From pioneering indie artists to Korean music icons, hip-hop trio Epik High reflect on their latest album and 20 years in the industry.

Before there was BTS or BigBang, there was Epik High. Ask anyone who’s been listening to K-pop for more than a few years, and chances are they’d know Epik High because the pioneering Korean hip-hop trio has had a profound and far-reaching influence on Korean popular music. With K-pop icons such as BTS, Seventeen, and B.I citing them as an inspiration, Epik High is the musicians’ musicians. And on Monday, February 14, they released Epik High Is Here下 (Part 2), the second half of their latest two-part album—their tenth full-length album in their two-decade-long career.

“There was a lot that we wanted to say, and we felt like we couldn’t do that with just one album,” Epik High frontman Tablo tells Vanity Fair. “Also, we were in a situation where the whole world was under quarantine for the first part of this album, so we knew that it was gonna be a long-term period of difficulty for everyone.”

Released in January 2021, Epik High Is Here 上 (Part 1) was met with great acclaim, landing in the top 10 on U.S. iTunes and on Spotify’s Top 10 Album Debuts charts both in the U.S. and globally. Just over a year later, Epik High’s much-anticipated follow-up is their most personal and powerful work yet—a thoughtful retrospective on their 20-year journey recounted in 12 wide-ranging tracks. Epik High Is Here下 (Part 2) is a rich, eclectic mix of free-flowing rhymes and soaring melodies drawn from hip-hop, pop, indie rock, and other various genres, and it may just provide the emotional outlet we all need as we continue to deal with the ongoing pandemic.

“Who in 2022 is not feeling confused, angry, or lost? No one…. We wanted this album to be something that grows with people throughout this entire period of difficulty,” says Tablo.

Composed of Tablo, Mithra Jin, and DJ Tukutz, Epik High was formed in 2001 before hip-hop was widely mainstream in South Korea. The trio didn’t readily receive much recognition because their lyrics were deemed too complex and their sound too unlike the typical K-pop songs that dominated the airwaves at the time. But in 2005, they found mainstream success with their third album, Swan Songs, (originally meant to be their last), which featured the hit single “Fly.” Shortly after releasing “Fly,” they won the top spot on a popular Korean music show.

“It was rare to see a Korean hip-hop group on those shows, but it was nearly impossible to get number one,” Tablo explains. “We were up against [K-pop group] TVXQ…at the peak of their popularity, and everyone was telling us congratulations for trying, but we actually won…. That was a huge moment because it was also the moment that Korean hip-hop became recognized on national TV. I think that was the turning point.”

Today, the alternative hip-hop trio is widely credited with being one of the first acts to infuse hip-hop and rap into South Korea’s mainstream music. Since their inception, Epik High has worked with artists across genres, helping inspire subsequent crossovers and collaborations in the Korean music industry and introducing a variety of sounds into K-pop and Korean hip-hop. Although their penchant for combining rap and hip-hop with elements of pop, rock, and even classical was initially considered too niche and experimental, it’s partly thanks to their pioneering efforts that we’ve heard these disparate genres often woven into K-pop songs over the years.

“What’s amazing is that every artist that we’ve supposedly influenced takes it to another level,” says Tablo. “They will influence a bunch of other people that will take it even further. I would love it to be this domino effect.”

Known for constantly pushing the boundaries of Korean popular music, Epik High also consistently pens songs with socially conscious lyrics. Their willingness to tackle difficult and potentially controversial topics like greed and corruption, religion, and suicide resulted in censors in their home country banning some of their songs in the past. However, it’s this same fearless authenticity that has led them to become one of South Korea’s most successful music groups, both domestically and overseas. Back in 2009, when most Americans hadn’t even heard of K-pop or K-hip-hop, Epik High gave a sold-out U.S. tour.

They were also the first major Korean act to perform at Coachella in 2016 and have been invited once again to the renowned music festival—the only Korean group to hold that honor. Since the festival was canceled last year due to the pandemic, Epik High will be making their second Coachella appearance this year, right after completing their whirlwind 29-date North American tour. The trio’s enduring popularity stands as a strong testament to their extensive and loyal fan base across the U.S., Canada, and Asia.

Epik High has come a long way since their early days when they were paid “$10 bills in three thin envelopes,” as Tablo raps in “Prequel,” the second track in Epik High Is Here下 (Part 2). And over the last decade, the group has been paying it forward by opening doors for emerging Korean hip-hop artists like Woo and Code Kunst and inviting them to collaborate on albums—sometimes bringing these rising stars together with hip-hop veterans to produce explosive hits like “Born Hater,” which introduced B.I, Mino, and Bobby (who are all famous rappers in Korea) to a broader audience.

Epik High has even helped launch the careers of some of Korea’s leading indie rock artists. In 2015, as Tablo mentions, he and fellow bandmate DJ Tukutz helped create the YG Entertainment sublabel HIGHGRND to work with underground musicians. Some of the artists they signed include Hyukoh and the Black Skirts, now two of Korea’s most celebrated indie-rock acts.

In South Korea’s highly competitive music scene, it’s seemingly rare for a musical group to last more than a decade, much less two. Tablo credits Epik High’s unusual longevity to the members staying grounded and being hard on each other. “None of us can ever be yes-men to each other. We are constantly shitting on each other, and that’s when we’re working or playing,” he says. “That kind of thing, I think, keeps you on your toes, and keeps you grounded because it’s impossible for any of us to ever get cocky…. To have a long career, you gotta surround yourself with people that love you, that care about you, but are very, very cold-hearted when they give criticism, even though you know that they actually do care about you.”

While it might seem harsh, holding each other to a high standard has resulted in the hip-hop veterans producing 10 successful albums to date, most of which have topped the iTunes charts in South Korea, Canada, and the U.S. 

“We always make an album as if it were our last,” DJ Tukutz says in Korean. “You don’t know what will happen to this world or what’s going to happen to you tomorrow. So we always go into this [process] with the mentality that if this were the last album in our career, we wouldn’t be ashamed of it, and it would be a nice album to end our career on.”

The approach to their latest album was no different. It aims to capture Epik High’s individual and collective journeys over the past two decades, culminating in the final track “Champagne,” which harkens back to the group’s debut album Map of the Human Soul. “The message of Epik High Is Here is, [for us] to get here, it wasn’t a simple path. There were ups, and there were huge downs. But at the end of the album, we still toast to ourselves because we survived it. As long as I’m able to choose to wake up tomorrow, I think that’s something worth celebrating,” Tablo says.

Though very few Korean artists have enjoyed the lasting success like Epik High, the trio hopes that their tenth studio album will inspire other artists to continue making music. 

“I just want to be able to show people that it’s possible to just keep going,” Tablo says. “Of course, it’s not always going to be extravagant or amazing—you’re gonna have ups and downs. Sometimes you’re going to have 100,000 people in the audience, and sometimes you’ll only have 5,000. But the important thing is that you keep going, and miraculous, amazing things will keep happening.”

And keep going they will. While this album could very well be their last, it doesn’t mean Epik High is calling it quits. 

“I don’t think it’s an option for us to ever retire,” says Tablo. “You can only retire if this is your job, and 20 years into this, we can’t say this is a job anymore…. This is way more than a job. Epik High—this thing—has become life itself for us, and you don’t want to retire from life.”

This article originally appeared in Vanity Fair.