ZICO

Read Don Mills’ recent hilarious interview with Hiphopplaya.

First of all, I’d like to hear about your featuring on ‘Tough Cookie’. How did you end up participating?
I am Don Mills. Zico contacted me. Some people might say that this is about connections, but I did not bootlick him first, asking him to let me feature. Hm!

Did anything in particular change after you featured on Zico’s track? He is a talented artist and a popular star after all.
I’m not sure if people know how I look like, but I think they now know the name ‘Don Mills’. It feels good. Something that changed particularly is that my relatives knew me, Don Mills, as ‘aspiring rapper’ or ‘aspiring singer’ but now they certainly know that this Don Mills is an MC, which makes me happy.

You still must get a lot of featuring offers, please tell us what you can about them.
Instead of featurings, I am working on my own songs. I am working on Don Mills’ full-length album that will come out in summer. Please look forward to it, my friends~ I am Don Mills, once again I will show you [what I can do]~ Yahoo~^^~

You recently released ‘화끈한 화요일’ [Hot Tuesday] as a threepart single, how did you decide to release it that way? With a few more tracks, it could have been a maxi single or an EP, that is why I am asking.
Within Vismajor, we had a meeting and discussed about how the finished songs could be used effectively. Someone suggested it would be good to release it as a single over three weeks. Adding a few more tracks and releasing an EP is a good idea as well, but the tracks I am working on are completely new and have nothing to do with those three tracks, so we decided to released them first.

What is the reason you released the tracks on Tuesdays? Doesn’t the ‘hot’ fun start on Thursday?
The title is ‘화끈한 화요일’ [Hot Tuesday]. Both words have the syllable ‘화’, that’s the only reason I chose Tuesday. I am Don Mills.

You worked with TK on all tracks, is there a special reason for this? I suppose it’s because you’re in the same crew and it’s the most convenient to work together.
At first, I had planned to work together with other newcomer producers. Then, one day, I went to hang out at TK’s place, and the moment I heard various of his beats, I was certain. Don Mills and TK.

And why did you choose a trendy sound?
I wanted songs that can be enjoyed easily, and while working I think it felt chick and trendy, it felt good. But! I swear that you will be able to feel not only trendy sounds, but also characteristic feelings of life and the classics on our Don Mills’ next album. Please look forward to eet~

Don Mills – 화합 [Harmony] (feat. CJamm, Okasian)

When I heard the lyrics of ‘빠~에는’ [In That Case] (below), I asked myself: maybe because the featurings and the 88 have a big impact, you don’t get stressed about the need to give yourself one certain characteristic but instead welcomingly accept things the way they are and finish them off? Is it like the lyrics say?

날더러 얜 지 색깔이 하나 없데오~ (없데오~) 나와봐~ 나보다 짙은 색이 어딨어

They say that I don’t have any characteristic~ (they say I don’t) Come forward~ Where is someone more characteristic than me?

In 2015, there is no MC with such distinct characteristics like Don Mills. What I hate the most are idiots who rap on obscure, dreamy beats pretending they were smoking marijuana. I hate them so much I wanna beat them to death. The stupidity is actually not everything, but in ‘빠~에는’ [In That Case] I just wanted to rap comfortably. The first line of the second verse goes ‘갑자기 옛날에 들은 말이 생각나네~ [I suddenly remember words I heard back in the day~] which quotes Beenzino’s ‘문뜩 어릴 때 내가 생각 나네~’ [All of a sudden I remember myself when I was a child~]. Before, my friends warned me “You have a good voice and everything but you don’t have any characteristic~” and that is what the line ‘날더러 얜 지 색깔이 하나 없데~’ [They say that I don’t have any characteristic~] is about.

‘귀가’ [Come Home] is considerably impressive too, it seems like you’d want to have that quality as an artist?
The song ‘귀가’ [Come Home] is well-received [live] at concerts and also good to listen to as is. Actually, I am someone who likes tracks like this more and I will make more characteristic music from now on.

I do not really understand the line “The fan who supported me now calls me trash.” As a musician, you cannot avoid receiving bad feedback, but is that a feedback you actually received?
As the lyrics go, there was a person who really supported me. After a few incidents and picking up some personal things about me, that person now treats me like trash. So I wrote it exactly that way in the lyrics.

Is there a special reason why CJamm and Okasian featured on ‘화합’ [Harmony]?
Okasian-hyung is an MC I’ve liked even before I came to Korea and I absolutely wanted to work with him. Listening to his recent tracks, I got the feeling that it would be nice to breathe together on ‘화합’ [Harmony] once, so I requested him to feature on it. For tightness and solidity, I recruited our friend JamJamCJamm.((‘잼’ (‘Jamm’ or ‘Jam’) colloquially means ‘fun’ in Korean and is often related to the English word ‘jam’ as well.))

I am quite curious about what you thought after you had received Okasian’s verse (laughs).
I was the happiest in the world. Everybody feels it, right? You feelin’ it, right!!!!

Users voted you as the 2nd best newcomer at this year’s HHP Awards [and unfortunately not as the 1st]. Since we didn’t interview you, we couldn’t ask you what you think about that.
I’m glad! I don’t think it’s a pity at all [that I didn’t get first place]. Loco, who won Show Me The Money and debuted in August, received HHP’s newcomer award two years later in June 2012. So I will also definitely receive the HHP newcomer award in 2014+2=2016.

As far as I know, Deepflow’s ‘양화’ will come out soon. What kind of an album do you think it will become for hiphop fans?
Comments on Melon: It’s not that great, it sucks, these days I like Bobby~
Comments on HHP: Oh, Deepflow!
Comments on HiphopLE: Oh, it’s 639!!
DCInside: Does Deepflow rap well?
DCTribe: As expected from Deepflow T___T I’ve been waiting for this T___T
The best hiphop in Korea at the moment comes from Deepflow. My a.k.a is Deepflow too. Don Mills a.k.a Deepflow.

Lastly, what is ‘주먹이 운다’ [Crying Fists] ((Korean term for being so angry that you want to hit someone but you hold back, thus your ‘fists cry’ because they can’t hit anyone.)) to Don Mills?
Everybody~ It’s cold these days and spring is coming, so be careful not to catch a cold. And I hope you do your best at school or at work~

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[ source: 장원기 (Jang Won-gi) @ hiphopplaya ].
[ translation: hiphopkr ]