1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,840 Speaker 1: UM, you're good, levels wise, everything good. Um. How do 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: you introduce yourself to people? I don't even know how 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: to introduce myself anymore. MM to tell you the truth, UM, 4 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: because I think before, you know, I would say that, Hey, 5 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: I'm Tableau. I'm like the front man for this group 6 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: called Epiccai. We have these songs, we have these albums. 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: Maybe you know mentioned a couple like Accolades. But over 8 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: the last you know, two decades, you're I think there 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: have been so many things that happened that have that 10 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: have you know, become a part of who I am, 11 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: that it's really complicated for me to just try to 12 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: figure out how to introduce myself, especially in Korea too, 13 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: because the way people see me, Like some may just 14 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: see me as a musician, but at the same time, 15 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: some people see me as this person and who went 16 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:07,679 Speaker 1: through a lot. So I don't know what tableau they 17 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: know or what tableau they may be interested in. So 18 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: I I just, you know, I just say hi, I'm Tableau, 19 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: and then I let them figure it out in the 20 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: room as you talked to him, Yeah, as I talked 21 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: to them, just starting starting on you every time. I guess, baby, baby, 22 00:01:54,960 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: who want a suit of Korea doesn't want a neat 23 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: day baby back that he praise a better way that 24 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:15,079 Speaker 1: d D two cut play that ship, lay that at 25 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: a feeding fip pop a fee a feeding filth free 26 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: tip fip fipop what flyns my name whatever? You can 27 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: be drupaking writing. Then my book arounds on the words 28 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: passed the marks. Yeah, vice and I heart this is authentic. 29 00:02:46,480 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: I'm Dexter Thomas Episode one, God blow Hello, coachhull up. 30 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: The Coachella Music Festival has become such a milestone for 31 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: musicians that even getting invited to play it's something to 32 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: get congratulated for. In April, a hip hop trio from 33 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: South Korea called Epic High did an interview with Billboard 34 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: about becoming the first big Korean act to play Coachella. 35 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: Their frontman Tableau, told the magazine that he thought it 36 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: was kind of weird to already be getting so much 37 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: praise and attention, considering that they hadn't even gone on 38 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: stage yet. I begot you do it got a few 39 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: days later, they got on stage not far from Ice 40 00:03:47,880 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: Cube and a reunited Guns and Roses. Asap Rocky and 41 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: Run the Jewels had played the night before this was 42 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: some pretty legendary company they were in. But as excited 43 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,840 Speaker 1: as Tableau and Epic High were to be there, this 44 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: was just another achievement in a long list of achievements. 45 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: Not only were they massive back home and Soul, but 46 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: by this point they were already well established as one 47 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: of the first, if not the first, Korean hip hop 48 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: groups to pull a mainstream international audience. Hanging out with 49 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:44,720 Speaker 1: Epic Hai, there's so many cameras, Where do we love Hi? 50 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: How are one? It's maddox hanging out with the legendary 51 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:55,920 Speaker 1: fellas of Epic Hi and Studio. They'd already done several 52 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:01,039 Speaker 1: tours overseas, standing room only shows in Tokyo to New York, 53 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: and they had no problem selling out the will Turn 54 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: in Los Angeles. Epic High formed in the early two thousands, 55 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: and a lot of their influence came from the American 56 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: nineties underground hip hop scene. Tableau burst onto the Korean 57 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: hip hop scene around two five. Young, handsome and just 58 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: back from the US where he went to college. I 59 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: would say that he was part of the reason that 60 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: hip hop became big. Tableau and Epic High started in 61 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: the underground, but as they got bigger, so did hip hop. 62 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: They helped make hip hop mainstream in Korea, and they 63 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: didn't stop at the local scene. They went global. By 64 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 1: two thousand and ten, they were beating out Jay Z 65 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,960 Speaker 1: and Kanye on the international hip hop charts, all while 66 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: rapping mostly in Korean. And it was then, right when 67 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,280 Speaker 1: Tableau and his group were at the top of their game, 68 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 1: when Tableau's life out of Nowhere got jolted off course, 69 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 