FUSE TV - Did BIGBANG's Explosion Already Happen?

BIGBANG spent both last weekend filling a U.S. arena to the brim, as a reported 24,000 fans headed to Newark for the final U.S. shows of the group's Made world tour at New Jersey's Prudential Center. The performances marked the K-pop phenom's second two-night stint at the  arena, after BIGBANG pulled similar numbers for their 2012 Alive tour. However, the U.S. media attention was markedly more intense this time around, with the New York Times, Billboard and Grantland all delivering write-ups on the short residency. 

For most acts, this would indicate a future of much bigger things to come in American markets—especially for an international act that doesn't sing in English. But for BIGBANG, the writing on the wall suggests that this New York-area triumph likely was not the next step in world domination, but a proper acceptance of the boy band's collective limitations meant to underline its members' potential as solo artists.

First, some backstory to the explosive NJ shows. After a three-year break—a lifetime in the quickly moving K-pop world—BIGBANG announced earlier this year that they would release two new songs with accompanying music videos on the first day of every month for four straight months, before dropping their new full-length album Made on September 1. While the LP is pushed back indefinitely (G-Dragon told the October 10th audience that the LP "is coming out very soon"), its title is perhaps most telling. Following a grand, ambitious rollout rarely seen in the eastern music industry, Made feels like the right word to describe BIGBANG at this point.