Daniel Armand Lee is best known as Tablo. He’s a lyricist, composer and record producer. He also founded the independent record label HIGHGRND which houses groups such as Hyukoh. But, without a shadow of a doubt, he is most well known as the founder of the hip-hop group Epik High.
Since the release of their debut album Map of the Human Soul in 2003, the group have become well known for their diverse lyrical content and innovative sound. Tablo cites his life-long passion for hip-hop as a large source of inspiration for him. In fact, his love for the genre was so strong that he would continue to work on his music despite his father heavily criticising Tablo’s career path. Tablo stated that his parents had forced him to attend Stanford University and were still attempting to get him to go to law school in America after the release of Epik High’s second album High Society.
But thankfully, the Korean-Canadian continued to pursue his chosen career path, and saw great success in it. Epik High have released ten full length albums as well as two Eps including the recently released Sleepless in _____. Unlike previous work, this record marks the group’s departure from YG Entertainment and the start of a contract with the American talent agency William Morris Endeavour. This change from Korea to America, from major record label to a less well known talent agency indicates a clear shift in his career and the direction in which he wishes to take his sound. While Tablo has one solo album under his belt with YG, it will be interesting to see if he follows it up and how it will alter to its predecessor.
