They say everyone has three chances in their lives. Those who succeed don't let go of their opportunity. If you endure the difficulties, you will get your opportunity. Of course, much effort is required to capture that opportunity, and the opportunity doesn't necessarily promise you success.
Even Gary of LeeSsang, the leading rapper in the Korean Hip Hop scene, had a couple of chances. What made those chances into his was Gary's sweat and determination. For the best, he was harsh on himself during times of difficulty, and the rewards were sweet. The success story of Gary became written as such. During his eight album, he never knew failure. Critics say he contributed the most in popularizing the hip hop genre. He became a popular star in both the SBS reality program "Running Man".
GARY’S FIRST OPPORTUNITY: BECAME A MEMBER OF HONEY FAMILY
Q: When did you first think of doing music?
A: I liked to dance when I was
young. I was the Firetruck and Park Namjung generation. [they're both popular artists
from the 90's] During school festivals, my friends and I used to argue who is
going to be Kim Taehyung, and who is going to be Jung Won-gwan. During middle
school, 'Seo Taeji and Boys' and 'Deux' were the “thing”. Whenever there were
festivals in neighboring schools, I would dance on stage.
Q: You entered Yong In University, with a major in body guarding?
A: I liked to dance, but I didn't
think of making a living off of it. I vaguely felt the need to attend college,
so I prepared with my friend to apply to a college of physical education. After
much difficulty, I ended up being admitted, but it didn't fit me that well.
After school, I would be busy dancing in the Rock Cafe in Sincheon.
Q: When did you decide to rap?
A: Starting from 21st century, hip
hop dances became popular. I became interested after watching this music video
of a hip hop group, Wu-Tang Clan. We formed a dancing team too, but I wasn't
that good so we all separated. I blamed myself a lot for it. I had a dream, but
couldn't do anything. Even when I tried contacting them to form a team again,
no one would do it. My ego was hurt. I thought that rap was more important than
dancing to do music, so I worked part time and earned some money. That was my
freshmen year in college; I served in the Chunho Dong Reggae bar. I worked just
one month and earned $400. I rushed to buy a CD player and some foreign CD's. I
listened and practiced till death. Then in 1997, I met X-Teen and became
friends - I even participated in an album. I also participated with the leader
in the '1999 Korea' as well. That was when I met Myung Ho hyung from Honey
Family. He was a legend.
Q: That was about when you first met Gil, right?
A: He was an honorary member of
X-Teen in 1997. Our first impressions of each other weren't good. The image of rappers
are all very 'strong.' They all said to 'not play with the Hip Hop guys.' We
were both honorary members of X-Teen, so we had something in common. That's
when we first thought of doing music together. Once, we fought big time and
didn't see each other for a while. Then Gil called me early on a morning, and
asked if I could come to a fishing place. I went, and DJ DOC's Lee Ha-neul
hyung was there. He resolved everything for us, fortunately.
Q: Honey Family didn't last for long?
A: We had hit songs like 'Rap-gyo'
(translation: Rap religion) and '우리 같이 해요' (Let's together). Then, our concerts
had around 300 fans. But we were all young. Because we were successful, we were
arrogant. We should've polished our rapping more but we were careless. As a
result, our second album was below expectations and we separated. It was the
second hardship in my 23rd year of life. My third strike came when I got
expelled from school. After the school's notice, I was on the bus back from
Yong-In on a sunny winter day, and I felt like it was all over. I think I cried
a bit too.
Q: You fell into despair once more
A: I developed a fear of people. I
wondered about, worrying how to live. I even thought to learn predatory
lending. But then one day, I read a book about success. I read, underlining
jobs with good prospects and their monthly payments. It also said that income
from music copyrights lasts 50 years after death. If I worked hard writing
lyrics, there would be no reason to quit music. So first, I bought a small
notebook, and went to a local PC cafe. I researched all of Korean Hip Hop
albums. I searched for music, and even analyzed the lyrics. Thinking back now,
I'm really proud of myself. I would spend 3 hours every day analyzing the pros
and cons of each team. The teams would be Drunken Tiger, CB Mass, Joo Suk, and
Cho PD. For example, Drunken Tiger's lyrics has American elements. In CB Mass,
Gaeko and Choiza rapped really well. They also had a nice Korean feel.
