Tablo

Daniel Armand Lee (Korean: Lee Seon-woong; Hangul: 이선웅; born July 22, 1980), better known by his stage name Tablo (Hangul: 타블로), is a Korean-Canadian hip hop recording artist, lyricist, composer and record producer. Tablo is best known as the leader and producer of veteran Korean hip-hop group Epik High, and the founder of independent music label HIGHGRND (High Ground), which housed bands Hyukoh and The Black Skirts.

Tablo
타블로
Tablo in September 2014
Born	Daniel Lee July 22, 1980 Seoul, South Korea
Nationality	Canada
Other names	Lee Seon-woong Tablo
Education	Stanford University
Occupation	Rapper lyricist composer record producer
Spouse(s)	Kang Hye-jung ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	1
Musical career
Genres	Hip hop
Instruments	Vocals keyboards synthesizer sampler sequencer violin
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Woollim HIGHGRND William Morris Ours
Associated acts	Epik High Eternal Morning Anyband Dynamic Duo G-Dragon Taeyang Code Kunst
Korean name
Hangul	이선웅
Hanja	李善雄
Revised Romanization	I Seon-ung
McCune–Reischauer	Yi Sŏnung

Tablo became employed as a lyricist while still in high school. Under the supervision of Tobias Wolff, Tablo graduated from Stanford University with honors in English literature and creative writing. He then moved to Korea,[1] where, in 2001, he formed Epik High alongside DJ Tukutz and Mithra Jin. The group has since released 10 full-length albums and 1 EP, with Tablo having produced and co-written all the songs. His debut solo album, Fever's End, was released in 2011.

Outside of Epik High, Tablo is a record producer and songwriter for other artists and involved in collaborative projects such as Borderline, Eternal Morning, and Anyband. His music incorporates numerous styles, ranging from trance, trip hop, to rock.[2] Tablo is also the author of the best-selling book Pieces of You, published in both English and Korean, and Blonote. He made his film debut acting in Nonstop (2005). In 2016, Tablo left his radio show, MBC FM4U's Tablo's Dreaming Radio, after eleven years to focus on YG's music sub-label HIGHGRND.[3][4]

Life and career

1980–2003: Early life and career beginnings

Tablo moved to Jakarta, Indonesia in 1980 shortly after his birth. Due to his father's work, he spent around 3 years living in Jakarta[5] before his family relocated again several times to Switzerland and Hong Kong for his father's career until Tablo was six, when they returned to South Korea briefly.[6] His family moved again to Canada when he was eight. Tablo attended St. George's School[7] in Vancouver, British Columbia. He then transferred to Seoul International School.[6] As a coterminal student at Stanford University,[8][9][10] Tablo simultaneously attained a Bachelor's Degree in English literature and a Master's Degree in creative writing in three years.[9][10][11]

Tablo started playing piano at the age of six but later switched to violin, which he played for 10 years.[2] His music teacher, who had been a pupil of Isaac Stern, used to lecture him saying: "Music is communism, but you're playing democracy". Tablo wrote the lyrics to legendary singer Kim Gun-mo's song "Rainy Christmas" when he was sixteen years old, as Kim took an interest in Tablo after reading a poem of his.

During his early life, Tablo suffered from bouts of depression. Whenever he faced hardship, hip hop music served as an outlet. However, Tablo's father disapproved of his career choice, so as a teenager, he frequently ran away from home. Ostensibly, Tablo asked a friend to live out his dream, but when that friend died of cancer, it became an impetus for him to re-enter the music industry.[12] Tablo later admitted his family forced him to enroll in Stanford, and even after the release of his second album, was still persuading him to return to the United States to attend Law School.[12] While he was at Stanford, Tablo associated with an underground hip hop group, 4n Objectz.