1: landing him in the center of a bizarre conspiracy. Someone 70 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:13,720 Speaker 1: began making accusations against Tableau on an Internet forum. Rumors 71 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 1: had started spreading on the Internet, specifically on a site 72 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: called neighbor, which when it first came out was kind 73 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: of like Reddit, but nowadays it's more like if Reddit 74 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: was also your Google homepage, and you had your Facebook 75 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 1: context and you could order a pizza, so basically the 76 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: center of your digital life. People were posting on online 77 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,040 Speaker 1: message boards saying the Tableau wasn't who he said he was. 78 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: He went to Stanford so he could become an international 79 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: hip hop star. You know, it doesn't make a lot 80 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:46,520 Speaker 1: of sense. The accusations started out small, questions about his 81 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: academic credentials, doubts about worri he went to college. But 82 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: pretty quickly they started spiraling out of control. They were 83 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 1: like claiming that I had bribed the FBI, and that 84 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:03,040 Speaker 1: I had ties to the Manati, that Stanford is like 85 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: a set and all these people are actors. I had 86 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: pulled over the Korean president, the American president. The online 87 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: forum grew to hundreds of thousands of members, and it 88 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: put Tableau in the middle of something that we didn't 89 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: really have a name for yet. Back in the relationship 90 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: between the Internet and reality was still sort of quaint. 91 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: Facebook had only recently gone from a college student website 92 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: to a place where anyone could sign up. A lot 93 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: of people didn't bother because they were still into my Space. 94 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: Twitter was just a few years old here in the States. 95 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: Social media was still something that was being used by 96 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:46,160 Speaker 1: young computer nerds, not say CEOs of electric car companies 97 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: or presidents. We still drew a pretty bold line between 98 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: the online and the offline. Black Mirror wasn't out yet, 99 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: but I felt, I guess, was some horror sci fi 100 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: thing where the entire country I had been living in 101 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: I had collectively agreed to basically mind fuck me. Tableau 102 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: was an early adopter but in the worst possible way, 103 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: completely against his will, the dark part of the Internet 104 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: selected him as one of its first high profile targets. 105 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: What he experienced had never really happened before, not like 106 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: this and not on this scale. You know, they had 107 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 1: collectively agreed that nothing I say would be accepted as truth, 108 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,200 Speaker 1: and they had collectively agreed to be delusional. It's either 109 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:45,079 Speaker 1: they're delusional, like all of them, or I'm delusional. And 110 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:49,559 Speaker 1: it fundamentally changed not only the people involved, but the 111 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: entire country, And maybe it would have changed a lot 112 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 1: more of us outside of Korea if we'd been paying attention. 113 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 1: I've listened to pretty much everything Tableau has ever released. 114 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,080 Speaker 1: I've watched a lot of his interviews. I've read things 115 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: he's written, read things that other people written about him, 116 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: the whole nine. And you would think this would give 117 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: me a pretty good idea of who he is, and 118 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: for journalists often that's enough. I've been deejaying and writing 119 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: about Internet culture and music for years now. At the 120 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: end of the day, though, it's still about the music. 121 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:30,839 Speaker 1: But this one, this isn't just about the music. It's 122 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: also about the Internet and what happened to him when 123 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: people who would also watched his interviews and seen his videos, 124 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: decided that they knew who Tabot was better than Tableau himself, 125 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: so much so that Tableau started wondering if maybe they 126 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:54,560 Speaker 1: were writing. So when Tabou decided that he was finally 127 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: ready to talk about who he is twelve years later, 128 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: there was only one way to do this, not online, 129 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: in person, face to face. I was gonna fly out 130 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 1: there to Soul and meetings over Google. You how's to say? Off? 131 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:54,079 Speaker 1: You brought coffee? Come on in. I'm not sure we 132 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,280 Speaker 1: have enough slippers for everybody who everyone wants one, you 133 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:01,120 Speaker 1: can use one, Okay. Today table was forty one years old, 134 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: but he still has the vibe of a college student. 