"its GTOP's world and we're all just living in it.."
hiya there, my name is noriiā nor or whatever. welcome to my blog!
I usually reblog random stuff, most of it being TG stuff that really pique my interest and fuel my rpf shipper delusion.
More about me !
I'm a baby vip who recently got into bigbang late january of this year (2025). and noā it was not via squidgame, but through my lee jung jae obsession. (dont ask how that spiralled towards gdragon)
my bias is GD, bias wrecker TOBAE ^^ (I love dae too, all of them)
god where do I start.. I am unhealthily hyperfixated on bigbang as of the moment, so expect to see more of me lurking around..
I don't know where I read that TOP once skipped GD's birthday party because Kiko was going,And TOP went off with John Lee to who-knows-where????And some said that TOP did it on purpose, I literally have no idea where that rumor came from, but if you know anything, could you tell me if this is true or false
Hii, so this was in 2013, he didn't skip cuz Kiko was there, that's stupid, he skipped cuz GTOP were broken up. And it's not a rumour cuz there were clear receipts of Tabi not being with Ji, since he was at Lee Byung-Hun's wedding. Very crazy framing from whoever wrote that lmao.
OMG kyaaahhhhh I love T.O.P smiles awkwardly to Ji . Nice nice nice [15.06.28] GTOP at BIGBANG MADE Tour In Wuhan Credit : onekiddy ( Weibo ) Via : Tops_Fools
gtop antis are so fucking funny to me. like seunghyun could literally fold jiyong in front of their eyes and they would still be like āomg bestiesā
Disclaimer: These are just my personal thoughts and opinions. I do not claim in any way that my analysis aligns with or equates to T.O.Pās intentions and thought processesā¦having said that, as an ardent GTOP truther who will absolutely sink with this ship, it is impossible for me to deconstruct or comment on the track without using a GTOP lens. If that aināt your cup of tea, simply do not click and be on your merry way.
Are you ready/ready/ready for another extremely long one? As "BE SOLID" is the final track on Another Dimension, I do comment on literally all the things and then some. I briefly alluded to āBE SOLIDā in my ADHD song analysis and will be including the exact commentary here, just extended and more fully developed.
"BE SOLID" Analysis
I swear, his beauty.
[Preface] Please allow me to present the āBE SOLIDā mood board I created while working on this analysis. When I tell you that this track has become my absolute favorite on this albumā¦thereās so much to say, and yet so much that words alone cannot capture. As someone who experiences visual imagery heavily when listening to music, I felt so compelled to gather the following like puzzle pieces as I listened.
Ā [All images found on Pinterest and credited to the original creators]
[Intro Dissection]
Boo-boo-boo
Boo-boo-boo-boo
Boo-boo-boo (I swear, my beauty)
Boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo
Aurally, there is a LOT going on in this intro (actually, this entire songā¦you MUST pay attention to the tiniest of details)ā¦so bear with me, as I attempt to put the pieces together. The track opens up with a recurring three-beat patternā¦which honestly puzzled me at first. It isnāt quite the tick-tock of a clock or a metronome, but it also isnāt the ba-dum of a heartbeat. It was only after streaming the song pretty much nonstop for a whole week that I had that eureka moment and now I think I do understand what itās meant to be.
This three-beat pattern employs a stressed-unstressed-unstressed dactyl patternā¦when hearing it repeatedly, you cannot unhear the distinct ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three Ā¾ time signatureā¦in other words, a waltz! Why is this important? Iāll give you ttthree reasons (yes, I will beat the number 3 into your head throughout this breakdown, like our beloved T.O.P):
As an intertextual reader/listener, I canāt analyze the song in isolation because to experience Another Dimension is to know that Choi Seunghyun is an extremely well-read artist who deeply appreciates storytelling through every possible visual medium. We know that Stanley Kubrick is a huge influence on T.O.Pās work (recall "ADHD" and the āStudio 54ā m/v)...and so when it finally clicked that the track is essentially a waltz, I immediately thought of this iconic scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey set to the iconic āThe Blue Danubeā waltz by Johann Strauss II. Considering the albumās use of epic conventions and the water motif that flows through this particular track (thereās water, water everywhere here, but the Rime of the Ancient Mariner is woven throughout AD), I believe T.O.P is hoping that we make the thematic connection here to set the stage for the rest of the song.
