Epik High Used to Get Paid Roughly 1200 Won per Member for a Performance

Epik High (Tukutz, Tablo, and Mithra Jin), appeared as guests on the December 10 broadcast of tvN’s variety show “Taxi.”

The hip-hop group opened up about their struggles early on in their career when they were still trying to make it in the business. They revealed that Mithra Jin and Tablo shared a one-room together the size of a minivan, while Tukutz could not move in because he did not have enough money to pay for transportation. They shared that even 10,000 won (approximately $9 USD) was more than any of them could spare at the time.

When the MCs asked how the group made ends meet, Tukutz replied, “We did gigs at clubs. There was one club that we performed at twice a week for a month. At the end of the month, the owner called us over and handed us an envelope. We opened it to find 30,000 won (approximately 27 dollars). We wondered if we were being pranked.”

MC Oh Man Suk exclaimed, “That’s only about 1,200 won (roughly $1 USD)  per member for each performance!” Tablo chimed in, “We were angry for a bit, but we were so hungry that we just took the money and went to grab a bite to eat.”