Epik High
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Epik High (or 에픽하이) is a hiphop band made up of three members: Tablo, Mithra Jin, and DJ Tukutz. DJ Tukutz works the turntables, while Tablo and Mithra Jin rap, and all three members have a huge amount of input into the creation and production of their albums, being their own producers as well as composing the music and writing the lyrics.
Unlike some other Korean artists that throw random English into their lyrics, the English that Tablo puts into Epik High’s lyrics is perfect, and never just simple things or common phrases, but complex thoughts and ideas; Tablo, after all, spent many years in America, and has a Master’s degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Stanford University in California.
A mix of pop and hiphop, Epik High is the kind of hiphop band that often people who don’t like hiphop actually do really enjoy once they start listening to some of the songs. I know plenty of people who this has happened to … myself included XD Their sound is better summed up with this, something they said during their fourth album: “No genre, just music”
Epik High have made some waves in Korea, with the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism trying to ban several songs from their fourth album, Remapping the Human Soul, because the lyrics deal rather bluntly with social issues such as sex crimes, war, education and religion. This is the kind of music Epik High makes, music with a message, lyrics with a meaning.
So far, they have released 4 albums and have a 5th due out later this year. Tablo also teamed up with Pe2ny to create a project group called ETERNAL MORNING, and together the pair released an instrumental album called Soundtrack to a Lost Film. The “film” doesn’t exist, but each track is set to a different scene of a different type of movie, a different genre, relying on only music (and occasional, very minimal, lyrics) to set the mood and deliver the message. Tablo said that “The music I couldn’t do as part of Epik High, I did as part of ETERNAL MORNING.” and although it isn’t to everyone’s taste, I personally find it very original and incredibly interesting, and I completely love it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a work of art in it’s own way.
In my previous entry, I mentioned 비 as being one of the few artists that I admire. Epik High is another one of those few artists.
Some live performances first:
Let It Rain This is one of my favourite Epik High songs, and Korean rock band 넬 (Nell) make a guest appearance in this. It’s from their third album, Swan Songs.
Untitled Yeah, Epik High + 넬 is probably my favourite musical combination in the entire world XD Epik High’s sound goes great with 넬’s, it’s like they can both retain their own group’s sound while creating something together. These two groups are perfect together, they really are.
And some MVs:
I Remember This is one of their first MVs, from their first album Map of the Human Soul.
평화의 날 From their second album, High Society
Fly This is from their third album, Swan Songs. It was with this album that they began to get a lot better known. This is one of my favourite Epik High MVs!
Paris Also from their third album
Fan This is from their fourth album, Remapping the Human Soul, and is one of my favourite Epik High songs and definitely the coolest MV that I have ever seen. This song was reaaaaally really popular
Love Love Love Also from their fourth album
Posted by Taliana in Korean Music |
February 27th, 2008 at 1:56 am
Yayyy! I love Epik High! They are one of my favorites ^___^.
I like a lot of artists but not all of them are in my favorite list. Epik high is in my favorite list ^^.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:57 am
Their album Remapping the Human Soul is AWESOME!
Their music is so Goooooooooooooooooooooood!
I love Tablo!.The general idea of a rapper is someone who didn’t go to school or is not good with school, but this guy has brain. He graduated from one of the best universities in the US.
Tablos’s english is excellent not only because he graduated from that university with those degrees but also because he lived in canada for many years. Tablo and Nicholas Tse ( a famous chinese singer) attended the same school in Vancouver and were friends during that time.
Thanks Taliana for this Great post ^^
February 27th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Jacqueline: For some reason, I always forget that Tablo spent some time in Canada! And I had no idea that he was friends with Nic Tse! If they did attend the same school, then they must have been in the same year, since they’re both born in 1980, just 1 month apart.
Remapping the Human Soul is my favourite album of theirs
Disc 1 was better than Disc 2, although Disc 2 had some awesome songs on it as well. I found the fourth album much more aggressive than the previous three, it was amazing. 혼 is my favourite song from it ^^
February 27th, 2008 at 3:11 am
Taliana, I didn’t know until some days ago that Tablo was friends with Nicholas Tse when they were in middle school^^. I was reading something about Nicholas Tse on wikipedia when i saw that info there, and they have a youtube link when Tablo mentioned that on the variety show Happy Together.
They both got expelled from that school for fighting with a guy who hated asian ^^
Here’s the link to watch Tablo speaking about that on Happy Together ^^: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU2iLoY4xXE
February 27th, 2008 at 3:19 am
Oh thanks for that link, Jacqueline! I hadn’t watched that ep before :O
I just told my friend Mica, who is a huge Nic Tse fan and she likes Epik High too. She knew that Nic got expelled for fighting, but she didn’t realise that Tablo had been involved in that too XDDD Trouble makers!!
February 27th, 2008 at 9:39 am
I know I have trouble understanding hip hop in English, because it’s so fast, so all bets are off when it comes to hip hop in Korean! As their popularity seems to be spreading beyond just a Korean audience, I wonder how this popularity can be explained among people who can’t understand the words at all (at least, not without subtitles). I know music is more than just words, but still, I wonder…
March 4th, 2008 at 4:35 am
I introduced Epik High to my daughter because she likes hiphop (to my disappointment̷
and I thought she would enjoy this group. She loves their music.
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:17 am
에픽 하이 is the best!!! Their songs are so catchy and they really convey a message in each of their songs! Tablo is cute and just a master at writing lyrics and rapping!
Steved씨, your daughter is so lucky! I wish my parents would introduce korean artists to me! I’m the one introduing artists to my mom XD
August 24th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I really don’t like hiphop and rap music. But when my sister introduced me to Epik High, I was amazed with the lyrics. At first I didn’t like the music but then there are times that I catch myself humming some of the tunes. I can’t really sing a song in Korean. So I just hum. ^^ And sometimes I make lyrics of my own. haha!!