Maps of Music

White Night (2017)

Where the lyrics of White Night take you, and where it was really made.

The title refers to a natural phenomenon in which the sun does not set at night, and the first music video was built around that idea.

Key places

Recording at The Black Label Studio (2017)

Recording site Big Hit Studios, Seoul — White Night was recorded at The Black Label Studio in Seoul, the studio credited on the album. The point is placed at city-center level, not the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: Private company studio, not open to visitors.

Album story

Overview

• White Night: third studio album by South Korean singer Taeyang
• Released 16 August 2017
• First album in three years, following Rise (2014)
• Lead single Darling; second single Wake Me Up
• Described as electro-R&B with a preference for a melancholic blend of EDM

Background

• January 2017: YG Entertainment announced a new album alongside solo concerts
• July 2017: music videos filmed in Los Angeles and Alaska
• 22 July: a spoiler of the music video posted online by Yang Hyun-suk
• 7 August: album name and release date officially announced
• 9 August: music video for the Intro released
• 10 August: Darling announced as lead single, with lyrics by long-time collaborator and YG producer Teddy
• Taeyang said the initial idea for Darling was conceived in 2013
• Wake Me Up written by Kush and Joe Rhee of YG sub label The Black Label
• Block B's Zico featured on one song from the album

Recording

• The Black Label Studio credited for recording
• Mixing by Jason Robert at The Lab, Los Angeles
• Mastering by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound, New York

Cover

• Physical CD edition contains handmade elements
• Album jacket features a collage of real flowers and feathers
• Special edition released in three versions: white, red, and blue

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Dong Young-bae, known as Taeyang, debuted in 2006 as a member of BigBang.
• He was born May 18, 1988 in Uijeongbu, South Korea.
• He joined YG Entertainment as a trainee after auditioning, and was initially planned to debut with Kwon Ji-yong as a hip hop duo.
• The plan was scrapped; the group BigBang was formed with four other trainees.
• He chose the stage name Taeyang, meaning sun.

Career

• He began a solo career in 2008 with the EP Hot, which won Best R&B & Soul Album at the 6th Korean Music Awards.
• His first full-length album Solar (2010) topped the Gaon Album Chart.
• His second album Rise (2014) reached number 112 on the US Billboard 200, the highest ranking by a Korean soloist at the time.
• Its lead single Eyes, Nose, Lips topped the Billboard K-pop Hot 100 and won Song of the Year at the MAMA Awards, Melon Music Awards and Golden Disc Awards.
• His third album White Night (2017) debuted at number one on Billboard's World Digital Albums and stayed there for two weeks.
• He served in mandatory military service from March 2018 to November 2019.
• In 2023 he signed with The Black Label and Interscope Records, and released the EP Down to Earth in April 2025.

Members

• Taeyang is a member of BigBang alongside G-Dragon, T.O.P, Daesung and Seungri.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Billboard columnist Jeff Benjamin said Taeyang kept his core R&B sound while experimenting with new sounds and themes
• Benjamin named Naked the sensual standout and said the piano ballad Darling mostly proves Taeyang's voice is his most precious instrument
• Singaporean magazine Teenage felt the album was perhaps his most sonically intriguing to date
• Teenage praised Taeyang's expressive vocals and lovelorn lyrics
• Affinity Magazine named White Night the best K-pop album of the year

Records

• QQ Music: gold status within a few hours of release, with 16,000 digital copies sold
• 100,000 digital copies sold in one day
• Billboard World Digital Albums: debut at number one
• Best-selling international album in the United States for the week of 2 September
• Stayed at number one for a second week
• Taeyang became the third K-pop act and second soloist, after G-Dragon, to spend multiple weeks atop the World Albums chart
• Gaon Albums Chart: debut at number three
• 47,365 copies sold by the end of 2017

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Taeyang said the initial idea for Darling was conceived four years earlier, in 2013.
• The album went up for pre-order on China's QQ Music on 14 August, before its release.
• Block B's Zico appears on Tonight, the album's only collaboration.
• Taeyang was scheduled to perform every song from the album for the first time at his Seoul concert on 26 August 2017.
• The Japanese edition came out as a CD+DVD that included the music videos for the album's songs.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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