YGE Chose Tablo and Psy Because They Are Singer-Songwriters

What do Tablo and Psy have in common? Both are respected artists in the Korean music industry. Both have experienced career highs and lows, and both have signed contracts with YG Entertainment.

In 2010, Psy made the unexpected move of signing with YG Entertainment to release his fourth album, his first in four years. During that time Psy had been embroiled in a military controversy that forced him to serve two rounds of army conscription. It was considered an unusual move on the part of both parties; Psy had already been in the industry for ten years and his style of music did not fit with what YG normally produced, while YG normally produced their own home-bred singers, not already-established singers. Many industry insiders saw this move by YG as a tactic to raise sales in order to join KOSDAQ, the Korean stock market.

Tablo has signed an exclusive four-year contract with YG and released his first official solo album, “Fever’s End.” This ended a two-year hiatus that Tablo took after an academic controversy that sparked around him.  The contract is also turning out to be advantageous to both, as Tablo’s new album has received a lot of critical claim and high worldwide sales.

In a November 15 interview with enews, YG Entertainment revealed why they chose to sign these established but controversy-embroiled singers. Representatives stated, “This is the first time in 15 years for us to make such move. The foremost reason why we signed Tablo and Psy is because they are singer-songwriters.”

It is well known that Tablo wrote many of his group, Epik High’s songs as well as for his solo album. Psy is also a prolific composer that famously wrote “Because You Are My Woman” sung by Lee Seung Gi, and his own song, “Champion.” Most recently he wrote, “I’m That Kind of Person” sung by DJ DOC.

YG Entertainment continued, “Both have experienced the lowest and highest points of their careers. YG, as a company that likes singer-songwriters, wanted to help produce these artists’ work.”

The company further stated, “Singer-songwriters need a system in which they can just concentrate on music. Tablo and Psy are both good musicians whose surroundings weren’t productive for them. They couldn’t solve that problem themselves so we contracted them so they could write their own music and bring happiness to a lot of people. An entertainment company needs to match the artist’s needs so we let Tablo and Psy decide how they wanted to promote their music. With Tablo, we also think that he can help produce future YG artists. So we want to not only support him as a singer but also as a producer.”

YG Entertainment’s current roster of artists include Se7en, Gummy, Big Bang, 2NE1, and Tablo. These artists will come together to perform at the “15^th Anniversary YG Family Concert” on December 3 and 4.