''Coup d'Etat'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by South Korean rapper

G-Dragon Kwon Ji-yong (; born August 18, 1988), best known as G-Dragon (), is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur, known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of K-pop". Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, G-Drag ...

, member and leader of South Korean boy band

Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...

. The album was initially released on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

. The first five tracks of the album were released on September 2, 2013, the next seven tracks were released on September 5, and physical copies were released on September 13. The album was supported by the singles "

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

" and "Who You?" released on September 2, and "

Crooked Crooked may refer to: * Crooked Creek (disambiguation) * Crooked Island (disambiguation) * Crooked Lake (disambiguation) * Crooked River (disambiguation) * Crooked Harbour, Hong Kong * Crooked Forest, West Pomerania, Poland * Crooked Bridge, a ...

" and " Niliria" on September 5. It also contains the promotional single "

MichiGO "MichiGO (미치Go)" is a promotional single recorded by South Korean hip hop artist G-Dragon from his second studio album, '' Coup d'Etat'' (2013). It was released digitally on April 1, 2013, through the application Line. Background On March ...

", which was released on April 1, 2013. The album charted at number one on the South Korean

Gaon Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Koreabased on their Record sales, physical sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, ...

and entered the ''Billboard'' 200, making G-Dragon the first K-pop act with multiple entries in that chart. ''Coup d'Etat'' received primarily favorable reviews by critics.

Development

In an interview with ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'', G-Dragon explained that he did not feel connected with his first solo album anymore. Commenting on the evolution of his sound, he stated: G-Dragon mostly worked with YG's in house producers, Choice37, Teddy Park and Kush. In

LOEN Entertainment Kakao M Corp. (; formerly Seoul Records, YBM Seoul Records and LOEN Entertainment) was a South Korean entertainment company established by Min Yeong-bin in 1978. It was one of the largest co-publisher companies in South Korea. The company opera ...

's " Ask in A Box" interview, G-Dragon revealed that he took almost two years recording ''Coup d'Etat''. He first recorded demos for "Niliria" and "Runaway" in 2011. When discussing why the album took years to be completed, the rapper said:

Composition

''Coup d'Etat'' is an eclectic mix of hip-hop, dubstep, rock, electro, and pop. The record features collaborations from various artists such as

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

Baauer Harry Bauer Rodrigues (born April 30, 1989), known professionally as Baauer, is an American record producer and DJ, best known for his double platinum song "Harlem Shake (song), Harlem Shake". He has produced varied dance music from the age of 13 ...

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

Boys Noize Alexander Ridha (born 22 August 1982), better known by his stage name Boys Noize, is a German-Iraqi electronic music record producer, songwriter and DJ known for collaborations with artists including A$AP Rocky, Tommy Cash, and Frank Ocean (for ...

Sky Ferreira Sky Tonia Ferreira (; born July 8, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter, model, and actress. As a teenager, Ferreira began uploading videos on Myspace of herself singing songs she had written, which led to her discovery by producers Bloodsh ...

Zion.T Kim Hae-sol (; born April 13, 1989), known professionally as Zion.T (), is a South Korean hip hop and R&B singer-songwriter. He has released 2 studio albums, ''Red Light'' (2013) and ''Zip'' (2023), as well as 3 EPs. He has also been featured ...

, Lydia Paek, and label-mate

Jennie Kim Jennie Kim (; born January 16, 1996), known mononymously as Jennie, is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and actress. Born and raised in South Korea until 2004, Jennie later lived in New Zealand before returning to South Korea to suc ...

, who later became a member of

Blackpink Blackpink (, stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment. The group is composed of four members: Jisoo, Jennie (singer), Jennie, Rosé (singer), Rosé, and Lisa (rapper), Lisa. Regarded by ...

three years after the album's release. The album's title track, co-produced by American DJs Diplo and Baauer, is a slow tempo trap influenced song. The collaboration with

, "Niliria", was distinctive for its

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

and

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

beat. The duet with Lydia Paek, "R.O.D", is a dubstep track featuring

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

timbales Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfic ...

while "

" was compared to the early '90s R&B ballads. The single "Crooked" was described as a "catchy

pop-punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

" track that fuses "heavy drumbeats and metal guitar riffs." "Runaway" is a combination of

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

and "I Love It", which was co-produced by German DJ

, is a "smooth R&B-

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

mash-up". Lastly, "Window" is a hiphop and pop track with melancholic 80s synths "blended with tribal beats".

Release

The album was first released digitally divided in two parts: ''Coup d'État: Part I'' was released on September 2, 2013, with the first five tracks of the tracklist, while the seven additional tracks were released on September 5. The physical edition, including two exclusive tracks, was released on September 14. On September 29, 2013,

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and conce ...

announced that limited edition

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

copies of ''Coup d'Etat'' would be released on October 18. The package was said to include a badge, a mask and a booklet with hand-written lyrics. Photos from the "Space Eight" art exhibition held in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

as well as photos from the "Coup d'Etat" music video would also be included. Only 8,888 units were 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.