The three-beat pattern also stresses the significance of the number 3, which symbolizes perfection, completion, and harmonyā¦all of which T.O.P yearns for desperately and can only be realized through his own ādeathā and resurrection. I mentioned the number symbolism briefly in my "ADHD" analysis, but we see this number being emphasized again heavily in this intro, beginning with this waltz beat. On a side note, I think itās interesting that the track runs for 3 minutes and 30 secondsā¦why not 3:33? (This is true for all the tracks on AD) This seems intentional, and perhaps T.O.P, a self-proclaimed perfectionist, is recognizing that we can never truly reach perfection but can only continuously strive for it...an indication that his story/dance of life is still in motion.
Finally, if the waltz is a romantic dance literally known for its sensual ārise and fallā wave-like (water!) motion, this strongly suggests that the song is meant to spotlight two intimate partners who share a strong attraction for each other and have experienced the ārise and fallā nature of a complex relationship that brims with tension. In my opinion then, āBE SOLIDā at its core is a deeply poetic love letter (think Beethoven and his Immortal Beloved) to two individuals who take on the role of said dance partner: 1) Choi Seunghyun and 2) Kwon Jiyongā¦but weāll come back to this vital point later.
Okay, that was just the first 3 seconds of the songā¦but every choice made here is so intentional and points to T.O.Pās painstaking love and care for his music.
At the 4-second mark, the heavy tolling of what sounds like church bells layer in somberly, again in a 3-strike pattern. This emphasis on 3 is further underscored by a singular piano note that echoes this 3-strike pattern, but much brighter in tone.
If we consider all that we experienced in the Odyssey-esque narrative that is Another Dimension, it only feels fitting that he begins the last track on the album, with a final nod to another common epic convention: the funeral and burial of a most worthy, larger-than-life (a giant if you will) hero figure. The ringing bells we hear in the intro, then, are a death knell, solidifying his goodbye to the old T.O.P.
But if there is death, there is also life as the two are inextricable and exist simultaneously (which is exactly why he stacks the bells and piano notes on top of each other). And, to me, the repeating notes here in the intro sound like the sprinkle of light rainfall...in other words, these soothing notes are resounding T.O.Pās healing, cleansing, metamorphosis, and rebirth. It is the first depiction of the water motif that he spreads all over this track and it continues in the āboo-boo-booā lines.
So what to make of the āboo-boo-booā linesā¦??? Even after a thousand+ listens, Iām not sure that I quite nailed the interpretation, but hereās my take on them.
I mentioned earlier that I think of āBE SOLIDā as a love letter, first and foremost to himself: Choi Seunghyun. And while this track is technically āthe endā of AD (oh, weāll come back to this phrase later), it actually feels more like a scene intentionally extracted from the albumās narrative timeline, as if it exists somewhere parallel to "ADHD" (landing back home) and before "STENDHAL SYNDROME" (re-entry into domestic life). It is a moment of quiet desperation and deep introspection. In my mindās eye, our Desperado/Moon Man, who had been frozen in the āstill lifeā of exile for so long, is peering out the window of his spaceship not only taking in the sublime beauty and grandeur of space and the comfort this has brought him but also navigating every inundating thought/emotion that is coming to light under the bright sun (loneliness, anticipation, his own mortality, and a renewed sense of self) as he is pulled closer to home.
The hyphenated āboo-boo-booā when spoken in rapid succession sounds sort of like āboop boop boopā or the retro spacey beeps you might hear on a spaceship control panelā¦sounds that signal his journey home. But Iām going to bring back the water motif here and argue that the onomatopoeic āboo-boo-booās should actually be heard as the sound of water droplets hitting T.O.Pās spaceship as he re-enters the earthās rainy atmosphere and/or the sound of his own free-falling tears hitting the solid earth, pointing to the force of gravity that once again exists in his life. Upon hearing this intro over and over again while analyzing the lyrics, I could not help but think of Beethovenās Piano Sonata No. 14, better known to the world as āMoonlight Sonata." The 1st movement of this piece features the instantly recognizable ostinato triplets (DA-da-da/DA-da-da/DA-da-da...again that stressed-unstressed-unstressed pattern) that flow continuously like rain droplets (but we will be exploring this at length when we get to the verse).
These water droplets represent cathartic cleansing and renewal, and this being reflective water, like a mirror (āPurely surreal, froze in front of the mirrorā), he is finally again recognizing his self-worth and beauty in another poignant fit of Stendhal Syndrome: āI swear, my beauty.ā In this first interpretation, I hear the āI swearā not as an oath or promise but more like an interjection of pure disbelief. He is at last clean from the suffocating shit that was covering and stifling him and itās like he canāt believe just how beautiful he is. This is him meeting himself face to face, literally romancing his purest, truest form, and thus begins his waltz of self-love and self-acceptance.
