Wait, what? Could this be true? Tablo of Epik High, one of my favorite Korean hip-hop artists, returns to the music scene—through an exclusive 4-year contract with YG Entertainment?
According to Soompi:
Epik High’s rapper extraordinaire Tablo has grasped hands with YG’s Yang Hyun Suk.
YG Entertainment has announced on September 27, “Tablo has signed an exclusive 4-year contract with YG Entertainment and will be dropping his first official solo album on November 1.”
Through this event, Tablo will break out from his 2-year hiatus that occurred when an academic controversy sparked around him. This contract has been known to be a solo contract that doesn’t involve Epik High.
According to YG, the person who had the biggest hand in Tablo’s decision was none other than YG’s actress and Tablo’s wife, Kang Hye Jung. Having stuck with her husband through thick and thin, Kang Hye Jung was the one to introduce Tablo to CEO Yang Hyun Suk.
Tablo has confessed his feelings for the comeback with, “It’s true that I’m still very afraid of standing in front of the public after deserting the stage for almost 2 years. It was hard during that time period, but I don’t have any feelings of resentment directed at anyone whatsoever. This is because I think that everything that has occurred was my fault.”
He then added, “There were a lot of fans who have supported me from unknown places during that time, but instead of saying thank you a thousand times, I want to return the favor by trying a lot harder and producing good music.”
Now don’t get me wrong; I’m ecstatic to hear that Tablo is returning to the music scene after the Standford controversy bullshit that started two years ago. But returning in the arms of YG Entertainment? That’s definitely a shocker. According to various sources, Tablo will be dropping his first solo album on November 1, 2011. Since Tablo is now exclusively with YG Entertainment, I’m unsure of the return of Epik High, unless YGE offers additional contracts to both Mithra and DJ Tukutz (which I highly doubt I spoke too soon. I’m not sure whether the two will be signed to YG, but see “edit 2” for information on Epik High’s return). I just can’t see Tablo collaborating with current YG artists like Big Bang and 2NE1 (well, with the exception of PSY). Whatever the case, great music comes from great musicians, and Tablo is one of a few. He will always be an asset to The Movement, and everyone from the crew is happy about his return to the music scene. I hope that his academic controversy will be put aside as he begin his musical journey once again.
How do you feel about Tablo’s comeback and his new contract with YG Entertainment?
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Edit 1: So I was searching for more articles and came across this one, in which a YG representative stated:
Tablo’s decision to join YG Entertainment was guided by his wife and YG actress Kang Hye-Jung… After giving birth to their daughter, the two [Tablo and Kang Hye-Jung] suffered immensely from the scandal. Kang Hye-Jung introduced Tablo to YG’s CEO Yang Hyun-Suk because of the company’s family-like environment and genuine support for all the YG artists.
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Edit 2: I found more information with regards to the future of Epik High… and the future seems bright! Check out the translated article below:
…Long story short, Epik High will not disband.
…Although Tablo has signed an exclusive contract with YG Entertainment and plans to release his album on November 1, 2011, he is still in good terms with fellow Epik High members Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz. Epik High is likely to return in the future after Tablo’s first solo album.
Mithra Jin is currently serving in the military, and Epik High’s activity must be delayed until he returns from the army. Mithra Jin began his military service last August and will finish next May or June [2012].
DJ Tukutz has finished his military service and was discharged this past August… [Source: STARNEWS]
Wow, I’m kinda late, I just learned about Tablo coming back! It was a total shocker since he’s maybe my favorite rapper ever… I litteraly jumped and laughed ecstaticly upon reading the news =D
About YG, I don’t know… it’s actually the only label out of the Big 3 of K-pop that I genuinely appreciate, precisely because I think that “family-like environment” the representative was talking about is not just PR bullshit – I think they really care about their artists and all in all let them enjoy a lot more creative control than they would have under, let’s say… Well, I won’t say names. (but I’m thinking so hard about SME that you might read my thoughts =D)
Well, it’s still a big label, maybe it’s far from the mapthesoul.com spirit & all, but I think Tablo will still be able to write what he wants to write, even if it’s censored by the media after the album is out. Hell, YG was with Seo Taiji, he sang Gyosil Idea too!! ><
I'm not really worried about Epik High, there's a lot of collaborations between the Movement members anyway, so even if the band members aren't on the same label, or even if they don't release full albums as a band, they can still do a lot of stuff together… Kind of how MYK was pretty much the ghost member of EH on the Map the soul album =D
Anyway, I'm so freaking excited about Tablo's comeback, I just can't wait for november; I hope that he's gonna be as dope as he ever was o/
PS: sorry if my english is a little bit off sometimes, I'm French =)