Coup d'Etat (G Dragon album)

Background

YG Entertainment announced in June that Missy Elliott and Diplo will be collaborating on the album. A series of teaser photos were then released by YG Entertainment on August 26 and on August 27, 2013. YG then released the full album track list on September 1 which revealed other collaborating artists such as Lydia Paek, Jennie Kim, Boys Noize, Baauer, and Sky Ferreira.

In LOEN Entertainment's "Ask in A Box" interview, G-Dragon revealed that it took less than two years recording Coup d'Etat. He also revealed that he recorded "Niliria" in 2011.

Promotion

G-Dragon and Missy Elliott debuted the song "Niliria" with a live performance on KCON 2013 on August 25, 2013. YG Entertainment released the music video for "Coup d'Etat" on YouTube on September 1, 2013 which garnered over 750,000 views after a day. The music video for "Crooked" was then released on September 4, 2013. G-Dragon performed the tracks "Niliria", "Michi Go" and debuted the song "Black" (with Jennie Kim) on the SBS music show Inkigayo on September 8, 2013.

G-Dragon held an art exhibition in Seoul on September 10 to 17, 2013 which coincided with the release of the album. The exhibition was entitled "Space Eight". The art exhibition showcased 88 items which relates to the number 8.

On September 29, 2013, YG Entertainment announced that limited edition vinyl copies of Coup d'Etat will be released on October 18. The package is said to include a badge, a mask and a booklet with hand-written lyrics. Photos from the "Space Eight" art exhibition held in Seoul as well as photos from the "Coup d'Etat" music video will also be included. Only 8,888 units will be sold. Pre-orders for the vinyl edition was made available on September 30, it sold out on October 2 after getting pre-orders for all copies.

Commercial performance

Tracks from Coup d'Etat topped major Korean music sites such as MelOn, Mnet, Bugs, Naver, and Olleh. A total of seven tracks were placed from one to seven on the Mnet charts upon release, while six tracks from Coup d'Etat were also placed within the top 10 of the Gaon Singles Charts with "Who You?" being number one. Up to August 2016, the album has sold over 6.2 million copies of digital downloads. Coup d'Etat is the third top album digital on Melon of 2013. The album also topped the iTunes charts in several countries.

On September 10, it was revealed the physical album had received pre-orders in excess of 300,000 copies in South Korea. The album eventually debuted at number one in the South Korean Albums Chart. The album went on to be number one on the Gaon Charts for the month of September after selling 198,489 copies.

Coup d'Etat, Pt. 1 debuted at number 182 in the US Billboard 200 charts with first week sales of more than 2,000 copies.

Coup d'Etat debuted at number eleven in the Oricon Charts in Japan with an estimated total of 11,150 copies sold during its first week of release.

Critical reception

Jon Caramanica of The New York Times expressed that "though largely in Korean, Coup d'Etat is perhaps the K-pop album with America most heavily on its mind and in its credits", referring to various collaborations by American artists Baauer, Sky Ferreira, Diplo and Missy Elliott.

Corban Goble of Pitchfork Media concluded in his review that, "If you come to Coup d’Etat expecting some kind of revolution you'll be disappointed; it’s an intriguing listen, if not an important one." He gave the album a 6.1 out of 10.

Track listing

Notes

Samples