Tablo

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title: "Tablo" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1980-births", "living-people", "21st-century-canadian-male-actors", "21st-century-canadian-rappers", "canadian-male-actors-of-korean-descent", "canadian-male-film-actors", "canadian-male-rappers", "21st-century-male-rappers", "canadian-male-television-actors", "canadian-musicians-of-korean-descent", "electronic-dance-music-djs", "epik-high", "korean-language-canadian-singers", "k-pop-singers", "male-actors-from-seoul", "male-actors-from-vancouver", "musicians-from-vancouver", "naturalized-citizens-of-canada", "rappers-from-seoul", "canadian-hip-hop-musicians", "canadian-electronic-musicians", "south-korean-emigrants-to-canada", "canadian-hip-hop-record-producers", "canadian-hip-hop-singers", "canadian-male-singer-songwriters", "canadian-singer-songwriters", "stanford-university-alumni", "st.-george's-school-(vancouver)-alumni", "writers-from-vancouver", "yg-entertainment-artists", "canadian-expatriates-in-south-korea"] description: "South Korean-Canadian rapper (born 1980)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablo" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary South Korean-Canadian rapper (born 1980) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Tablo
image	140904 타블로 02 (cropped).jpg
caption	Tablo in 2014
alt	Tablo looks right, facing forward and biting his lower lip
birth_name	Daniel Armand Lee
alias
birth_date
birth_place	Seoul, South Korea
citizenship	Canada (–present)
occupation
spouse
children	1
education	Stanford University (BA, MA)
module	{{Infobox musical artist
genre	Hip hop
years_active	1997–present
label
current_member_of	Epik High
past_member_of	Anyband
{{Infobox Korean name/auto	child
headercolor	transparent
hangul	%이선웅
::

::callout[type=note] the musician ::

| name = Tablo | image = 140904 타블로 02 (cropped).jpg | caption = Tablo in 2014 | alt = Tablo looks right, facing forward and biting his lower lip | birth_name = Daniel Armand Lee | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = Seoul, South Korea | citizenship = Canada (–present) | occupation = | spouse = | children = 1 | education = Stanford University (BA, MA) | module = {{Infobox musical artist|embed=yes | genre = Hip hop | years_active = 1997–present | label = | current_member_of = Epik High | past_member_of = Anyband |headercolor=transparent | hangul = %이선웅

Daniel Armand Lee (; born July 22, 1980), better known by his stage name Tablo (), is a South Korean-Canadian rapper, songwriter and record producer based in South Korea. Tablo is best known as the leader and producer of South Korean hip-hop group Epik High, and the founder of independent music label Highgrnd, which housed bands Hyukoh and The Black Skirts.

Tablo became employed as a lyricist while still in high school. Under the supervision of Tobias Wolff, Tablo graduated from Stanford University with honors in English literature and creative writing. He then moved to South Korea, where, in 2001, he formed Epik High alongside DJ Tukutz and Mithra Jin. The group has since released 10 full-length albums and 1 EP, with Tablo having produced and co-written all the songs. His debut solo album, Fever's End, was released in 2011.

Outside of Epik High, Tablo is a record producer and songwriter for other artists and involved in collaborative projects such as Borderline, Eternal Morning, and Anyband. His music incorporates numerous styles, ranging from trance, trip hop, to rock. Tablo is also the author of the best-selling book Pieces of You, published in both English and Korean, and Blonote. He made his film debut acting in Nonstop (2005). In 2016, Tablo left his radio show, MBC FM4U's Tablo's Dreaming Radio, after eleven years to focus on YG's music sub-label Highgrnd.

Life and career

1980–2003: Early life and career beginnings

Tablo moved to Jakarta, Indonesia in 1980 shortly after his birth. Due to his father's work, he spent around 3 years living in Jakarta before his family relocated again several times to Switzerland and Hong Kong for his father's career until Tablo was six, when they returned to South Korea briefly. His family moved again to Canada when he was eight, and he gained Canadian citizenship at age 12. Tablo attended St. George's School in Vancouver, British Columbia. He then transferred to Seoul International School. As a coterminal student at Stanford University, Tablo simultaneously attained a Bachelor's Degree in English literature and a Master's Degree in creative writing in four years.

