Counting Pages: K-Pop Hottie of the Week: TOP

Those ladies that are walking down the street
And even all the guys are screaming out my name (TOP)
My rap is Korea’s favorite food, all the youths are copying me
A motley, it’s jumbled, but also sweet
My two job adventure even broke colored lens glasses
All the WANNA BE STARs that resemble me
They try to chase and chase after me but I’m a MOVIE STAR

T.O.P., Knockout- GD&TOP

Yes, our second K-Pop Hottie of the Week is actor and rapper extraordinaire, T.O.P. That’s his official stage name, but everyone pretty much calls him TOP, or, occasionally and lovingly, Tabi. He’s the main rapper of the Korean band BIGBANG, who make hip-hop style music for the most part. He’s also in a duo with the other rapper from BIGBANG, G-Dragon. So, how about some facts?

Name: Choi Seung-hyun (Most Korean surnames are really common, so, no, TOP and Siwon are not brothers. Though they would make up the hottest family ever)

Date of Birth: 9^th November 1987

Height: 181 cm? (We can’t really be sure. They’re too obsessive about height over there)

Position in band: Rap and visuals (Oh yeah! Double combo!)

Other names: T.O.P, TOP, Tabi, Bingu TOP

TOP grew up a normal kid, I guess, and is still really close to his mom. He and G-Dragon used to live close to each other, and used to rap together as middle-schoolers. Eventually G-Dragon moved away and they became rather distant, but when YG (their label) said they wanted to form a new band, G-Dragon contacted TOP and recommended him. But YG rejected him, saying he was too chubby. So he went home, exercised like hell, and came back six months later, all sexy. They say he lost 20 kg (44 lbs) in 40 days. He really wanted to be in YG.

TOP is an acclaimed rapper, with a really deep, heavy voice that fits his style of rap. He writes his own lyrics. He’s in a rap duo with G-Dragon, named GD&TOP, and the only album they’ve released so far has been a super-hit. Not as big a hit as, y’know, BIGBANG albums, but up there. Of the three singles they released, only one went to #1. That’s a BIGBANG-standard fail.

He's also a pretty acclaimed actor, acting in some serious stuff like the drama IRIS (where he was a freaking hot assassin) and 71: Into the Fire, a war movie.

Personality-wise, you could say TOP is a little slow. Not dumb, but he’s just in his own little world half the time. He’s known as Bingu TOP– ‘bingu’ in Korean means ‘empty’, though his fans call him that lovingly. They usually say it when he’s being weird– and he’s weird a lot of the time. Like I said before, he’s really close to his mom, living with her even after they’d debuted and the other members were living together in a dorm.

TOP is insanely popular with girls, not only in Korea but over the world as well. Yet he’s never dated anyone– openly, anyway. A few rumours fly, but (I'm pretty sure) they’re all made out of nothing. TOP’s not really comfortable around girls, and doesn’t hang out with famous girl musicians. Or any girls, really. Reasons for his popularity are obvious. He’s tall, and he has a handsome, sculpted face. And his personality's too adorable.

And did I mention he died his hair mint-blue?!

He also really isn’t used to technology. Apparently all he uses his phone for is to call and text his mom. He doesn’t have a Twitter. Or a blog. Or any proof he exists in cyberspace. Because he doesn’t. He's also pretty shy around people he doesn't know, and despite thousands of fangirls everywhere crying, he has never had a shirtless photo. Yes. This man has never showed his abs. Cruel.