Übermensch (album)

Übermensch is the third studio album by South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter G-Dragon, released on February 25, 2025, by Galaxy Corporation and Empire Distribution.^[2][3] It is his first musical release in 7 years since Kwon Ji Yong in 2017 and his first studio album in 12 years since Coup d'Etat (2013), as well as his first album since leaving YG Entertainment in 2023. G-Dragon wrote and co-produced Übermensch with a range of collaborators, blending hip-hop, industrial pop, and alternative electronic sounds. The eight-track record explores themes of transformation, identity, and self-transcendence inspired by Nietzsche’s philosophy of the Übermensch.^[1] The album was supported by three singles, "Power", “Home Sweet Home” and "Too Bad", and was further promoted by the Übermensch World Tour, which began in March 2025.

On January 1, 2023, G-Dragon, then signed under YG Entertainment, officially announced via YouTube that he was working on a new album.^[4] Following his departure, the CEO of his new label, Galaxy Corporation, confirmed in a press release that G-Dragon would be making an official comeback in 2024.^[5] On the same day, G-Dragon confirmed the comeback in a handwritten letter.^[6]

On April 3, 2024, Galaxy Corporation announced that G-Dragon's new album would be released during the second half of the year, and would involve carrying out "global activities", as well as Japanese activities.^[7] On October 7, G-Dragon confirmed that his album would be released on October 25, 2024, with sources noting it would be his first album release since Kwon Ji Yong in 2017.^[8] On October 7, numerous outlets began reporting that G-Dragon had begun filming his comeback music video, with the October 25 comeback date being finalized.^[9][10] In response, Galaxy Corporation confirmed that while the comeback was in the works, the schedule had yet to be finalized.^[11][12]

Beginning on October 21, G-Dragon began posting cryptic teases in relation to the comeback, posting black squares with faint progress bars.^[13] On October 23, Star News reported that the comeback was expected to be a full album, with the release aiming to happen before his performance at the 2024 MAMA Awards.^[14] A third teaser for the album was posted on October 28.^[15]

On the October 30 episode of You Quiz on the Block, G-Dragon introduced his first new song since 2017, a pre-release single titled "Power."^[16][17] The single was officially released on October 31, alongside the announcement that G-Dragon had signed a deal to release music with Empire Distribution.^[18] On November 8, it was reported that another single for the album would premiere at the MAMA awards.^[19][20] The single, "Home Sweet Home" would release on November 22, featuring Big Bang members Taeyang and Daesung. On February 4, 2025, it was officially confirmed that the album, titled Übermensch, would be released on February 25.^[21][22]

Launched in Seoul in March 2025, the album's exhibition has toured Tokyo,^[23] Taipei,^[23] Hong Kong,^[24] Osaka,^[25] Macau,^[26] and Singapore.^[27]

On February 27, 2025, G-Dragon made a significant television appearance on Mnet's M! Countdown, where he performed the title track "Too Bad" and "Drama". The "Drama" performance featured a circular white stage, echoing the visuals of the music video, and showcased his multilingual vocals and choreography.^[28] On May 31, G-Dragon performed at the Head in the Clouds Festival in Los Angeles, marking his first U.S. performance in eight years.^[29] gathering 36,000 concertgoers and 53,000 people from all over the world also viewed the event's livestream.^[30] On June 21, 2025, G-Dragon headlined the VPBank K-STAR Spark festival at Mỹ Đình National Stadium in Hanoi, attracting an estimated 40,000 attendees, marking one of the largest K-pop concerts ever held in Vietnam.^[31] The event generated over 540,000 online mentions across Vietnamese social media platforms during the week of the concert, making it the most-discussed entertainment event in the country for 2025.^[32] On October 3, 2025, he performed at The Padang in Singapore as part of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix. His performance drew a record-breaking crowd of 65,000 fans, setting a new benchmark for concert turnout at the event’s Padang Stage.^[33]

G-Dragon supported Übermensch with the Übermensch World Tour, a multi-leg global tour launched on March 29, 2025, in Goyang, South Korea.^[34] Originally announced as an Asian leg, the tour expanded to North America, Europe, and Oceania following high demand, with additional shows added in cities such as Macau and Tokyo.^[35]

Übermensch drew a largely favorable response from critics in both Korean and international media, though many reviews tempered their praise with reservations regarding lyrical depth, melodic memorability, and linguistic consistency.

Writing for NME, Rhian Daly described the album as a triumphant return, commending G-Dragon for reasserting "his position as one of K-pop’s greatest stars".^[36] Writing for IZM, critic Son Min-hyun said that the album’s ambition is evident yet uneven in execution. He wrote that Übermensch frames K-pop as an allegory of the “ideal human” and that its aesthetic conceit is “astonishing” in intent, but he also noted tension between "expectation and dissonance."^[37] Vogue called the album both immersive and cohesive, applauding its emotional depth and the continuity it maintains with G-Dragon’s established musical persona. For long-time fans, she noted, Übermensch feels like a worthy reward for their patience.^[1] In South Korea, reviewers commended the album’s conceptual depth and thematic cohesion. Writing for IZM, critic Son Min-hyun offered a nuanced appraisal, observing that the album’s ambition is evident yet uneven in execution. He wrote that Übermensch frames K-pop as an allegory of the “ideal human” and that its aesthetic conceit is “astonishing” in intent, but he also noted tension between “expectation and dissonance.”^[37]

Übermensch achieved record-breaking commercial success both in South Korea and internationally. In South Korea, the album sold 639,176 copies on its first day, breaking G-Dragon's previous first-week sales record of 46,397 copies set by Kwon Ji Yong in 2017.^[47] It also debuted at number two and four on the Circle Album Chart, recording 623,750 copies sold in five days of tracking.^[48] By end of March 2025, the album sold one million copies.^[49] The album broke several records on South Korea biggest streaming platform Melon becoming the fastest album by a solo artist to reach 1 million streams. The cumulative 24-hour streams reached 4.2 million, surpassing IU's previous solo artist record of 3.18 million streams for "The Winning". All of the songs on the album entered the top 20, making it the first time since IU's "LILAC" in 2021 that all of the songs on an album entered the top 20 of the daily chart immediately after release.^[50][51]