BIGBANG's G-Dragon may have been inactive since the group went on a hiatus, but he remains one of the most famous K-pop stars until today. In fact, his fame has transcended nations and even made his presence continuously felt in China.
G-Dragon has dominated the biggest search engine year-end ranking in China, despite being inactive since 2016. Baidu has now released its 2021 search result and the BIGBANG member came on top as the most searched K-pop male idol for the year.
Baidu has 580 million active users every month and many of them may have searched for K-pop idols. Other South Korean pop stars who made it on the list are EXO members Baekhyun, Sehun and Chanyeol on the second, third and fourth places, following the King of K-pop. BTS also made it on the ranking, with Taehyung taking the fifth spot, AllKpop noted.
Meanwhile, to prove the 33-year-old rapper's success in China, he was the first South Korean star to have a corporate endorsement deal with the country's company in 2020 despite its virtual ban on Hallyu or South Korean pop culture. He signed an agreement with the Chinese bottled water giant Nonfu Spring Co. back then and was featured in some of its promotional material for its tea drink brand, Chapai.
Aside from online and social media marketing, the BIGBANG member also had billboard advertisements displayed across China, per Yonhap News Agency. His agency, YG Entertainment, was very proud of its artist's success.
In a statement, the company said the group enjoyed huge success in China before they started a hiatus to perform their military duties. With G-Dragon's endorsement deal, the music label just confirmed the level of popularity and influence BIGBANG had in the country.
In fact, when the news broke that he would make a music comeback last year, he became a hot topic on China's Twitter-like social media platform, Sina Weibo. Global Times cited that his Chinese fans were all excited to see him once again in the spotlight.
The post about his return earned a whopping 300 million views as fans expressed their anticipation and joy. "I am not a K-pop fan, but I still got excited when I heard this news," one fan said.
Another fan revealed seeing news about G-Dragon never let him down. He was sure it would not be empty content or a form of bragging, but something was always real about him. YG later confirmed that G-Dragon was working on new music at the time, though nothing had materialized until today.
