Drunken Tiger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Categories: Articles lacking sources from July 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Korean hip hop groups
Drunken Tiger (드렁큰타이거, 醉虎) aka Tiger JK is the undisputed king of Hiphop in Korean music scene as well as the leading Asian-American hiphop icon, whose name is widely known in such Asian countries as Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan, originating in 1992 in Los Angeles. He also helped unretire the 70's Hong Kong movie/music idol Chelsea Chen by giving her his magic hiphop collaboration in her great vintage hit "One Summer Night," a major hit song in the 1970's Korea, too.
Tiger JKDrunken Tiger is also known as Tiger JK, deriving from his birth name, Jung-Kwon Suh (서정권, 徐廷權). He was born on June 11, 1974 in Seoul, Korea and brought up in Los Angeles, California. He made his first appearance on the hip-hop scene when he was sixteen in a major Los Anegeles hiphop festival alone in 1992 and again in 1993 with Drunken Tiger member, Micki Eyes. in predominantly nearly all-black audience, Tiger JK's performance was well received in the festival, and he caught the eye of Korean record labels. He later released his first solo, "Enter the Tiger" in 1995,along with Sucram(aka Staimey) of The Wascals. However, due to censorship and restrictions put on the song, the song received limited radio play. The album received limited publicity due to the same censorship regulations. After the release of Drunken Tiger's very controversial and successful ensuing albums, [Year of the Tiger] and [The Great Rebirth]], Tiger JK was charged with and framed on diverse charges stemming from both the chauvinistic Korean hometown music industry and poltics. The act Drunken Tiger was also banned from all mainstream television and radio for 2 years, but as Korean hiphop listeners and fans who appreciate his music incresed, JK was able to overcome all the obstacles facing politics in the music industry. Tiger JK went on to become one of Korean hip-hop's most influential figures, the legend. As of 2006, JK was diagnosed with myelitis. JK first learned of his myelitis in March 2005. Although his affliction threatened to hold him back, he was chosen as the first Korean spokesman for Reebok along the lne of 50cent and Jay-Z. He also launched his own record imprint Junle Entertainment and fashion brand, Lungta, which showed his extreme dedication to his work. He also lent his helping hand to Rain in the song "Friends" off of Rain's new CD Rain's World. Tiger JK also recently released a new album titled "Sky is the Limit" (September 2007). It features multiple Korean artists including Ann, T, Double K, DOK 2, Bizzy (not the same person as Bizzy Bone from Bone Thugs N Harmony), and TEBY. The Intro track is titled Sky is the Limit and is a remix of clips from multiple songs that were successful in his career. Differing from his 6th album which had strong influences from reggae and African music, in his 7th album, it seems that he has gone back to his original hip hop roots a bit. He states that he wanted to make his 7th album as if he was writing a book about his life, as the tracks contain many references to his life, making the album very personal compared to his other work. Wanting to make this album a story-telling-like album that is very personal, couple of the songs have longer verses with less hooks, and one of the tracks titled "Hollyhood" does not have a hook, but is just a straight forward story-telling until the end of the track, with a similar feels to it like Nas' "New York State Of Mind". His rhyming style seems to have become more stylish and the production quality seems to be one of his best yet. The album's first title song, "8:45 Heaven," was inspired by the death of his late grandmother, who passed during the recording of the 7th album. Discography
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. Later in the game's series "Emergency Situation" from their fifth album was 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. A very prolific and talented lyricist, Tiger JK is responsible for writing all the rhymes recorded on the seven albums and for other established artists of many genres as rock, for YB band(most famous Korean rock group), R&B/Soul for T, and Pop for Eun Ji Won, M, et al. CollaborationsDrunken Tiger is part of Movement, a Korean hip-hop crew, which includes several other well-known hip-hop artists:
Many view Tiger JK as the leader of Movement, but this is incorrect 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. See alsoExternal links | ||||||||||||||
