T.O.P set for long-awaited solo comeback with Squid Game art director on board

K pop's T.O.P to release a solo comeback

For fans of Big Bang and Korean hip-hop, the wait has been a long one. Now, more than a decade after his last solo single Doom Dada in 2013, T.O.P is finally ready to return to music with a full-length studio album.

The project, due in the final quarter of 2025, is already one of the year’s most talked-about comebacks.

According to The Korea Herald, the 37-year-old has already finished recording and is preparing to shoot several music videos. To bring his vision to life, he has enlisted Chae Kyoung-sun, the Emmy-winning art director behind the global Netflix phenomenon Squid Game.

One insider told The Korea Herald: “T.O.P’s studio album is scheduled for release sometime in or after October. He has completed recording and plans to shoot several music videos. An art director of Squid Game will oversee the production.”

For fans, this collaboration promises something truly unique. Since Chae, who also won 2022 and 2025 Art Directors Guild Awards, collaborated with T.O.P. on Squid Game 2, her participation was a sort of reunion. High hopes have been raised by her talent and T.O.P.'s penchant for striking and unusual imagery.

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For almost a year, there have been hints of this return. In November, T.O.P casually replied “2025” to a fan on Instagram who asked about his solo plans. Then in June, while promoting Squid Game 2, he confirmed that he had been steadily crafting new music behind the scenes.

Since leaving YG Entertainment and officially parting ways with Big Bang in 2021, T.O.P has remained a free agent, choosing independence over agency control. Rumours of talks with Kakao Entertainment have circulated, but the company insists no deal has been made.

His journey back has not been without hurdles. In 2016, he was handed a suspended prison sentence for marijuana use during his mandatory police service, which led to his reassignment to alternative social work.

At the time, he even hinted at retirement from entertainment. However, his return to acting and, more recently, music, demonstrates an artist who refuses to let his past transgressions dictate his future.