Tiger JK leaves Jungle Entertainment

For the fans who follow Tiger JK on Twitter, this may be news 22 hours too late. But for those of you who don't, this may be news that I can slap onto my blog to pass as new.

The title of this post is self explanatory - Tiger JK left Jungle Entertainment. Tracking back to his Twitter, he tweeted, "Leaving jungle Ent … free agent !!!" as a means of declaring his freedom from the label he's been under for so long.

Half of me is thinking, "It's finally time he's moved out of Jungle" and the other half is thinking, "So...is he going back to the underground scene?" 

Starting with the first half, I somehow saw this coming. I mean, look at Jungle Entertainment. The only thing that's still keeping them as a running contender is the fact that they have Leessang, in which they're just using Jungle as a safety net for when things go wrong with their actual label, Leessang Company. In other words, Jungle is dead weight trying to drag the "hip hop concept" across the dirt one last time for M.I.B before they realize that no one knows who they are.

Then I start thinking about the other half. Although Tiger JK has built credibility over the years as one of the first rappers from the first generation of Korean hip hop, times have definitely changed. Despite being a "super senior" into the game, the scene is filled with rappers in their 10s and 20s, the ones in their 30s having started in their early 20s. Hip hop has become a trend in our society where sticking your finger up under your nose while you rap with your snapback worn backwards is what makes you half the rapper that you are. The message, deliverance, image, and sound has changed overall and it makes me wonder how he'll step back foot into the scene, if he even will.

Or then I begin to think, will he continue to go mainstream? Then what will happen to MFBTY? And what about his wife Yoon Mirae, who's still under Jungle? Bizzy?

So many questions that won't be answered anytime soon since he tweeted soon after his declaration of independence that he has family stuff to work on, to which still makes me cock my head to the side a little considering he's barely done any form of music promotion (MFBTY barely even counts because no one knew he was back) for the last couple of years.


So...I guess congratulations to him for doing something with himself in lifting off the dead weight, but good luck to your unclear future?