Choi Seung-hyun (; born November 4, 1987), known professionally as T.O.P, is a South Korean rapper, musician, philanthropist, and actor. He performed as an underground rapper before joining the record label YG Entertainment and debuted as the lead rapper of the boy band BigBang in 2006. The group became one of the best-selling groups of all time in Asia and one of the best-selling boy bands in the world. In 2010, while the group was on hiatus, T.O.P and G-Dragon collaborated to release the album, GD & TOP. As a solo rapper, he has released two digital singles, "Turn It Up" (2010) and "Doom Dada" (2013), that have peaked at number two and four, respectively, on the Gaon Digital Chart.
T.O.P made his acting debut in 2007 through the TV series I Am Sam (2007), followed by Iris (2009) and the TV movie Nineteen (2009). He made his film debut with 71: Into the Fire (2010), for which he received praise and won multiple accolades including Best New Actor at the 2010 Blue Dragon Film Awards and the 2011 Baeksang Arts Awards. Subsequently, he garnered lead roles in the films Commitment (2013), for which he was awarded 'New Asian Actor of the Year' at the Busan International Film Festival and Tazza: The Hidden Card (2014). In 2024, T.O.P portrayed Thanos in the second season of the Netflix dystopian survival thriller series Squid Game.
Life and career
1987–2006: Career beginnings and debut with BigBang
Choi Seung-hyun was born in the Songpa District of Seoul, South Korea. He is the great nephew of Korea's pioneering abstract art artist Kim Whanki and grew up in contact with art due to his family. Choi became interested in hip hop at a young age. He and fellow future BigBang member Kwon Ji-yong were "neighborhood friend[s] from middle school" and often danced and rapped together. Although Kwon later moved away and the two "became distant", Choi was contacted by Kwon when YG Entertainment, Kwon's record label, was scouting for possible candidates to create a boy group. By then, Choi had already performed on many underground stages at hip hop clubs and established a reputation as an underground rapper with the stage name Tempo. In 2003 under the name of Tempo, he was the winner of KBS Radio's Rap Battle. After contact, Choi subsequently recorded several demos with Kwon and sent them to Yang Hyun-suk, CEO of YG Entertainment, who later asked him to audition. Choi was initially rejected by the record label, which deemed him too "chubby" to fit the "idealistic version" of an idol. He later "went home and exercised hard because [he] wanted to join YG Entertainment," losing 20 kg in 40 days. Six months later, Choi returned for another audition and was signed.
Given the stage name of T.O.P. () by senior YG artist Seven, he became one of two rappers alongside G-Dragon (Kwon's stage name) in BigBang. The two were paired with four others: Taeyang, Daesung, Seungri and Hyunseung and a documentary leading up to their debut was aired to promote them. Hyunseung was later dropped by Yang, and BigBang made its official debut with five members. Their first studio album, Big Bang Vol. 1 - Since 2007, received lukewarm receptions, and included T.O.P.'s first solo song "Big Boy". The group achieved mainstream success with the release of the song "Lies" () from the extended play Always (2007), which topped several charts upon its release. The singles, "Last Farewell" () from Hot Issue (2008) and "Day by Day" () from Stand Up (2008), became chart-toppers as well.
2007–2010: Solo career development, move into acting, and GD & TOP
After releasing the band's albums and singles, T.O.P. began working on his solo career. In April 2007, he was featured with fellow BigBang members Taeyang and G-Dragon on singer Lexy's single "Super Fly" for her album Rush. Later that summer, he appeared as an actor in Red Roc's "Hello" music video. He became the first member of BigBang to venture into acting, starring in the KBS2 drama I Am Sam, portraying the school's top fighter, Chae Musin. Despite wanting to use his stage name when acting, believing it reflects his professional side more, he is often billed with his real name, with his stage name included in parentheses. He also became a host of MBC's music program Music Core.
While promoting his group's materials in 2008, T.O.P appeared on other artists' records, including Gummy for the song "I'm Sorry" for her album Comfort, veteran singer Uhm Jung-hwa for her single "D.I.S.C.O." and ZiA for her single "I Only See You". The same year, he was admitted to Dankook University in the theatre department.탑(T.O.P), 단국대 입학 증명사진 화제 . Etoday.co.kr. Retrieved on January 13, 2012. The following year, T.O.P. portrayed the assassin Vick in the critically acclaimed Korean television drama Iris (2009). He also recorded the song "Hallelujah" for the drama's soundtrack with Taeyang and G-Dragon. Following Iris, T.O.P. starred in the suspense film 19-Nineteen along with fellow member Seungri. The duo released the single "Because" for the movie's soundtrack.
T.O.P's performance in the 2010 war drama 71: Into the Fire was well-received, earning him several Best New Actor awards at local award-giving bodies. The movie also gained one million admissions in a week. Simultaneously, T.O.P began to prepare for his solo musical debut. During BigBang's Big Show Concert in January 2010, T.O.P. performed his new single "Turn It Up". Released as a digital single, it peaked at number two, and sold over 1.3 million downloads by the end of 2010.
