Label Feel Ghood Music Is In Full Force; Yoon Mi Rae’s Angel Becomes A Hit!

Tiger JK, Yoon MiRae, and Bizzy are all individual hip hop artists and have unique characteristics. However, when they come together as MFBTY (My Fans Better Than Yours), they produce incredible synergy as if they have been together since the beginning of time.

When they perform on stage, their teamwork is perfect.

Often called “The Godfather of Korean Hip Hop,” Tiger JK sounds as though he is the type to be shouting orders to his fellow hip hop artists, but this cannot be further from the truth. In fact Tiger JK, (especially in front of his colleagues) is an affectionate person.

“Mi Rae is busy looking after our son. Bizzy is spending all his time in the gym training to enter a boxing competition. I sometimes get lonely when I am in our office by myself.”

The reason why everyone understands each other so well in MFBTY? Respect, compassion, and teamwork.

These three artists established their label Feel Ghood Music over a year ago. However, they are now revving up their music engine.

The writer of this article met MFBTY at a café in Tong-E-Dong, Jong Gu.

MFBTY revealed that the company has 7 employees, including the 3 of them. “We are both Mi Saeng (美生 name of a popular drama series in Korea)** and bosses at the same time. We hope that our music is loved by everyone, just like that Honey Butter chip people like.”

Their start is very simple. MFBTY originally started from a basement studio in UiJeongBu, but they recently moved their office to a semi-basement space within another building nearby.

“We upgraded from the basement to a semi-basement.”

Feel Ghood Music’s First Music Launch

Yoon Mi Rae’s “Angel” became an instant hit and was nominated for the #1 spot on MBC’s Music Center despite MFBTY not making any recent TV appearances. Feel Ghood Music members were sighted attaching stickers on to the promotional CDs recently, showing they are very proud of their work.

They represent themselves as an indie label, but Yoon Mi Rae has taken the spotlight lately.

Most Koreans associate Yoon Mi Rae with keywords such as “Korea’s best rapper” and “soulful voice.”

There is a comment seen time and time again about Korea’s top 3 rappers: Yoon Mi Rae, Yoon Future (Mi Rae is “future” in Korean), and Tiger JK’s wife.

Yoon Mi Rae is an acclaimed singer as well, with her songs in drama OSTs (e.g. Touch Love) reaching #1 on charts. This is the same Yoon Mi Rae who happily packs lunchboxes and takes her son Jordan to school every morning.

Yoon Mi Rae, blushing when praised, stated that “Angel” is a hopeful track, “I made this track more than 4 years ago starting with the chorus. This song was released under my name, but we all contributed and it contains all our stories.”

“I had 8 birthdays so far (due to his birthday being on February 29th). I’ve had many trials and tribulations in my lifetime,” these are Bizzy’s lyrics from the song. They relate to his life story about how he crossed the sea from New Zealand to Korea back in 2001 and released his first solo album 7 years later.

Tiger JK said that this song is about hope for the general public and for MFBTY.

“After my father passed away, I was solely focused on making music and I was healed by working on tracks like ‘Angel.’”

The reason why Feel Ghood Music had a quiet period after establishment was due to Tiger JK’s father’s passing in February.

Suh Byung Hoo, was Korea’s first ever pop columnist and was Tiger JK’s best friend yet a high mountain that he could never climb over. Tiger JK has not cut his hair since his father passed, reminiscing of the times when his father used to pat his head.

“Maybe I am unique but I even cried all day yesterday by myself. Before I used to listen to him with half an ear but now that I can’t hear from him anymore. It is making me go crazy. Every night before I go to sleep, I speak with him. It is still very hard to move on to this day.”

But he cannot sit still when his late father pushed him to go to the studio to work on his music, even the day before his passing.

MFBTY Stated That Even If It Takes Longer Than the Norm, They Will Evolve.

“Originally, the indie hip hop movement was an evolution, not a revolution. Even if we are small compared to all the other big companies, we will continue to evolve, staying true to our vision. Even if we make mistakes, we can make our own decisions in producing, marketing, promoting etc. We are in love with this stage of our music life right now. We still have passion for what we do,” Tiger says.

Yoon Mi Rae confessed that she hoped that the label would do really well for her son’s sake.

“Since debuting back in 1997, I went through some very hard times. but now my mind is at ease. Previously I wished for a side job, but now I no longer wish for that since I make music with those that I trust the most. I told Tiger JK and Bizzy that if ‘Angel’ does well,  then I’ll be happy, but even if it doesn’t, I will still be proud of what we’ve done. The public showed me love, so I am very grateful. I have the mindset I had when I first started music professionally.”

Hearing this, Tiger JK stated that he has been catching flack from Yoon Mi Rae and Bizzy’s fans, “Bizzy’s fans are eager for his new album and Yoon Mi Rae’s fans are saying that she should go for international stages. I keep telling them (jokingly) to go look for other labels that can take care of them.”

Bizzy said that Feel Ghood Music is his home whereas Yoon Mi Rae called Tiger JK her own hero.

“Angel,” which has received lots of love, is just the tip of the iceberg for what Feel Ghood Music has planned ahead.

Next month, they are hoping to release Bizzy’s new single.

Every month, Feel Ghood Music is planning to release a new track, (much like Yoon Jong Shin’s monthly releases) to compete in the music industry.

There will be a variety of genres too, not narrowed down to just hip hop.

Tiger JK and Yoon Mi Rae concluded the interview by saying, “The music that we intend to do is not limited to hip hop, it is more of an underground pop. We are staying true to our label’s philosophy and showcase truly, feel good music. Music that moves souls.”

Feel Ghood Vision is written on their office chalkboard as follows:

“We’re going to be the No. 1 team in the world.”

To be the best label in the world, be rich by being the best team, and to become a happy company spreading beautiful messages all over the world.

That’s Feel Ghood Music’s vision.

**”Misaeng” is a stone used in baduk that signifies the will to live. Whereas “wansaeng” is a stone that has finished its life and is dead. So by MFBTY referring themselves as misaeng, they are saying that they have the will to survive even though they have met trials and tribulations.

Credits: Yonhap News
Photo Credits: DramaFever, CafeG1, 진준왕
Translation: JSK

-Cheryl S.
YoonMiRae INTL