YG Producer Choice37 talks music and how he got into YG

Source - Rhythmer Interview with the Best Producer of the Year in 2013 April

The first time Choice 37 was introduced in Korea was as a member of US underground rap group Longevity Crew. As a favor for the company that released their album in 2005, Rhythmer even wrote about the group and their album, but it’s true that there was little reaction from the public and Longevity Crew was forgotten. However, one day, Choice 37, the group’s front man, appeared on the music scene as a producer for none other but leading label YG Entertainment. Besides, his musical style had completely changed. It wasn’t a compromise for money, it was just him expressing the sensitivity for various musical genres he always had. As his style blended with the YG talented members, he began to create outstanding results. G-Dragon’s “One of a Kind”, BIGBANG’s “Bad Boy”, Lee Hi’s “1,2,3,4”, the tracks we heard from him weren’t many in 2012, but each one of them was a big hit, that’s why Rhythmer gave Choice 37 the “Producer of the Year” award for the “Third Rhythmer Awards”. Here’s the music history and personal story he had never once officially shared until now.

Rhythmer: How are you? It’s nice to meet you to give you this award and have the chance to do this interview.

Choice37: I’m glad too.

R: We’ll start with your name and go deeper from there. “Choice37” is pronounced “seri seven”, right?

The original pronunciation was “seri seven”, but my friends usually called me “sorry seven”, so now it’s just “sorry seven”. (laugh)

R: So it’s like that. (laugh) When was the first time you fell for hip-hop?

MC Hammer’s “Feel My Power” album was the first time I listened to hip-hop. At that time, I thought “ah, there’s also this kind of music”. What made me fall for hip-hop was listening to West Coast gangsta rap. I was born in Los Angeles, so listening to N.W.A was natural, I was surprised the first time I listened to it. There was swearing and I just felt this strong vibe. Originally, I was a big fan of Michael Jackson and Prince. When I was a kid, I met Michael Jackson in Las Vegas and I even got to shake his hand. (laugh)

R: Oh, I’m jealous of you. (laugh)

Anyway, it was around the time I was in 5th grade that I started listening to hip-hop on a regular basis. I bought a lot of tapes. The first CD I was offered was “Dead Serious” by Das EFX. The second CD was “The Low End Theory” by A Tribe Called Quest. At that time, the West Coast gangsta rap was played a lot on TV and I especially enjoyed MTV.

R: You were a MTV kid.

I was indeed. I watched it almost every day. Through MTV, I was able to listen to every genre of music. And I love underground gansta rap, so I listened to musicians like South Central Cartel as well. I remember also listening to Nas thanks to BET.

R: Wow… South Central Cartel is a true legend of the gangsta rap underground scene. Your music taste shows so much diversity.

Because I had been listening to hip-hop since 1991.

R: You were born and raised in LA, so you got to experience the LA riots directly, how was that time like?

Ah, I wasn’t living in Korea Town, so it was hard for me to have a good grasp of what was going on, but my father was directly affected. He was running a car repair shop and some Black people set the shop on fire and destroyed it.

R: That was pretty brutal.

Yes, quite…

R: So you started hip-hop actively with Longevity Crew?

Before I graduated from high school, I used to go the house of a guy I know to hang out with 1TYM’s Danny and Teddy. I started writing rhymes then and decided I am going to live my life while making music.

R: You were close with Danny and Teddy since high school?

We’d eat lunch together and hang out everyday . Teddy used to be the first person I let listen to the CDs I bought. We shared music and talked a lot. I became close with Danny first because I was transferred to the high school he was attending. After that, Teddy came from New York and came to our school and we got closed.

R: How did you feel when you saw Danny and Teddy debuting in Korea as 1TYM?

It was incredible. I was a fan of Seo Teiji and Deux. When I was in L.A, I used to rent videos everyday and watch the music programs. I knew Danny and Teddy were featured on one track in Jinusean’s “The Real” album. I saw the music video. The song was “What U Wanna Do” and I was so shocked when I watched the music video. I couldn’t believe that my friends I had been close with were on TV.

R: When your friends left for Korea to debut as 1TYM, you didn’t think about going with them?

I had no thought about becoming a singer. My parents would have been against it. Besides, it’s not like I’m good-looking. I’m just a nerd who loves music. (all laugh)

R: Why would you say that….