Later that year, T.O.P and bandmate G-Dragon formed a subunit to release the album GD & TOP (2010). Prior to the release of the album, the duo held a worldwide premiere showcase for their album at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo of Seoul, South Korea, which was also broadcast live on YouTube. Three singles were released in support of the album: "High High", "Oh Yeah", and "Knock Out". All three singles preceded the release of the album and attained commercial successes: "Knock Out" was a chart topper while "Oh Yeah" and "High High" both peaked at number two and number three respectively. The album was released on Christmas Eve, and debuted at number one with 200,000 pre-ordered copies.
2011–2016: Focus on acting and other ventures
From 2011 to 2012, T.O.P was extensively involved with BigBang's promotional activities for their EPs Tonight (2011) and Alive (2012) which included a ten-month world tour that travelled to four continents. After group activities wrapped up, he focused his attention back to acting, starring in the film Commitment (2013), playing the son of a North Korean spy who is falsely accused. T.O.P first became attached to the role because he "felt sympathy for the main character, Lee Myung Hoon." While filming a combat scene for the movie, he injured the back of his hand on a glass fragment and was later admitted to the hospital for surgery. For his role, he won the Rookie Award at the Asia Star Awards, held during the Busan International Film Festival.
T.O.P was named one of the hottest sex symbols of 2013 by Rolling Stone. That November, he released his second digital single, "Doom Dada". The song was performed for the first time at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong. "Doom Dada" earned the #1 position on Dazed magazine's Top 10 K-Pop tracks of 2013, where it was called "inviting and alienating... it's K-Pop but sly, frenetic and slippery." He later featured on English artist Pixie Lott's Japanese album alongside G-Dragon for the song "Dancing on My Own".
In 2014, T.O.P starred in the gambling film Tazza: The Hidden Card, based on the manhwa of the same name. After debuting as a furniture designer in 2015 in collaboration with Vitra, he was awarded the Visual Culture Award at the Prudential Eye Awards. Later that year, he starred in CJ E&M's web drama The Secret Message alongside Japanese actress Juri Ueno. Despite being a rapper, he sang on the single "Hi Haruka" as part of the drama's soundtrack.
After spending the majority of 2015 touring and promoting BigBang's materials for their album Made (2016), T.O.P was cast in the German-Chinese film Out of Control alongside Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung. The movie is scheduled for release in China.
2017–2019: Military service, personal and legal issues with marijuana usage T.O.P began his two-year mandatory military service on February 9, 2017, as a conscripted police officer, where he was set to be discharged on November 8, 2018, after completing the requirements. After news broke in June that he would be prosecuted without detention for use of marijuana, T.O.P was subsequently transferred to a different police division to await notice of prosecution, and was suspended from police duty pending verdict on his case. A few days after the announcement, T.O.P was found unconscious in police barracks due to a suspected anti-anxiety medicine overdose of prescribed benzodiazepine, and was hospitalized. On June 8, T.O.P's mother confirmed that he regained consciousness and was recovering.
On June 29, at his first trial for the marijuana usage charges at the Seoul Central District Court, T.O.P pleaded guilty, admitting that he did smoke marijuana in four instances in early October 2016 and received two years of probation. After undergoing a disciplinary review by the police to decide if T.O.P should return as a conscripted policeman or complete his service as a public service officer, T.O.P was eventually assigned reservist status by the Ministry of National Defense and transferred from the police department to complete his mandatory service as a public service worker. He resumed his mandatory service as public service officer at the Yongsan Arts and Crafts Center in central Seoul on January 26, 2018. Afterwards T.O.P was discharged on July 6, 2019. His dispensation took place officially two days later.
2019–present: Focus on art, departure from BigBang, and Squid Game role
T.O.P holds several records in the art world, becoming the first K-pop singer to be named to a list of 200 artists in the art world at Growse Magazine. On February 7, 2022, YG Entertainment announced that BigBang would make their comeback with a new song on April 5. They also announced that T.O.P ended his exclusive contract with YG Entertainment. YG announced at the time that he would continue with group activities. However, T.O.P confirmed on May 31, 2023, that he had withdrawn from the group. T.O.P. ruled out any future return to the group in January 2025, stating that his departure was final due to his past drug scandal and feeling ashamed of facing the other members.
On December 4, 2024, T.O.P was revealed as a cast member for the second season of the Netflix series Squid Game. He played Thanos, a former rapper who had fallen from grace due to a crypto scam. After auditioning, he won the role because series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk liked his "serious" approach. Hwang explained that he wanted to cast someone who had stopped working due to drug-related issues, and T.O.P had retired from K-pop and left BigBang over a marijuana conviction. To get ready for a fight scene with Yim Si-wan, both attended training to improve their chemistry together. During training, T.O.P broke some ribs. Yim later said that they stopped filming but T.O.P wanted to continue, so they resumed. When asked about Thanos' death, Hwang identified him as one of his favorite characters, believing that an "intense" death at the end of the second season was the perfect time to kill him, and that the manner in which the plot progresses in season 3 would make it feel like he is still there. T.O.P appeared one last time in the final episode, which sees a character briefly hallucinating Thanos.