Repeats of the Week Special Edition - Epik High
- waekpop
- Oct 27, 2017
- 4 min read
When we gathered together to discuss our choices for Repeats of the Week, one of our writers sheepishly said, "I've literally only been listening to Epik High this week." After everyone chimed in to enthusiastically agree, we realized that left us in a bit of a pinch for this week.
So, rather than scrambling to find other songs, we decided to dedicate this week's RotW to all things Epik High! In honor of their newest album, We've Done Something Wonderful, here are our favorite tracks, both old and new, from the legendary group.
"Love Story"
When Epik High released We’ve Done Something Wonderful, one of their tracks, “Love Story” feat. IU, achieved an immediate all-kill on the charts. IU on her own is a force to be reckoned with, but paired with the trio of Epik High? Good luck to any other group going against them.
“Love Story” is a melancholy, bitterly sweet track that addresses the end of a relationship and the overwhelming memories it leaves behind. The song bounces between each of the member’s verses and IU’s vocals in the chorus. The basic backing track and simple song structure help the lyrics and feelings land perfectly, allowing the listener to hear the sorrow and regret in each singer’s voice. Epik High is known for touching on almost every single genre and style, but still creates tracks to which every listener can relate.
- Kerry
"Here Come the Regrets"
I need to start by saying, "Thank you, YG, for letting Lee Hi out of the dungeon."
"Here Come the Regrets" is a full English song featuring Epik High's labelmate (and one of my favorite female vocalists), Lee Hi. The song starts with Lee Hi's soulful voice accompanied by a piano, and is a great blend of her sweet vocals with Tablo and Mithra's raw rapping.
Longtime Epik High fans were excited to hear Mithra rapping entirely in English for the first time, and he did an incredible job. Mithra also had my favorite line in the song: "Regrets? I gotta a few… thousand." But Lee Hi singing the hook gave me chills. This song breaks your heart and haunts you.
- Laura
"Eyes, Nose, Lips"
This track is an English cover of labelmate Taeyang's "눈, 코, 입" ("Eyes, Nose, Lips"), and was part of YG Entertainment's cover project.
This isn't actually an Epik High song as it's only Tablo, featuring Taeyang. But I'm including it because it's the song that first got me interested in Epik High. I was a huge fan of the original, and I never would have thought to switch out Taeyang's R&B power vocals for Tablo's rapping, but it works so well.
I love the totally stripped-down vibe of the MV (which is reminiscent of the original). It's almost entirely shot in black and white lending to the seriousness of the lyrics. And then, of course, toward the end, we get some color and a shirtless Taeyang pops in to sing the final chorus.
- Laura
"Nocturne"
Their fourth album and double-EP, Remapping the Human Soul, was largely banned throughout broadcasting stations due to its dark subject lyrics. Exploring topics like corruption, suicide, sex crimes, war, and religion, the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism went as far as to enforce an age limit to purchase the albums.
In “Nocturne," a palpably angry Tablo doesn’t hold back. He aims his controversial lyrics at corruption and hypocrisy, questions the validity of religion, and criticizes the Korean legal system.
- Julie
"One"
One of our favorite things about Epik High is their incredibly diverse catalog of genres. Yet, even so, all their songs have a unifying sound that is just unique to Epik High. From their fifth studio album, Pieces, Part One, “One” combines electronica, pop, hip-hop, and their signature Korean flow rapping. Although it's a poppy, rhythmic track, the MV and lyrics reveal the darker topic of suicide, as well as their hopeful message that life is worth living and “every little piece of you, I love you”.
- Julie
"Born Hater"
"Born Hater" is chock full of big names in the K-hiphop scene. Along with Epik High, we've got Verbal Jint, Beenzino, Mino (from WINNER), and B.I and Bobby (from IKON). The song is a cypher where everyone calls out their haters. And they all go hard with scathing lyrics like, "I'm better than you all sitting still, stupid." The song itself sounds like a throwback to Epik High's hip-hop strong, earlier days.
The MV features the artists as the seven deadly sins: DJ Tukutz is sloth, Tablo is pride, Beenzino is envy, Verbal Jint is lust, Mithra Jin is gluttony, Mino is wrath, and Bobby is greed. B.I, on the other hand is the one trying to fix everyone else. One unusual choice is to shoot the MV in portrait format instead of landscape, which just adds to the feeling of chaos in the MV.
I could spend a while just analyzing this music video and the lyrics. But just go watch, listen, and enjoy the shade this song is throwing.
- Laura
Bonus: Check out one of our favorite live performances at their 'WONDER LIVE' showcase.