Child reality shows are seen as a risk for TV networks, but throw in a power couple like YoonMiRae and Tiger JK and worry be gone!
MNET’s “We Kid (aka We Sing Like a Kid)” hopes to find the next child star by challenging them to perform new children songs written by famous mentors. The lead coaches include Tiger JK, actress, Park Bo Young, and actor, Yoo Yun Suk.
Each coach also has their own team of co-mentors and producers, and naturally Tiger JK’s include wife, YoonMiRae, and partner, Bizzy.
During the premiere episode, Yoon MiRae is brought to tears by a young contestant, Oh Yeon Joon. Although Yoon is considered the level headed member of MFBTY, Oh’s rendition of Pocahontas’ “Colors of the Wind” was enough to make her cry over a children’s song. Oh was naturally chosen, and chose Park Bo Young as his mentor.
However, Oh wasn’t the biggest shock to Tiger and Yoon MiRae. Six-year-old, Lee Ha Rang created his own unique version of Zico and Mino’s, “Okey Dokey.”
The energized performance had the judges and audience alike on their feet and dancing. When asked about why he chose to rap, Lee Ha Rang responded, “Rap is an expression of the mind. That’s what I like about it.”
Most assumed that Lee would choose Tiger JK as his mentor, but every jaw fell to the floor when he chose Yoo Yun Suk. When asked why he chose Yoo over Tiger JK, Lee replied, “I just think his team is better. I was going to choose Tiger JK, but I changed my mind. Sorry!”
Tiger JK jokingly stated that Lee’s choice bruised his ego enough that he’s not willing to do another album.
glam look styled by JK’s sister, Jamie SuhWe heard fan buzz of Tiger JK & YoonMiRae hanging in LA, but were met with surprise when they were seen in a limo glammed up and heading to the Grammys with the likes of legendary singer/songwriter, Yoon Jong Shin, and DJ Soulscape. The invite to the exclusive event came from a regular sponsor of the pair, Hyundai Card.
Ready to go to The Grammy’sTiger JK seemed to have the most fun bonding with fellow pioneer, Yoon Jong Shin.
Tiger JK’s and YoonMiRae’s appearance at The Grammy’s came perfectly timed
before the latest announcement, of Yoon’s newest OST Single, “Always” which was released February 18th as part of the soundtrack for “Descendant Of The Sun.”
The Hanhwa Eagles’ new cheer song, “Eagling/Fly Like An Eagle,” by MFBTY was exciting news for most, but questions arose when The HanHwa company brainstormed the new anthem.
Hip Hop? In a cheering song? Is that possible? After MFBTY released their track, no questions remained. “Eagling,” proved MFBTY’s musical abilities once again and reaffirmed them as some of Korea’s top musicians. Most importantly, it helped reaffirm The Hanhwa Eagles’ position within the National Baseball League.
With new recruit, Esmil Rogers’ spectacular defense, and now “Eagling” blaring on the speakers, the dedicated Hanhwa Eagles fans are flocking to the stadium and their TV screens.
“Eagling” was inspired by the comments left on the fan pages and then embedded into MFBTY’s lyrics. With The Eagles recent brilliant performance and “Eagling” cheer song, it certainly looks positive for the team.
Ever since its release, the fans had one request: make the song purchasable. The track, “Eagling” was such high quality that many requested it to be released as a single. However, due to the digital music market technicalities, the HanWha company were not able to release the track for purchase at first.
Due to the ever increasing popular demand, Hanhwa Eagles and MFBTY mutually agreed to release the song, with all proceeds going to charitable organizations or other donations.
“Eagling” full version was released on August 13, 2015. It can be downloaded via Itunes & Melon.
Noisey interviewed MFBTY recently and discussed with them the origins of their name and the meaning behind their album. MFBTY had nothing but good things to say about the people who inspired them to continue on past all their struggles.
So the name MFBTY came out of this community you found on Twitter of K-pop fandom?
Tiger JK: When I started tweeting, the first group of people that actually started talking to me was from Brazil. So just imagine—we didn’t think we were popping in Korea, and someone from Brazil will talk to us! And I was like “Hey, how do you know me?” And I was chatting with them and they were from different fandoms. And it was sort of an inside joke between them, ‘cause I was kind of like the UN for all these fans from different groups. The inside joke was “my fans are better than yours,” so the fans made the name. One day it kind of snowballed into something, and people were writing MFBTY graffiti in London and Spain and Italy, and we became something like a cult.
In this interview with YAM, MFBTY had the chance to talk about the family they work closely with, (special focus on Tasha and EE’s friendship) why they created Wondaland, and they give a deeper look into their song, ‘Rebel Music’.
Hello! While many of the YAM writers are familiar with MFBTY and were very excited when Wondaland came out, can you please give our readers an introduction to MFBTY in your own words?
Tiger JK:MFBTY is a pop trio that makes wonderful pop music. Yoonmirae is our leader, Bizzy is the face, and I am the father that fathered all of our styles. MFBTY is an underground pop music group that was made accidentally on a social network. Our fans are better than most because they can abandon us at any given time!
