Big Bang has officially returned and they are now proving they are still the kings of K-pop. Hours after the release of their new single, "Still Life," G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang and Daesung are now breaking and making new records.
Big Bang officially dropped "Still Life" at midnight on Tuesday, April 5. Since then, it has started to dominate the music scene.
AllKpop noted it ranked No. 26 on Melon 24Hits and No. 25 on FLO. It has become the highest-debuting idol group song, following IU's "Celebrity."
It also acquires more than 140,000 unique listeners on Melon and 44,000 unique listeners on Genie. It is the second song with the most unique listeners in an hour.
"Celebrity" had 156,000 unique listeners on Melon and 52,000 on Genie upon its release in 2021.
In addition, Big Bang also breaks another record on China's biggest music platform, QQ Music. The chart started to reform in 2021, making each account limited to one purchase only.
However, "Still Life" managed to sell over 1 million in just 30 minutes and became the best-selling song, not just on the platform but also in China. As of this writing, its official music video now has more than 9.2 million views and 1.5 million likes, considering it has only been upped for 11 hours.
Before YG Entertainment dropped the official music video and the song itself, it started a countdown on its website. The company also released different teasers to hype Big Bang's comeback more, like lyric posters and individual posters.
"Still Life" is a soft rock genre song chronicling the spring, summer, fall and winter seasons of G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang and Daesung's lives. Each member represents each season, as hinted by their individual posters.
This song also marks the group's return to the spotlight after the release of their digital single, "Flower Road," in March 2018. Since then, a lot has happened.
After getting involved in the Burning Sun scandal, Seungri left the group and retired from the entertainment industry. G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang and Daesung also had to finish their mandatory military services and got involved in different issues.
YG officially announced Big Bang's comeback in February, along with the news that T.O.P also left the agency, per Rappler. They originally debuted in 2006 as a five-member group and gave life to the hits "Bang Bang Bang," "Fantastic Baby," "Loser" and more. The last album they released as a five-piece group was "Made" in 2016.
