Episode 73: M.A.D.E.—Majah Flavah (2006-2008)

This is the second part in a series of episodes on BigBang’s magnum opus: M.A.D.E. I’d had the idea of trying to cover the album the same way I did Winner’s EVERYD4Y and SHINee’s The Story of Light (two other K-Pop masterpieces) but the more I researched, the more I understood that the story of M.A.D.E. is really the story of BigBang and, more broadly, of K-Pop as a genre.

The first episode—The YG Famillenium (1988-2006)—covers the founding of YG Entertainment and the origins of both the early YG Family sound and the origins of some of the characteristics that would define the agency through this early era.

This episode—Majah Flavah (2006-2008)—covers BigBang’s rookie era through their first big hit, “Lies,” and also includes a discussion on what plagiarism in music actually involves.

• I mention it briefly in the episode but this episode series will not be covering Seungri’s criminal charges and the Burning Sun scandal. If you’re here for the salacious gossip, you may as well close the browser window now. The media coverage of Seungri and Burning Sun has tended more towards sensationalism and less towards, you know, facts, which has not been all that helpful in understanding what actually happened. There is a timeline of events put together by Billboard that is as good a source as any for a look at how the scandal unfolded and Soompi has a fairly dry list of the charges that Seungri was convicted of. Maybe one day I’ll do an episode series on Burning Sun but this series is not it.

• The lawsuit filed by Structured Asset Sales LLC against Ed Sheeran is currently in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals after Sheeran’s side won at the district court level. There’s a good write-up of the case here. Keep in mind that most plagiarism accusations thrown around are nothing more than fodder for fan wars and things like flow jacking, while lame, are neither illegal nor plagiarism. The K-Pop Trend Generator continues to churn through trends and will continue to churn through trends from Coffee Shop Song to Tropical House to Girl Crush to that godawful Hybe vocal processing. Stans can whine and complain and point fingers but at the end of the day, everybody’s faves start out using concepts heavily inspired by other groups before (hopefully) finding their own unique… flavah. (For the example I used in the episode, here’s Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn” and David Bowie’s “Station to Station.”)

• Style was a huge part of the BigBang phenomenon. As this episode ends, we see BigBang beginning to come into their own as the fashion forward, trend-setting idols they would become. Below is six member pre-debut BigBang (photo from My BigBang Collection) and G-Dragon with the “apple hair” in a “Lies” promo shot. If you’d like to get a good look at BigBang at the height of their B.E.T.-ness, linked here is a Getty Images gallery of their performance with the YG Family at TRL Studios in Times Square, New York City, in October 2006,

• For more context on the K-Pop idol scene, you may want to check out my series on TVXQ. All four parts are linked here. Episode 50 on “hip hop idols” also provides additional context on the hip-hop scene. The awful New Yorker article referenced in this episode is also linked from the Episdoe 50 show notes.

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The songs played are:

1. “How Gee” by BigBang (Made in Seoul)

2. “A-Yo” by JinuSean (Official MV—keep your eyes peeled for baby Young-Bae! And one of my favorite videos, S.M. Entertainment rappers doing “A-Yo” at SM Town in Los Angeles in 2010, which just shows that these early YG Family songs really did hit with the American ear.)

3. “Love Love Love” by Epik High (Official MV; and catch them doing hit song “Fly” on Music Core in 2005)

4. “Ragga Muffin” by Stony Skunk (live on Music Camp June 4, 2005; and Official MV)

5. “Storm feat. G-Dragon” by Perry (live on Inkigayo, 2001; and Official MV)

6. “저 높은 곳에 펼쳐” by G-Dragon and YB Taekwon (and check them out live!)

7. “Buckwild” (demo) by NBK Gray and Tempo

8. “Uh Huh” by B2K

9. “We Belong Together feat. Park Bom” by BigBang (Official MV; please note that T.O.P. still does not have his drivers license)

10. “Intro (Put Your Hands Up)” by BigBang

11. “A Fool of Tears” by BigBang (Official MV; I love this video; and a live version.)

12. “This Love” by G-Dragon (solo song; Official MV)

13. “La La La” by BigBang (Official MV; for the full effect with the abs flashing choreography, you really need to watch a live stage.)

14. “V.I.P.” by BigBang (Live performance complete with junk yard fences and flames!)

15. “Ma Girl” by Taeyang (solo song; Official MV; and if you want a preview of what’s to come, here is him just four years later in 2010 doing this same song.)

16. “Victory (Intro)” by BigBang

17. “B I G B A N G” by BigBang

18. “Try Smiling” by Daesung (solo song)

19. “Forever With U feat. Park Bom” by BigBang (Official MV and shout out to GD’s little snaggletooth)

20. “Good Bye Baby” by BigBang (Official MV; and a live performance with the choreography point move although watching now I think I misspeak in the episode and it’s Daesung who pops out, not Seungri.)

21. “다음날” by Seungri (solo song)

22. “Big Boy” by T.O.P. (solo song)

23. “Dirty Cash” by BigBang (Official MV)

24. “Shake It” by BigBang (unlike “Dirty Cash” you can still catch BigBang performing this one into the 2010s.)

25. “Lies” by BigBang (Official MV; drop what you’re doing and WATCH IT NOW)

26. “Sky High” by FreeTempo (there will be more about Shibuya Kei in the next episode!)

27. [Neil Sedaka from This is Pop]

28. [Milhouse in The Simpsons, “Lemon of Troy”]

29. “How Gee” by BigBang (Official MV; the MV should give a clue to the deliberate use of a nostalgic sample)

30. “How Gee” by Black Machine (Official MV)

31. “Last Farewell” by BigBang (Official MV)

32. “Fool” by BigBang (one of my favorites!)