NYT Hails G-Dragon as Breath of Fresh Air in Global Pop Scene

G-Dragon of boy band Big Bang is attracting attention from foreign media with his second full-length album "Coup D'Etat". The New York Times carried an article on the singer on Sept. 15 that shone a light on his uniqueness and originality.

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In the article entitled "K-Pop's Antic Emissary Raids the Cupboard", the paper said, "G-Dragon has no American male pop-star equivalent; the closest in recent memory would be Justin Timberlake from peak-era 'N Sync. His malleability is more reminiscent of female stars like Lady Gaga, Kesha and Nicki Minaj, all of whom are as much about the packaging as what's inside".

The paper described G-Dragon as "a miraculous canvas to work with". It also said the song "Black" is "mellow early-1990s R&B, and convincing", while "'Runaway' has some of the shriek of 1980s arena rock".

G-Dragon's fashion also caught the paper's attention. "He cycles through at least two-dozen outfits [per show, ranging from] a tight cotton-candy-blue double-breasted suit […to] a tattered white punk T-shirt with tight chain-festooned jeans straight from Trash and Vaudeville"."

However, it added that he "appears far more mindful of how he looks than how he sounds. But he's capable of exciting musical synthesis, and the more he lets his appearance inform his music, the better off he'll be".

"Much of the time K-pop is importing pop ideas from [the U.S.], although its splicing of them into something different is unique", the daily said. "Before long, it's likely the borrowing will be going in the other direction, with the world learning from [G-Dragon]".