(Laugh) Teddy had always been popular. When he was in L.A, he enjoyed wearing only t-shirts with jeans all the time. He wore Timbaland boots with Phat Farm items in true New York fashion. Danny was also very popular. He was a tough guy.

R: The music you make today is very different from what you did with Longevity Crew. Your music changed with YG, how did you become a part of YG?

In 2008. After I joined Longevity Crew, I kept working underground. We even worked with a Japanese record company for a while on a compilation album. Longevity Crew’s album was released through a company called “Untapped Sound”. It was a company created by two friends of mine. They invested money and also received other investments for the album to be released, but the friend who was our rapper in Longevity Crew met a girl and he started neglecting music, so I had no other choice but to release a solo album and worked on the Untapped Sound’s compilation too. But I really felt like I couldn’t see any future. In Japan, they wanted jazzy hip-hop so I felt pressured to stay confined a fixed style.

R: Jazzy hip-hop seems strong in Japan.

Honestly, I don’t know about how things are today, but times are changing and music keeps changing, so I was telling myself that I couldn’t keep making this sound and I kept praying to God. I had been living in L.A for a long time, but I needed change. I was 28 at that time and thought I couldn’t live like this and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. But since I had work in Japan, while I was there, I visited Korea and thought this was where I should live. At that time, 1TYM had already debuted and Teddy was busy, so we weren’t in touch. While staying at my aunt’s house in Korea with no plan whatsoever, I emailed Teddy. “I’m in Korea, I miss you/I want to see you”. And he replied and asked me if I was still making music and to send him some of my stuff. It turned out that this song ended up in G-Dragon’s first solo album. It was “Butterfly”. This gave me the opportunity to meet Hyun Suk-hyung (YG founder) again in YG. I’ve been with YG since December 2008.

R: “meet again”, you had met Yang Hyun Suk before then?

I had met him before Danny and Teddy joined 1TYM and at the second meeting in L.A. Then, I came to Korea in 2001 with some beats I had worked on. Hyun Suk-hyung had told me to try to work with Masta Wu, but it didn’t lead to anything, so I went back to the US.

R: In a way, you could have been in YG sooner.

Indeed. (laugh)

R: You worked with Lee Hyun Do before?

I was featured on the track “Accorade (of hiphop)” on Hyun Do-hyung’s second album. At that time, my stage name was Prolix. That was my first rap recording, but I was rapping like an amateur so it’s embarrassing. Back then , I used difficult words like Canibus. So I feel more ashamed. (laugh)

R: When you received the ‘Rhythmer Award’, you mentioned that you and G-Dragon worked well and were comfortable, right? I'd like to hear more...

First of all, G-Dragon is very free and definitely creative. So he’s easy to work with. I tend to catch ideas and concepts quickly. To make a good song, you need to have a concept, not just 16 bars filled with rap, and G-Dragon excels at that.

R: How did “One of a Kind” come about?

The company has a monthly ‘beat meeting’ where all the producers gather in the studio to listen to beats. At that time, I made a beat, played it to Teddy, and brought it to the beat meeting. When the boss heard the song, he said, ‘Ah, give this to Jiyong.’ As for that song, the boss himself told me to give it to Jiyong. In the company, the boss tends to listen to all the music and decide for himself.

R: I wonder what YG thinks of your music. He must be giving you some feedback.

Well… I don’t know. After I finished work for “A Boy” and “Butterfly” on GD’s first album, I entered YG in earnest to produce other tracks. While doing so, my music felt forced. I put too much energy into the songs and they were too pop. So the boss kept rejecting the songs. One day, the boss and Teddy told me that they hoped that I’d feel comfortable to make music freely and think less about trying to make hits. I was under the impression that the boss only wanted hit songs and pop melodies were what he wanted, but it wasn’t the case.

R: You must have been somehow obsessed with making hit songs.

Exactly. When you make songs, you must be sincere in the music you make. While listening to my songs, the boss and Teddy could feel my obsession. They are both very intuitive.

R: So right now, the one with the highest rank among the YG producers is Teddy?

It’s clearly Teddy. Personally, I think he’s the best producer in Korea.

R: By any chance do you know about YG veteran producer Perry’s recent whereabouts?

