Arirang 'Catch the Wave' Special Interview with MFBTY

Tasha & TigerJK for SURE magazine

They look like a couple, but they are happily married. They are Tiger JK & Yoon Mi Rae.

Their lovely couple photoshoot by fashion magazine, "Sure" was released today on 22nd.

Sure affiliate stated that Tiger JK and Yoon Mi Rae, whom have been together for 9 years, showed lovely chemistry and their undying love for each other during the entire photoshoot session with their free spirit and passion.

Tiger JK & Yoon Mi Rae said that, “We feel as though we are still going out on dates. Even though we are married, we have never pushed any responsibilities or actions to one another. Our strong relationship remains the same”.

Yoon Mi Rae said the following: "Love is simple. People tend to overly complicate it. But it really is simple. We love as we live.”

Tiger JK added, "As soon as you put conditions on it, it isn't love no more."

Yoon Mi Rae continued, "Even if I didn’t meet Tiger JK, I would still be doing music but I would not be anywhere near as happy doing it." This showed Yoon Mi Rae’s undying love to her husband.

TVReport
Translated by: JSK (DrunkenTigerINTL)

Yoon Mi-Rae is K-Hip-Hop’s Diamond in the Rough

Words by Adrienne Stanley

Yoon Mi-Rae exploded onto the Korean hip-hop scene in the early millennium with hard-hitting rhymes. As a fierce emcee and compelling vocalist, Yoon Mi-Rae is an anomaly in South Korea — a nation once referred to as the hermit kingdom. Born in the United States as Natasha Shanta Reid to a Korean mother and an African-American father, she is one of the few interracial artists in Korea’s entertainment industry. She attributes her early success to a love of music that was fostered by her father: “My dad was in the army but as a side job, he was really into music, and he used to DJ. He just loved every genre like jazz, hip-hop, R&B, everything,” she tells us over the phone on Christmas Eve.

Before finding international fame as an acclaimed emcee, 1995 was the year Yoon Mi-Rae made entry into the music world. She tagged along with a friend on an audition that was seeking members for a Korean hip-hop group. After a World Records representative heard her sing, Yoon Mi-Rae was eventually signed to the rap group, Uptown. Two years later, the sixteen-year-old vocalist made her first debut with the band; Korea was just opening up to the concept of hip-hop. Uptown delivered a combination of American-influenced hip-hop and pop to Korean audiences. With a flow evoking Queen Latifah, Yoon Mi-Rae became a standout of the group, whose original lineup disbanded in 2000.

Thereafter, Yoon Mi-Rae made her solo debut in 2001 as T and embraced the persona of a hard-hitting emcee. Her 2002 album Gemini contained a mix of smooth R&B tracks including “Concrete Jungle,” which juxtaposed the fast flow of her rhymes against her rich, velvety vocals. In 2007, she released a single called “Black Happiness” that illustrated the harsh realities she faced as an interracial vocalist in South Korea. Like her lyrics resonate, Yoon Mi Rae considers her music to be a reflection of her unique, ethnic background, avowing, “Aside from the language barrier, music is music. People would tell me, ‘you’re just trying to be American,’ or ‘you’re just trying to be Korean.’ I never really gave it that much thought, I just wanted to make music.”

A couple of years back, she was recognized by MTV Iggy’s Beverly Bryan as one of The 12 Best New Female Emcees Dominating Mics Everywhere. Feeling smitten by her inclusion, she says, “Words cannot describe how I felt about that recognition.” When asked about the lack of established female Korean rappers who are not part of idol groups, she points out, “It’s not like we [female emcees] are non-existent. It’s just that most of the female rappers don’t receive airplay.” Part of the reasons why she stood out from the bunch was because at that time she was considered a musical and racial anomaly; she also didn’t receive much airplay at first.

More on MTV Iggy

MFBTY on Showbiz Korea