ToppDogg Revives a 200-Year-Old Rivalry in “TOPDOG”
In their constant experimentation with musical genres and historical influences, ToppDogg decided to take on classical music for the self-titled track “TOPDOG.”
ToppDogg worked tirelessly to build their popularity throughout 2014, opening the year with the EDM-inspired “Open The Door” and following up a month later with “Arario,” a song infused with Korean traditional instruments. The 13-member group marked their powerful summer comeback on June 8, 2014 with “TOPDOG” off their third mini-album AmadeuS. Drawing from a film of the same name, ToppDogg used classical music inspirations for the album and concept.
Music producer DEEZ, who recently produced a number of hits for SHINee, NCT, EXO, and aespa, teamed up with ToppDogg to fuse their signature trap sound with Mozart’s “Symphony No.25 in G Minor.” After opening with a sample of the classical piece, “TOPDOG” bursts into layers of heavy, booming beats guided by violins. The EDM-style chorus becomes more chaotic as it builds between the members' verses about overcoming their hardships to become history’s greatest.
Members B-Joo and Hansol take on the personas of Mozart and Saleri respectively and recreate a modern-day version of the musicians’ deadly rivalry from the 1984 film Amadeus. Like Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, Saleri fiercely envies Mozart’s natural talent that seems to contrast his immature and carefree attitude. B-Joo and Hansol continue the 200-year-old battle in the music video for “TOPDOG,” this time with mixtables as their weapons.
In between scenes of B-Joo and Hansol battling it out in the desert, the members perform in their solo shots against what looks like an abandoned construction site with pockets of fire.
As B-Joo builds a “kingdom” of arches and shows his power by calling on his fellow ToppDogg members to help in the fight, they showcase their powerful choreography in a mix of Victorian shirts, tailcoats, leather pants, and sweatshirts with the group’s emblem. In the end, Hansol panics as he realizes his loss.
For their comeback performance on M!COUNTDOWN on June 13, 2014, 12 members of the group split into two teams to display the battle of Mozart versus Saleri. The group’s thirteenth member and rapper Kidoh sat out promotions to finish his first solo mini-album. Matching the music video’s story, B-Joo led the Mozart team in all white while Hansol led the Saleri team in black, with both sides mimicking the moves of a conductor and musicians playing instruments in an orchestra. At the end, Hansol seems to “kill” B-Joo based on the myth that Saleri may have poisoned Mozart out of jealousy.
While ToppDogg never won any music show wins for their self-titled single, it became their highest charting release on the Gaon Album Chart, peaking at No. 5, and is their second most streamed song on Spotify after their later single “THE BEAT.” Without taking a break, the group went on to release their repackage album Amadeus Deluxe Edition later that summer with the acoustic title track “This Isn’t Right” and closed out the year celebrating their anniversary with the ‘90s-inspired single “Annie.”
After a year of touring, company changes, and member lawsuits that led to lineup changes, ToppDogg took another shot at fame with their first full-length album The Beat, in which the members wrote honestly of their stress and challenges in gaining footing in the music industry. Since then, many of the members decided to go their own ways, with some appearing on competition shows like Show Me the Money and The Unit, while others took part in musicals or released solo music. The remaining five members, B-Joo, Hojoon, Sangdo, Xero, and Sangwon regrouped one more time under the name Xeno-T to promote in Japan. Although the group eventually disbanded in 2021, the individual members continue to support each other on social media and collaborate on music together.
Edited by Omani