Q: You’ve finished your solo album, the PEACEMINUSONE pop-up store, your Seoul world tour concert, and even your ELLE cover shoot. Do you feel relieved?

G-Dragon: People around me say they feel relieved now that the album is out. But for me, it feels more like I’m just getting started. The world tour is only the beginning and also an extension of the album. If it were just a one-time performance, I would tell myself I did well, but it starts again this week.

The PEACEMINUSONE pop-up store also began in Seoul, it is not the end. Every single thing carries weight. Especially this album, because the goal was to show Kwon Jiyong, not G-Dragon.

Q: You handled all of this at once. Where does that drive come from?

G-Dragon: I guess I just have strong mental stamina.

Q: Were you always like that?

G-Dragon: I realized something about myself recently, I am actually very optimistic. Even when things are hard or don’t turn out well, I just think, “It can’t be helped. I’ll do better next time,” and move on. I don’t really dwell on things. I don’t like being too serious. Everything should feel free, music too.

Maybe that is just confidence. I have always lived assuming things will work out. But that is when I am G-Dragon.

G-Dragon is flashy. People don’t expect him to be proper or restrained, so whatever I do, there is less pressure and I can act freely. That is his strength, and fans like that.

But even though we are the same person, Kwon Jiyong is more introverted. He thinks a lot.

People often say I am different on and off stage.

This time, I showed Kwon Jiyong to the public for the first time, and I realized the gap between G-Dragon and Kwon Jiyong is bigger than I thought.

Q: This album feels like a diary, very personal. What moved you to make it?

G-Dragon: It is something I had to do.

I turned thirty, and there is also the reality of military enlistment. It is an important point in my life.

So instead of trying to be trendy or polished, I worked on it as if it might be my last.

While doing that, I felt like I returned to my original self.

That is why I named the world tour MOTTE (모태, meaning “innate” or “from birth”). I usually like creating new words for albums, like Crayon, but this time I wanted to show something that did not need any extra description.

It might feel like a test for me, but to my fans, I felt it was something I owed them.

That is why I changed the album title to Kwon Jiyong. Originally, I was going to call it “30.”

Q: Looking back on the process of making this album?

G-Dragon: I made this album like I was studying myself.

I realized I did not really know Kwon Jiyong. There were things I did not know, things I had forgotten, even my childhood is not very clear.

So I looked through my old albums and traced how I got here.

Since late last year, I started writing down words that came to mind. I cannot reveal the content, but it filled a whole book. No one else would understand it, they are words only I remember.

I pulled lyrics from those notes and built the album and even the tour concept from them. There is a clear connection, but only I know it. This is probably the album I put the most thought and seriousness into.

With BIGBANG, we are five people and have been together for over ten years, so there is already a structure. We have to think together and write songs for BIGBANG, so it cannot be too personal.

And honestly, that was easier, because you have to make music that many people can relate to. But this time, because it is so personal, I worried a lot while working on it.

Q: It is not easy to share something so private, especially with the whole world.

G-Dragon: Even now, during this interview, I feel like I want to say more, but it is so personal that I do not know where to begin.

I think I am good with words, but when it comes to Kwon Jiyong, I do not know how to explain him. It feels like I am standing naked in front of people.