn’t start enjoying his music until he released Ringa Linga in 2013.

Ringa Linga was a song that I enjoyed listening to in 2013. It was a song that I couldn’t stop listening to and I couldn’t stop watching the dance video for the song.

When his second full length album, Rise, was released in June 2013, I really didn’t listen with much interest so my opinion on the album was not favorable. I decided to give his album a second try two months later and I was amazed at the talent this young man has. His vocals may not be up to par with some of his colleagues in the Korean music industry but he held his own on every single track. The tracks, 1AM and Love You to Death, floored me. I was never a fan of  his previous albums, because they sounded too much like a B2K album for me and I wasn’t a fan (of BK2). With his new release, I got new insight, a glimpse inside the man behind the music and I felt the emotions behind the tracks. The track I fel twas the most emotionally satisfying was Eyes, Nose, Lips. It’s a basic break up song and about missing the former lover.

Aside from the many artists I do enjoy, Taeyang is someone that actually has grown on me musically. His group mates, G-Dragon, T.O.P, Seungri and Daesung, always caught my eye visually and musically but, Taeyang took some time  for me to even notice ,and appreciate that he is very talented.  My opinion has changed completely on Taeyang simply by listening to his music and giving his talent a chance.