Tablo

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Template:Korean name

Tablo
타블로
Birth nameLee Seon-woong (이선웅)
Also known asSupreme T
Born (1980-07-22) July 22, 1980 (age 43)
Seoul, South Korea[1][2]
OriginSeoul, South Korea
GenresAlternative hip hop, trip hop
Occupation(s)Rapper, record producer, songwriter, actor
Instrument(s)Vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, sampler, sequencer, violin
Years active1999–present
LabelsWoollim Entertainment
(2003–08, 2010–11)
Map the Soul, Inc.
(2009–present)
YG Entertainment
(2011–present)
Websitewww.ygtablo.com

Template:Contains Korean text Daniel Armand Lee (Korean: Lee Seon-woong; Hangul: 이선웅; born July 22, 1980), better known by his stage name Tablo (Hangul: 타블로) is a Korean-Canadian rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Born in Seoul, South Korea, he was a trainee under the record label Woollim Entertainment before officially debuting as the leader and rapper for the Korean hip hop group Epik High. Since their debut, Tablo has produced and co-written almost all the songs of Epik High alongside DJ Tukutz and Mithra Jin. He has also produced and been featured in many songs for several other artists. His work incorporates numerous musical styles, ranging from hip hop, to electronic music such as trance, trip hop, as well as rock.[3]

Aside from his work with Epik High, he has collaborated with several artists, including group projects such as Eternal Morning and Anyband. Tablo has also made forays into acting, appearing in a number television dramas and films such as the fifth season of the sitcom, Nonstop (2005) and Fantastic Parasuicides (2007). Tablo was also the DJ for his own radio show, MBC FM4U's Tablo's Dreaming Radio and main presenter of KBS's Music Bank.[4][5]

Life and career

1980–2003: Early life and career beginnings

Tablo was born in Seoul, South Korea on July 22, 1980.[6] His family relocated several times to Switzerland and Hong Kong[7] for his father's career until Tablo was six, when his family returned to his parents' home country, South Korea.[6] His family again moved to Canada when he was eight. Tablo attended St. George's School[8] until he was expelled for getting into a fight with another student in Grade 9.[7] Tablo again returned to Seoul and spent three years in Seoul International School.[6] Tablo was a coterminal student at Stanford University.[9] He attained a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature and a Master's Degree in Creative Writing.[10] Tablo started to play the piano when he was six, and switched to violin, which he played for 10 years.[3] His music teacher, who is a pupil of Isaac Stern, used to lecture Tablo saying, "Music is communism, but you're playing democracy". However, he ceased to play violin as he was dismissed from the orchestra after suddenly playing the soundtrack of Jurassic Park while the orchestra was playing Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in a concert.[3] In 1999, whilst he was still in high school, Tablo wrote the lyrics to Kim Gun-mo's song "Rainy Christmas", as Kim took an interest in Tablo after reading a poem of his.[7]

During his early life, Tablo suffered from bouts of depression, the origins of which are unknown. According to Tablo, whenever he faced hardship, hip hop music served as an outlet for him and after his interest was sparked later in life, Tablo decided to make hip hop the focus of his career. However, Tablo's father disagreed in his career choice and tensions arose in the family as a result.[11] Because of this, Tablo frequently tried to escape and leave home but eventually, he accepted his father's wishes and began to forget about music, ostensibly asking a friend to live out his own wishes to be making hip hop music. This same friend died of cancer sometime afterward, thus serving as an impetus for Tablo to re-enter the music industry at the behest of his dying friend.[11] While he was in university, Tablo associated with an underground hip hop group, 4n Objectz, for three years.[7]

2003–10: Success with Epik High and Pieces of You

Tablo later joined Woolim Entertainment as a trainee and soon after, made his official debut as the leader of the group Epik High in 2003 alongside DJ Tukutz and Mithra Jin.[7] The group's first album, Map of the Human Soul was released on October 21, 2003. However, due to hip hop's lack of popularity in South Korea at the time, the album was a commercial failure. It wasn't until the release of their second alum, High Society, when the group started to become more popular. Epik High's third album, Swan Songs, was originally intended to be their last album however, upon release, the album was number one on numerous charts, and swept the year end hip-hop awards.[12] One of the lead singles from the album, "Fly", was featured on the soundtrack of the video game, FIFA 07. Due to the numerous offers to remake "Fly" as well as "Paris", the second single from the album, a CD sampler was released in Japan.[13]

In 2007, the group released their fourth studio album, Remapping the Human Soul, and managed to push Epik High to the number one spot for best upcoming artist after selling almost 90,000 copies in the first month of release. The album ended becoming South Korea's third best-selling album of 2007.[14] However, many songs from the album were banned from several channels and the album buying age was restricted to 19+ only due to some songs dealing with the issues that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in South Korea deemed as inappropriate to younger listeners.[15] The group later went on to release their next album, Pieces, Part One, which was also a commercial success.