šØ GTOP SIGNAL: But hereās my GTOP read of the āboo-boo-booā lines. It feels silly to share these considering the gravity of the song (or maybe notā¦because itās a āgravity you can't resistā) but here are the 3 places my brain went to first when listening to these lines:
Booā¦as in beauā¦as in his special someone, his babygirl āladyā Jiyongā¦I meanā¦
Booā¦as in boo booā¦as in the continuation of the sick/healing, disease/cure motif that we see featured notably later in this songā¦but this still feels slightly out of place?
Booā¦as in ė¶ė¶ā¦the korean word āė¶ė¶ā is read aloud exactly like āboo booā and translates to āmarried coupleā in Englishā¦(so thenā¦can we also read the opening bells as wedding bells?)
The third interpretation isnāt that absurd. In fact, if the upbeat "STENDHAL SYNDROME" (previous track) illustrates the blissfully explosive, domestic aftermath of his homecoming (āTurnāaround, turn around,āback homeā; "Knock, knock, pow, pow, pow, ah/Ya, Good morning lady, you woke up with my killer taste /The coffee's pretty deep, truffle over egg benedictā) then the quieter, melodic āBE SOLIDā is Seunghyunās vow to wholly and solidly reciprocate the love and affection that Jiyong has shown and continues to show him as his life partner. So to that end, it makes absolute sense to play on the word āboo booā (āmarried coupleā)...right?
But yeah, all of the above didnāt feel 100% quite right and after playing the track for the umpteenth time, I came to the conclusion that āboo-boo-booā in this context is still meant to be read phonetically as āboop boop boopā ā¦as in the most affectionate love taps between two lovebirds. As I was drinking my morning coffee one day with this track playing on repeat, my brain decided to render a full-on domestic scene inspired by this very line (and the previous track).Ā
Allow me for a moment to indulge you in word-vomit-disguised-as-a-drabble titled āSTILL LIFE (2026)ā:
Most mornings, even Seunghyunās playful yet tender āboo-boo-booā love taps canāt stir Jiyong from dead sleep. But on rare occasions, in the wee still hours just before daybreak, the mundane "boo-boo-boo" drip of freshly brewed fuel will echo from the kitchen, a percolating signal demanding his love's arousal. Today is one of those days, and the irresistible sensation of familiar sounds and scents overwhelms Jiyong, drawing him into fluttery wakefulness. He shuffles to a dimly lit balcony. When his eyes finally open: coffee and truffled eggs for two. They sit in sacred silence, hands clasped together, as the sun rises.
Okay, itās been years since Iāve attempted any form of fiction, soā¦letās just move on lmao. But my goal was to illustrate the overall essence I think T.O.P was trying to capture with this overtly sweet and gentle āboo-boo-booā line. And in this interpretation, āI swear, my beautyā is absolutely a wedding vow to the love of his life: he plans on being someone that Jiyong can lean and rely onā¦someone who is now unafraid to shout out their love from the TOPSPOT of this metaphorical mountain heās finally reached.
Back to the three-beat pattern for a moment before finally moving onto the chorus. I do believe this three-beat pattern is meant to mimic or at least evoke the rhythmic sound of a clock. The intro of this song is so reminiscent of āTimeā by Pink Floyd and T.O.P (who is a huge fan of Pink Floyd) echoes its famous clock intro to mark the resuming of time. If T.O.P was once frozen in time and space, stuck in a time capsule so to speak, here is his clock of life ticking once more, again stressing the never-ending waltz between life and death.
[Chorus Dissection]
Become a wasteland after the storm, I scream
until my throat chokes
Why, take away the darkness even just a little, my mental sometimes errors, goddamn
I want to become someone warm and comforting
I want to write poems for you every day
I'm just sad, rain flows from my eyes
I want to become a better person
I want to become someone warm and comforting
I want to write poems for you every day
I'm just sad, rain flows from my eyes
I want to become, I wanna be more solid, solid, solid
More warm and cozy, solid, solid, solid
Wanna be more solid, wanna be more solid (Yeah)
The voice of a dampened and distorted T.O.P drifts in (āBecome a wasteland after the stormā¦ā), which becomes clearer and more solidified by the end of the second line (ā...goddamnā). The audio here is so intentionally engineered to depict the journey of healing metamorphosis found in the lines themselves, which allude to (imo) both T.S. Eliotās āThe Waste Land,ā and Shakespeareās The Tempest. See below for a couple of absolutely relevant snippets from both texts for your consideration:
āThe Wastelandā begins with this epigraph (translation below):
"For I myself once saw with my own eyes the Sibyl hanging in a cage [or jar] at Cumae, and when the boys said to her, āSibyl, what do you want?ā she answered, āI want to die.ā"
It then continues immediately with the following lines:
I. The Burial of the Dead
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Excerpts from The Tempest:
We all were sea-swallow'd, though some cast again,
And by that destiny to perform an act
Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come
In yours and my discharge.
