During their week in LA, MFBTY stopped by MNET’s “Danny From LA” for a brief chat with hosts, Danny Im and Dumbfoundead. Danny and Tiger reminisce about when they were both performing in the 90s (Danny when he was in 1TYM, Tiger JK as part of the group, Drunken Tiger). The two were ironically intimidated by each other. For the impatient, you can fast forward to 17:40 to get straight into the interview.
P.S. The intro segment of Dumbfoundead trying to teach Danny how to rap is classic.
It’s been a busy week for our MFBTY fam! So much so it was hard for me to keep up. Rather than write 4 separate posts, here is a recap of the week:
Saturday, January 11th: Interview with KPOPStarz
The night before his Kollaboration Star performance, Tiger JK sat down with news site, KpopStars, for a candid 3 part interview. JK talks about his childhood, what got him into his music, and how his father was a major musical influence for him. Click here for the write up and links to the 3 part interview.
Monday, January 13th: Fuse TV Interview
American music network, Fuse TV, focused on Korea’s booming music industry for their daily Fuse News program. They focused on the major players in the first episode, starting with 2NE1, and then equally influential MFBTY. In this short segment, Tiger JK and Tasha talk about what it was like in the early days of Korean hip-hop and who they would like to collaborate with now.
Tuesday, January 15th: Drunken Tiger Best Album is released…. but not by Drunken Tiger
Early Tuesday morning, Tiger JK tweeted about the release of a “Best” album. Unfortunately, the album was not actually released by his current label, Feel Ghood Music. Fans are free to obtain the album if they’d like, but should be aware the proceeds for the album do not go to Feel Ghood.
Wednesday, January 16th: StudioAPA releases the full MV for Chops’ “Turn It Up”
After more than 4 months of waiting, StudioAPA released the full MV for Chops collaboration with Tiger JK and Tasha, “Turn It Up.” The MV is completely animated and alludes to the artists’ personalities.
Friday, January 18th: KoreAM releases their January issue featuring a full interview with Tiger JK
KoreAM’s January issue features a whopping 12-page feature on Tiger JK. This unique article goes into the in-depth history of the Drunken Tiger legacy, then leading into a raw look into who Tiger JK is. In a rare uncensored interview, JK talks about his childhood, how he became a rapper (a choice made to fit in with the fellas!), the music industry, and how much his father really made an impact on him personally and artistically. The issue can only be ordered from KoreAm directly, or via App download (available later this month). On a personal note, this article is a must read for all die hard Drunken Tiger fans!
November 16th, 2013 – Approximately 2 years since MFBTY crew has rocked a US show. Given the rarity the crew do shows in the US, there’s always some nervousness about how the show will go, the turn out, how fans will react. The legacy of Tiger JK is 20 years old, Drunken Tiger 14 years, Tasha 16 years, and Bizzy, the youngest… at 9 years. Most artists are lucky to stay relevant more than 2 years in the industry, but even over such a long period of time, the 3 are able to bring over 2500people together for a show.
Kollaboration traditionally is a celebration of Asian-Americans in entertainment. Kollaboration Star focused on bringing together the show’s best performers from across the country. While the finalists brought a number of their own following, there was no doubt an overwhelming Drunken fan presence in the audience. Given Tiger’s long musical history, the age group spanned from fans in their teens and into their 30s. Both were equally filled with excitement, some waiting nearly 14 years to see Tiger perform live.
A week before the show, the crew hinted in on Twitter of a set consisting of old school classics and new songs. However, no one could have expected a DT2 classic, “Drunken Symphony,” to be the intro to the set. Bizzy and Tiger then took us 8 years forward, doing a small rendition of “내눈을 쳐다봐,” from the album.
The crew admitted that they rehearsed religiously for a month straight. Although they had 3 full rehearsals at the venue as well, they were filled with nerves. A personal twist was them doing almost the entire audience interaction in English, a treat for the most multiracial audience they have had Stateside. There is so much to rave about this whopping 2 hour and 20 minute set, including a surprise guest performance by Styliztik Jones on “Jet Pack,” an attempted new song over a Snoop Dogg instrumental, a guest collaboration with David Choi for the reggae version of “The Cure,” and the first time the crew did “첫눈이 오면 설레었던 꼬마아이 (Time Travel)” live. However, only the photos and the videos can speak to that.