135 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:06,440 Speaker 1: And then yes, like he was so cool about it too. 136 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: He was like, no, I don't want to just use 137 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 1: it all you want. We're sitting in a studio and 138 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: Seoul owned by DJ two Cuts, who along with Tableau 139 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:17,680 Speaker 1: and the group's other m C myth with Jim makeup 140 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: Etic High. Yesterday I met him and he's like, smoothly, 141 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,360 Speaker 1: how about like I pay a half and then you 142 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:31,679 Speaker 1: and myth Thrill. You guys paid each right, And I'm like, 143 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:35,199 Speaker 1: there's no way I can say no, right, because I 144 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 1: have to use it again today, right, So I'm like, oh, intelligent, 145 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,079 Speaker 1: well played. Tableau cleaned the place up before I got there, 146 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,199 Speaker 1: but you could tell they were in the final stretch 147 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: of completing the next album. There's a bunch of music 148 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: equipment like samplers and MIDI input devices scattered all over 149 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:55,559 Speaker 1: and on the door they'd written the track list and 150 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: dry a race marker for the next album. Tableau was 151 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: wearing an oversized T shirt and playing kind of dad 152 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 1: jeans and sandals. He doesn't look like a rapper, but 153 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: then again, he doesn't look like anybody in particular, and 154 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: anyone who knows him says he's sort of always been 155 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:15,000 Speaker 1: like this, the kind of guy who if you pass 156 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 1: him on the street, you wouldn't even notice until you 157 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: talk to him. Um. Actually didn't have breakfast today. Woke up. 158 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: I had to help my wife brush my dog's teeth. 159 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 1: I had to leave in the middle of it because 160 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: the dog hates it, like obviously, but we need to. 161 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:41,839 Speaker 1: You know, he's gonna appreciate it later. And he's got teeth. 162 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,079 Speaker 1: He's got this way of always cracking jokes at just 163 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,959 Speaker 1: the right moment. But it's not just that. Aside from 164 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: the rap thing, he's also written collections of short stories 165 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: and poetry, both in Korean and English, and that versatility 166 00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 1: crosses over to his work as a musician. He's done 167 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: every thing from the serious tracks talking about societal injustice 168 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:18,599 Speaker 1: or religion to just flexing and dissingwack um seas. I 169 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,599 Speaker 1: spent days in that studio with him and our producers 170 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: talking about music and how this all came to be. 171 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: And it turns out that that story begins really truly 172 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: at the beginning. I mean, tell me about what were 173 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: you like growing up? Growing up? So I grew up 174 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: in many different places. I was born in Korea. I 175 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: don't remember this, but that's what it says, um. And 176 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 1: then apparently my parents took me to Indonesia supposedly spoke 177 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:57,319 Speaker 1: um two languages before I returned to Korea. Around the 178 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,599 Speaker 1: time Tableau was in second grade, his parents moved the 179 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: family to Canada. Yeah, I have a perfect visualization of 180 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,199 Speaker 1: what went down when we were when I realized we 181 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:13,839 Speaker 1: were leaving, because it was during the Olympics and Soul 182 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: and the games had just begun. Welcome athletes of the world. 183 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: After seven years of preparation, difficulties and hoop the Olympic Games. 184 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 1: I'm like, where are we going? And then you know, 185 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: a couple of days later, we were in Canada and 186 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: on TV we were, you know, now watching the Olympics. 187 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: The people of the world returned as Caria hosts the 188 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: games of the twenty four Olympia, but from from abroad. 189 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,880 Speaker 1: The big question mark in my head was why we 190 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: had decided to leave our countr Tree at a time 191 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: when the entire world is celebrating our country. I think 192 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: it made me feel like, oh, Korea has like its 193 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: place in the world. I felt like this is the 194 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: beginning of the bright future. But immediately, because I was 195 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: taken elsewhere that I had to face being an outsider 196 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: and it was it was like a huge wake up 197 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: call because I couldn't speak English right. So, um, first 198 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: day of school in Canada, I guess some kids wanted 199 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: to play a prank call me because you know, I 200 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: was the new kid from from Asia, which was maybe 201 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 1: a foreign concept to them. So they put some school 202 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: supplies in my pocket and I wasn't aware of it. 203 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: We went through recess and they came up and they 204 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 1: reached into my inner jacket pocket and pulled out the 205 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: supplies and pretty much just creating a scenario where I 206 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: had stolen this and now it gave them the right 207 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: to do whatever they wanted. And some of the guys 208 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: held me to a tree, held my arms. Onea had 209 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 1: an umbrella he started hitting me with it. Um. Yeah. 210 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: My parents came to pick me up, and I remember 211 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: like crying and telling my dad I wanted to leave. 