TOP: Former Big Bang member "backdoored" into Squid Game 2, thanks to Lee Jung Jae?

TOP is known as a former member of the famous group Big Bang, who was involved in a drug scandal that ruined his career. He just returned with "Squid Game 2" but received negative reactions.

TOP's real name is Choi Seung-hyun, born on November 4, 1987 in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, is a Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, producer and actor; a former member of the famous music group Big Bang.

TOP has been passionate about hip-hop and space travel since he was a child. He later became famous in the underground scene and used the name "TEMPO" when he started rapping in high school. He did not register a trademark or release an album during this period.

Before officially debuting with Big Bang, T.O.P was childhood friends with G-Dragon. The Big Bang leader said that the two often rapped and practiced dancing together. Although G-Dragon later moved and the two “became distant,” they reconnected when YG Entertainment was auditioning for a boy band.

At first, TOP was rejected by the "big guy" because he was considered too "fat" to meet the "ideal model" of an idol. But he said "I went home and worked out hard because I wanted to join YG Entertainment". 6 months later, the 8x returned to audition again and was signed because of his successful weight loss.

In 2006, TOP joined Big Bang as one of two rappers (the other being G-Dragon). His first studio album Bigbang Vol.1 achieved certain success, including the song "Big Boy" performed by him. After his first albums and singles with the group, the male singer began his solo activities.

In April 2007, T.O.P collaborated with Taeyang and G-Dragon on Lexy's single "Super Fly" from the album "Rush". Also in the summer of 2007, he participated as an actor in the music video for Red Roc's "Hello". He then appeared in the KBS drama "I Am Sam" as the main character Chae Moo Shin.

In 2008, the male singer was admitted to Dankook University's theater department. After that, he stopped his personal activities to focus on Big Bang. After more than a year of promoting the group's music products, he returned to the screen when playing the role of assassin Vick in the Korean drama "Iris".

After "Iris", TOP appeared in the movie "19" and continued to participate in the movie "71: Into The Fire". Thanks to his successful performance in this work, he received a number of awards, notably the Hallyu Popularity Award at the 47th Grand Bell Awards.

During Big Bang's Big Show in January 2010, T.O.P performed his new song "Turn It Up" and became the first Korean artist to release a song on iTunes worldwide. In November, YG Entertainment announced that he and G-Dragon would release a collaboration album titled "GD & T.O.P".

To promote their album, the duo released three singles: "High High", "Oh Yeah" and "Knock Out", all of which were commercial successes. On Christmas Eve 2010, T.O.P and G-Dragon's album officially debuted at number one with pre-orders of 200,000 copies.

Throughout 2011, T.O.P had to stop all promotional activities for the new mini album "Tonight" with Big Bang due to Daesung's car accident and G-Dragon's marijuana-related troubles. He then attended the 2011 MTV EMA awards with his teammates.

In 2012, T.O.P. starred in the film "Commitment" as the son of a wrongly convicted North Korean spy. For this role, he won the Rookie Award at the Asia Star Awards held during the Busan International Film Festival, becoming the only Korean male actor to win an award at the time.

In November 2013, T.O.P released "Doom Dada" - his first single in three years, which he described as strange and quirky. In 2014, the singer starred as Ham Dae-Gil in the film "Tazza 2: The Hidden Card", the sequel to "Tazza: The High Rollers".

After spending most of 2015 touring with Big Bang, T.O.P. starred in the Chinese-German film "Out Of Control" alongside Cecilia Cheung. On February 9, 2017, he began his military service and is scheduled to be discharged on November 8, 2018.

However, in early June 2017, TOP was indicted for illegal marijuana use, which led to his expulsion from the military. At the final trial held in late July, he was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended, and fined 12,000 won for drug use.

On March 13, 2018, when Big Bang released a farewell song to fans called "Flower Road", TOP was investigated by the Seoul Military Manpower Administration on suspicion of violating the prohibition of participating in other business activities while in the military.

However, on April 5, a source from the Yongsan office said that after review, TOP did not violate any military regulations. On July 6, 2019, the male singer was officially discharged from the army after 2 years of military service. In January 2020, he and the remaining members of Big Bang continued to renew their contracts with the management company YG.

On February 7, 2022, YG announced that T.O.P. had ended his exclusive contract with the company. On May 31, 2023, the male singer announced on his Instagram page that he would be leaving BIGBANG after 17 years to focus on his solo career.

Recently, TOP returned to the screen with "Squid Game 2" but faced a lot of criticism from the audience. The male idol was accused by Dispatch of using his close relationship with the male lead Lee Jung Jae to appear in the famous movie.

Dispatch said that after TOP's drug scandal, Lee Jung Jae actively sought a new role to "save" his close friend but was unsuccessful. This time, as the main actor with an important role in "Squid Game", he successfully brought the former Big Bang member "on the boat he led".

Dispatch strongly condemned Netflix's behavior for showing "double standards". They strictly cut off Korean artists involved in social evils like Yoo Ah In or Kim Sae Ron but ignored TOP's scandal.

Later, through StarNews, Netflix denied the allegations, saying that the actors were chosen by the producers and directors. However, with Netflix's ambiguous response, the audience still does not believe that TOP got the role through casting.

TOP is preparing to comeback, reunite with BIGBANG after Squid Game 2, fans are happy as hell? Phượng Vũ14:10:28 11/02/2025After being given the green light, TOP has continuously made noticeable moves, sparking rumors of an upcoming reunion with BIGBANG members. This makes fans eagerly wait.