Q: How did you develop LeeSsang's style?
A: I saw an interview of a member
of the Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah after singing "All that I got is
you". It's a very soft and sad song, and she said that when the song was
released, the African American population related to the song and cried along.
In the end, I thought that my soon-to-be lyrics will have that kind of
direction as well. I thought to write about the truth without sugarcoating
about the stuff I feel while living in Korea.
Q: LeeSsang was about to take place.
A: That was when it was first
mentioned to form a team with Gil. My nickname during middle school was 'dog,'
because my eyes looked ripped and looked like a Jindo-dog or whatever. When
forming my nickname, I just added 'lee' on my middle school nickname, dog
[pronounced 'gae' in Korean]. We were wondering what to make our team name, but
then we just decided Lee-Ssang, cuz there was two 'Lee's. (Ssang in Korean
means double - so LeeSsang means double-Lee]) I ran from home, and dug music alone,
with the $2000 that I earned giving rap lessons to idols. To hang on for a full
year with just $2000 required me to make 3 portions of kimchi fried rice every
morning, then put in it in the freezer (if it was summer) and ate it for lunch
and dinner. I never stepped outside of my house. Listening to music, writing
lyrics and rapping was everything. I had lots of Lee Oisoo's books (very famous
Korean novelist). I even told my best friends not to contact me.
Q: The success of your 1st album 'Rush' owed a lot to Jung In.
A: I was introduced to her by a
noona who did music. On recording day, she came in dragging her slippers along.
I gave her the lyrics, and I lay down on the sofa when I heard her voice. She
sang the chorus "Oh ma my~ mind," and I sat upright immediately. I
exclaimed, "What is that girl?!"
Q: 1st Album was a huge success.
A: The album cost us about $100k.
But we met a good CEO, and he took care of it. He also paid us $15k for forming
the contract. During our first concert, the female fans seemed to have no
interest in us at all, and I was mad. I was pretty rebellious back then too, so
it must've shown on my face. The producer of the show complained big time to
our CEO about how I can't do that. After the performance, I remember talking
with Gil with a cigarette in each of our mouths, saying how the performance was
a failure. But we still performed according to schedule. But something magical
happened. On our third week, after we sang "All the past days are behind
us", the girls would shout back "BEHIND US", and when we sang
"towards the upcoming days, do a Hi-Lo", they would shout back again
"HI-LO". I remember we placed about 10th in the TV program. To give a
sense of how successful we were, we were the only Hip Hop artist invited to
perform in the opening of the comeback concerts of Seo Taiji and Boys. [An
enormously popular artist in the 90's] In comparison, a newly employed
businessman would earn about $15k a year back then, and I think we earned more
than that through the first album.
Q: Second album and on must have been smooth.
A: Although the first went well, if
the second failed, we knew that there wasn't going to be a third. Even then, I
disconnected the phone for a year to concentrate. Then I met someone who really
caught my eyes during a Christmas concert in a ski resort. but I told her that
I was working on music, so if we still want each other when the flowers bloom,
let's meet then. We exchanged email addresses, and we contacted each other but
I made up all kinds of excuses not to go see her. Sometimes, I even told her that
my toenails were pulled out and that I couldn't walk. But we did actually end
up meeting after the flowers bloomed. Back during the first album, I couldn't
write love songs. I had a sort of rebellious thought that "I don't even
have time to take a shower, but you guys sure have a really easy life".
But the title song of our second album, 'LeeSsang Blues,' is a love song.