2003–10: Success with Epik High and Pieces of You

Tablo met Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz in the underground hip-hop scene. They formed Epik High and under the tutelage of Movement crew members, especially CB Mass (currently Dynamic Duo), they attempted to record their first record alongside hip-hop duo, and close friends, TBNY (composed of Yankie and TopBob). However, CB Mass member Curbin allegedly embezzled Epik High and TBNY's funds for their first studio album, effectively causing the disbandment of CB Mass (and the creation of Dynamic Duo without Curbin). Tablo and Epik High were finally signed by Woollim Entertainment, which at the time focused on underground hip hop and modern rock. Tablo made his official debut as the leader of the group Epik High in 2003 alongside DJ Tukutz and Mithra Jin.[13] The group's first album, Map of the Human Soul, was released on October 21, 2003. However, due to hip hop's lack of popularity in South Korea at the time, the album was a commercial failure. It wasn't until the release of their second album, High Society, that the group started to become more popular. Epik High's third album, Swan Songs, was originally intended to be their last album; however, upon release, the album became number one on numerous charts, and swept the year-end hip hop awards.[14] One of the lead singles from the album, "Fly", was featured on the soundtrack of the video game FIFA 07. Due to the numerous offers to remake "Fly", as well as "Paris", the second single from the album, a CD sampler, was released in Japan.[15]

Tablo at Map the Soul Concert, San Francisco (2009)

In 2007, the group released their fourth studio album, Remapping the Human Soul, and managed to push Epik High to the number one spot for best upcoming artist after selling almost 90,000 copies in the first month of release. The album ended up becoming South Korea's third best-selling album of 2007.[16] However, many songs from the album were banned from several channels and the album buying age was restricted to 19+ due to some songs dealing with issues the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in South Korea deemed inappropriate for younger listeners.[17] The group later went on to release their next album, Pieces, Part One, which was also a commercial success.

In late 2008, Tablo published a book entitled Pieces of You. Although the stories were originally written in English, the book was first published in Korean. The Korean translation sold 50,000 copies in its first week of release and topped the bestseller's list in Korea.[18] The original English version was released in February 2009 and also met with moderate success. The book garnered a positive reception from critics, with Tablo's writing praised for a first-time author.[19] After the group's contract with Woolim Entertainment expired in 2008, Tablo, alongside his group members, founded their own independent label, Map the Soul, and they went on to release an album of the same name.[20] Through their independent label, the group went on to release two more albums; [e] in 2009,[21] and Epilogue in 2010.[22][23] In November 2013, Tablo revealed the reason of shutting down the label "Map the Soul" in his interview with HiphopLE that one of the executive member of Map The Soul embezzled the label's funds.[24]

2010–11: Musical hiatus and Stanford controversy

In 2010, it was announced that Epik High would go on hiatus after DJ Tukutz enlisted in his mandatory military service, whilst Tablo and Mithra would be working on solo careers until DJ Tukutz's return. However, in mid-2010, a group of Internet users raised doubts about the academic background of Tablo, who majored in English and English Literature at Stanford University.[9][10] Led by two fan sites, most notably "We Demand the Truth from Tablo" (Hangul: "타블로에게 진실을 요구합니다"; also known as "Tajinyo", Hangul: "타진요"), some netizens claimed that Tablo could not have graduated from Stanford University with both a bachelor's degree and master's degree in English and Creative Writing, respectively, in just three and a half years.[25][26][9]

It became front-page news in Korea in June 2010 when one of the fansite's managers, who went by the username whatbecomes, claimed that Tablo's academic record was "not making any sense" and showed what he believed to be inconsistencies in Tablo's transcripts. Even though Tablo posted his official transcript and other legal documents online, many netizens refused to believe him, and called for other documents such as his immigration statement and diploma to be released.[27][28] Tablo visited Stanford University in late August to disprove these allegations by having the University registrar re-print his documents on camera, and many of Tablo's acquaintances and former professors from Stanford attested to the validity of his academic background on camera.[9][10] The documentary was shown in two parts: "Tablo Goes to Stanford" and "Tablo and South Korea Online", which aired on MBC October 1 and 8. However, despite the documentary and Stanford's administration clearly siding with Tablo,[9][10] membership at "We Demand the Truth from Tablo" increased to as many as 190,000 within a few days, as numerous netizens refused to believe Tablo or the documentary. Tablo and members of his family received death threats and he became a virtual recluse.[29] Tablo ultimately left Woollim Entertainment during the Tajinyo incident, not wanting to spread harm to the agency or to Infinite, who had only recently debuted when the controversy broke out.[30]