212 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: In the span of like a few months, I had 213 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: gone from feeling like, oh, Korea kind of rocks right, 214 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 1: and I'm proud to be Korean, and immediately I was 215 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: like in a place where in a situation where I 216 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: did not want to be Korean more. After the break, 217 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,119 Speaker 1: Tablo's parents moved around a lot, and he was often 218 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 1: in the new kid in school, but his parents had 219 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 1: a plan. Moving the family to Canada had a specific objective. 220 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: It was for my brother and my sister, you know, 221 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: for their future, for the education. Tablow's father had a 222 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 1: hard time finding a good paying job in Canada. The 223 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 1: thing that kept him stable was that his mom still 224 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: owned a hair salon back in Korea, but that meant 225 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: that she had to go back and forth to Soul 226 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,680 Speaker 1: to keep it running and all this made things even 227 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,399 Speaker 1: harder on the kids. He's the youngest of three. His 228 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: sister Christine is in the middle. His brother David is 229 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:46,200 Speaker 1: the oldest. My brother had to literally memorize the entire 230 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: English dictionary. I mean, like my my dad like forced 231 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: him to because he had maybe two years to apply 232 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: to a college, and um, they wanted him to go 233 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: to an Ivy League school, which is ridiculous considering he 234 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:06,160 Speaker 1: just left Korea. I would always see him like pass 235 00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:09,880 Speaker 1: down on the desk. He started like kind of hallucinating 236 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,359 Speaker 1: at some point. I remember this one time he was 237 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:15,960 Speaker 1: slouched on his desk like he had fallen asleep while 238 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: you know, with the dictionary and everything open, And my 239 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 1: dad tried to wake him up, and he got up 240 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:24,679 Speaker 1: and he ran to the front door and he started like, uh, 241 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:27,240 Speaker 1: you know, the whole for the for the mail, the 242 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 1: mail slow, yeah, yeah, the mail slot. He opens it 243 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: up and he started taking something out of it, like 244 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: out of thin air, as if there was a package, 245 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:42,879 Speaker 1: and he was like talking to himself. So seeing that, 246 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,600 Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, well, you know, I think I'm good, 247 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: Like I'm grateful that no one's paying attention to me. 248 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 1: Eventually though, they started paying attention. So your your parents 249 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:55,880 Speaker 1: told you you need to go to an ivy league. 250 00:18:56,040 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: Here's a list of the schools. Like I want you 251 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: to either go to Harvard, Stanford or like M I T. 252 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 1: And then you need to get one of these jobs. 253 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:13,200 Speaker 1: We had three. Uh, you could be a doctor, you 254 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 1: could be a lawyer. And what else was there? Yeah? Yeah, 255 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: like a like a professor, or or like a Nobel 256 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: Prize winner. I really heard the words out of my 257 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: parents mouths Nobel Prize winner, exact same list my parents 258 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:37,640 Speaker 1: gave me. That's Minjiku. She's one of our producers. She's 259 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: younger than both Tableau and I. She grew up in 260 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: South Korea, and thankfully for her parents, she went to 261 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:49,159 Speaker 1: law school. Yes, we all have a shared experience in that. 262 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 1: In that way, it's it's the same now. A lot 263 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:57,439 Speaker 1: of parents still I still think that way. They may 264 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: have added on a couple professions like CEO or Jeff Bezos. 