Drunken Tiger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Drunken Tiger | |
|---|---|
| Country | South Korea |
| Years active | 1999-present |
| Genres | Rap, Hip Hop |
| Labels | Jungle Entertainment |
Drunken Tiger (드렁큰타이거) is a Korean hip-hop group that now has only one member, Tiger JK. The group started as a duo, with Tiger JK and DJ Shine, and debuted in 1999 with its first album, The Year of the Tiger. Other hip-hop artists, such as James (also known as DJ Jhig), Micky Eyes, and Roscoe, have also been associated with the group, but Tiger JK and DJ Shine were normally credited as being the main members of Drunken Tiger. DJ Shine left Drunken Tiger after its fourth album, [뿌리](2003), for personal reasons, and Tiger JK has been gone on as a solo act, successfully releasing two more albums.
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[edit] Tiger JK
Tiger JK is the stage name of Jung-kwon Suh (서정권). He was born on June 11, 1974, and spent most of his early years in the United States of America. He made his first appearance on the hip-hop scene when he was sixteen in a freestyling contest at a hip-hop festival. The hip-hop community was mostly black as it is now, and racial tensions were at an all-time high due to the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, not only against whites but also against Asians, as can be seen from songs such as Ice Cube's "Black Korea" recording. Despite facing a nearly all-black audience, Tiger JK received the award, rapping about Korean pride. It was at this festival where he met DJ Shine and Dkgo who had been invited to the festival to DJ.
After the release of Drunken Tiger's second album, The Great Rebirth, Tiger JK was charged with narcotics possession. Although there was overwhelming evidence that proved JK's innoncence, JK was found guilty and sentenced to 80 hours community service. The group was also banned from all major networks, but after demonstrating good behavior, JK was able to appeal the sentence and the ban was lifted. Drunken Tiger went on to become Korean hip-hop's most influential figures.
As of 2006, JK has been diagnosed with Myelitis. JK first learned of his myelitis last March. Although his affliction threatened to hold him back, he was able to feature on Psy’s recent album. He also launched his own fashion brand, Lungta, which showed his extreme dedication to his work.
[edit] DJ Shine
DJ Shine is the alias of Byung-ook Lim (임병욱) and also goes by Mark. He was born on June 11, 1974. Before meeting Tiger JK, he was a DJ for various clubs in New York. After the two met at a hip-hop festival, they found they shared similar musicial interests and formed a hip-hop group in Los Angeles. They attracted the attention of a Korean music company after a successful concert in Korea, and eventually signed a contract leading to the release of their first album in Korea.
DJ Shine was a member of Drunken Tiger until 2005, when he left the group stating personal reasons. There is a great deal of speculation on the reason for his departure, but none have proven correct. DJ Shine announced in March 2006 that he was planning on releasing a solo album in summer 2006. While the solo release has been delayed, it has been reported that Shine is now the executive producer for new label, K & Music, which is under major entertainment company, K & Company.
As of 2006, former Drunken Tiger member, DJ Shine, recorded and released a new song, "Plastic World," for the Cinderella movie soundtrack. The song is produced by Shine and his verses are completely in English. The Cinderella soundtrack was dropped on September 7th 2006 in Korea. source: www.drunkencamp.com (official u.s. english website)
[edit] Discography
- Year of the Tiger (1998)
- Notable Songs: "I Want You" (난 널 원해), "Do You Know Hiphop?"
- The Great Rebirth (2000)
- Notable Songs: "Great Rebirth", "Wolf and Fox"
- The Legend Of... (2001)
- Notable Songs: "Good Life", "Is Ack Hizay?", "뽕짝이야기"
- Foundation (2003)
- Notable Songs: "뿌리 [Foundation]", "남자기 때문에", "엄지 손가락", "One 한", "슬픈 기타줄"
- One is not a Lonely Word (2004)
- Notable Songs: "긴급상황", "편의점", "이놈의 Shake It", "가수지망생 1. (5,000원)(Skit)", "Liquor Shots (술병에 숟가락)", "하나하면 너와 나", "Symphony III", "고집쟁이", "Once Upon A Time (나의 어리석은 방황)", "백만인의 콘서트 (노래방 Rap)", "내 인생의 반의 반"
- 1945 Liberation (2005)
- Notable Songs: "음주Rapping(취중푸념)", "죽지 않는 영혼 (Found You)", "소외된 모두, 왼발을 한 보 앞으로!", "진정한 美는 마음 안에", "심의에 안 걸리는 사랑노래", "손들어! (Here!)", "60 Percenta Zen"
Several of their songs are featured in Pump It Up, a Korean music video game. The song Betrayer was made by BanYa, Pump It Up's in-house group, and features Drunken Tiger as vocals, and I Want You from their first album is also used.
Their lyrics often mix English with Korean, and sometimes they record a song in two different versions, one in Korean and one in English. Recent albums were recorded mostly in Korean. However the departure of DJ Shine left Tiger JK to create the sixth album as he saw fit. The result of this was a very different sound from the earlier albums, with influences from reggae and African music.
[edit] Collaborations
Drunken Tiger is part of Movement, a Korean hip-hop crew, which includes several other well-known hip-hop artists:
- Dynamic Duo
- T
- Sean2Slow
- Buga Kingz
- Epik High
- Leessang
- Yang Dong Gun
- Eun Ji Won
- Double K
- TBNY
- Insane Deegie
- Bobby Kim
- Deegie
- MC K
- All Black
Many view Tiger JK as the leader of Movement, but this is incorrrect since Movement is merely an association of hip-hop artists with similar interests. For example Tiger JK is not the leader of Movement, much like Eminem is not the leader of D-12.