Tablo started playing piano at the age of six but later switched to violin, which he played for 10 years. His music teacher, who had been a pupil of Isaac Stern, used to lecture him saying: "Music is communism, but you're playing democracy". Tablo wrote the lyrics to legendary singer Kim Gun-mo's song "Rainy Christmas" when he was sixteen years old, as Kim took an interest in Tablo after reading a poem of his.

During his early life, Tablo suffered from bouts of depression. Whenever he faced hardship, hip hop music served as an outlet. However, Tablo's father disapproved of his career choice, so as a teenager, he frequently ran away from home. Ostensibly, Tablo asked a friend to live out his dream, but when that friend died of cancer, it became an impetus for him to re-enter the music industry. Tablo later admitted his family forced him to enroll in Stanford, and even after the release of his second album, was still persuading him to return to the United States to attend Law School.

2003–10: Success with Epik High and ''Pieces of You''

Tablo met future bandmates Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz while active in the underground hip-hop scene. The three came together to form Epik High, with Tablo as their leader. Under the tutelage of Movement crew members, especially the trio CB Mass, they attempted to record their first studio album alongside hip-hop duo and close friends TBNY (composed of Yankie and TopBob); however, CB Mass member Curbin allegedly embezzled Epik High and TBNY's funds for the album, effectively causing the disbandment of CB Mass (and the creation of Dynamic Duo without Curbin). Tablo and Epik High were finally signed by Woollim Entertainment, which at the time focused on underground hip hop and modern rock, and the group officially debuted in 2003. The group's first album, Map of the Human Soul, was released on October 21 of that year; however, due to hip hop's lack of popularity in South Korea at the time, the album was a commercial failure. It wasn't until the release of their second album, High Society, that the group started to gain popularity. Epik High's third album, Swan Songs, was originally intended to be their last album; however, upon release, the album reached the top of numerous charts, and swept the year-end hip-hop awards. One of the lead singles from the album, "Fly", was featured on the soundtrack of the video game FIFA 07. Due to the numerous offers to remake "Fly", as well as "Paris", the second single from the album, a CD sampler was released in Japan.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Tablo_at_MaptheSoul_Concert_SanFrancisco_2009.jpg" caption="Tablo at Map the Soul Concert, San Francisco (2009)"] ::

In 2007, the group released their fourth studio album, Remapping the Human Soul, and managed to push Epik High to the number one spot for best upcoming artist after selling almost 90,000 copies in the first month of release. The album ended up becoming South Korea's third best-selling album of 2007. However, many songs from the album were banned from several TV channels, and the album buying age was restricted to 19+ due to some songs dealing with issues the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in South Korea deemed inappropriate for younger listeners. The group later went on to release their next album, Pieces, Part One, which was also a commercial success.

In late 2008, Tablo published a book entitled Pieces of You. Although the stories were originally written in English, the book was first published in Korean. The Korean translation sold 50,000 copies in its first week of release and topped the bestseller's list in Korea. The original English version was released in February 2009 and also met with moderate success. The book garnered a positive reception from critics, with Tablo's writing praised for a first-time author. After the group's contract with Woolim Entertainment expired in 2008, Tablo, alongside his group members, founded their own independent label, Map the Soul, and went on to release an album of the same name. Through their independent label, the group went on to release two more albums; [e] in 2009, and Epilogue in 2010. In November 2013, Tablo revealed in his interview with HiphopLE that "Map the Soul" was shut down due to one of its executive member embezzling the label's funds.

2010–11: Musical hiatus and Stanford controversy

In 2010, it was announced that Epik High would go on hiatus after DJ Tukutz enlisted in his mandatory military service, whilst Tablo and Mithra would be working on solo careers until DJ Tukutz's return. However, in mid-2010, a group of Internet users raised doubts about the academic background of Tablo, who majored in English and Creative Writing at Stanford University. Led by two fan sites, most notably "We Demand the Truth from Tablo" (), some netizens claimed that Tablo could not have graduated from Stanford University with both a bachelor's degree and master's degree in English and Creative Writing, respectively, in just three and a half years.