Those are pearls that were his eyes:Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them,āding-dong, bell.
The way he weaves in Eliot (āwastelandā) and Shakespeare (āstormā) and alludes to āStill Lifeā (āApril is the cruellest monthā) all in the first two lines??? I wonāt go into breaking down the excerpts above, BUT thereās a couple things worth mentioning here.
T.O.Pās extended metaphor of a transformative voyage is fully realized here and reflected through the water imagery that overflows in this chorus in 3(!!!) distinct ways:
1) T.O.Pās tempestuous journey of death and rebirth throughout the album is heavily metaphorized as the space voyage of an exiled Desperado, but here in āBE SOLID,ā he aptly and deliberately helms a ship at sea, as his means of returning to solid earth. The sound engineering of the first two lines depict T.O.Pās ship navigating through post-storm mist and fog, finally materializing as its approaches the shore. This has to be a direct reference back to the āStill Lifeā music video, which begins with a freaking big ass ship that literally cues T.O.Pās final creative endeavor with BIGBANGā¦but if you look at T.O.Pās verse in āStill Life,ā youāll see that this ship was always meant to return to home, sweet home:
Boy looking over at the sky
Doing well throughout the four seasons (Good-bye)
Those who left and those who came
The world above our head
I'm leaving inspiration's Amazon
Burying all the trauma from past nights
A round-trip ship running, risking its life to start anew
I'm going to change more than before
A good person more and more
A better person more and more
With the morning dew, burying my anger in the past
(I miss you, I miss you)
For life, do it away, away, away(I miss you, I miss you)
The āFor life, do it away, away, awayā particularly gets me, because heās saying āin order to liveā (for life), he must let go and bury his former self (do it away, away, away ā again note that the word āawayā is repeated 3x, similar to how he repeats āThis planet / āForgetā 3x in ADHD). But āmorning dewā will restore and heal him and complete his transformation.
2) Furthermore, he uses water to illustrate the physical transformation from a state of matter that has no fixed shape (liquid) to a solid and whole state of matter. The recurring idea of an incomplete, ghostly, or fragmented self shows itself again hereā¦but water, symbolizing both life and purity, is the final element (of the four classical elements: fire, earth, air, and waterā¦all of which feature in AD) to solidify T.O.Pās transformation and rebirth. He also cleverly plays on the Korean word āė¹ā which translates to ārainā in englishā¦but is pronounced like the word ābe.ā So he is literally verbalizing the transformation into a solid shape that must come from liquid form. I could honestly go on as to why the word āsolidā in particular has so much weight in this album, but that commentary feels more fitting for a āFOR FANSā deep diveā¦
3) Finally, T.O.P alludes to Shakespeareās āsea changeā in The Tempest, which again signifies his own profound transformation, both physical and supernatural. He was once a ghost, a shadow of his former selfā¦but heās become whole again and has reached a giant new superman/Ćbermensch divine level. With these higher powers, heās taking on a Prospero-esque spellcaster role (protagonist of the play), where the very words or incantations that he utters become powerful manifestations. Words are literally magic, right? This article by Medium actually puts perfectly into words all that I want to say about the 8 lines in the chorus that begin with āIā or āIāmā:
"Consider that words are of the supernatural sort, other-worldly, yet not; gifted to us by some divine spirit, maybe; ever-changing, not ours, simply floating in us and around us, shaping our world and each other, but still shaped by our own innate, internal passions and energy...
...Our acceptance and understanding are not bound by logic, but by emotion. We believe in words, we breathe life into them, we cast them into the world and they thrive.
