Maps of Music

The Great Dipper (2015)

Where the lyrics of The Great Dipper take you, and where it was really made.

The title song was inspired by the Big Dipper, but according to Kim the star pattern he actually watched was Orion's Belt.

Place unknown

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The Great Dipper (Korean: 북두칠성): third Korean studio album by South Korean singer-songwriter Roy Kim
Released 4 December 2015 by MMO Entertainment, distributed by CJ E&M Music
Nine tracks in total
Lead single: the eponymous title track, the first ballad title track of Kim's career
Main theme: stars, which Kim said he had written about often
Released digitally at 12:00 am KST on 4 December, with the music video for the title track (directed by Kwon Soon-wook)

August 2015: Kim previewed the album in a backstage interview with Billboard K-Town at KCON 2015
He said the album would be much deeper, with very minimal arrangements
Two months later, Kim renewed his contract with CJ E&M Music
13 November: a CJ E&M Music official said the artist was preparing a comeback aimed for early December
20 November: Kim announced that the album and its lead single would be titled The Great Dipper
1 December: Kim hosted the RoyStar FM show on Melon Radio and talked about his attachment to stars
He said the album had more piano melodies than guitar tunes, so it would differ from his previous studio album
His other songs before this album had been acoustic folk songs

Born Kim Sang-woo (김상우) in Seoul, South Korea, on July 3, 1993; professionally known as Roy Kim.
Won the television talent show Superstar K 4 in 2012, which began his singing career.
Attended Asheville School in Asheville, North Carolina, graduating in 2012.
Entered Georgetown University in 2013, alternating between US study and his South Korean music career.

Debuted with the studio album Love Love Love (2013), which included the hit single "Bom Bom Bom".
The album won Best New Male Artist at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards and Rookie of the Year and the Popularity Award at the 2014 Golden Disc Awards.
Released the albums Home (2014) and The Great Dipper (2015), and the EP Blooming Season (2017).
Contributed the song "Pinocchio" to the soundtrack of the television series Pinocchio, winning Best Original Soundtrack at the 2015 APAN Star Awards.
Won Best Ballad at the 2018 Melon Music Awards and Best Male Artist at the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards for "Only Then".
Enlisted in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps on June 15, 2020, and was discharged in December 2021.
Released the album And in October 2022, his first after military discharge.
Has also contributed to soundtracks for Reply 1994, Another Miss Oh, and Guardian: The Lonely and Great God.

Reached number eight on the Gaon Weekly Album Chart upon release
Released digitally on 4 December 2015, alongside the music video for the lead track
On 16 December 2015, music videos for "Stay" and "I Want to Love You" were released on YouTube as special gifts to fans
The album was promoted on several music programmes, including KBS's Music Bank from 4 December

Gaon Weekly Album Chart: number eight at release
As of July 2016, sold about 7,200 copies in Korea
As of July 2016, sold over 7,000 physical copies and 460,000 individual track downloads in Korea
Lead single "The Great Dipper" peaked at number 30 on the Gaon Digital Chart
Lead single sold nearly 308,000 digital copies in Korea by the first half of 2016

"Remember Me" was originally intended for the soundtrack of the 2015 television series The Producers.
"The Lullaby" is the only song on the album that was entirely written in English.
The title of track 2 refers to the Big Dipper, the seven brightest stars of the constellation Ursa Major.
Kim said the title track was actually inspired by Orion's Belt rather than the Big Dipper.