On October 9, however, police confirmed that Tablo had indeed graduated from Stanford, having requested information beyond what Tablo had already provided, directly from Stanford University.[10] South Korean police filed an arrest warrant domestically and with Interpol for the arrest of whatbecomes, who was revealed to be a 57-year-old Korean-American named Eungsuk Kim living in the United States.[10][29] In addition, twenty-two netizens received summons indicating they had been sued by Tablo for criminal defamation. The fansite was shut down soon after by its host site, Naver, following the results of the investigation, which also revealed that whatbecomes had fraudulently used a friend's ID number to create the website, violating Naver's terms of service. However, many members of the fansite joined another community called "We Demand the Truth from Tablo 2" (Hangul: "타블로에게 진실을 요구합니다2", or "타진요 2"; "Tajinyo-i" for short), which has a membership of over 33,000 netizens despite proof provided by both the university and the police that Tablo did indeed graduate from Stanford University.[31]

2011-current: Return, solo career and Epik High comeback

On September 27, 2011, YG Entertainment announced that Tablo would be signing a 4-year contract with them and that his first solo album would be released on November 1.[32] Although Tablo signed as a solo singer under YG Entertainment, he indicated that it did not mean that Epik High disbanded, nor that they would necessarily sign with YG as a group.[33] On October 14, 2011 Tablo released the song "Airbag" from his new upcoming album.[34] On October 21, 2011 YG announced that the new album, titled Fever's End (Hangul: 열꽃), had been split into two parts. The first part was released along with the recent announcement, and the second part was released on the planned release date.[35]

On September 27, 2012, YG officially announced through yg-life.com that Epik High would have their comeback in October 2012, after a three-year hiatus as a group.[36] Their first single, "춥다" ("It's Cold"), featured SBS's K-pop Star finalist Lee Hi and was released on October 9, while their comeback album, titled 99, was released on the 19th. On December 30, 2012, during the SBS Gayo Daejun, Tablo joined fellow Epik High bandmate Mithra Jin, Dynamic Duo and Simon D for Cypher 2012, a remix of popular hip hop tracks of the year, to much acclaim.

In October 2013, Tablo joined KBS variety show The Return of Superman with his daughter Haru.[37]

On April 21, 2014, Tablo returned as radio DJ.[38] His show's name is Tablo's Dreaming Radio. He was the DJ for this same program until 2016.

In March 2014, Tablo carried out a collaboration with China's top female singer Bibi Zhou.[39]

On October 18, 2014, Epik High released their music video for "Born Hater", after the video was delayed by YG due to the Pangyo Techno Valley Festival Tragedy.[40] The track is from their eighth album, SHOEBOX, and features a myriad of hip hop artists including Beenzino, Verbal Jint, Mino of WINNER, along with B.I and Bobby of iKON.[41]

2015 North American Tour, New York City

On August 31, 2015, Tablo released a teaser clip for a collaboration track with American rapper an co-founder of Pro Era, Joey Badass. Their collaborated song, "Hood," was released September 5, 2015.[42]

On January 26, 2017, he collaborated with Gallant and Eric Nam on the single release of "Cave Me In", and music video which was shot in Hong Kong.[43] "Cave Me In" premiered worldwide on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 Radio Show and was trending globally on YouTube and Facebook for over 72 hours upon releasing.