Yoonmirae:My name is Tasha, but I’m better known as Yoonmirae or T. For more information about myself and MFBTY please check out ourwebsite.
Bizzy:MFBTY means My Fans Better Than Yours aka mother#ckin’ Bizzy, Tiger, Yoonmirae aka My Father’s Better Than Yours for Father’s Day.
MFBTY let loose at Greenplugged Festival, May 24th
“My style is a bit rough but since this is a festival with kids, I’ll tone it down a little. I won’t even say, ‘Let’s smash them.’ I’ll say, ‘Let’s bounce!’”
Tiger JK, Yoon Mi Rae, and Bizzy rocked the finale stage of 2015 Green Plugged, which was held on May 24, 2015 at 9pm.
The trio, (who are known as MFBTY) turned the grassy fields into a club as soon as their set started. Tiger JK jumped off the stage to meet the fans face to face, splashing water from his bottle and shouting like a rock star. The reporter met the drenched Tiger JK backstage right after their set.
We Lost Everything
Tiger JK is slowly climbing up from the bottom. In February 2014, his father passed away after a long fight with cancer. TigerJK said he lost absolutely everything at that time. As Drunken Tiger, (who topped the Korean music charts on several occasions) he made enough money for him to say, “I just want to do my kind of music now”. These days however, “If I don’t work today, I can’t guarantee I can put food on my family’s table, it’s that tough right now.”
For him, being on the bottom is somewhat familiar. Back in 2000, right after his debut, he was arrested for allegedly taking prohibited substances (all charges were later dropped). Back in 2006, he was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis, and cannot properly function if he does not take his medication four times daily.
MFBTY, started back in 2011 on Twitter when they playfully stated, “My Fans are Better Than Yours.” This joke spread through the Twitter world through their international fans.
“This started out as a joke and back in 2013, we released a single called, ‘Sweet Dreams’. It was a massive hit overseas, to the point we were invited to Cannes MIDEM festival. We thought, “Alright, that was cool”, and were preparing to do our individual music. Then our fans continuously sent us well wishing messages about my father. It just built up from there.”
Like a roller coaster, there are ups and downs in life. After Tiger JK’s father passed away, MFBTY released an album to thank their fans entitled Wondaland. This album charted No. 8 in the 1st week of April on the Billboard World Album Charts. MFBTY was even invited to perform at the annual Dream Concert in May this year. With this overwhelming international response to their music, the tracks on the ‘Wondaland’ album charted on Korean music charts as well.
We Are Not doing Hip Hop
“People around us are asking us to change our group name to something like ‘Yoon Mi Rae & MFBTY or Drunken Tiger & MFBTY. But our name started with our fans so how dare we change it? Anyway, we went on air after a 3 year hiatus with everything saying that, “it’s the Hip Hop era in Korea right now” but they just wanted us to dance and rap, leaving out all the DJing, Drums, or VJ. Witnessing that, we are just doing our thing on stages. Hard as it may be.” As Tiger JK stated, MFBTY is doing the majority of their appearances on stages purely based on word-of-mouth from other festival attendees and organizers.
At the Green Plugged Festival, Tiger JK thanked the crowd, (even though most of them may not know them) pointing to the fact that the majority of the crowd were females in their 20’s. However, even the hardcore fans who followed Tiger JK from the Drunken Tiger days would’ve been a bit perplexed with the set. Their stage set started with Hip Hop, then a rendition of “I Heard Some Rumor” by Jang Gi Ha and The Faces, Bob Marley’s- “Jamming”, and a dash of Trot in there as well. It was vaguely reminiscent of an impromptu Jazz performance with quick transition of styles. The tracks in, ‘Wondaland’ vary greatly in their flavour, notably “Hello Happy” with Yoo Hee Yeol, “Love and Peace” with Jeon In Kwon, and “Bucku Bucku” with EE, Dino J and BTS leader, (Rap Monster).
“Hip Hop can go across all different sounds. If Electronic is the thing, then Hip Hop can reside in it for a while, then when Rock becomes more popular, we can go there too.” Tiger JK insisted that MFBTY is not a Hip Hop group, rather an Underground K Pop group. “We all know that we are not at our prime, but there are some interesting things happening around us. When we rock gigs, we go crazy and when we were invited to the Dream Concert, we attended as their oldest performers. We are truly blessed!”
Donning the necklace given to him by his father, (he wears it every time he goes on stage) Tiger JK is getting ready to rise up once again.
The Korea Times interviewed MFBTY, here’s a snippet of what they had to say:
KT: “Wondaland” is diverse. I feel like I heard a bit of everything, from reggae to EDM to rock legend Jeon In-kwon’s voice — what would you call the core of this album?
Tiger JK: Soulful pop.
Yoonmirae: I just call it a very “Feel Ghood” eclectic album!
![[News] Some of MFBTY’s “Eagling” Lyrics Came From Eagles Fans](https://drunkencamp.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_4863-0.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1)
![[interview] YAM Magazine Talk Long Time Friendships w/ MFBTY](https://drunkencamp.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/tumblr_nlgi3n8dxc1rcoad1o1_500.jpg?w=500&h=372&crop=1)
DT MFBTY INTERNATIONAL 
