Tablo (Lee Sun-Woong [이선웅] a.k.a Supreme T) (born on July 22nd, 1980 in South Korea), also known as “Daniel Armand Lee” to American and Western audiences, is a Korean rapper in the group Epik High. Known not only for appearing in Korean variety shows and sitcoms such as MBC’s Nonstop5, Tablo is also noted for having attained both a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. Tablo claims to have 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-DMC 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 for 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 and now plans to release a solo album within the near future.
During early life, Lee suffered from bouts of depression, the origins of which are currently unknown. Through these times of hardship, hip hop music served as an outlet for him and after his interest sparked later in life, Lee decided to make hip hop the focus of his career. Tablo’s father was adamant that he not embark on such a course, fearing that his son would endure the same hardships that he had suffered in his own youth. Tensions arose in the family and as a result of this, Lee frequently tried to escape and leave home. Eventually, he accepted his father’s wishes and began to forget about music, ostensibly asking a friend to live out his own wishes to be making hip hop music. This same friend is said to have died of cancer sometime afterwards, thus serving as an impetus for Tablo to re-enter the music industry at the behest of his dying friend.
Currently, Tablo is gaining immense popularity working as part of the newest Samsung Anycall project “AnyBand” and performs “Talk, Play, Love” and “Promise You” (the two hit numbers of the album that the cellphone campaign released with the explosive popularity of the music video) with kpop/jpop stars Boa and Xiah Junsu of DBSK, as well as renowned Korean jazz pianist Jin Bora. “Talk, Play, Love” is said to have been written by him. |
