Q: Do you like to receive compliments?
-It’s okay. I like to receive criticism too. Q: You like to receive criticisms?
- I am used to being scolded.
Q: Why would you like it even if you are used to it?
- I think it’s a part of showing interest (to me) in anyway.
Q: I was about to give you compliment that you did very well this year but our conversation is getting twisted.
- Ah, haha. “Thank you.”
Q: How can you describe your year of 2008 in one word?
- Well, out-of-control, maybe?
Q: An idol, especially if someone from idol groups under big management company does something, I don’t think his act (doing) is entirely his: A song that someone made, a dance that someone put a polish on, a first place impression that someone could’ve wrote even. But your performance was different.
- I tried to put my sincerity as much as I can during solo performance. The biggest reason why I sing is to convey my sincerity (to people who give me love).
Q: Sincerity is a hard word; rather, iffy. It includes to do what you wanted to do, to know what you do exactly, and etc. What’s your sincerity?
- First of all, it’s music. A thought about doing music in real life that I’ve been wanting to do since I was little was in center (of my mind), and I strived to enjoy every work.
Q: ‘Strived,’ do you mean everything wasn’t fun all the time?
- Yes. Compare to my younger days where I used to just like music, I feel music as a work so I get responsibility. So I think I need to strive to have fun. Isn’t it obvious that I need to strive because I am happy when I do music most?
Q: You were able to shine part of it is because of a stage. Stage is a scary place. Fake ones can be found easily and not all of sincerity can be conveyed.
- I just want to say this for now; I am at the happiest moment when I am on stage. Instead of being happy by just standing up on a stage, I feel truly happy when my thought and will make something perfect. I strived to make it perfect.
Q: How did ‘Look at Only Me’ stage start?
- I first wanted to express lyrics well. It carries a bad boy image, but when you express it, doesn’t it have some pureness of men that can’t be hidden? In other way, I guess it would be right to say that I expressed to make (myself) not to look like a bad boy on the stage.
Q: All that was calculated; I think I saw this system too negligible.
- In any way, I am not a bad guy.
Q: I want an evidence.
- I never cheated at least.
Q: How simple is that! Wasn’t your solo activities (promotions) were like a wind? Inside of those, according to your word, ‘out-of-control’ days you spent, I think you would feel like there’s a hole.
- Like feeling empty? I feel it a lot. I feel even more since year-end is coming. In this year I gained a lot of popularity through Big Bang promotion, a lot of albums were released, we did a lot of concerts, but I still feel empty about what I achieved by myself.
Q: Taeyang inside of Big Bang surely don’t look fun compare to solo.
- I think that way too. When I do solo activity, the fact that there isn’t the time to prepare to promise ‘next’ makes me feel empty.
Q: That was summer then, and it’s winter now. What has changed?
- The fact that I have my own song changed. I like how people who didn’t know me while I was active as Big Bang recognize me (now) and say ‘he sings this kind of song, he the one who can dance like that.’
Q: Did the meaning of ‘Big Bang’ change? Like ‘I want to finish Big Bang activity and do solo activity.’ I know you will say no, but I am asking anyways.
- Haha, I don’t have that kind of thought. In anyway, because I think Big Bang activity led solo activity, I think there will be another good chance as I work hard during Big Bang activity in future.
Q: A chance doesn’t always wait for you only. First of all you are really busy.
- That’s right, I am busy. I think I bump into the limit every time. Limit of tiredness, limit of hunger, I am saying being busy make you bump into a lot of limitation.
Q: I heard you were the only one who didn’t collapse?
- I am healthy. I thank myself for exercising hard frequently.
Q: I can think of you when I hear ‘only member who didn’t collapse:’ He must be healthy, not drink, go to church every week, and not that funny.
- No, I am funny. People laugh when I talk about something serious. For me, it’s something I wonder.
Q: A boy image is dominant (over your whole image). I can’t think of Taeyang who would be lazy, sly, or corrupt. What do you think about future?
- I am worry about that too; people always see me as same image: straightforward, constant, changeless. But I won’t always be like that.
Q: Do you see any signs for it?
- I think no one will know as a year or two passes by. Noonas or fans say I will marry with my first love no matter what…
Q: That suits you.
- But I don’t have enough confidence. I really hate how that image is stuck (with me).
Q: You are at the age of being able to do what adults do. What kind of thoughts does it give it to ‘boy’ Taeyang?
- It gives me a lot of temptation.
Q: A word ‘temptation’ feels like an enlivened word.
- I think I won’t be able to control soon. Now those temptation really…
Q: Isn’t it fun to fall into temptation?
- One day I got swept away by atmosphere and as I drank one shot and another, I felt like I was getting drunk. I was hearing people talking like a tape was stretched and I was getting hyper. I realized ‘this is why people like to drink,’ and started to worry after what happened.
Q: You worried because of how you felt when you drank? You have a long way to go.
- Maybe it’s because I started with something really strong. I drank the one where you drink with straw after you put a fire.
Q: ‘Taeyang drinks an alcohol with fire on it;’ that sounds like a ‘concept’. So what happened in the end?
- I just felt being drunk and ended.
Q: So you ended up going back to a boy in the end. I want to give my vote for you getting married with first love.
- No, I don’t think that would happen. I have an idea that my first love can’t be everything.
Q: Then who would want to be your first love?
- Haha. Like how I try to lead to the good side on the stage, I think relationship will be poor first, but it will be organized certainly as it gets better.
Q: Is there another side of you that people don’t know of?
- I am not that as honest as how people think. Of course I try to (be honest) but not as much as how they think.
Q: Do you like yourself?
- I, myself…yes. But, I don’t like myself that much either. I try to put myself strict a bit.
Q: What kind of 20s do you want to live in?
- I want to be someone proud who can stand up on a global stage. I want to be approved. I want to be approved more in musical talent, singing, or on stage.
Q: Wouldn’t that happen if you think that way?
- I’ve been doing it since I was little. Maybe not in YG, but I never thought about not becoming a singer.
Q: Do you have time to be absent-minded?
- I am gone once I think about one thing deeply , I usually end before that. I tend to think all the day (once I do it.)
Q: What’s on the end? the universe?
- I end up falling into nonsense thoughts, but there’s no special meaning to it in the end. I think it’s important to be absent-minded first. There might not be anything left, anyhow I gain a result through that process.
Q: This world is in a mess to record celebrities. A lot of medias are capturing you without you knowing it. How do you record your everyday life?
- I pray. Even if I exclude religious meaning, I pray about how I spent the day and what I did wrong…
Q: What was your worst thing you did in 2008?
- I have so many.
Q: Good things you did fill twelve baskets, (it means he has done a lot of good things) (so) I think you can say it without any obligation.
- Word is a problem. I hurt people around me with words I didn’t intend to say.
Q: People see only parts of what you showed, instead their want will increase. They will want something more than what you showed this year, and that’s a fair hope. What are you going to do?
- If it goes by a plan, I am going to do a solo activity (promotion) again next year. I am working on an art piece now (or I have been drawing (painting) an art piece). I don’t know how it’s going to turn out.
Q: I think it will be better after you experience more temptation.
- Haha. “Nae.”
