Kwon Ji Yong (Korean: 권지용;Chinese:權志龍/权志龙; born August 18, 1988), better known by his stage name G-Dragon (Korean: 지드래곤), is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, dancer, lyricist, producer, model, and fashion designer.
At the age of eight he was under contract at SM Entertainment, but he decided to change record labels. After 6 years as a trainee under the record label YG Entertainment, G-Dragon officially debuted as the leader and one of two rappers for the Korean group Big Bang. G-Dragon has been involved with writing, composing, and producing many of Big Bang's hit tracks, including "Lies", "Last Farewell", and "Haru Haru".
He released his debut solo album, Heartbreaker (2009), which yielded the number-one single of the same name. The album went on to become one of the most successful albums of the year, garnering sales of over 200,000 copies and winning the Mnet Asian Music Awards for Album of the Year. Heartbreaker also sparked major controversies for the artist, including accusations of plagiarism. After almost a year of hiatus, G-Dragon and bandmate, T.O.P collaborated to record and release the album GD & TOP (2010). The album saw the release of three singles: "High High", "Oh Yeah", and "Knock Out", all of which have charted within the top three positions of the Gaon chart, with "High High" becoming a chart-topper. In 2012, G-Dragon released his second solo album, "One of a Kind", with hit singles "One of a Kind", "Crayon", and "That XX". Recently in 2013, he released his second full album in four years Coup D'Etat.