Drunken Tiger - 뿌리
Rating: 7.9
Label: Doremi Media Co.
Release Date: February 25, 2003
Relevant Links: Buy it here.
Life seems hard for Korean rappers. Between all the drinking, battles, and ladies discussed in the lyrics of tunes contained on this album, it’s amazing that Tiger J.K. and DJ Shine found the time to make this album at all.
While the themes may not be all that complex or deep, the flow and rhymes that Tiger J.K. and DJ Shine deliver them with are simply amazing. And the fact that they can go from busting serious rhymes to sound like the frontman to some band that could be performing at Ozzfest all while sampling a piece of classical music (”우리 그리고 너 하나”) is totally awesome.
The tunes might be solid, but this is clearly a hip-hop album. This is made abudantly clear by the inclusion of several completely pointless “skits.” Particularly cringe worth is the track in which the lads do their best “ching chong me chikee Chinee…” imitation. Classy…real classy.
But these few low points do very little to detract from the album as a whole. Tunes I particularly enjoyed include the song, “굽혀진 9자로,” which for some reason reminds me of any of those songs with a message off the M.C. Hammer album 2 Legit 2 Quit (”Brothers Hang On,” I’m looking in your general direction).
Other stand out tracks include “Fist of Fury,” which is awesome for a multitude of reasons, the most obvious of which is the title, and “엄지 손가락,” which has such a dopeass beat (this is a review of a rap album…I’m allowed to, neigh required to use such phrases) it would cause even the whitest fool to put his hands in the air and wave ‘em like he just don’t care…God knows I was.
In conclusion, with the exception of pointless skits, 뿌리 is a totally satisfying album from begining to end, the creation of which seems to be nearly impossible in the world of mainstream Korean hip-hop. Drunken Tiger prove not only to the listeners, but to all other “hip-hop” artists in Korea that Koreans can make a hip-hop album without needing to have crappy techno tunes, or love ballads, or back-up dancers to make it listenable.
The skits should be left off the damn album. I have some of their other CDs and while I still enjoy listening to the music those skits in between songs got old after a month or so of listening to the album. Since I bought my first Drunken Tiger album in 2000 it’s been old for quite some time now.
Comment by Joel — April 30, 2006 @ 13:48 pm
As one of my teachers used to say, the half-life of unused knowledge is about six months. Clearly your English is rotting away… it is “nay,” not “neigh.”
I hope you’re planning to honeymoon somewhere in the States.
Comment by Anonymous Coward — May 1, 2006 @ 2:36 am
Oh my God. Do you just troll blogs trying to point out people’s grammatical mistakes? Seriously, it’s a very off-putting trait. But then again, I guess we can’t all be as perfect as you.
Comment by Ailinn — May 2, 2006 @ 1:55 am
whut did you su-eh? My speling iz gud!
Comment by Wyatt — May 2, 2006 @ 11:51 am