In fact, the word āspellā ā to spell a word ā actually influenced the idea of casting a spell ā to use magic to influence others...The root āspellamā originally meant āstory, saying, tale, history, narrative, fableā and then the term āspellā started to take on the meaning of a charm or magical incantation in the Middle Ages.ā
I want to become someone warm and comforting
I want to write poems for you every day
I'm just sad, rain flows from my eyes
I want to become a better person
I want to become someone warm and comforting
I want to write poems for you every day
I'm just sad, rain flows from my eyes
I want to become, I wanna be more solid, solid, solid
These consecutive 8 lines in the chorus (here, ā8ā doubles as an obvious reference to his 2nd waltz partner, Jiyong, and also as a symbol of infinite flow, balance, and regeneration) read like manifestation spellsā¦Considering how the track so intentionally and ritualistically draws on numerology, itās like Tabi-commanding each line powerfully with the 1st-person "I"-is conjuring the purest/most human form of himself but that 8-line spell-even as he repeats the word "solid" 3 times-is ineffectual without the healing element of water ("rain flows from my eyes").
The last two lines of the chorus ("More warm and cozy, solid, solid, solid/Wanna be more solid, wanna be more solid") continue to reveal heat taking form andĀ suggest the need for physical embrace...which brings us to the...
[Verse Dissection]
Unknown confidence, I shout again into the empty air
Writing a new scene again (All over)
Matching with you
Now instead of pain
There's shining moonlight, moonlight
My stable path, you are my vaccine, vaccine, vaccine
Wherever you want to go
Na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na, I will go with you, "Be solid"
šØ GTOP SIGNAL: OKAY, THIS FUCKING STUNNER OF A VERSE. There is so much to unpack here, but Iām going to spotlight 3(!!!) distinct GTOP trails:
1) A literal MOONY WALTZ between lovers: Though he plants the idea of the waltz in the intro and continuously builds on this leitmotif, it is in this verse that T.O.P directs his own romantic scene of two intimate partners who desperately yearn to be reunited. This anticipated homecoming to each other is expressed through a fantasy waltz. We see lines that suggest movement ("stable path"; "wherever you want to go...I will go with you"), which is further underscored by an undulating bassline and the ever-present three-beat pattern.
I specifically use the word āfantasyā above for two reasons:
Earlier, I mentioned that I personally think that the storytelling in āBE SOLIDā runs parallel to "ADHD" and occurs before āSTENDHAL SYNDROMEā in ADās narrative timeline. This means that while T.O.P, moving into the solid form that is Choi Seunghyun, can hear his lover/partner gesture to him, he is not yet able to have a free-flowing conversation; he returns his lover's call but it echoes only in "empty air." So this entire waltz scene is replaying (ebbing/flowing) in Seunghyun's own head.
To build on the above, I 1000% think that the verse is referencing the 1st movement in Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," which was originally titled "Sonata quasi una fantasia" -> "Sonata in the manner of a fantasy."
In 1824, music critic Ludwig Rellstab wrote the following in an illustration of the 1st movement:
Honestly, isn't this a perfect visual imagery of T.O.P's verse? In fact, Rellstab's comparison of the piece to shimmering moonlight popularized the unofficial title "Moonlight Sonata" and the rest is history...still, not everyone was happy with this nickname. See below:
To bring this tangent back to my take on this "fantasy waltz"...I want to point out that the critique above importantly underscores the duality of T.O.P's "moonlight" reference. The overall tone and mood of "BE SOLID" remains quite melancholic throughout (because as made clear in the intro, this track = old T.O.P's funeral/burial), like "Moonlight Sonata," but the very fact that T.O.P repeats the word exactly twice in line 5 ("shining moonlight, moonlight" -> mirror effect) reveals that the track is still meant to be read romantically...a beautiful, inspiring moment of mental reverie/escapism in the midst of anxious gloom.
This leads us directly to G-Dragon's "DRAMA" m/v in which we glimpse intimate moments between Kwon Jiyong and an intimate dance partner whose face is veiled (and on this very related note, did you know that the waltz was originally called the "forbidden dance" because of its "close, revolving embrace"???):
Here is the flipped mirrored dance of "BE SOLID," showing "the end" of a once-tumultuous relationship...I will not be dissecting the GTOP treasure trove that is "DRAMA"...for a full breakdown, I beg you to please read @boptothetttop's analysis...it's absolute perfection.
But here in "BE SOLID," the ending waltz that Choi Seunghyun presents is in reality the beginning of a solid new chapter in their relationship. This is why I feel like "STENDHAL SYNDROME" is the actual final track/scene in the narrative of AD and "BE SOLID" is more like an epilogue track...or a post-credits scene if you will.
