Music / Idols
20110915_seoulbeats_tasha

Will Tasha and Tiger JK Get Lost In the Mix?

16

First of all, two awesome things about two amazing people.  Both are real honest-to-God hip-hop artists.  Both are real honest-to-God hip-hop artists not from YGE.  Now, no worries, I’m not tearing down any artists, YG fans – there’s genuine excitement on my end to see two noteworthy artists truly come back after working hard on new material.

Tasha (T, or Yoon Mi Rae) has always been a continual source of fascination for me – her background as a multiracial youth and the difficulties she faced are well known – but she has never turned away from talking about or referencing it in her music (‘Black Happiness’).

Tiger JK similarly drew on his own experiences with racism and discrimination during his time in the U.S.  during the 1992 L.A. Riots as inspiration for his music, drawing on important social issues and diverse musical styles to change the hip-hop scene as Korea knew it.

It’s been four years since T’s last album and it’s great to see these two inspiring artists putting in so much passion and world-consciousness into T’s upcoming album.  According to reports, these two even worked in the studio during Chosuk, demonstrating their dedication to their music.

My only concern is that, despite their unopposed labels as “Legends”, they don’t have million-member fan groups and endless calendars, posters and stickers of themselves, like the rest of the idol groups scheduled to return this fall.  I sincerely hope they delay their comeback by a few months. It would kill me to see them to belost under the glut of hot pants and dyed hair as a stampede of girl groups take the stage.  I suppose their songs and albums will do well even without the super-commercial marketing push but there is a part of me that believes they merit just as much attention as groups like Super Junior have earned and perhaps are more deserving of it.

The breadth and scope of their music is socially conscious, carefully crafted and created with a greater purpose in mind- bringing people together as being one. While everyone is screaming over G-Dragon’s new haircut, I’ll be sitting patiently with my homemade “T & Tiger JK” sign in hand.  Do think the couple is worthy of my boot-licking manifesto? Do they deserve to come back with all the hype of a typical k-pop act or does that undermine them as artists? What do you think of their reputation as the “King and Queen of Hip-hop?”

( Star News)

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  • JW

    The duo is just pure talented.
    All they need is a little bit marketing strategy and more promotion
    I certainly am with you on this one, absolutely do not want to see all these so called “mainstream” kpop idol groups getting all these (probably) overrated attention. They deserve equal rights and cares from public, and hopefully more people recognize their music.

  • A M

    Honestly OP, I dont think you understand that they’re trying to target a different audience by coming out at the same time as a slew of idol artists. Those not into the teeny-bopper idol scene, which are A LOT of people, will most likely embrace this. Hip-hop in Korea, hip-hop anywhere, has a curious mix of mainstream and underground with labels constantly shifting and changing. Those not into the teeny-bopper idol scene are more likely to embrace this. Music listeners are also very eclectic, and while I dont own any idol stickers or banners or posters, I DO have CDs and mixtapes of my favorite artists and LOVE k-hiphop as well as idol stars.  Also, I dont understand the UBER love for all that is YG.
    Yes, they’re amazing. Yes, 1TYM should’ve been around longer, Jinusean will always be a classic, and Big Bang has a lot of idol cred BUT not all hip hop is created equal.
     
    And YG is not the only place putting out amazing, popular, hiphop music.

  • eboy07

    overrated attention???
    Thats kpop for you.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_UZ3GOV4QFCYI3BGIWEDKBVACHY puddlemini

    They have fans too. Since Korea is like, 5 years into the US music trend, it’ll be a couple of years before hiphop becomes super popular there and pop music will die down haha.

    But seriously, why would Tasha be in the industry for that long if she didnt have fans or was making money? How would they come on such a popular show as Running Man if they didnt have industry recognition?

    It’s easy to hate on kpop and praise the underground movement. But, it’s hard to realize that kpop rookies are just as ‘underground’. And, Tasha and Tiger JK are technically mainstream, as is Outsider, Dynamic Duo, Supreme Team, DJ DOC, etc etc etc.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ORSXPERTNAEPCKZBGEZMP7A3NU Bianca

    HMMMM. If they had wanted to be a part of the BIG 3, they would’ve. They have enough going for them that they can demand artistic freedom. And still reap the rewards of a huge agency. But, they didn’t. It’s all a matter of choice. Where they are, is where they want to be at. With the fans they’ve got.

  • Cant Decide

    you are not the only one looking forward to this(have been waiting for T ever since …last year)
    And I agree that I WANT them to top the charts, make an all kill, sell a ridiculous amount and all that jazz…but here’s the thing. There’s a reason why they are who they are.
    I’m kind of conflicted in that yes it would be nice for them to delay the comeback after this wave of idols die down but at the same time I know that’s not their concern. They don’t do it for the money, they do it for the love of music. And their concern isn’t winning some music show to show who’s best, so the timing of their release is irregardless of outside circumstances, they will put out music when and how they feel like it w/o gimmicks and hype because they let their work speak for themselves.
    And because I respect them for this I would understand if they came back at the same time as everyone else, to prove they don’t need care about such things…but it’s also because of this down-to-earth realness I want them to get the attention they deserve…but I also know popularity contests aren’t their thing….argh ok I’m confusing myself now…does anyone else (understand) feel this way??

  • saroj khan

    they are awesome artists and they do deserve soo much respect comapred too all these idols .not saying idols are not hardworking ,they are in their ways considering they only sleep two hours or so but so still a lot of these idols are at the same stage since they debuted since they are trying so hard to sell themselves as a package rather than an artist .they do not realli have a growth as a musician .I have soo much respect for tash ,it is not even a joke ,became of fan of her after seeing hip pop special on come to play.it is awesome.respect :D

  • http://twitter.com/flickaddi Felicia Addison

    I’ve never heard their music but recently I’m really liking the Hip-Hop in Korea and not just YG (although i love YG so much <3) I love Zico from Block B's Mixtapes and Hanhae's Eargasm and that song about Tweet Tweet about twitter by Bizniz feat a few other rappers. I think that i'm going to like this and i really wanna find out more about korean hip hop and rap

  • Li

    OMG have been waiting for Lady Ts album for yonks now. Knowing all their fans which are mostly a totally different target audience than your average kpop idol fan. Huge fan of both of them and I’m sure their main concern would be the love of the music they release from people all over the world. So hopefully they don’t get drowned out by all the idol groups. Tiger JK & Tasha fighting!!!

  • Kpopboi

    okay.

    1. YG is not HIP HOP. YG is not semi Hip Hop. YG is Pop. Hip Pop if u shall. YG has NOT been ‘Hip Hop’ in over 5 years. okay? okay.

    2. You really didn’t do justice in terms of just how influential and important Tiger JK and Lady T are to the Korean Music scene. Those points you mentioned are like the staple points, but there is so much more to them that is unfortauntely unappreciated now. sad.

    btw, they’re reputations as King and Queen of Hip Hop are just.
    there is no question and wont be for years…. judging by the current rate of faggotry in Kpop.

    out.

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