Epik High Reflects on Past Harassment and Smoking Pressure in the Music Industry

On November 25, the hip-hop group Epik High shared their challenging experiences in the music industry during an appearance on Super Junior's Donghae and Eunhyuk's YouTube channel, 'Donghae Mul and Baekdu Eunhyuk'. The episode, titled '[EN/JP/CN] Hip-Hop Bombshells and Chaos in Crazy Variety Shows | EP.9 Epik High | Come This Way 2', featured the members discussing their past encounters with bullying and pressure from senior artists.

During the episode, the members revealed that they had faced smoking pressure from senior colleagues. Tukutz humorously mimicked smoking when the production team mentioned that the studio concept was set as Epik High's waiting room. The production team quickly intervened, stating that smoking was prohibited. Tablo reminisced, "In the past, around 20 senior artists would come to our waiting room to smoke. Reporters, fellow artists, managers, and agency representatives all visited us there."

Tukutz noted, "Back then, indoor smoking was allowed," while Tablo expressed his frustration, saying, "Why do they come to our waiting room to smoke? They probably think we won't say anything because we're hip-hop artists." Tukutz added, "They would just walk in and casually light up while asking, 'Hey, everything good?'."

When asked about their own smoking habits, Tablo and Tukutz jokingly replied, "Smoking? We’ve smoked through life," but avoided giving a direct answer.

Earlier in June, Epik High had revealed on the YouTube channel 'Yoo Byung-jae' that they had been physically assaulted by senior artists. Tablo shared a story about being slapped by a senior artist, stating, "Friendship means going through good and bad times together. There was a moment when I got slapped, and it was supposed to be my turn, but there was no sound. We were just standing next to our car."