Bigbang Announces Spring Comeback; T.O.P Leaves YG Entertainment

Bigbang is returning to the music scene in the spring, YG Entertainment confirmed on Monday. The agency also revealed that the group's main rapper, Choi-Seung-hyun, more commonly known as T.O.P, is leaving the label after 16 years.

"Bigbang will be releasing a new song this spring. Bigbang has already completed recording their new song, and they are currently preparing to shoot the music video," YG Entertainment noted in a statement, as per Soompi.

In the same statement, the agency broke the news that T.O.P has decided to take on new routes career-wise, though he will still be promoting music with the group if his time allows it.

"T.O.P's exclusive contract with YG has ended, and he will be taking on a wide variety of new challenges as both an artist and an entrepreneur," YG Entertainment said. "We respected T.O.P's desire to broaden the scope of his individual activities aside from just his promotions with BIGBANG, and he successfully came to an agreement about this with the other members."

"As long as the conditions are right, T.O.P will always participate in BIGBANG's activities whenever he is able," the agency added.

Bigbang's upcoming new track will be the group's first musical project in four years following the release of "Flower Road" in March 2018.

Bigbang trended on Twitter on Monday as fans celebrated the imminent comeback of the group.

"EVERYONE WAKEUP BIGBANG IS COMING BACK IN SPRING," a fan alerted fellow fans, collectively known as VIPs, on Twitter.

Another fan looked back on the time when the group released "Flower Road" before its members, also known as "Kings of K-pop," began their military service.

"Last March 13, 2018, #Bigbang took off their official hiatus by releasing a gift song titled, 'FLOWER ROAD' for VIPs as they bid farewell for the military. 4 years later, a breaking news comes in saying BIGBANG will be back in Spring 2022, a season when the flowers bloom," the fan tweeted.

T.O.P created a buzz online in January when he posted a photo featuring the four remaining members of the group on his Instagram page and wrote, "#ilovemyband #ilovemyfans."

The said post made VIPs think Bigbang would reunite soon. Speculations intensified after fans saw the Instagram Story posted by Seoul-based club DJ Glory, which showed five colorful daisies with the word "Bigbang" written across them.