I…. don’t really know either.

R: Is he still a part of YG?

Yes, that’s what I thought too. I also wonder where he is.

R: You worked on Lee Hi’s album, what kind of artist is she?

She has a very unique voice. She has a soulful voice, so it was easy to work with her.

R: Were all the songs given to Lee Hi Yang Hyun Suk’s decision?

He told me to work with Lydia Paek on songs like “1,2,3,4”.

R: It wasn’t a track you had already made on your own, you made it specially for Lee Hi?

I made this song with Lee Hi in mind.

R: How is your relationship with other YG artists?

I really like the atmosphere of YG, it’s like a sports hall. If you look in the hallway, there are Segways and various pop art pieces hanging there. Maybe that's why it's fun when we work together. The process of coming up with new ideas and concepts is fun. Youngbae and TOP are also full of passion musically. When I'm just hanging out in my studio, they come to ask me to listen to some music.

R: Who annoys you the most (to listen music)?

(Laughs) Youngbae visits us the most. I can feel that his love for music. Always full of energy. In particular, they have a different sense for music. We listen to Miguel and Frank Ocean together too.

R: You tend to interact a lot with the Bigbang members.

They are the closest and we get along well.

R: How about 2NE1?

2NE1 are good too. But 2NE1 is a project led by Teddy. The boss gave Teddy a job. Maybe because they are girls, they don't hang out too often in the studio. But Youngbae comes to play and uses the computer, and Jiyong comes in and out often, so we have a lot of conversations.

R: What kind of music do you usually listen to when you get together these days?

For hip-hop, I listen to A$ap Rocky and Kendrick Lamar too. For R&B, Miguel or Frank Ocean as I mentioned earlier. Not only them, I listen to many musicians.

R: The is a list of emerging new artists these days.

There are a lot of young-blooded artists coming out these days. Maybe because we are of similar age so I’m inspired by them.

R: Most of YG's music has captivated even pop fans and black music enthusiasts outside the idol fandom. I'm curious about what you think is the power of YG's music.

I think the quality is decent. More and more people are listening to music. Maybe that's why I think the quality of music is important to the boss. Honest music appeals more than flashy music on appearance. First of all, since both Jiyong and Youngbae do the music they want to honestly, I think it goes well. I don't work with the thought that I have to sell a lot of albums. Even babies can tell if it's real or not. Because anyone can tell whether the music contains sincerity or not.

R: There are endless debates in the Korean hip-hop scene, one of them is about sampling. I’d like to hear your philosophy about the use of sampling in hip-hop music.

I think it’s very important. When I was doing activities on the underground scene, I was influenced a lot by the DJs around me, especially by my friend The Earl. He produced the first two singles of our crew. He was a real beat digger. He had an amazing collection of vinyl discs, so when I went to his place, I felt like I was going to school. He made me listen to hip-hop albums with tracks using sampling and this helped me a lot. Whatever you choose to do, I really don’t think making loops is sampling on a musical point of view. The collections of musicians like Pete Rock or DJ Premiere are no joke. To be honest, my knowledge isn’t as deep, but I’m really amazed at those who can even use snare drums as sampling.

R: Have you been using sampling in your work lately?

These days, I use drums-oriented sampling. Drums are almost like chopping. When I came to YG, I cut down a lot on my use of sampling. It was kind of a lesson for me. Teddy is very good at using MIDI. Since I began sampling when I was underground, when I used a synthesizer, it was just for a moog or bass sound. But here, they did everything through MIDI. Using MIDI sometimes gives the sampling feeling or vibe. Anyway, I enjoy working with MIDI more now.

R: If you were to talk about the sound you will look for in the future.

I don’t want to stick to one specific genre. Of course, I want to make music people will enjoy. I learned many things when I came here, so I will not try to make songs to be hits. As I work, I intend to make music I can enjoy.

R: Is there something you’d like to say to finish this interview.

Coming to YG was a real blessing for me. I want to stay here while working with good people and supporting the artists with good music.

Choice 37's Top 5 albums of my life (unranked)

A Tribe Called Quest [The Low and Theory]

Dr. Dre [The Chronic]

Nas [It Was Written]

Wu-Tang Clan [Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)] 2pac [All Eyez on Me]

Reference