2) A sensual SERENADE of (forbidden) love: Speaking of "DRAMA"... so much more to say here in this 2nd GTOP thread. Our lover boys are practically begging us to take note that this verse is Seunghyun's direct response to GD's first verse in "DRAMA" in the form of a love letter. I mean, yeah we have eyes...
GD's 1st verse in "DRAMA":
When every scene's rolling in good
Why you acting like it's so bad?
There is nothing left to see right
So I'd paint all over this pain full of black
Seems like you like to start an argument
Win or lose, just for the hell of it
T.O.P's verse in "BE SOLID":
Unknown confidence, I shout again into the empty air
Writing a new scene again (All over)
Matching with you
Now instead of pain
There's shining moonlight, moonlight
My stable path, you are my vaccine, vaccine, vaccine
Wherever you want to go
Na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na, I will go with you, "Be solid"
Seunghyun illustrates the timeless trope of forbidden love that haunts/veils his relationship with Jiyong...in which music (their /"our"/ music) becomes the only safe, comforting, and cathartic language between them. As creative partners of this beautiful mirroring music, they can continue to paint/write "new scenes" with which to serenade each other and affirm their love.
The 8-line verse begins with Jiyong (again T.O.P's voice deliberately manipulated and the two lines themselves deliberately italicized to suggest another individual) singing to his other half in the first two lines...the first of these lines ending notably with a most tender moan. This explicit vocalization of arousal and our lovers' callback lyrics tell us that GTOP is indeed alive and well and that all the past "pain-full of black" has now been painted "all over" in bright colors of renewed love.
Also, I don't know if I'm reaching here, but the way that line two of this verse is delivered...almost feels like Nurse Jiyong (explained below) is bending the phrase "all over" to also sound like "a lover" or "I love her"...y'all, thoughts? We will to come back to this core phrase "all over" later but...yeah, am I crazy here???
Okay, pause: I do note at the very beginning of this brain dump that this song is a love letter to both himself and to Jiyong...so on the Seunghyun end, I think the moan is still meant to signal arousal...his own personal awakening as an artist.
Anyway, we move into the 3rd line-"matching with you"-and the two voices now most beautifully stack on TOP of each other. Their voices, now singing in unison, symbolize the consummation of these vows to each other...and they engage in the waltz of love-yes, we're absolutely talking about freaky-freaky fucking here-in the calm and peace of "empty air" as they journey to a higher destination ("wherever you want to go...I will go with you") in T.O.P's hot-air balloon.
Okay, did you catch the number of NAs yet? Again, 8. Here I just want to reiterate that the onomatopoeic word "Na" is also the Korean word for the subjective "I." It's not just T.O.P singing here (although the line was deliberately delivered in this sing-songy way because again, he's serenading his matching half!) and it's most definitely not a reference to T.O.P's alien partner-in-crime Nana (yes, we love her!). Essentially, he's addressing Jiyong in this line without naming him directly.
But again, when reading the NAs literally, it's also reborn T.O.P telling himself- using the 1st-person subjective "I"-to trust in his own creative process.
Finally, I want to note that T.O.P makes it a point to use quotation marks around the last two words in this verse-"Be solid." We don't see these punctuation marks around this core repeated phrase anywhere else...so why? I think it suggests that the definition of the phrase has changed here. Instead of it having to do with his own wholeness, reliability, or quality of self...it's the idea of being firmly united...the idea of 2 becoming 1. Consider how the one verse is sandwiched between an opening and closing chorus, an illustration of how these lovers are finally meeting each other in the middle...covered and protected in this sacred space by the vows of the chorus.
And again, in my personal interpretation, this fever-dream of a scene is all occurring in T.O.P's mind as his ship approaches warm earth. In this verse, heat is taking form and he's painting a moving picture of everything he vows to actualize once home.
3) Love as the ANTIDOTE ā¤ļø+š=š: Speaking of fever dreams...this brings us to the final GTOP path(ology).
In my "Another Dimension Holy Dude!!!!!!!!!!" analysis, I mentioned how Kwon Jiyong assumes the nurse role in this album...and I supported said theory by referencing the infamous Millionaire Nurse painting by Richard Prince.
The sick/healing, disease/cure motif that runs throughout the album culminates on this track. Let's look at the verse one more time:
Unknown confidence, I shout again into the empty air
Writing a new scene againĀ (All over)
Matching with you
Now instead of pain
There's shining moonlight, moonlight
My stable path, you are my vaccine, vaccine, vaccine
Wherever you want to go
Na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na, I will go with you, "Be solid"
The healing that they've experienced as a couple shines brightly here in these lines. Society might label them "diseased" but Seunghyun brazenly confirms that he and Ji are indeed sick: LOVESICK! The lyrics are so tender here...the only "vaccine" for this ailment, of course, is each other. Love is indeed the most powerful antidote.
