Drunken Tiger

Drunken Tiger, a commercially dominant yet polarizing force in South Korean rap, consisted primarily of Tiger JK and DJ Shine. Tiger JK entered the arrangement with a prior solo album already released, and the duo landed a recording contract at Doremi Records in 1998. Their first project, Return of the Tiger, appeared in 1999 and proved immediately successful, opening doors throughout the Korean hip-hop community. As members of the wider collective The Movement, Drunken Tiger helped elevate Korean hip-hop to a national audience while also shaping the production of their own later releases. Great Rebirth followed as their second album in 2000, although a narcotics conviction prevented Tiger JK and DJ Shine from appearing on television for the next two years. Their third album, The Legend Of Drunken Tiger, achieved major success when the single “Good Life” reached the number-one position on the charts. Three further records arrived over the subsequent period—Foundation in 2003, One Is Not A Lonely Word in 2004, and 1945 Independence in 2005—before DJ Shine departed the group in 2005 to concentrate on his business ventures.