Ghood Vibes: Interview with MFBTY

Rebel Music for me, is the strongest track on the album. There is a great throw back element to the simpler composition and the rap style, who influenced your varied musical styles & what does this song mean to you?

Tiger JK: That song was recorded during the Trayvon Martin tragedy and Zimmerman f#ckery. And many other things were happening around us at that time. It isn’t really a throw back for us. Almost all of our solos projects are full of tracks like this. However, with MFBTY we transform into something fun and due to the fact that we don’t limit ourselves to a particular genre when it comes to MFBTY, we seemed to come up with something unpredictable, at least for us.

Yoonmirae: At the time we wrote the song we were very much inspired by the Trayvon Martin shooting. We were watching the news and having group discussions about certain issues, issues that don’t always get addressed. It was a way to release my frustrations and at the same time hopefully bring some awareness. Hopefully it made a few people think.

On Bucku Bucku you collaborated with EE and Little E has been your stylist for the Wondaland promotions & album, how did this collaboration come to fruition? What helped draw you to their style & music?

Tiger JK: Friendship

Yoonmirae: I’ve known Little E since I was a kid. I remember thinking back then how unfortunate and cool it was that she was so different and ahead of her time. I had always wanted to work with her musically but didn’t know if it would be possible considering how different our styles were. Not to mention she disappeared from music for a while only to resurface as a stylist, which I knew nothing about. It wasn’t until we crossed paths again through our music video director Lumpens that I found out she had been styling for many of the Korean style icons you see today. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to work with her as she’s one of the coolest people I know and she gets me. So naturally the next step was for us to get her in the booth! EE, they’re just an amazing fun creative group. And yes people – that is her real voice. Google her!

Your music and work seem to be a true family affair, with you even including Jordan on your album, how important is it for you to include your family and personal lives in your music?

Tiger JK: It’s just worked out that way. Tasha’s cousin, Jason Park, is our sound man/engineer, my cousin, Dino-J, is a rapper/producer, Bizzy is my brother, DJ Smells is like family and EE belongs to his label. Lumpens is our video director who connects us to the outside world. Everything is done in-house – we write, produce, compose, play instruments, DJ, sing, rap, etc. From time to time, we get other producers to help us like Illmind, Rakaa, Stylistik Jones, and Stereotypes. But they are family too. Our drummer, Kim Banjang, he’s like a bother as well. When all these people come to our studio we start jam sessions, and a lot of MFBTY songs get made during these jam sessions. Whoever visits during the jam sessions gets to be part of the song.

Yoonmirae: This applies to everything you do in life – it’s important to surround yourself with positive people, people you can trust. You need a good support system.

Bizzy: I have issues with trusting people, so family comes first always.

This album took awhile for you to compose and release, you’ve stated that it was tough to be inspired individually, what do you think it is that works with the three of you in a studio and what finally clicked for you to make it happen?

Tiger JK: We were hurting so bad that we all needed some sort of escapism, something that would be fun and therapeutic.

Most of your songs have both English and Korean lyrics, with you all being bilingual do you feel it necessary to have your message in both languages? Do the lyrics just flow out in both languages when you write?

Tiger JK: We don’t think about that really. I think we probably should.