The only new comment I want to add here is to bring us back to that phrase "all over." As it is whispered by Nurse Jiyong himself in line 2, I see it as him reassuring Seunghyun that the wounds that have been giving him so much pain have closed...that the process of healing is all done. He's all good now.
I don't really have anything to add to the pre-chorus here...so we're going straight to the final...
[Chorus + Outro Dissection]
Become a wasteland after the storm, I scream until my throat chokes
Why, take away the tiny darkness, my mental sometimes errors, goddamn (Boo-boo-boo-boo)
I want to become someone warm and comforting
I want to write poems for you every day (Boo-boo-boo-boo)
I'm just sad, rain flows from my eyes
I want to become a better person (Boo-boo-boo-boo)
I want to become someone warm and comforting
I want to write poems for you every day
I'm just sad, rain flows from my eyes
I want to become, I wanna be more solid, solid, solid
More warm and cozy, solid, solid, solid
Wanna be more solid (Wanna be more solid)
Boo-boo-boo-boo (Spread it all over)
Boo-boo-boo-boo
Boo-boo-boo-boo
Boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo
As we listen to the chorus a final time and allow the outro to wash over us, we can see how exquisitely T.O.P uses a circular narrative structure to solidify the thematic topics of healing and rebirth.
If the first track "Self-Crucifixion" kicked off with the noisy and nauseating stacks of others talking shit about him...here's Choi Seunghyun, Master T.O.P, resurrecting and stacking his own quietly powerful and healing self-manifestion spells.
And as the outro suggests, he swears to spread the beauty-of himself, his art, his love for Ji-all over going forward.
[Final Thoughts] āBE SOLIDā is such a beautiful place to close out Another Dimension. The layers of yearning and mourning that encompass this trackā¦sigh.
I'm so sorry if this was a total mess of a brain dump. My head and heart were being pulled in all directions, but I did my best to convey the thoughts that were floating around everywhere. If you made it all the way here, thanks for reading! (And please drop any insights you have on this song!!! I am beyond obsessed with this track.)
hi! so i was wondering... I've read that gtop knew each other since before top joined YG? is it true? what do you know about their relationship then??
Jiyong said it in this ģģģź²½ģ interview:
āTOP-hyung was my friend initially from the time we went to middle school. We danced and rapped in the same neighbourhood until I moved away, but I got back in touch [about joining YGE]. TOP-hyung said, āAwesome, thatās my dream.ā Together we made demo CDs. Hyung would mail them to me and Iād check whether they fit YGās aesthetic. After we did this a few times, I went to the boss [Hyunsuk] and he said he wanted to meet TOP-hyung.ā
Also when they were on Come to Play in 2008, Seunghyun said heād known Jiyong for about 8 years by that point, so around when they were 12-13 (in middle school).
let's have a chit-chatty ask roundup now that I'm back off holiday!
Yesssss, it's so cute!! I would have assumed it'd fallen out of rotation like a lot of his jewellery does, but for him to take it to LA with him and not wear it until the last possible moment makes me think he must take it around the world with him a lot, even if he doesn't always wear it š„ŗ
I certainly haven't forgotten! I did a post about it! And queen of tracking receipts @randompers-blog also posted about it (btw I miss you so much come back to us pleaaaaaase š). These are two slightly more NSFW images that Pierre and Giles liked, so enjoy, you little devils
I definitely think that the way their friends ship them is, like... the most incriminating thing about GTOP tbh. It lasts up until present day too, where you've got IRKO liking GTOP posts on Instagram and both Nana and Mayuka either knowing Jiyong and Seunghyun or having things that link back to them:
Honestly, it's so stupid lmao, let the poor man live. But here we are, two days later, and he hasn't blocked them or any fans who have tagged him in stuff, and it looks like he also hasn't been untagging himself either. I'm hoping this means he's made his peace with the fact that he'll always be linked with BB and his boys, that everyone still loves him and we're not mad at him for wanting to go his own way, and there will always be a place for him by their side if he wants it (although I absolutely agree that I wish it didn't have to be under YG, pool your resources together, boys, you're rich enough!). I saw some people theorise that maybe the reason why they follow him and still keep his name on the YouTube channel is because they plan on including his voice in the world tour and obviously he's got a huge amount of writing credits with them, so it's out of respect of his ownership of a lot of their songs, which I suppose I could deal with... still fuck YG, though
I haven't mentioned it, no - it's certainly not out of the realm of possiblity when Jiyong is concerned, that's for sure! I'm not sure I totally see it, only because Drama and Baby Goodnight are so musically and tonally different - if there was a Take Me video and he'd dressed up like that, I would be completely on board, but I think with Drama I'm not sure it's quite the connection I'd personally make. However, I think it's an incredibly sweet spot from you, and I'd love it to be true! You're absolutely correct that it's plausible because Jiyong is insane and the captain of the ship hahaha
Oh but of course! ADHD is up next, and then Doom and I will be chatting through the last five songs for their gtoppery and going into plenty of detail. Don't worry, we certainly wouldn't leave you guys hanging on the second half of the album, not when it's so chock-full of stuff to analyse and freak out about!
