GD X Taeyang (also known as GDYB) is a South Korean duo from YG Entertainment, consisting of G-Dragon and Taeyang from Big Bang.[1] After several years of appearing on each other's solo materials, the duo officially released the single "Good Boy" in 2014, which went on to top Billboard's World Digital Songs chart and sold over a million digital units in South Korea.[2][3]

GD X Taeyang
Also known asGDYB
OriginSeoul, South Korea
Genres
Years active2014–2015
LabelsYG Entertainment
Spinoff ofBig Bang
Members

History

edit

Kwon Ji-yong and Dong Young-bae first met as trainees at YG Entertainment. After signing a contract with the record label, they spent the first year cleaning the studio and fetching water bottles during dance practices for YG artists.[4] Dong later admitted that current artists at the time weren't friendly towards him or Kwon.[5] The original plan for the two was to debut as the hip-hop duo GDYB, with Kwon choosing the stage name G-Dragon ("Ji" is pronounced like "G" and Yong is Korean for "dragon").[6] Though they made several appearances both as a duo and as individuals on other artists' music,[7][8] the plan for their debut was scrapped and they were joined by four other trainees (T.O.P, Daesung, Seungri and Jang Hyun-seung) to form BigBang instead. The formation of the group was documented on television,[9] but prior to their official debut, Jang was dropped.[6] Dong later adopted the stage name Taeyang.[10] Member Seungri later admitted that G-Dragon was initially cold towards Daesung and himself because G-Dragon had wanted to be in the hip hop duo and disliked being placed in a band.[11] Taeyang himself was also initially hesitant about being placed in a band but eventually warmed up to the other members.[5]

Despite activities with their band, the duo continued to collaborate with one another outside of BigBang's materials, with G-Dragon participating as a writer and producer for Taeyang's first extended play Hot (2008),[nb 1] after which G-Dragon subsequently recorded a "Part Two" to the EP's lead single "Only Look at Me" (나만바라봐; Revised Romanization: Naman Barabwa). Later, G-Dragon had a rap verse on Taeyang's single "I Need a Girl". Taeyang returned the favor by appearing in the song "Korean Dream" for G-Dragon's first album Heartbreaker (2009). G-Dragon later wrote and produced several songs for Taeyang's first and second albums Solar (2010) and Rise (2014).[10]

An official collaboration between the two as the subunit GD x Taeyang emerged in 2014 with the song "Good Boy," which reached number one on Billboard's World Digital Songs, making it the third time a Korean act had topped the chart after PSY and 2NE1.[2] The single accrued 1.2 million downloads in South Korea,[3] and its music video accumulated over 100 million views on the video-sharing website YouTube.[12] In 2015, the duo participated in the Infinite Challenge music festival, teaming up with ZE:A's Hwang Kwanghee for the single "Mapsosa", which peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart[13] and sold 1.3 million copies by the end of the year, making it one of the best-selling songs of 2015.[14]

Discography

edit

Single albums

edit
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
KOR
[15]
Good Boy 1
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

DVDs

edit
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
JPN
[17]
G-Dragon X Taeyang in Paris 2014 8

Singles

edit
Title Year Peak positions Sales Album
KOR
[19]
FIN Dig.
[20]
US World
[21]
"Good Boy" 2014 5 21 1 Good Boy / YG Hip Hop Project
"Mapsosa" (맙소사) (with Kwanghee) 2015 2 10 Infinite Challenge
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Other collaborations

edit
Title Year Peak positions Sales Album
KOR
[24]
US World
[21]
"Unfold at a Higher Place" (As GDYB) 2002 Why Be Normal?
"Heosubai" (Masta Wu featuring GDYB) 2003 Masta Peace
"Run" (Se7en featuring GDYB) 2006 24/SE7EN
"Super Fly" (Lexy featuring G-Dragon, T.O.P and Taeyang) 2007 Rush
"Korean Dream" (G-Dragon feat. Taeyang) 2009 3 Heartbreaker
"Hallelujah" (T.O.P featuring G-Dragon and Taeyang) (Iris soundtrack) Non-album single
"I Need A Girl" (Taeyang featuring G-Dragon) 2010 4 Solar
"Let's Talk About Love" (Seungri feat. G-Dragon and Taeyang) 2013 15 9 Let's Talk About Love
"Stay With Me" (Taeyang featuring G-Dragon) 2014 7 4
  • KOR: 343,555
Rise