265 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,920 Speaker 1: When Tablo was growing up, this academic pressure wasn't just 266 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: something that was implied, it was explicit. One summer, his 267 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:16,879 Speaker 1: parents took him on a road trip across the United 268 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:20,000 Speaker 1: States along the way, they stopped at all these different 269 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 1: elite universities, Brown, Harvard, Cornell, and then they hit the 270 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: West coast. When we got to Stanford, right in front 271 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: of the church that I ended up graduating at, my 272 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,719 Speaker 1: mom and dad they were like praying, and then they 273 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,119 Speaker 1: told me they had stopped in the middle of the 274 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 1: main quad at the Santa Campus, the iconic Stanford Memorial Church. 275 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 1: We want you to go to. This is school you're 276 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: gonna go to. And they really said this if we 277 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:52,240 Speaker 1: we just prayed that you go to this school. And 278 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: this was when I was a kid. As I listened 279 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: to him talk about this, there was something that felt 280 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:01,399 Speaker 1: familiar to a point, right because I'm not Korean, I'm Black. 281 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: But my parents also took some pretty extreme measures to 282 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,479 Speaker 1: make sure that I got a good education too, because 283 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 1: like Tylo's parents, they knew that the one thing that 284 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 1: American society cannot take from you and can never deny 285 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,399 Speaker 1: from you, it will actually reward you for is a 286 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:24,119 Speaker 1: credential or a title or degree. It's a way to 287 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: protect your kids. That also means keeping them away from 288 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: anything that might stray them off that path, like say 289 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 1: hip hop. My parents were and still are like extremely religious. Okay, 290 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: very very Christian, but there's degrees to being Christian, right, 291 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 1: And they were pretty hardcore, you know, the whole the 292 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:54,199 Speaker 1: whole thing with like devil music, right, yeah, I can 293 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: attest that that's that's for real, Like that's what my 294 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 1: parents actually would say. And you know, I had saved 295 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,200 Speaker 1: up enough to buy a CD. I wanted a CD 296 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 1: with explicit content on the cover. You wanted, you wanted 297 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: a little explicit lyrics thing. So I walked in and 298 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: there was a CD with this little kid on the 299 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 1: cover and it had explicit lyrics. And I was like, okay, 300 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:24,159 Speaker 1: this this looks like it has a lot of cuss words, 301 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: right um. And I picked it up and I bought 302 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: it and it was the Automatic Your Black Top. It 303 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 1: didn't have as many cuss words as I expected, but 304 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:53,320 Speaker 1: the music like Blew Me Away. That's a pretty solid 305 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: first CD. That's I just lucked out. But anyways, like 306 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 1: the CD collection I had, if you eyes can think 307 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:04,320 Speaker 1: back to like early nineties, some of these album covers, 308 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: like the art was like very to the point, you 309 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:12,439 Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like you could just look at 310 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 1: the cover and know that there's something wrong. If you're 311 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: against it. Yeah, so, um yeah, I came home one 312 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: day and my parents had you know, smashed it. They 313 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:27,440 Speaker 1: had put it into a pile in the middle of 314 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: my room and and smashed it. And it obviously devastated 315 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:38,920 Speaker 1: me because when you're like, you know, twelve thirteen, that's 316 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:43,200 Speaker 1: like your life, you know, that's like your identity, that collection, 317 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:45,879 Speaker 1: and it was almost as if they had smashed me, 318 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: you know. So it broke my heart, but you know, 319 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:59,920 Speaker 1: that just made me want it even more. All that said, 320 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: his parents methods got results. His oldest siblings did get 321 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 1: into those Ivy League schools. His brother got into Brown 322 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: and a year later his sister got accepted the Cornell. 323 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,880 Speaker 1: They were done with project number one and Project number two, 324 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,720 Speaker 1: which were my brother and my sister, and I was 325 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 1: supposed to carry out Project number three and that meant 326 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,960 Speaker 1: getting really serious about his studies, which at this point 327 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: Tableau was not. So they sent me to a boarding 328 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: school and then left Canada. Parents did. They went back 329 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 1: to Korea. This was the kind of boarding school that 330 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,479 Speaker 1: pumped out Ivy League kids, which was great for the parents, 331 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: but hell for Tableau. He didn't last long there. He 332 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:53,960 Speaker 1: started pulling pranks to getting into fights, and after a 333 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: couple of years he was kicked out, Even though the 334 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,720 Speaker 1: school didn't exactly word it that way, they don't kick 335 