P.S. The show was followed by a private meet and greet for fans who paid for the limited $200 Ultimate Fan package.
On October 3rd, Tiger JK, Yoon MiRae, and Bizzy had their TV debut of “The Cure,” courtesy of MBC. Contrary to their usual highly energetic set, “The Cure” live set comprises of the 3 performing behind standing mics, a first in DT history. Of course, the crowd was treated to older high energy classics, such as “Get It In,” “Good Life,” and “I Want You.” However, as always with any DT performance, expect the unexpected. JK breaks through the audience barrier and performs the song while walking through the crowd and then ending “Get It In” with him relaxing on the moving camera wheelie. See photos/video below.
P.S. My camera went out during “The Cure,” so unfortunately I don’t have the full footage! Fans will have to wait until the broadcast is released.
Tiger spontaneously autographs the speaker with his microphone
April 28th, Hongdae Subway Station— With the fastest Internet in the world and a population open to new cellphone technology, many of the world’s wired mobile advancements are first launched in South Korea. The country’s largest cellphone carrier, SK Telecom, recently announced its phones will now offer the largest LTE (4G) data service in the country. SK’s LTE service also allows its members to stream free music from Korea’s largest online streamer, Melon, directly into their phones without using up data. SK teamed with Tiger JK to garner fans to their website, offering free concert tickets to select fans who partake in one of their online promotions.
In an effort to continuously stand out above its competitors, SK held its promotional concert in no ordinary venue. Korea is well known for its timely and convenient subway, but commuters often complain its service is not 24 hours. SK used this to their advantage, holding JK’s show at Hongdae subway station after hours. Of course, fans invited were oblivious as to how the company would pull this off. How and where would you pull off a concert in an ordinary subway station?
Outside the turnstile exits of Hongdae’s airport subway line stood a group of fans and random signage with JK’s face. The exits are wide, but still fans were left in the dark where the actual show would be. Around the ticket tables are pseudo red carpets where concert goers could take pictures with a life size JK cut out.
Fans are distracted by the cutout until 12:00pm, when the subway shuts down for the public. They are then instructed to line up near the East bound train turnstiles. At 12:30pm, the crowd is directed downstairs into an empty train, which a few minutes later suddenly closes its doors and takes surprised passengers to the next station (Digital Media City).
As the train pulls into Digital Media City, fans anticipate getting off and going to a secret location for the concert. However, the doors remain close and the lights suddenly shut off, throwing some into a panic. Dance music starts to play and SK staff walks through the train cars announcing everyone is going to a concert/party soon. Still, fans are left questioning if the concert where the venue actually is.
The train suddenly moves back west to Hongdae station, this time arriving on the West bound side of the train tracks. The doors open and a shrill of screams lets out as concert goers realize the show is on the actual platform. A mad dash to the stage occurs, passing through a now JK branded subway platform.
Fans are treated to promos featuring JK and a DJ building anticipation with recent dance hits. Around 1:30pm, JK’s DJ, DJ Juice, appears on stage and hardcore fans scream knowing the show is starting.
As usual, Bizzy starts the set and builds the energy. Bizzy’s set usually starts with “Run,” a track from Yang Dong Geun’s 4th album which him, JK, and Tasha featured. Veteran fans know the sight of Bizzy at a show surely means JK will follow, and then after wife, Tasha/Yoon MiRae.
JK doesn’t disappoint as his joins Bizzy to perform a DT’s classic, “Do You Know Hip Hop?” As JK comes out, the barrier holding the fans back shakes. JK is the first to fully step out to the crowd, causing a panic for his bodyguards. After performing “Monster,” and entertaining the crowd with jokes, Tasha joins the crew for True Romance.
The husband/wife duo always treat the crowd to a small dance in the middle of the set.
With its peaceful melody, True Romance calms the nerves of the crowd, but gets them ready to start jumping as the trio starts the hyped “Pay Day.”