Personal life

Tablo married Korean actress Kang Hye-jung on October 26, 2009.[44] Their daughter, Haru, was born on May 2, 2010.[45] Tablo has an older sister, Lee Sun-joo, who graduated from Cornell University and an older brother, Lee Sun-Min, who graduated from Brown University and Columbia University.[46][47]

Musical style

Tablo has been a long-time fan of hip hop music, citing an almost lifelong affair with the culture itself. While listening to hip hop at an early age through artists such as Run-D.M.C. and acquiring Cold Crush tapes, he concurrently gained recognition as a rhymer. His major and enduring love affair with making hip hop music was sparked later in life, however; after hearing Drunken Tiger rapping, the group Epik High was formed in 2000 at an early time in the culture's local evolution. Tablo has since claimed to be the first emcee to have used the "rhyming rifle" technique. With the hip hop scene in Korea and Korean emcees being known for their fickle tendencies, Tablo has through the years kept alive his legacy and career through numerous shows, appearances on influential overseas (American most notably) hip hop artists work, such as EPMD.

Writing

In 2008, Tablo published a collection of short stories he had written, titled Pieces of You. The English translation was published in 2009. In 2016, his second book "BloNote" was published in Korea with a pink book cover. The English version, translated by Tablo himself and with a black cover, was published on December 21, 2016.

Podcast

On June 8, 2019, Tablo posted on his personal Instagram posing the question: "What if Tablo had an English-language podcast?".[48] The podcast premiered with the release of three episodes on August 8, 2019.[49][50] The Tablo Podcast is produced by DIVE Studios.[51] The last episode of The Tablo Podcast aired on September 4, 2020,[52] though two follow-up episodes were released in 2021 to promote the release of Epik High Is Here.

Discography

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Fantastic Parasuicides	Min-ho	Main role
	August Rush	Clarinet player	Cameo appearance; uncredited

Television

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes
2004	Epik High's Love and Delusion	Himself	Mnet	Series regular
2005	Nonstop	Tablo	MBC	Main role; season 5
2007	High Kick!	Teacher	MBC	Cameo appearance (Episode 150)
2008	Woman of Matchless Beauty	Himself	MBC	Cameo appearance (Episodes 7 & 8)
	Music Bank	Co-host	KBS2	Alongside Kim Sung-eun and Min Seo-hyun
2009	Mnet Director's Cut	Himself	Mnet	Television movie
	Come To Play	Himself	MBC	Ep 262 - Movement Special
2010	Happy Birthday	Himself	KBS2	Series regular
2013	The Return of Superman	Himself	KBS	Series Regular
2014	Show Me the Money 3	Himself	Mnet	Producer/Judge
2015	Show Me the Money 4	Himself	Mnet	Producer/Judge

Music videos

Year	Music video	Length	Album
2011	Bad (나쁘다)	4:07	Fever's End: Part 1 (열꽃)
	Tomorrow (Feat. Taeyang)	4:14	Fever's End: Part 2 (열꽃)

Awards

Year	Award-Giving Body	Category	Work	Result
2011	Mnet Asian Music Awards	Best Rap Performance[53]	"Bad"	Nominated