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: you out right because they're they're too sophisticated for that, right, 336 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: so they just don't invite you back. His parents brought 337 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,680 Speaker 1: him back to Korea when he was fifteen, and is 338 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: piste off as his parents were about him having to 339 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,920 Speaker 1: come back home. Pretty quickly, it started looking like this 340 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:19,840 Speaker 1: had been a good decision. He now had family around 341 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 1: who could keep an eye on him. His cousin Sam 342 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 1: even went to the same high school, and he started 343 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: getting good grades. But more importantly for Tableau, he was 344 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:32,359 Speaker 1: also starting to find his own motivation. He'd started writing 345 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 1: poetry not for school but for himself, and then something 346 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 1: wild happened and it ended up giving Tableau a huge opportunity. 347 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 1: A couple of poems I had written had somehow traveled 348 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 1: outside of the school and gotten into the hands of 349 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: a musician in Korea who was huge at the time. Yeah, 350 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:06,119 Speaker 1: Kim Gamo. He was actually the number one top selling 351 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: album like artist. Obviously, I had no connection to celebrities 352 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:17,640 Speaker 1: or musicians right, but someone that he works with contacted 353 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: my mom through like found a mutual connect and apparently 354 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: they had somehow read some of my poems and he 355 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: wanted to make an English album with Bobby mcfern. Bobby mcfern, okay, 356 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: that's don't worry. Be happy, Bobby mcphern. If the name 357 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:47,120 Speaker 1: isn't ringing a bell yet, be happy. They had agreed 358 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: to do a like a collab album and needed uh 359 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:57,159 Speaker 1: someone to write lyrics in English, and for some reason 360 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,479 Speaker 1: they wanted it from me from from my high school kid. 361 00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:06,439 Speaker 1: So um, I was like what it was just weird, 362 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 1: but um, so he had me writing lyrics. I wrote 363 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:14,120 Speaker 1: lyrics for a ton of songs. Only one came out 364 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:29,160 Speaker 1: right Christmas, I broke my thought, my dreams, but one 365 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:34,760 Speaker 1: came out during winter break, and when I got back 366 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:38,160 Speaker 1: to school, I had somehow like you sort of become 367 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,960 Speaker 1: a minor star in the school. Obviously right, because they 368 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:50,879 Speaker 1: were like what the heck? Writing not only helped Tableau 369 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,880 Speaker 1: keep his sanity through high school, but it eventually ended 370 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:57,200 Speaker 1: up helping him get into college. Tableau ended up fulfilling 371 00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 1: what his parents asked of him. He got into stand 372 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:03,400 Speaker 1: for just like they had prayed for. So he went 373 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:07,159 Speaker 1: As it turned out, that same cousin, Sam, that Tableau 374 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: went to high school with, had been admitted to Stanford 375 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 1: the year before. They weren't close, but Tableau's mom said 376 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:16,560 Speaker 1: he should go hang out with him, and he had 377 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,399 Speaker 1: been there a year now. I thought, maybe, you know, 378 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,560 Speaker 1: would be awkward, but he can like talk to me, 379 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:26,240 Speaker 1: maybe give me some tips about like life there. But 380 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 1: honestly I doubted it because I just thought that it 381 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,159 Speaker 1: was gonna be awkward. But we did sit down, and 382 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:36,159 Speaker 1: the first thing he said to me, how did you 383 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 1: get into Stafford? Really? Yep? I was like, all right, Sam, 384 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: let's just see. That's not exactly how his cousin remembers it, 385 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: but either way, it didn't really face Tableau, especially because 386 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: even his own friends were a little shocked he'd gotten 387 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:57,360 Speaker 1: into Stanford. But none of that mattered now though What 388 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: mattered was a Tableau was finally out on its own. 389 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,760 Speaker 1: Now I could technically do whatever I wanted, Like I 390 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:09,000 Speaker 1: had the option of not doing well if I chose 391 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: to do so. And I had dorm mates that would 392 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:18,080 Speaker 1: swing by and they because because of the music I 393 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: was playing, like, you know, just like a lot of 394 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,480 Speaker 1: underground hip hop at the time, but like, who who 395 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 1: are you playing? Hieroglyphics, hiro souls and mischief? Like like 396 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: far side, I was, let's just do a lot of 397 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: underground hip hop. I think my playlist maybe it drew people, 398 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 1: but like I had football players in my dorm that 399 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 1: would come hang out in my room because the music 