However, the highlight of Tasha’s set is her online single, “Get it In.” Regardless of the crowd, “Get It In” guarantees the crowd will be jumping along with the crew mid song. (Warning: I was close to the stage, almost too close. As a result, the lights affected my camera’s focus and there are parts where it’s hard to see. I apologize!)
“Get It In,” is the apparent show closer, but fans demand the crew come back to the stage for an encore.
Soon after, the crew comes back to close with another Drunken Tiger classic, “I Want You.” Seeing the crowd enamored in the performance, JK takes the opportunity to step off stage and embed himself into the crowd. Midway through, his adrenaline tells him to take a fan’s cellphone with him, leaving her in uneasy excitement. (Again, light warning.)
Fans are always happy that JK is willing to mingle.
The crew leaves the crowd in high spirits. One fan’s love for JK is reignited to the point she wants to kiss his lifesize cut out.
And as the show ends, the subway station empties, but remnants of JK’s presence and a unique concert remain. Kudos, SK Telecom, I definitely will remain a loyal customer after this show.
Jungle Entertainment will finally make its entrance into the United States with its first ever family concert. CJ E&M, along with several other top agencies, have created M-Live in part of the K-Pop global concert expansion.
On December 2nd, “M Live by CJ: The Jungle Concert in L.A” will be the first Korean hip-hop concert held in the United States. The concert will feature Drunken Tiger (Tiger JK), Yoon Mirae (Tasha), Leessang, Bizzy, and Jung In at the Wiltern.
With K-Pop expanding globally, Korean hip-hop will begin to find footing in the middle of the global Hallyu Wave.
The Wiltern, where Jungle Entertainment’s concert will take place, hold close to 3,000 seats and has seen performances held by Jay-Z&Eminem, Adele, Smashing Pumpkins, Tears for Fears, and other international artists.
POWERHOUSE has recently announced that they will begin selling the tickets for the family hip-hop concert on November 7th at 10AM PST. Ticket prices are as follows: $120, $100, $80, and $50.
Update! Tickets started going on sale on November 7th, with the pit being $120. Even though the pit is the closest you can get, it is standing room only, so go early! Buy tickets.
Time: 10pm – 4am, festivities start usually around 12am
Price: 44,000won before 09.27.09 (purchased via online -see above), 55,000 afterwards (online), and 66,000 at the door
How to Get There: Take Line 5 to GwangNaRoo Stop, Exit 4 -or- Take Line 2 to GangByeong/Techno Mart (front of). Outside these exits is a shuttle that goes directly to the hotel. It does end at 11pm though, so get there before then.
FYI – I have no idea how to navigate the online sites and even if I did, I think you need a Korean CC # and citizenship to buy tickets (looks like us foreigners have to wing it).
It’s a Friday night in Hongdae, one of Korea’s most bustling nightlife areas, usually filled with university students, Kyopos, and foreigners. It’s dubbed “Hongdaewon,” since it’s now starting to fill with more English speakers than Korea’s infamous foreigner area, Itaewon.
At S-Club, one of the local hip-hop clubs, a flood of Drunken Tiger posters are posted everywhere, inside, outside, even on a giant van that was driven around Hongdae all night. I’ve been to a lot of DT shows, both here and in the States, but a DT promo van? That’s pretty hardcore lol
It was first come first serve, and knowing how crazy DT shows get, me and my friend went early – almost too early. I was the first person there -_- So I took the time to take photos of the interior/exterior of the club.
outside poster
faux DT carpet haha
anyway, the actual inside of the club I couldn’t capture on camera, but i was allowed to take photos of the performance. a little weird logic in a way, but as long as i was allowed to get the performance, it was cool.
the club is quite small – maybe fits 300 people at most, and by midnight, the place was jam packed. this is probably one of the smaller venues I’ve ever seen DT perform in, but when your used to the US version of 3000+ people, a club does fare quite differently. When I saw the stage, I was reminded of something Shine once said a long time ago about how he used to perform at places with no stage. There was a platform for DT to stand on, but not much to much to work with. Reminded me of old school days when DT was still underground and new, but then again, that was quite a golden era so the reminder wasn’t bad.