During that time, Gil had a girlfriend as well. When I was writing lyrics for
LeeSsang Blues, laying down, my girlfriend would come proofread. We were
together for 6 years, and I received lots of help too. The second album ended
up well too, and we had about $30k in the bank account. I bought a Sorento with
that money, and I felt as if I could touch the sky.
Q: Was there any crisis for LeeSsang?
A: Yes, during the 4th Album during
'I'm not laughing'. We had over 60 events just in October. We would earn $50k
in just a month - we were jealous of nobody. Income from music rights came in
about $10k a month as well. So we became lax. After the song “Ballerino” became
a hit too, we became even more lax. Satisfied, we just tried to get the message
across in our songs, not really doing much. Then about 2 years ago, I realized
that if we continued this way, we would slowly die away in the music scene. So
we moved the studio to here, Hapjeong-dong. I want to re-feel the excitement
back in my earlier days, so besides the weekends, during when I film Running
Man, I lock myself in the studio for 12 hours a day, then go home during early
dawn. I have a ‘1 year rule’. Whatever it is, if I do something crazily for one
year, my own style is made, and that style remains for about 10 years. For me
to think 10 years ahead, I think I need about a year to be crazy for music.
Q: After you joined Running Man in 2010…
A: I struggled a lot in the
beginning. On the first day of shooting, I saw 10 cameras on scene and I went
crazy. Whatever I did, I was awkward. I spent almost every night in HaHa’s
house. He was in his bed, and I lay on the floor, and discussed kind of stupid
matters for 2 to 3 hours. I would say, “I think I’m only causing harm to the
program.” and he would reply rather optimistically, “as long as you establish
your character, from then on Jaesuk hyung will do the rest.” But Jaesuk hyung
actually did help me. From Monday Couple to Peaceful Gary, those were all made
my Yoo Jaesuk.
Q: You must have received a lot of help from Yoo Jaesuk.
A: He knows me really well. I can’t
force fake reactions, or fake laughing. I have moments where I zone off. Every
part of me like that, he knows and takes care of. He’s a human too, so he must
be tired and sleepy. But whenever I look tired, he sometimes takes the wheel
instead. He’s very kind to everyone. If the program [Running Man] doesn’t do
well, THAT would be strange.
Q: Until when are you planning to do Running Man?
A: There was a big happening during
the middle, right? [Gary mentioned that he might not be in Running Man anymore]
I’m going to take responsibility for that, and work hard until the program
disappears. Doing reality TV programs regularly is sometimes kinda hard.
Whenever I work on my music, I have the ‘feel’ to produce good songs, but then
because of the shooting the day after, sometimes I have to choose sleep. But
whenever I think of my fans, they give me energy. Once, we went to Shanghai
with the Running Man team, and there were tons of fans waiting outside the
hotel. I remember Sukjin hyung saying to me jokingly, “When else would we have
this kind of experience? They [the fans] probably don’t know that we live in
puny little apartments; they probably think we’re super rich. So we need to
work even harder.”
Q: As a member of Running Man, isn’t it uncomfortable to write and sing
suggestive lyrics?
A: It was in the beginning. My
lyrics sort of stopped. That was why in my solo album, especially in “Shower
later,” there were so many swear words and suggestive lyrics. I wanted to erase
the line of restriction that I set for myself. Of course, there were
complaints. One parent called the company, and argued, “That guy is in a TV
program that kids watch! He can’t sing songs like that; take down the music
video right now!” But then not all parents are like that. Once, an elementary
kid called me, “Gary oppa!” then started to sing lyrics of “Shower later”. I
was so shocked, and told the kid “you can’t listen to stuff like that”. But
then the mom beside her told me, “It’s okay. Kids these days know everything.”
Honestly, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to do music as freely anymore. But
after that incident, I feel more comfortable.
Provided by LeeSsang Company, Interview in 2014
[Translated by: daechungpower / daechungpower@gmail.com]
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