'Collaboration with Wu Tang Clan will be good gift to our fans,' says The Quiett
Rappers The Quiett, left, and Dok2 of Illionaire Records pose after the press conference at MBC Building in Sangam, Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of KOCCA
By Kim Jae-heun
Rapper The Quiett of hip-hop label Illionaire Records said their collaboration with Masta Killa of ‘90s American hip-hop legends Wu-Tang Clan will make a good gift for fans.
Illionaire Records will reveal their collaboration masterpiece with the Wu-Tang Clan member, Wednesday, during their performance at the international music fair MU:CON 2017 at the MBC Building in Sangam-dong. The event runs until Thursday.
“We grew up idolizing Wu-Tang Clan and listening to their music,” said Dok2, the label’s other founder, during a press conference at MBC Building, Tuesday. “Collaboration with the legend could also be seen as a personal achievement to me and it is a beautiful thing that the collaboration is taking place between artists from different countries.”
“Working with Wu-Tang Clan doesn’t really help us with our activities abroad. It won’t help us perform more concerts overseas or get us more play than now. Still, this event is for our fans and it will definitely offer them an enjoyable time,” The Quiett added.
The collaboration was first offered by the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), the host of the international music fair.
Masta Killa picked Illionaire Records among the Korean participants to co-produce the collaboration.
He was scheduled to come to Korea with producer Inspectah Deck and work with The Quiett and Dok2 on the collaboration track. But the two canceled their flight to Seoul due to personal reasons and only Korean rappers will perform today.
“We worked on our music online as Inspectah Deck could not come to Korea. Inspectah Deck sent us almost everything from raps and beats and we only participated in finishing the music. Masta Killa raps in the track too,” The Quiett said. He said their collaboration with the Wu-Tang veterans keeps a classic beat and music style that the hip-hop legends used to pursue but adopted a trendy melody.
“We expected to perform a very Wu-Tang Clan-ish style of music, which we can all reminisce on with the ‘90s popular old-school rap of the American hip-hop legend. But they sent a demo that uses a more trendy drum sound,” The Quiett said. “The collaboration work took longer than usual and we started late. But we are hoping for a song we all can be satisfied with.”
The music will be available online by the end of this year.
Music producer Fernando Garibay talks during the press conference for "2017 MU:CON" at MBC Building in Sangam, Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of KOCCA
Garibay calls collaboration with Crush ‘easy love song’
Another collaboration to keep an eye on during MU:CON 2017 is between Grammy-winning producer Fernando Garibay and Korean chart-sweeping R&B singer Crush. The American producer created a tune and Crush wrote the lyrics for it. Crush said it sounded like the lyrical music of a soundtrack that would play in the American film “August Rush.”
“In most of my cases, my team and I work in the studio to create a song together. This time, it was different in that we worked online and it is a new way of collaborating,” Garibay said during a press conference at the MBC Building on Tuesday.
“My production uses very sophisticated and expensive equipment, whereas Crush chose simple and organic music. I was excited he chose the tune which has been made using traditional methods.”
The American producer added that the world is becoming more open to music and it is a privilege for him to take part in cultural exchanges through collaboration.
He moved on to say that K-pop has received much influence from American pop music but it is distinctive in that K-pop includes more elements from pop, classic and electronic, which he likes.
Crush and Garibay will perform together, Thursday, at the concert hall of the MBC Building.