Soul Dive starts the set, but I was too distracted to even pay attention. After waiting 3 hours and being the first person there and fighting for a place at the front of the stage, a douchebag 6’2 bodyguard stands right in front of me to block my view (you’ll catch his big head in some of my photos). I am 5’0ft tall and obviously this had me fuming! >=O
Luckily, I was able to squeeze my way on to a step, with literally 6inches of room to stand on, and was able to get a good view to capture vids/photos [see below]
Palo Alto & Bizzy start the set. Palo debuts his upcoming single for his new album and Bizzy does a quick set that includes includes his single, “해어진 다음날 (After the night we broke up).” It’s a quicker set than what they did on the MTV special, but I guess they had to cut it since JK’s set was going to be longer.
JK starts off with “Monster,” of course, and then right into “Do You Know Hip-Hop?,” which is a twist on what he usually does these days. He only does it once in awhile now, but considering the club setting, it seemed fitting. It originally was one of those songs meant to rile people up at the club, and it really did rile up everyone. O_O
He follows with “Isolated Ones! Left Foot Forward!,” then a slew of old school songs that rile up everyone. He does “Good Life,” “Thumb (acapella),” and then “I Want You,” for an encore. DT is usually booked for a 3-4 song set, but JK’s extended set made it feel like a real concert (Hell – I used to pay $75 to see a set this long!).
Anyway, afterwards, I ran into some of the Tigerbalm staff and it turns out a bunch of us were already there, just scattered all over the place. They’re staff is huge, but they’re a sweet bunch. 🙂
Anyway, enough of my talk – videos!
Do You Know Hip-Hop? live (some chick knocked out one of my earrings, so you’ll see 5 seconds of floor as I pick it up)
“I Want You” live – JK came over at about 1:10 minute and mingled with fans around me, however, that resulted in me being completely overtaken and nearly falling over into the madness (“Death By Fan Hands” my friend calls it).
P.S. props to S-Club staff for cutting me some slack on the photos/video 🙂
NEXT WEEK – R16 FESTIVAL (Roscoe Umali, Drunken Tiger, Epik High, & Rakka of Dilated People)
I’ve officially been to MTV Studios NYC and MTV Studios Seoul!
I applied to work at MTV Asia/Korea a long time ago and had this grand vision that it’d be this smacktacular building – it looked like any regular business place in Seoul, except with the MTV sign and pics of celebrities outside. Parts of the office though matche the flashy look of the NYC office, just on a smaller scale.
Anyway, I got an invite from a friend and was able to attend this very low key invite-only performance in downtown Seoul. There were about 200 people at most and there were some random “out of place” people there – ahjoomas (old ladies), ahjuhshis (old men). Not quite sure if they were real fans, but more power to them if they were!
I chilled in the back during the taping. I am not one for video cameras so I tried to lay low. Unfortunately, since it was a live taping, I wasn’t able to get any photos or video. But in a quick gist, Palo Alto started the set, did two of his songs, and then was followed up by Bizzy. He performed two of my faves from his album, “All In,” and “해어진 다음날 (After the night we broke up)”. The second song is a remix of a really popular ballad that came out from classic K-Pop days, and I’m huge on old school K-Pop 🙂
Anyway, JK came out and did “Monster,” with a live band rather than the regular MR (instrumental). The drums create a pretty cool effect and gets your heart pumpin’. He followed with “Isolated Ones! Stand Up!” and was soon joined by Tasha. However, the highlight of the performance is when they both did “True Romance,” together. The song was voted as best couple song (it expresses their love for each other). Tasha and JK are seen as the epitome celebrity relationship here in Korea.
Post show, they do interviews and eat some damn good food in one of the break rooms. I’m invited in, but MTV is taping it as part of the show and again I’m camera shy. So I starved on the sidelines 😦
After all the madness dies, I was able to get this message from JK & Tasha to their fans. Short, sweet, but definitely awesome. It’s rare that the two are able to do a shoutout to their fans on video in English, so them doing this vid was much appreciated. Enjoy!
The official English source for MFBTY & Drunken Tiger
DT MFBTY INTERNATIONAL 
