#movement crew

This is the seventh in a series on producers, MCs, DJs and artists working in the Korean underground hip-hop scene. ― E...

What to be said about Deegie?

This interview was definitely way more laid back than my previous ones and felt more like a conversation rather than a back-and-forth Q&A. He is another first generation Korean hip-hop artist, granted one of the younger if not the youngest of the bunch, so it was fun to get more background into the scene and hear his personal story of how he started out and then became what he is.

With each interview I do with first generation guys here in Korea, the more respect I have for them. These guys not only started the movement in Korea, but pretty much taught themselves everything they know. Not only that, but 15 years later, they are still making music, doing shows and selling albums. And then taking the time to teach up-and-coming artists or help them out. Guys like Deegie, Artisan Beats, MC Meta, Naachal, Nuck, Jason Park and more all teach classes at the Korea Conservatory and are helping train the next generation of hip-hop artists and producers in Korea. All because there was no one there to teach them, so they want to give back. I think that’s pretty cool. Deegie spoke a lot about the crew culture in Korean hip-hop as well, and how they are tight knit and one of the reasons the hip-hop industry has grown the way it has and had the success its had. That if the music is good and lyrics are good, your crew will help build you up. He also talked a lot about the strong brothership among the crews – he’s personally a part of two, Master Plan crew and Movement crew.

But anyway, back to the interview…

Deegie definitely had stories to tell. He was a very angry rapper when he first started out at the age of 17, and is the first to admit that all he wanted was to just spit everything out that was on his mind. He said his first jazz hip-hop album in 2004 sounded great, until he started rapping. The music was "luxurious," but the lyrics were “trash,” and an onslaught of curse words, covering every topic under the sun from sex to alcohol and so on.

He said his first experience in producing and arranging was making suggestions to classmates on how to play electric guitar in high school. But what I found interesting was how he makes his personal albums. He’s been doing a jazz hip-hop series called “2 Jazzy for Hip-hop” since 2004. He said that he always goes abroad to record and make the albums (so far in Malaysia, Bali, Singapore and Europe), and uses a lot of foreign jazz artists, since they are more open to crossovers than Korean jazz artists. He records jams sessions, or improv sessions, then resamples the recordings until they are something completely different. He said he also plays piano which helps in writing. 

The first album was produced by him and features his rap and other featured artists. The second (2011), he didn't perform on at all and instead it is just songs he wrote and are either instrumental or feature other artists. I've listened to the second album, and it is definitely something different. I really enjoy it. He has found a way to marry jazz with a hip-hop beat that is smooth and just great to listen to. Which makes me really interested in another project he’s working on – classical music with a hip-hop beat.

This new album, the third in the series coming out on Oct. 4, will have him performing, though it marks a change in Deegie. He said that now that he’s older, he doesn’t just want to spit out words. He wants to communicate with listeners, which makes writing lyrics more difficult.

He said now that he’s professional and older, he’s not angry anymore or angry at anyone, which cuts out the diss tracks that helped garnered him the name “Insane Deegie.” And he would actually like at least one of his songs to play on TV, since none have been allowed on air so far due to their explicit nature. He said he’s done interviews, but they never play his music.

However, there will be one diss track on the new album as it probably wouldn't be a Deegie album without it. He didn't tell me who or what it was about, so I guess we’ll all just have to wait until next month and see. Granted, I’ll have to get someone to translate for me…

Drunken Tiger feat. Ann - Question