Epik High is an alternative hip-hop group based in Seoul, South Korea. The members are:

Tablo (타블로)
Mithra Jin (미쓰라 진)
DJ Tukutz (DJ 투컷)

The group is known for combining different styles of hip hop, along with different musical genres and collaborations on each album, while lyrically commenting on emotions and social issues. Their music has been dubbed as “urban poetry.” Their music follows a philosophy of “no genre, just music.”

Mithra and Tablo met through a mutual acquaintance, and were active participants in the Movement crew. While Mithra was pre-occupied with pursuing a solo career of his own, which began with his debut with the group K-Ryders (disbanded in 2002), after meeting Tablo, the two decided to join forces due to sharing the same creative vision. They then met DJ Tukutz, who was well known in South Korea and Japan for his success in deejaying at many raves and American radio shows. However, Tablo returned to the US to study English Literature and Creative Writing at Stanford, where he remained in contact with Mithra and Tukutz online to work on an album. It was Tablo’s involvement in the crew 4n Objects that attracted the eye of Korean Hip-Hop icons Tiger JK and CB Mass, who offered to help him release an album in South Korea. However, due to a scandal, their debut album was delayed.

They found a silver lining and signed to Woolim Entertainment in 2003, making their debut with Map Of The Human Soul in October of the same year. They went on to release their second album High Society, which did marginally better than its predecessor. As a whole, the albums were not very successful, with their sound being received as out of tune with the mainstream K-Pop of the time.

It was the release of their third album, Swan Songs, in 2005 that truly broke them into the mainstream soundscape, thanks to the hit song “Fly”, which topped charts and garnered them the award of Song Of The Year during the 2005 Melon Awards. Building on the momentum created by Swan Songs, the group cemented themselves as a force here to stay with the albums Remapping The Human Soul in 2007 and Pieces, Part One in 2008, despite the latter being heavily censored by the Ministry Of Culture and Tourism due to it containing discourse about social taboos. The albums featured the popular songs “Love Love Love” and “Fan.”

Following the success of these albums, Epik High broke away from Woolim Entertainment in early 2009 to form their own company, Map The Soul Inc. which housed artists such as DOK2. They began recieving mass attention, which embroiled Tablo in the infamous “TaeJinYo” scandal, in which South Korean netizens questioned the validity of Tablo’s academic credentials. This left a deep scar on not just Tablo, but the group as well, who took this time to take a two-year hiatus, with both Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz enlisting in the military. Tablo and Mithra released the album Epilogue during Tukutz’s enlistment and preceding Mithra’s.

In 2012, they made a comeback by signing with YG Entertainment, starting a new chapter for the group with the album 99, which spawned the popular song “Up” featuring 2NE1’s Park Bom. 2013, the year of their 10th anniversary, was celebrated by the song “420” while 2014 saw the release of their critically acclaimed album Shoebox, whose pre-release single, “Born Hater,” saw a star-studded feature list of rappers, giving it a cult status.

In 2016, following a performance in popular music festival South By Southwest (SXSW), Epik High became the first Korean act to perform at Coachella, making history. In 2017, they released their ninth album WE’VE DONE SOMETHING WONDERFUL, which served as their last album under YG Entertainment, whom they left in 2018. In February 2019, Epik High officially signed with U.S. talent agency, WME Entertainment, and was followed by the release of the fan-favourite second EP, sleepless in __________, which peaked at #6 on the Billboard US World Album Chart. In October 2020, they announced the release of their tenth album, Epik High Is Here, which was split into two parts released in 2021 and 2022 respectively. They also performed at Coachella 2022, making them the first Korean act to be re-invited to the festival thrice. Clearing up rumours of disbandment their third EP, Strawberry, was dropped in February 2023, marking their 20th year together, along with their All-Time High World Tour.