[Article] The Persecution of Daniel Lee

[nmskalmn]

Excerpts:

In Seoul, it was hard for Lee to walk down the street without being mobbed. To Koreans, he was known as Tablo, a chart-topping rapper who was also married to one of the country's most prominent movie stars. Until recently, he had been one of Korea's biggest celebrities. Now his career was in tatters, he'd parted ways with his record label, and his family was receiving death threats.

The reason? Hundreds of thousands of Koreans refused to believe that Lee, '02, MA '02, graduated from Stanford.

Lee formed a band with two other musicians. They called themselves Epik High and released their first album—Map of the Human Soul—in 2003. It begins with a swirl of harps and what sounds like a 1950s-era ballroom dance class: "We're now going to progress to some steps which are a bit more difficult," an instructor says in English. Then there's an explosion of lyrics, beats and a dense overlay of sounds.

It was infectious and Epik High went on to release seven albums during the next seven years—an astounding burst of productivity. Five of those albums reached No. 1 on the Korean charts and they scored six No. 1 singles. As if that weren't enough, Lee published a collection of short stories in both English and Korean in 2008. It sold 50,000 copies in its first week and became a bestseller in Korea.

Lee's music had such broad appeal that he began to attract fans outside of Korea. He launched a series of U.S. tours starting in 2006, playing Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. In March 2010, Epik High became the first Korean group to reach No. 1 on the iTunes U.S. hip-hop sales charts, topping Jay-Z, Kayne West and the Black Eyed Peas. Korean hip-hop had broken through.

Read it: The Persecution of Daniel Lee
An Internet smear campaign nearly destroyed the South Korean star, but he fought back with the only weapon he had: the truth.

[Corybobory]

Wow, that's fascinating. I can't believe how out of hand that got. I'm glad 20 of the harassers were prosecuted though.

I didn't know Tablo was Canadian! When I worked at a Korean English language school in Vancouver there was a project someone had done on Epik High on the wall - I remembered his picture and his name because I thought it was unusual

[emi♡]

O_O

Seriously. "What is going on in Korea?" This is horrible.

It's like something you can't even believe would actually happen...and yet, we all know it does all the time.

It's just, disgusting. I love the entertainment industry and showbiz so much, but when I look over there, and see these things happening, it's just sickening. They've taken something that, people look up to, and admire, and draw inspiration from, and turned it into something dark, horrible, and life shattering. Literally.

What is WRONG WITH THEM? It blows my mind.

[NintendoHTF1242]

WAIT. HOLD THE PHONES. People threatened his family because they thought he lied about graduating from a college? omg Korea, I can't even.

[AyUta]

That's just horrible . What is wrong with you people.

[Yum!Fruit_Salad!]

Get over and deal with him being smarter than you and getting into the school your dreams pressed antis.

[Yumsushi]

Everyone who participated in this witch hunt is a disgusting, despicable, deluded moron.
Poor, poor Tablo. Don't these lowlifes have anything better to do? These losers were so jealous of Tablo and his accomplishments that they were hellbent on destroying him. Whats even more disgusting is their holier than thou attitude, and the big honcho's refusal to be held accountable for his actions; defamation is certainly a crime. I hope Tablo can sue him in the US, however, the damage is done and regretfully, I think it will take Tablo a long time to overcome what it has done to his reputation and his life.

[thatstacey]

I can't believe the ringleader was a 50-something business man. Projecting much?

It's really awful that this sort of thing was allowed to go on for so long. I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been--especially with a new baby.

[Lady~Deviance]

wow...I'm sorry but I don't know If I can ever look at South Koreans the same way again after reading that long article. NEVER in my life have I been so dumbfounded and left with such a bitter taste in my mouth. I'm not saying all of South Korea is guilty of attacking him but I've never heard of such foolishness in my entire life. And here I thought living among my fellow Americans was a nightmare. Koreans take the cake on this one.

I still love and support Tablo and Epic High. I love their music.

[qwerty]

What did I expect from a nation where youth often inject growth hormones into their kneecaps and spend most of their time talking smack about celebrities? As a Korean myself, this kind of news makes me ashamed of my own race. I could go on and rant about what I don't like about my ethnic home country for hours, but there wouldn't be any point to that. Tablo didn't deserve all this, and I hope the people Tablo's suing get what's coming to them.

[Ranma Matsuri]

WHAT THE ACTUAL ****.

This is seriously the most disgusting and barbaric thing I've read... possibly ever. I know the K-netizens are crazy but this... god, it's things like this that just chips and chips and chips away at any faith I have in the human race. How can these fools live with themselves letting jealousy eat them so much that it would go this far?

I'm almost sure whatever punishment they get will be too good for them.