Promotion

On March 15, 2013

announced that G-Dragon would release a new promotional single to support his first world tour. "MichiGo" was released exclusively through mobile app Line on April 1, available only on South Korea, Japan and Thailand. "

" featuring then-YG trainee Jennie and "Who You?" were released as the first two singles on September 2, followed by the third and fourth singles "

" and " Niliria" (G-Dragon version) on September 5.

announced in June that

and

would be collaborating on the album. A series of teaser photos were then released by

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,

, and

. G-Dragon and Missy Elliott debuted the song "Niliria" with a live performance on KCON 2013 on August 25, 2013, in Los Angeles. YG Entertainment released the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Coup d'Etat" on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

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. The first televised performance was held at the talk show ''

You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook ''You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook'' () is a South Korean talk show and live music television program airing from April 24, 2009, until July 22, 2022. It was hosted by You Hee-yeol, also known as his one-man band, Toy. The program has aired since Apri ...

'' on September 6, where G-Dragon performed the single "Crooked" and the solo version of "Niliria". The first performance at a music show, which featured the tracks "Niliria", "Michi Go" and the debut of the song "Black" with Jennie took place on SBS's ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' (; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform on stage. ...

'' on September 8, 2013. On November 13, the fourth music video of the album, "Who You?" was released on YouTube. G-Dragon held an art exhibition in

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, he and CL joined for the first live performance of "R.O.D", on the show ''Inkigayo''. YG was speculated to re-release the single as a sleeper single. The song "R.O.D." was rumored to be the final single of the album by various sources.

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 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

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'' was the third best-selling digital album on

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

of 2013. The album also topped the

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 South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The album eventually debuted at number one in the

Gaon Albums Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Koreabased on their physical sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart The Circle ...

and went on to be number one on the same chart 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. ''Pt. 1'' also topped ''Billboard'' World Album Chart, while ''Pt. 2'' held the second spot. On the Heatseekers Albums chart, the first and second parts debuted at number three and five, respectively. ''Coup d'Etat'' made G-Dragon, along with boy band

Shinee Shinee ( ; ; ; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group consists of four members: Onew, Key (entertainer), Key, Choi Min-ho, Minho, and Taemin. Originally a five-piece band, Jonghyun died on ...

, be the first Korean act to enter ''Billboards Year-end World Albums Artists. ''Coup d'Etat'' debuted at number eleven in the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

with an estimated total of 11,150 copies sold during its first week of release. The Japanese version of the album named '' Coup d'Etat + One of a Kind & Heartbreaker'' debuted at number two on the same chart.

Critical reception

In a review for

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, Alexis Stephens wrote that G-Dragon "created a

post-modern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experi ...

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

of worldwide pop idol sounds" that at times "feels like empty calories". Jeff Benjamin and Jessica Oak of ''Billboard'' felt that the album "establishes that K-pop stars are no different than pop stars of the West and, really, no different than everyday people struggling with insecurities, relationships and proving one's maturity perhaps just a bit prematurely." David Jeffries of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

noted that G-Dragon "set his sights on America" with this album, and declared that, "when this flashy and slick effort goes deep", the listener will be shocked. Jon Caramanica of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' expressed that "K-pop is gloriously synthetic, and G-Dragon is a miraculous canvas to work with. He morphs easily into almost any style, he moves with panache and confidence, and he has a perpetual sense of theater about him." The critic also noted that ''Coup d'Etat'' "is perhaps the K-pop album with America most heavily on its mind and in its credits." Corban Goble of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' felt that the album's best moments came from the delivery of "G-Dragon's superstar promise" and in the capitalization of "his enormous charisma." He 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." ''

'' ranked the album's red cover at number 20 on their "The 50 Best Pop Album Covers of the Past Five Years" list, with Dale Eisinger commenting that:

Accolades

Track listing

Notes * Tracks 4, 5, 8 and 9 are promotional tracks. * Part 1 included tracks 1 to 5, whilst Part 2 included tracks 6 to 12. * Tracks 13 and 14 are exclusive to the physical edition. * Track 4 credits

Jennie Jennie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Jennie'' (film), a 1940 American drama film * ''Jennie'' (musical), a 1963 Broadway production * ''Jennie'' (novel), a 1994 science fiction thriller by Douglas Preston * '' Jennie: Lady Randolph C ...

under the name "Jennie Kim of YG New Girl Group". Sample credits *"Coup d'Etat" contains a vocal sample of "

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is a satirical poem and Black Liberation song by Gil Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron first recorded it for his 1970 album ''Small Talk at 125th and Lenox'', on which he recited the lyrics, accompanied by congas a ...

" written and performed by

Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author known for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackso ...

. *"Niliria" contains elements of a traditional Korean

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

of the same name.

Charts

Weekly charts

Yearly charts

Sales

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coup d'Etat (G-Dragon album) 2013 albums G-Dragon albums YG Entertainment albums 2010s Korean-language albums Albums produced by G-Dragon Albums produced by Teddy Park