In late 2008, Tablo published a book entitled Pieces of You. Although the stories were originally written in English, the book was first published in Korean. The Korean translation sold 50,000 copies in its first week of release and topped the bestseller's list in Korea.[16] The original English version was released in February 2009 and was also met with moderate success. The book was met with positive critical reception with Tablo's writing being praised for a first-time author.[17] After the group's contract with Woolim Entertainment expired in 2008, Tablo, alongside his group members, founded their own independent label, Map the Soul, and they went on to release an album of the same name.[18] Through their independent label, the group went on to release two more albums; (e) in 2009,[19] and Epilogue in 2010.[20][21]

2010–11: Musical hiatus and Stanford controversy

In 2010, it was announced that Epik High would go on hiatus after DJ Tukutz enlisted in his mandatory military service, whilst Tablo and Mithra would be working on solo careers until DJ Tukutz's return. However, in mid-2010, a group of internet users raised doubts about the academic background of Tablo, who majored in English and English Literature at Stanford University. Led by two fan sites, most notably "We Demand the Truth from Tablo" (Hangul: "타블로에게 진실을 요구합니다"; also known as "Tajinyo", Hangul: "타진요"), some netizens claimed that Tablo could not have graduated from Stanford with both a Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree in English and Creative Writing, respectively, in just three and a half years.[22][23][24]

It became front-page news in Korea in June 2010, when one of the fansite's manager, who goes by the username, whatbecomes, claimed that that Tablo's academic record was "not making any sense" and showed what he believed to be inconsistencies in Tablo's transcripts. Even though Tablo posted his official transcript and other legal documents online, many netizens refused to believe him, and called for other documents such as his immigration statement and diploma to be released.[25][26] Tablo visited Stanford University in late August to clear himself by re-printing his documents on camera, and many of his acquaintances and former professors from Stanford attested to the validity of his academic background on camera. The documentary was shown in two parts: "Tablo Goes to Stanford", and "Tablo and South Korea Online", which respectively aired on MBC October 1 and 8. However, despite the documentary, and Stanford's administration clearly siding with Tablo, membership at "We Demand the Truth from Tablo" increased to as many as 190,000 within a few days, as numerous netizens refused to believe Tablo or the documentary. Tablo left Wooliment entertainment during the Tajinyo incident because the label did not follow through when they said they'd help.

On October 9, however, police confirmed that Tablo had indeed graduated from Stanford, having requested information beyond what Tablo had already provided, directly from Stanford University. South Korean police filed an arrest warrant domestically and with Interpol for the arrest of whatbecomes, who was revealed to be a 57-year old Korean-American named Eung Kim living in the United States.[27] In addition, twenty-two netizens received summons indicating they had been sued by Tablo for criminal defamation. The fansite was shut down soon after by its host site, Naver, following the results of the investigation, which also revealed that whatbecomes had fraudulently used a friend's ID number to create the website, violating Naver's terms of service. However, many members of the fansite joined another community called "We Demand the Truth from Tablo 2" (Hangul: "타블로에게 진실을 요구합니다2", or "타진요 2"; "Tajinyo-i" for short), which has a membership of over 33,000 netizens despite proof provided by the police that Tablo did indeed go to Stanford University.[28]

2011: Musical comeback and solo career

On September 27, 2011 YG Entertainment announced that Tablo would be signing a 4-year contract with them and that his first solo album would be released on November 1.[29] Although Tablo has signed as a solo singer under YG Entertainment, he indicated that it does not mean that Epik High has disbanded nor that they will necessarily sign to YG as a group.[30] On October 14, 2011 Tablo released the song "Airbag" from his new upcoming album.[31] On October 21, 2011 YG announced that the new album, titled Fever's End (Hangul:열꽃), had been split into two parts. The first part was released along with the recent announcement and the second part was released on the planned release date.[32]

2012: Epik High comeback

On July 25, 2012, YG officially announced that Epik High would have their comeback in September 2012.[33]

Personal life

Tablo married Korean actress Kang Hye-jeong in October 2009.[34] The couple had their first child, a daughter, on May 2, 2010.[35]

