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Rap-fueled takeover of Lotte World, Seoul

March 30, 2010 - 12:44 By
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Korean Hip-hop impresario Tiger JK of Drunken Tiger will lead The Movement crew in a rap-fueled takeover of Lotte World next month for a pair of concerts.
Joining him will be his wife and former Uptown member Yoon Mi-rae (Tasha) and the rap duo of LeeSsang at the Garden Stage on Dec. 19 and 20 in southern Seoul.
Titled "2009 Hip Hop in Lotte World-All Night Party" the trio`s management company JUNGLE Entertainment and Ozic Entertainment teamed up for the exclusive right to use Korea`s largest indoor theme park for the two shows.
According to the concert promoters, this will be the first time in Korean history that a theme park has been made available for a concert.
The pair of performances will get things rolling at 11:30 p.m on Saturday and go on until the early hours of Sunday morning at 5 a.m.
During the concerts, all rap heads and party people in need of a breather from bopping their heads to the tunes by some of the nation`s premiere hip-hop and R&B acts can also enjoy all of the rides in the Lotte Adventure Park.
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Fans of Drunken Tiger will be treated to seeing Tiger JK joined on stage with his wife, who will attempt to take their off-stage chemistry on stage.
The two tied the knot in 2007 and gave birth to their baby boy Jordan shortly after.
Both have been members of the Korean hip-hop collective called The Movement, which Tiger JK founded, which includes luminaries in the field of Korean hip-hop and R&B like "Godfather of soul" Bobby Kim, Eun Ji-won and Epik High.
The 35-year-old rap pioneer formed the collective as an act of rebellion towards a pop industry that was - in his view - becoming increasingly commercial.
Though he struggled to gain mainstream appeal when he first debuted in 1999, he hit it big the following year with "The Great Rebirth."
The album featured the immensely popular club banger "Good Life" which topped the charts and ushered in a new style of hip-hop in Korea.
Since then, Drunken Tiger has been able to consistently stay afloat on both the mainstream and underground radar - a feat not many artists have been able to pull off.
This year has also been a vanguard year for JK as his 8th studio album debuted at the top spot and moved nearly 100,000 copies.
The success of the album is all the more surprising as its tracks do not feature repetitive hooks, nor does it adhere to the current pop music trends.
The double album titled "Feel gHood Muzik, Feel Hood Muzik: The 8th Wonder" features DT`s trademark sound of aggressive beats that compliment the veteran rapper`s penchant for the dramatic.
As if not content with simply being the nation`s greatest MC, Tiger was the recent recipient of the Best Male Artist award at this year`s MNET Asian Music Awards beating out the likes of Rain, G-Dragon, Lee Seung-chul and MC Mong.
He`s also become something of a fashionista winning a host of fashion awards which included Best Dressed Male Award at the Style Icon Awards earlier this month.
According to JUNGLE Entertainment, "he`s been active in various fields like music, fashion, and advertising this year and we`re honored that (Tiger JK) has been embraced by everyone ... but more meaningful than that, however, he`s been able to inject some vitality in a declining rap industry even in the midst of a flood of idol groups currently saturating the music game."
(kws@heraldcorp.com)

By Song Woong-ki