It offers a glimpse of their hip-hop/r&b sound but doesn’t hint at their EDM and rock influences at all. It feels like a very bare-bones template. The group didn’t start really finding their way until a year after its release.ĭoes the song represent the artist’s music going forward? Is the song stronger or weaker than most of the artist’s title tracks? I mean, I still like it… but it sounds very of its era. You can hear the smallest bit of that groundwork being laid in We Belong Together. Whatever the case, it wouldn’t be until 2007 that BIGBANG really broke through with Lies. You’d think YG would have wanted to highlight all of the members – not just a couple. This seems like an odd choice for a debut. Bom does all of the singing and her voice comprises quite a bit of the track. Interestingly, We Belong Together doesn’t utilize the group’s vocal talents at all. By today’s standards, the production is very smooth and unchanging, highlighted by a delicate keys loop that gives the rhythm satisfying swing. The track presents a leisurely hip-hop beat over which the guys trade rapped verses with Bom’s hooky chorus. The two songs actually share a similar vibe, though BIGBANG’s version coasts on a more laidback melody. I was not yet a K-pop fan, meaning the only “We Belong Together” that occupied my brain space was Mariah Carey’s huge hit. It’s hard to put myself in the 2006 frame of mind. But, We Belong Together stands as their first promoted track – as well as the CD debut of Park Bom who would later be known as part of 2NE1.

The group emerged with a single album, of which a couple tracks were given a music video. In this feature, I’ll be looking back at debut songs through the prism of time, re-evaluating how well they hold up and how representative they are of an artist’s eventual singles run.īigbang returned with Still Life earlier this month, so it seems as good a time as any to flash back nearly sixteen years to their debut. Sometimes, they’re the only song a group delivers!īut, debuts can also be huge wtf moments in an artist’s career. At times, they’re the best song a group delivers.

Bigbang debut