Musical style

Tablo claims to have been a longtime fan of hip hop music, citing an almost lifelong affair with the culture itself. While listening to hip hop at an early age through artists such as Run-DMC and acquiring Cold Crush tapes, he concurrently gained recognition as a rhymer. His major and enduring love affair with making hip hop music was sparked later in life, however; after hearing Drunken Tiger rapping, the group "Epik High" was formed in 2000 at an early time in the culture's local evolution. Tablo has since claimed to be the first emcee to have used the "rhyming rifle" technique. With the hip hop scene in Korea and Korean emcees being known for their fickle tendencies, Tablo has through the years kept alive his legacy and career through numerous shows, appearances on influential overseas (American most notably) hip hop artists work, such as EPMD.

Discography

See also: Epik High discography

Extended plays

Title Album details Tracklisting Peak chart positions
KOR
[36] 		US
Heat
[37] 		US
World
[37]
Fever's End: Part 1
Tracklisting
  1. Home (feat. Lee So-ra) (집)
  2. Bad (feat. Jin-shil) (나쁘다)
  3. Airbag (feat. Naul)
  4. The Tide (scratch by DJ Fritz) (밀물)
  5. From the Bottom (feat. Bumkey) (밑바닥에서)
12 – 4
Fever's End: Part 2
Tracklisting
  1. Tomorrow (feat. Taeyang)
  2. The Source (scratch by DJ Tukutz) (출처)
  3. Dear TV / 해열
  4. Thankful Breath (feat. Yankee + Bong Tae-kyu) (고마운 숨)
  5. Expiration Date (유통기한)
13 21 2
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Singles

As lead artist

Year Single Peak positions Album
KOR
[36] 		US
K-Pop
[37]
2005 "Rhapsody of Rain"[a] – –
Non-album release
2008 "Eternal Morning"[a] (with Pe2ny) 4 –
Eternal Morning: Soundtrack to a Lost Film
2011 "Airbag" (feat. Naul of Brown Eyed Soul) 4 5
Fever's End: Part 1
"Bad" (feat. Jin-shil) 3 4
"Tomorrow" (feat. Taeyang) 5 8
Fever's End: Part 2
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

As featured performer

Year Single Peak positions Album
KOR
[36]
2006 "I'm Coming"[a] (Rain feat. Tablo) 1
Rain's World
"Rainbow"[a] (Infinite Flow feat. Tablo and JW) 4
More Than Music
2007 "Talk Play Love"[a] (BoA feat. Tablo, Xiah Jun-su and Jin Bo-ra) 1
AnyBand
"Promise U"[a] (BoA feat. Tablo, Xiah Jun-su and Jin Bo-ra) 3
"Daydream"[a] (BoA feat. Tablo, Xiah Jun-su and Jin Bo-ra) 10
2008 "I Love You"[a] (Navi feat. Tablo) 1
I Love You
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Guest appearances

Year Title Other performer(s) Album
2002 "New Joint (Remix)"
DJ Honda, PMD
Underground Connection
2004 "Sky High"
–
Nonstop: Season 4 Soundtrack
"Excuse Me"
Dynamic Duo, DJ Wrecks
Taxi Driver
2005 "Let Me Love You"
Lee Min-woo
IInd Winds
"The City"
Lena Park
–
2006 "Love Mode"
Clazziquai
Pinch Your Soul
"Cha Ryut!"
TBNY, Dynamic Duo
Masquerade
"School of Hip-hop"
Gaknaguene, Garion
Green Tour
"Never Know"
Lim Jeong-hee
Thanks
"Somnolency"
Bobby Kim
Follow Your Soul
2007 "The 'M' Style"
Lee Min-woo
Explore M
"It's All Over Anyway"
Kang Kyun-sung
A Path of Love
"Downhill"
Verbal Jint, Mithra Jin
Favorite
2008 "Alive"
Pe2ny, Yankie
Alive Soul Cuts Vol. 1
"Memory (Rap Mix)"
Younha
Someday

Produced songs

  • 2004: "이력서" (Dynamic Duo)
  • 2004: "Sky High" (Nonstop 4 soundtrack)
  • 2005: "Campus Love Story" (Cho PD)
  • 2006: "내일은 오니까" (Paloalto & The Quiett)
  • 2006: "남자라서 웃어요" (Kim Jang Hoon featuring Mithra Jin)
  • 2006: "Never Know" (by Lim Jeong Hee)
  • 2006: "Rain Bow" (Infinity Flow)
  • 2007: "여자라서 웃어요" (Sim Soo-bong featuring Mithra Jin)
  • 2007: "Talk Play Love" (Anyband)

^ a Released prior to the launch of the Gaon Chart or US K-Pop Hot 100 Chart, so peak position unclear.

