Masta Wu expresses his true feeling about YG Yang Hyunsuk after 6 years of hiatus

Now: Masta Wu is an OG YG rapper who debuted in 2003, before Haruto was born. He’s childhood friend of Teddy and was recently credited in BABYMONSTER’s 2024 July release Forever. He’s currently with BANA (Beasts And Natives Alike), a label started by Kim Kihyun, former SM A&R and credited producer for newjeans’s debut album. 250 and Beenzino are signed to BANA .

2014-Dec-14 article

Master Wu capitalized on this momentum by releasing his first new song in six years, “Come Here,” earlier this month. Expectations soared with features from Dok2, a judge on "Show Me the Money 3," and Bobby, the program's winner.

When I recently met Master Wu at YG headquarters in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, he said, “I never stopped making music. I worked on tracks here every day. It's true that I’ve taken on more of a producer role in the company than as a singer. But I realized that just working hard doesn’t mean working effectively. The results of my work matter, and in the end, I was lazy.”

A year ago, he released three tracks, including "What's UP," for free on the online music distribution platform SoundCloud, but they didn't gain much attention. He explained, "I released those songs because they were stagnant. I don’t make very commercial music, and I didn’t want the songs to go to waste. That’s how I started working on music again.”

Regarding whether he felt any resentment toward YG CEO Yang Hyunsuk during his hiatus, he said, “After YMGA, CEO Yang told me that if I could handle making music, I should continue here. He called for album preparation as well. I kept working until good music came out and CEO Yang said, ‘This is it.’ I played him many tracks, but most were rejected. Haha.”

Despite this, he expressed his gratitude to CEO Yang for believing in his 1% chance of success. Yang had helped him when he had nowhere to go after coming to Korea from the U.S. as a rapper. “In 1999, I was about to leave Lee Hyun-do's mentorship and return to the U.S. but had no money. I asked Teddy from 1TYM, whom I was close to in the U.S., to lend me money for a one-way ticket. When I went to YG, CEO Yang bought me a round-trip ticket and told me to come back if I got the chance.”

Six months later, in 2000, he returned to Korea and joined YG as a trainee. However, his solo albums in 2003 and 2007 didn’t achieve satisfactory results. With YMGA, he only released one album, leaving him without a significant mark in over ten years since his debut.

He humbly attributed the public interest in “Come Here” to the popularity of Dok2 and Bobby. The song features a strong hip-hop beat with aggressive rap showcasing the macho images of the three rappers. The catchy chorus, “Come, come here if you have something to say to me, I’ll listen to anything,” sticks in your mind.

“This song also has an original version on SoundCloud. I thought it would be cooler for a hip-hop crew to shout ‘Come here’ together rather than just me. The features made the song match its concept. I also tried not to use too much English in the rap. I realized my past raps sounded like Korean-American raps. Haha.”

Reigniting his passion for rapping, he seemed to reflect on the past with a mix of regret and renewed enthusiasm. “I have many regrets in life, but I live with hope because I believe in myself. I’m grateful that I can still make music and perform on stage at my age. I’m excited about the future because I can still move forward and look up.”

He was pleased with the changed environment, where hip-hop has become a mainstream genre. “Hip-hop culture, including fashion codes, has expanded among young people now. It’s no longer a silent shout like in our days. I envy today’s musicians because they work in a much better environment. The market has grown, and the music has become international. Looking at iKON, with members B.I and Bobby, I’m curious and excited about the future.”

Despite this, he took pride in the musical nutrients from the 1990s that today’s juniors haven’t experienced. “The 1990s are called the ‘Golden Era’ of pop music. I grew up listening to American hip-hop like Snoop Dogg, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, Jay-Z, and Korean hip-hop like Seo Taiji and Boys, Deux. I have confidence because I learned from the music of legends active in the '90s.”

He added, “Hip-hop is music, but it also contains life and culture. For me, hip-hop was my pride and everything.” Living in Hapjeong-dong, where YG is located, for ten years, he remarked, “They say even mountains change in ten years. I’ve watched Hapjeong-dong develop, with rising land prices, more people, and changes in food culture. I think CEO Yang contributed to the development of Hongdae as well.”

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