400 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 1: brought them. I don't know why I was in such 401 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:59,120 Speaker 1: a rush to get out of there, Like that's why, 402 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,520 Speaker 1: that's why I grad wated like a little earlier, because 403 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 1: like I, I just piled on the credits. I think 404 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 1: I tried to get out of there as fast as 405 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,360 Speaker 1: possible so I can be just done with that chapter 406 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: of my life. Stanford has this program called a co 407 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: terminal degree, where you do graduate level work during your 408 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 1: undergraduate studies. If you can handle the course load, you 409 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,360 Speaker 1: graduate with a bachelor's and a master's at the same time. 410 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,800 Speaker 1: This requires a lot of extra courses, sometimes almost double 411 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,920 Speaker 1: of what's required of most full time students, and Tableau 412 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 1: was going even beyond what most co terminal students do. 413 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:36,640 Speaker 1: That's how badly he wanted to be out of there. 414 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 1: At first, his main goal was to get out of 415 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 1: school a sam, but he was also starting to think 416 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 1: of where he would go after he finally made that escape, 417 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:47,960 Speaker 1: and he was getting the feeling that there might be 418 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 1: some answers in this hip hop group he started. It 419 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,080 Speaker 1: was small, but they were starting to make a name 420 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:55,600 Speaker 1: for themselves and even getting small gigs here and there 421 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:57,680 Speaker 1: in the Bay Area. We had two guys in the 422 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,560 Speaker 1: group at first that did nothing but break das two 423 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 1: rappers and to be boys. It was just to taste. 424 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:09,440 Speaker 1: But from maybe the first time, Tableau had found something 425 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,720 Speaker 1: he wanted to take seriously. In two thousand two, after 426 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 1: just three and a half years, Tableau's mom flew out 427 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 1: to Stanford for his graduation. She sat in the pews 428 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:23,960 Speaker 1: of that same church they once prayed in at the 429 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:28,120 Speaker 1: Center campus. So they call you out and then say 430 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 1: what you're gonna do well, for example, like Frank, Frank 431 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: is going to Google or something like that. They're like, Okay, 432 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: Daniel suddenly v A M A in English, Lad, he's 433 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: going back to Korea too to do hip hop music, 434 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 1: and everyone's like cracking up. My parents. I don't think 435 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,680 Speaker 1: they ever really like accepted it, And even after I 436 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,640 Speaker 1: became very successful, they would say it a weird way, 437 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 1: like during dinner or something with someone else, like with 438 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: their friends. You know, oh yeah, like you know, he's 439 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 1: probably gonna go get a PhD later, So it's it's 440 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: like hard for them to let go. You know, those 441 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:16,200 Speaker 1: credentials which are impressive, I mean, graduating with a dual 442 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: bachelor's and master's degree unless time it takes most people 443 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: just to do their undergrad They ended up being a 444 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,920 Speaker 1: part of Tableau's life forever. Even though he did something 445 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:29,479 Speaker 1: totally off the beaten path, he couldn't get away from 446 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: that Stanford degree. It marked him for better and for worse. 447 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 1: In Korea, when you when you think, when you when 448 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:45,280 Speaker 1: you're saying that someone's like dope, like rappers or like 449 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:49,200 Speaker 1: singers or actors or whatever, when someone is really good 450 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:53,240 Speaker 1: at what they do, they take the first letter of 451 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 1: that person's name and replace it with God. They started 452 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: calling me god blow because you would have to be 453 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:03,080 Speaker 1: a god to be able to do all that. God 454 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 1: blow like Tableau as in, to have become famous and 455 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,760 Speaker 1: successful as a rapper and having a bachelor's and a 456 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:13,920 Speaker 1: master's from an elite school in the United States, he 457 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:17,640 Speaker 1: has to have been God to have accomplished that. That's 458 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:21,640 Speaker 1: how they um like compliment you. It was a reflection 459 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: of that surprising contradiction. The educated rapper. Tableau fulfilled the 460 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:30,280 Speaker 1: model of a well educated Korean son, but he took 461 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 1: an unadvised risk and beat the odds becoming a successful musician. 