T.O.P

Biography

Choi Seung-hyun (Korean: 최승현; born November 4, 1987), known professionally as T.O.P, is a South Korean rapper, musician, philanthropist, and actor. He performed as an underground rapper before joining the record label YG Entertainment and debuted as the lead rapper of the boy band BigBang in 2006. The group became one of the best-selling groups of all time in Asia and one of the best-selling boy bands in the world. In 2010, while the group was on hiatus, T.O.P and G-Dragon collaborated to release the album, GD & TOP. As a solo rapper, he has released two digital singles, "Turn It Up" (2010) and "Doom Dada" (2013), that have peaked at number two and four, respectively, on the Gaon Digital Chart. T.O.P made his acting debut in 2007 through the TV series I Am Sam (2007), followed by Iris (2009) and the TV movie Nineteen (2009). He made his film debut with 71: Into the Fire (2010), for which he received praise and won multiple accolades including Best New Actor at the 2010 Blue Dragon Film Awards and the 2011 Baeksang Arts Awards. Subsequently, he garnered lead roles in the films Commitment (2013), for which he was awarded 'New Asian Actor of the Year' at the Busan International Film Festival and Tazza: The Hidden Card (2014). In 2024, T.O.P portrayed Thanos in the second season of the Netflix dystopian survival thriller series Squid Game.

== Life and career ==

=== 1987–2006: Career beginnings and debut with BigBang ===

Choi Seung-hyun was born in the Songpa District of Seoul, South Korea. He is the great nephew of Korea's pioneering abstract art artist Kim Whanki and grew up in contact with art due to his family. Choi became interested in hip hop at a young age. He and fellow future BigBang member Kwon Ji-yong were "neighborhood friend[s] from middle school" and often danced and rapped together. Although Kwon later moved away and the two "became distant", Choi was contacted by Kwon when YG Entertainment, Kwon's record label, was scouting for possible candidates to create a boy group. By then, Choi had already performed on many underground stages at hip hop clubs and established a reputation as an underground rapper with the stage name Tempo. In 2003 under the name of Tempo, he was the winner of KBS Radio's Rap Battle. After contact, Choi subsequently recorded several demos with Kwon and sent them to Yang Hyun-suk, CEO of YG Entertainment, who later asked him to audition. Choi was initially rejected by the record label, which deemed him too "chubby" to fit the "idealistic version" of an idol. He later "went home and exercised hard because [he] wanted to join YG Entertainment," losing 20 kg in 40 days. Six months later, Choi returned for another audition and was signed. Given the stage name of T.O.P. (탑) by senior YG artist Seven, he became one of two rappers alongside G-Dragon (Kwon's stage name) in BigBang. The two were paired with four others: Taeyang, Daesung, Seungri and Hyunseung and a documentary leading up to their debut was aired to promote them. Hyunseung was later dropped by Yang, and BigBang made its official debut with five members. Their first studio album, Big Bang Vol. 1 - Since 2007, received lukewarm receptions, and included T.O.P.'s first solo song "Big Boy". The group achieved mainstream success with the release of the song "Lies" (거짓말; Geojitmal) from the extended play Always (2007), which topped several charts upon its release. The singles, "Last Farewell" (마지막 인사; Majimak Insa) from Hot Issue (2008) and "Day by Day" (하루하루; Haru Haru) from Stand Up (2008), became chart-toppers as well.

=== 2007–2010: Solo career development, move into acting, and GD & TOP ===

After releasing the band's albums and singles, T.O.P. began working on his solo career. In April 2007, he was featured with fellow BigBang members Taeyang and G-Dragon on singer Lexy's single "Super Fly" for her album Rush. Later that summer, he appeared as an actor in Red Roc's "Hello" music video. He became the first member of BigBang to venture into acting, starring in the KBS2 drama I Am Sam, portraying the school's top fighter, Chae Musin. Despite wanting to use his stage name when acting, believing it reflects his professional side more, he is often billed with his real name, with his stage name included in parentheses. He also became a host of MBC's music program Music Core. While promoting his group's materials in 2008, T.O.P appeared on other artists' records, including Gummy for the song "I'm Sorry" for her album Comfort, veteran singer Uhm Jung-hwa for her single "D.I.S.C.O." and ZiA for her single "I Only See You". The same year, he was admitted to Dankook University in the theatre department. The following year, T.O.P. portrayed the assassin Vick in the critically acclaimed Korean television drama Iris (2009). He also recorded the song "Hallelujah" for the drama's soundtrack with Taeyang and G-Dragon. Following Iris, T.O.P. starred in the suspense film 19-Nineteen along with fellow member Seungri. The duo released the single "Because" for the movie's soundtrack.

T.O.P's performance in the 2010 war drama 71: Into the Fire was well-received, earning him several Best New Actor awards at local award-giving bodies. The movie also gained one million admissions in a week. Simultaneously, T.O.P began to prepare for his solo musical debut. During BigBang's Big Show Concert in January 2010, T.O.P. performed his new single "Turn It Up". Released as a digital single, it peaked at number two, and sold over 1.3 million downloads by the end of 2010. Later that year, T.O.P and bandmate G-Dragon formed a subunit to release the album GD & TOP (2010). Prior to the release of the album, the duo held a worldwide premiere showcase for their album at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo of Seoul, South Korea, which was also broadcast live on YouTube. Three singles were released in support of the album: "High High", "Oh Yeah", and "Knock Out". All three singles preceded the release of the album and attained commercial successes: "Knock Out" was a chart topper while "Oh Yeah" and "High High" both peaked at number two and number three respectively. The album was released on Christmas Eve, and debuted at number one with 200,000 pre-ordered copies.

=== 2011–2016: Focus on acting and other ventures ===