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Fantastic Parasuicides Min-ho Main role
August Rush Clarinet player Cameo appearance; uncredited

Television

Year Title Role Network Notes
2004 Epik High's Love and Delusion Himself
Mnet
 Series regular
2005 Nonstop Tablo
MBC
 Main role; season 5
2007 High Kick! Teacher
MBC
 Cameo appearance (Episode 150)
2008 Woman of Matchless Beauty Himself
MBC
 Cameo appearance (Episodes 7 & 8)
Music Bank Co-host
KBS2
 Alongside Kim Sung-eun and Min Seo-hyun
2009 Mnet Director's Cut Himself
Mnet
 Television movie
2010 Happy Together Himself
KBS
 Celebrity guest (Season 3, Episode 144)
Happy Birthday Himself
KBS2
 Series regular
2012 Strong Heart Himself
SBS
 Celebrity guest alongside YG Family

References

  1. ^ "타블로 "장백지 남편 사정봉과 加중학교 동반 퇴학"" (in Korean). Aisa-e. September 9, 2009.
  2. ^ "세 자녀 모두 美명문대 보낸 타블로 어머니 김국애 원장" (in Korean). 《레이디 경향》. September 8, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "Tablo interview on music [[:Template:Languageicon]]". 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2008-05-25. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  4. ^ "Tablo's Dreaming Radio" (in Korean). Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  5. ^ "Tablo is replacing HaHa". Allkpop. 2008-02-14. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  6. ^ a b c Official Biography, Pieces of You Cite error: The named reference "bio" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b c d e "interview [[:Template:Languageicon]]". Hankooki.com. Retrieved 2008-05-25. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  8. ^ "Tablo's homepage [[:Template:Languageicon]]". Retrieved 2008-05-25. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  9. ^ "Straight Outta...Seoul?". stanforddaily.com. Archived from the original on 2008-05-19. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
  10. ^ "interview on degrees [[:Template:Languageicon]]". 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2008-05-25. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  11. ^ a b "Tablo on YSMM". YouTube. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  12. ^ "Epik High: Albums". Map the Soul, Inc. October 5, 2005.
  13. ^ "Epik High to expand into Japan with sample CD". Arirang TV. March 12, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  14. ^ "2007 total sales" (in Korean). eDaily. January 2008.
  15. ^ "Epik High Soars to New Heights". The Korea Times. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  16. ^ Hip-hop star leaps into short fiction to express his art. Retrieved on 2009-04-13
  17. ^ http://www.libro.co.kr/Product/BookDetail.libro?goods_id=0100008184662#review Libro Book Review
  18. ^ [1]
  19. ^ ease Date: September 16, 2009, from http://nuel92.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/album-epik-high-e-hip-hip-released-september-16-2009/
  20. ^ [2]
  21. ^ [3]
  22. ^ Netizens file injunction against Tablo program 09-29, 2010 <The Korea Herald>
  23. ^ Prosecution looks into Tablo allegations 08-27, 2010 <The Korea Herald >
  24. ^ Korean pop star battles attacks on Stanford record September 27th, 2010 <The Stanford Daily>
  25. ^ Transcript 2<Joongangdaily>
  26. ^ Transcript 1<Joonganddaily>
  27. ^ "The Persecution of Daniel Lee". Retrieved 2011-07-19.
  28. ^ tajiyo 2
  29. ^ http://www.hancinema.net/tablo-signs-with-yg-for-november-comeback-33630.html
  30. ^ "Epik High's Tablo Joins YG Family". Asia Pacific Arts. 2011-09-28.
  31. ^ http://www.allkpop.com/2011/10/tablo-reveals-airbag-ft-naul
  32. ^ http://www.allkpop.com/2011/10/tablo-releases-part-1-of-fevers-end-album
  33. ^ "Epik High to return this September". allkpop. 2012-07-25.
  34. ^ "Tablo and Kang Hye Jung release wedding photos". Allkpop. October 26, 2009. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  35. ^ "Tablo and Kang Hye Jung become parents of a baby daughter". Allkpop. May 2, 2010. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  36. ^ a b c "타블로" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  37. ^ a b c "Tablo: Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  • The Stalking of Daniel Lee, J Davis, Wired, May 2012, p184

External links

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