462 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:38,280 Speaker 1: It became his hook. When he was on a TV 463 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:41,440 Speaker 1: show or did an interview, he get introduced as the 464 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: genius Rapper until those rumors started online. In then god 465 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:52,280 Speaker 1: blow became more of a backhanded compliment or an ironic accusation, 466 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:57,040 Speaker 1: one that suggested that Tableau story was too good to 467 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:00,480 Speaker 1: be true, but it was to to basically mock me 468 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:14,120 Speaker 1: or two sort of shame me. It's often said that 469 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 1: on the road to fame, people lose themselves person they were. 470 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:21,520 Speaker 1: More recently, people say that on the internet, for better 471 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:24,279 Speaker 1: for worse, we either forget or we abandon who we 472 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:27,759 Speaker 1: really are. But what if it's other people telling you 473 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:31,000 Speaker 1: that you are not who you say you are? Did 474 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:38,240 Speaker 1: you define what means tableau again? Change it yo guanda? 475 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:43,759 Speaker 1: It's we demand the truth from Tableau like an abbreviation 476 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 1: yeah ta jin tab again change it which means truth 477 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:54,200 Speaker 1: yo guanda, We demand it um which is an ironic 478 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:59,080 Speaker 1: name considering that's not what they wanted. They wanted everything 479 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,480 Speaker 1: but the truth. But in the span of a day, 480 00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:06,880 Speaker 1: like a virus, it spreads so fast. It was like 481 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:10,880 Speaker 1: a wildfire. It was insane how fast it spread. So 482 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:13,360 Speaker 1: I panicked. I was like, oh my god, this is like, 483 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 1: this is like real. Over the next seven episodes, we're 484 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:29,680 Speaker 1: gonna look at how a wild but honestly kind of 485 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:34,680 Speaker 1: trivial accusation starts on an anonymous internet forum and then 486 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:39,200 Speaker 1: following as it explodes into a national obsession. Do you 487 00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:44,520 Speaker 1: remember when you first heard about Tableau scan? Yes, yes, 488 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:49,640 Speaker 1: I was like, whoa, what's happening? What's happening with our minds? 489 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:53,160 Speaker 1: Not only bringing Tableau's life to a complete halt and 490 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:56,840 Speaker 1: his families, but also messing with the lives of innocent 491 00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 1: bystanders living on the other side of the planet. I'm 492 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,080 Speaker 1: just like, who is this weirdo? Look, I'm hanging up now, 493 00:36:03,719 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 1: please stop calling me, you know. And and I was 494 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:07,799 Speaker 1: about to hang up the last time, and I hear 495 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:12,919 Speaker 1: him yell, we'll pay you ten thousand dollars. Okay, let's 496 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:16,480 Speaker 1: let's hear some more and we'll see the lines between 497 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 1: harassment online and real life consequences get blurred. Also thought 498 00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:23,239 Speaker 1: to myself that might be getting too close to this 499 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:27,279 Speaker 1: weird conspiracy theory world. People were threatening me online. I 500 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:29,760 Speaker 1: tried to turn it off, but in the real world 501 00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:33,600 Speaker 1: it still happened like it was connected and the whole 502 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:38,880 Speaker 1: country divides itself but never once looks away. People have 503 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:40,840 Speaker 1: a lot of built up resentment, and then when a 504 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:45,360 Speaker 1: situation like this happens, people were like just like ravenous, 505 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:49,120 Speaker 1: like zombies, just trying to like like suck the blood 506 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:53,200 Speaker 1: to try to feel like like their life would be okay. 507 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:57,160 Speaker 1: Authentic is a production of Vice Audio and I Heeart 508 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:01,839 Speaker 1: podcast Network, produced and reported by still Finny Karayuki, Minji Coop, 509 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:06,840 Speaker 1: Hate Osbourne, and myself with Janet Lee, Stephanie Brown, and 510 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:11,640 Speaker 1: Sam Egan. Sound design and original music composition by Kyle Murdock, 511 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:16,080 Speaker 1: with additional support from Natasha Jacobs. Our supervising producer is 512 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:20,200 Speaker 1: Janet Lee, editing from Lacy Roberts, fact checking by Minji 513 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:24,960 Speaker 1: Kop and Nikole Pasuka. Our executive producer and VP Advice 514 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:29,480 Speaker 1: Audio is Kate Osbourne. From I Heart Podcast Network. Executive 515 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:33,880 Speaker 1: producers Nicky E Tore and Lindsay Hoffman. This episode features 516 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:37,720 Speaker 1: Epic High music from their album's swan songs, High Society 517 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:41,680 Speaker 1: and Pieces. Part one distributed by c J Music Music, 518 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,239 Speaker 1: also from Kim Gun Moo and Bobby McFerrin. Special thanks 519 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:48,760 Speaker 1: to Isne Bobo Nooiet for Epic High's original concert footage. 520 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:52,600 Speaker 1: I'm Dexter Thomas. Make sure to subscribe wherever you get 521 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:54,960 Speaker 1: your podcast so you don't miss an episode, and if 522 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:56,920 Speaker 1: you dig it, give us a rating and a review, 523 00:37:57,200 --> 00:37:58,960 Speaker 1: and don't forget to check us out on Twitter and 524 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:10,279 Speaker 1: Instagram at Vice News m