T.O.P returns after 13 years with the Korean Kanye album: Ed Ruscha on art, IRKO on mix
BIGBANG's deep bass auteur built ANOTHER DIMENSION as a total work, with the Pop Art legend, Kanye's Grammy winning mixer, and Squid Game's art director all in the credits.
Something Dope · · 2 min read
Thirteen years. That's how long T.O.P (Choi Seung-hyun) made fans wait between solo records. ANOTHER DIMENSION dropped April 3, his first body of work since 2013's "Doom Dada" and his first project since departing BIGBANG in 2023. It sits at 1.7M monthly listeners on Spotify, lead single "Studio54" already cleared 5.9M streams, and the credits list reads less like a K pop release and more like someone tried to build the Korean Yeezus from scratch.
The mixer is from Kanye's room
Start with the mix. IRKO (Maurizio Sera) handled sound design and mixing across all 11 tracks. He's the Grammy winning Italian engineer who's spent years inside Kanye West's sessions and has credits with The Weeknd. His fingerprints are why "Studio54" hits the way it does: a house track laced with 1980s hip hop sensibility, mixed in Dolby Atmos top to bottom.
Ed Ruscha is on the album
This is the move you make when you've been studying the Kanye blueprint. Ed Ruscha, the American Pop Art legend whose word paintings live in MoMA's permanent collection, contributed to ANOTHER DIMENSION. Murakami did Graduation. George Condo did MBDTF. T.O.P pulled Ruscha onto his debut album. That is a thesis statement.
The Squid Game team handled the visuals
Art direction came from Chae Kyung-sun, the art director on Squid Game. Music videos were shot by Kim Ji-yong, the cinematographer behind Decision to Leave and Squid Game 2. T.O.P on the process: "For almost 10 years, I focused solely on making music. I poured everything into the creative process." A more narrative driven approach. Complex sound structures. He didn't just make a record, he produced a film with songs in it.
The tracklist earns the comparison
"Self Crucifixion." "The Giant." "A Small, Filthy Show Window." These are Yeezus titles. Religious. Monumental. Defiant. "Studio54" and "Desperado" are the lead singles, but the album reads end to end as one statement.
Top tracks on Spotify right now:
1. Studio54 (5.9M plays) 2. DESPERADO (2.8M plays) 3. A SMALL, FILTHY SHOW WINDOW (2.2M plays) 4. THE GIANT (2.1M plays) 5. SELF CRUCIFIXION (1.9M plays)
Bottom line
The "Korean Kanye" comparison gets thrown around. With ANOTHER DIMENSION, T.O.P actually earned it. Total auteur control. A Grammy winning mixer from Kanye's circle. A Pop Art icon in the credits. An art house cinematographer on the videos. Religious and philosophical track titles. A 13 year gap broken with a fully realized body of work.
Stream "Studio54" first. Then sit with the whole thing.
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Listen: T.O.P on Spotify
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