References

1. http://book.naver.com/bookdb/book_detail.php?bid=5348341 Naver Book Review
2. "Tablo interview on music" (in Korean). 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
3. "Tablo's Dreaming Radio" (in Korean). Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
4. "Tablo is replacing HaHa". Allkpop. 2008-02-14. Archived from the original on 2008-05-31. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
5. "interview" (in Indonesian). cnnindonesia.com. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
6. "Tablo biography & interview" (in Korean). YonhapNews.co.kr. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
7. "Tablo's homepage" (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
8. Lah, Jung (May 24, 2002). "Straight Outta...Seoul?". The Stanford Daily. Archived from the original on May 19, 2008.
9. Abbott, Kate (September 27, 2010). "Korean pop star battles attacks on Stanford record". The Stanford Daily.
10. Davis, Joshua (July–August 2011). "The Persecution of Daniel Lee". Stanford Magazine. Stanford University.
11. "interview on degrees" (in Korean). 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
12. "Tablo on YSMM". YouTube. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
13. "interview" (in Korean). Hankooki.com. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
14. "Epik High: Albums". Map the Soul, Inc. October 5, 2005. Archived from the original on August 5, 2009.
15. "Epik High to expand into Japan with sample CD". Arirang TV. March 12, 2007. Archived from the original on May 13, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
16. "2007 total sales" (in Korean). eDaily. January 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-02-03.
17. "Epik High Soars to New Heights". The Korea Times. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
18. Hip-hop star leaps into short fiction to express his art. Retrieved on 2009-04-13
19. http://www.libro.co.kr/Product/BookDetail.libro?goods_id=0100008184662#review Libro Book Review
20. "Epik High - Hon: Map the Soul". KoME U.S.A. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
21. ease Date: September 16, 2009, from http://nuel92.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/album-epik-high-e-hip-hip-released-september-16-2009/
22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-04. Retrieved 2008-04-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
23. "YESASIA: Epik High Special Album - Epilogue CD - Epik High, Mnet Media - Korean Music - Free Shipping - North America Site". Retrieved 11 March 2015.
24. Melo. "인터뷰". Retrieved 11 March 2015.
25. Netizens file injunction against Tablo program 09-29, 2010 The Korea Herald
26. "Prosecution looks into Tablo allegations". The Korea Herald. 2010-08-27.
27. Transcript 2<Joongangdaily>
28. Transcript 1<Joonganddaily>
29. Davis, Joshua (April 24, 2012). "The Stalking of Korean Hip Hop Star Daniel Lee". Wired. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
30. "Tablo explains 'Born Hater' was not meant to criticize former label, Woollim Entertainment". Allkpop. October 30, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
31. "[Ÿ] Ÿο 䱸մϴ(ι°)". Retrieved 11 March 2015.
32. "Tablo Signs With YG For November Comeback". HanCinema. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
33. "Epik High's Tablo Joins YG Family". Asia Pacific Arts. 2011-09-28.
34. "Tablo reveals "Airbag" ft/ Naul". Retrieved 11 March 2015.
35. "Tablo releases Part 1 of "Fever's End" album". Retrieved 11 March 2015.
36. "Epik High to return this September". allkpop. 2012-07-25.
37. "Tablo to Babysit Haru on 'Superman is Back'". Retrieved 11 March 2015.
38. "Tablo to return as radio DJ". The Korea Times. 2014-04-15.
39. "Korea-China collaboration: TABLO works with top artist Bibi Zhou". YG LIFE. 2014-04-10.
40. Kuang, Robert. "YG Entertainment Delays Epik High's 'Born Hater' Music Video Release Due To Pangyo Techno Valley Festival Tragedy". KpopStarz. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
41. James, Lily. "YG Entertainment Launches Promotions For New K-Pop Group iKON Following The Success Of Reality TV Survival Band WINNER". KpopStarz. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
42. Lifson, Samantha Marie. "Tablo And Joey Bada$$ Announce Upcoming Collaboration 'Hood'". KpopStarz.
43. Bilian (2017-01-27). "Hype's Now Playing: Gallant x Tablo x Eric Nam – Cave Me In". Hype Malaysia. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
44. "Tablo and Kang Hye Jung release wedding photos". Allkpop. October 26, 2009. Archived from the original on January 2, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
45. "Tablo and Kang Hye Jung become parents of a baby daughter". Allkpop. May 2, 2010. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
46. "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
47. Cho, Jae-hyon (2009-11-24). "Tablo's Brother Under Fire". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
48. "에픽하이 타블로 | Tablo of Epik High on Instagram: "The King of Not Saying That I Will"". Instagram. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
49. "Tablo releases the first 3 episodes of 'The Tablo Podcast'". Epik High Facebook. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
50. "Dive Studios is trying to turn K-Pop fans into podcast listeners by grabbing their attention on social media". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2019-12-02.
51. "The Tablo Podcast – DIVE Studios". Retrieved 2019-10-19.
52. "Tablo brings this era of the podcast to a close". September 4, 2020.
53. "2011Mnet Asian Music Awards part 1". MAMA. Retrieved 2015-01-20.

External links

• Epik High's Official Site (in Korean)