Hey! I'm pleased to hear you're back, I hope you're having so much fun with this new era š Regarding Jiyong... yeah, basically it's anxiety. It all started after he came back from the military, so the general consensus is that 2017 onwards fucked him up a lot. There's a really interesting but heartbreaking Reddit thread that goes into this whole thing:
If you think about it, 2017 onwards was one long car-crash for him. You had:
Seunghyun's weed scandal and his attempt, followed by his ostracization from Korean society
The MOTTE tour, which burnt Jiyong out to the point where he spent three days practically catatonic in bed after it was over
BigBang going on hiatus with only Seungri left while the rest went into the military, which was a huge worry for notorious control freak Jiyong
His military service, where he struggled with his physical health, was stalked and harassed, and was isolated from his family and loved ones which he's always struggled with
The Burning Sun scandal, which kicked off in March 2019 when he was still on active duty, so he couldn't even do any damage control, he just had to watch it all unfold devistatingly from afar
Seungri's crimes started coming to light at the back end of 2019, which was pretty much the final nail in the coffin when it came to BigBang's reputation at the time
Two of his friends, Sulli and Goo Hara, committed suicide within weeks of each other in October/November 2019, because of the hate they were receiving from Knets and the Burning Sun case (info here and here)
He could no longer be seen with Seunghyun in public or on social media because of the intense backlash they got, so the last time they were photographed together was in December 2019
Seungri was finally convicted and jailed in August 2021
Seunghyun was dead set on joining the DearMoon project, which was announced in December 2022 and due to happen in 2023 - he couldn't have any work commitments due to his potential death if things went wrong, which didn't seem to bother him (I think he was still passively suicidal during this time) but it definitely bothered Jiyong
Jiyong's drug scandal in October 2023, which went on for two months and caused him to consider leaving the music industry and retiring altogether because he thought there was absolutely no comeback from it
So all in all.... a pretty shitty decade for him, really. He's finally back and better than ever, and you can see it in the way he moves and carries himself in comparison to how he used to act; I'm so so proud of him for rising above it all, looking after himself and surrounding himself with love and positivity now ā¤ļø
Bangchella week 2 was sooooo good omg, they absolutely did seem happier and more confident in themselves, and it absolutely radiated off the stage. I know Dae had a couple of wobbly bits in his voice, which is to be expected after his vocal surgery, but omg that man is an absolute powerhouse and probably one of the most talented vocalists to come out of Korea - and he's so stinking CUTE at the same time that I don't know how to cope with him! Taeyang absolutely killed it in both weeks, he's so hot and he knows it, and to do all that whilst being the sweetest family man only makes him even hotter. Jiyong also came into his own massively in the second week, and I was so happy to see it. I think the first week really threw him, between the nerves of this being the first time he performed a lot of those songs in a decade, the stage not being his own so he had to rely on Coachella to get things right (which they didn't lol, which probably set his control freak nature off in the same way it did at MAMA), and knowing Seunghyun wasn't there but not knowing how people would react to it. Definitely an emotional first week but a much improved second week!
Yeah, the group is still a product of YG, so all copyright falls to that label. That includes the group's name and their songs (even though Jiyong wrote them), so it means that BigBang would have to tour and release new music under YG unless they were bought out - and sadly, I don't see that happening. I don't think, however, that YG are having too much creative control from what I can see. I think all three of them, Ji especially, are too big as individuals to be bossed around by a K-pop idol company anymore, so I think YG is only facilitating things and ensuring it all runs smoothly based on the stipulations and desires of Ji, Tae and Dae (or at least, I hope that's all they're doing).