Awards and nominations

edit
Awards received by GD X Taeyang
Name Year Award category Nominated works Result Ref.
Melon Music Awards 2015 Hot Trend Award "Mapsosa" Won [27]
YouTube Music Awards 2015 Honored Artist "Good Boy" Won [28]
Melon Popularity Award
Song Award Date Ref.
"Mapsosa" Weekly Popularity Award September 7, 2015 [27]
September 14, 2015
September 21, 2015

Notes

edit
  1. ^ According to the credits on the album's jacket.

References

edit
  1. ^ "GD × Taeyang". YG Entertainment. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Benjamin, Jeff (December 1, 2014). "G-Dragon & Taeyang's 'Good Boy' Debuts at No. 1 on World Digital Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 4, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Cumulative sales for "Good Boy":
  4. ^ 新스타고백 지드래곤③연습생시절, 1년간 죽어라 청소만. Yahoo Korean News (in Korean). Yahoo!. March 1, 2006. Archived from the original on February 4, 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  5. ^ a b "[Star Timeline] "YOUNG BAE Music": TAEYANG devotes half his life to music". YG-Life. June 17, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-10-02. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  6. ^ a b '준비된 그룹' 빅뱅, 대폭발 예고. Sports Chosun (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. July 7, 2006. Archived from the original on July 11, 2006. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  7. ^ '태양'이 누구인가요? (in Korean). Nate. July 30, 2008. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  8. ^ '준비된 그룹' 빅뱅, 대폭발 예고. Sports Chosun (in Korean). July 7, 2006. Archived from the original on July 11, 2006. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  9. ^ "Big Bang Profile". KBS World. Korean Broadcasting System. Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  10. ^ a b Ji, Un Nah (June 2, 2014). "BIGBANG's Taeyang on nosebleeds, tattoos and true art". Dazed Digital. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  11. ^ "Happy Together - Big Bang Special (2015.06.11)". Youtube. KBS World TV. June 11, 2015. Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  12. ^ "[문화광장] 빅뱅, MV 9번째 1억 뷰 돌파…"韓 최다 기록"". KBS News (in Korean). July 3, 2017. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  13. ^ "′Infinity Challenge′ Addresses Song Festival Spoilers". mwave. CJ DigitalMusic. June 29, 2015. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  14. ^ "Gaon Digital Download - 2015". Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on July 29, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  15. ^ "Gaon Album Chart - Good Boy". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. December 13, 2014. Archived from the original on July 5, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  16. ^ Cumulative sales for "Good Boy":
  17. ^ "G-DRAGON × TAEYANG IN PARIS 2014 - Oricon". Oricon Chart (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  18. ^ "~ BIGBANG Sales Thread (170907 Update: 145.7mln digital, 7.45mln physical, 8.07mln Tour tickets, 4.54bln Youtube views) ~". Archived from the original on 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  19. ^ *"Gaon: Good Boy". November 22, 2014. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  20. ^ *"IFPI: Good Boy". Suomen virallinen lista (in Finnish). IFPI. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  21. ^ a b *"Billboard: Good Boy". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2018-05-05. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  22. ^ "G-Dragon & Taeyang's 'Good Boy' Debuts at No. 1 on World Digital Songs". Billboard. 2 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  23. ^ Mapsosa Sales:
  24. ^ *"I Need A Girl". Archived from the original on 2017-08-27. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  25. ^ "Archived copy". Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ^ Let's Talk About Love Sales:
  27. ^ a b "Melon Music Awards". Melon. Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2015-09-08.
  28. ^ "Presenting the YouTube Music Awards Winners of 2015". YouTube. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on November 30, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2016.