It became front-page news in South Korea in June 2010 when one of the fansite's managers, who went by the username "whatbecomes", claimed that Tablo's academic record was "not making any sense" and showed what he believed to be inconsistencies in Tablo's transcripts. Even though Tablo posted his official transcript and other legal documents online, many netizens refused to believe him, and called for other documents such as his immigration statement and diploma to be released. Tablo visited Stanford University in late August to disprove these allegations by having the university registrar re-print his documents on camera, and many of Tablo's acquaintances and former professors from Stanford attested to the validity of his academic background on camera. The documentary was shown in two parts: Tablo Goes to Stanford and Tablo and South Korea Online, which aired on MBC October 1 and 8. However, despite the documentary and Stanford's administration clearly siding with Tablo, membership at "We Demand the Truth from Tablo" increased to as many as 190,000 within a few days, as numerous netizens refused to believe Tablo or the documentary. Tablo and members of his family received death threats and he became a virtual recluse. Tablo ultimately left Woollim Entertainment during the Tajinyo incident, not wanting to spread harm to the agency or to Infinite, who had only recently debuted when the controversy broke out.

On October 9, however, police confirmed that Tablo had indeed graduated from Stanford, having requested information beyond what Tablo had already provided, directly from Stanford University. South Korean police filed an arrest warrant domestically and with Interpol for the arrest of "whatbecomes", who was revealed to be a 57-year-old Korean-American named Eungsuk Kim living in the United States. In addition, twenty-two netizens received summons indicating they had been sued by Tablo for criminal defamation. The fansite was shut down soon after by its host site, Naver, following the results of the investigation, which also revealed that whatbecomes had fraudulently used a friend's ID number to create the website, violating Naver's terms of service. However, many members of the fansite joined another community called "We Demand the Truth from Tablo 2" (), which has a membership of over 33,000 netizens despite proof provided by both the university and the police that Tablo did indeed graduate from Stanford University.

2011–present: Return, solo career and Epik High comeback

On September 27, 2011, YG Entertainment announced that Tablo would be signing a 4-year contract with them and that his first solo album would be released on November 1. Although Tablo signed as a solo singer under YG Entertainment, he indicated that it did not mean that Epik High disbanded, nor that they would necessarily sign with YG as a group. On October 14, 2011, Tablo released the song "Airbag" from his new upcoming album. On October 21, 2011, YG announced that the new album, titled Fever's End (), had been split into two parts. The first part was released along with the recent announcement, and the second part was released on the planned release date.

On September 27, 2012, YG officially announced through yg-life.com that Epik High would have their comeback in October 2012, after a three-year hiatus as a group. Their first single, "춥다" ("It's Cold"), featured SBS's K-pop Star finalist Lee Hi and was released on October 9, while their comeback album, titled 99, was released on the 19th. On December 30, 2012, during the SBS Gayo Daejun, Tablo joined fellow Epik High bandmate Mithra Jin, Dynamic Duo and Simon D for Cypher 2012, a remix of popular hip hop tracks of the year, to much acclaim.

In October 2013, Tablo joined KBS variety show The Return of Superman with his daughter Haru.

On April 21, 2014, Tablo returned as radio DJ. His show's name is Tablo's Dreaming Radio. He was the DJ for this same program until 2016.

In March 2014, Tablo carried out a collaboration with China's top female singer Bibi Zhou.

On October 18, 2014, Epik High released their music video for "Born Hater", after the video was delayed by YG due to the Pangyo Techno Valley Festival Tragedy. The track is from their eighth album, Shoebox, and features a myriad of hip hop artists including Beenzino, Verbal Jint, Mino of Winner, along with B.I and Bobby of iKon.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/EpikHigh_061215_100_(18769657962)_(cropped).jpg" caption="2015 North American Tour, New York City"] ::

On August 31, 2015, Tablo released a teaser clip for a collaboration track with American rapper and co-founder of Pro Era, Joey Badass. Their collaborated song, "Hood," was released September 5, 2015.

On January 26, 2017, he collaborated with Gallant and Eric Nam on the single release of "Cave Me In", and music video which was shot in Hong Kong. "Cave Me In" premiered worldwide on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 Radio Show and was trending globally on YouTube and Facebook for over 72 hours upon releasing.

In 2021, he was featured in B.I's song "STAY".

In September 2022, he collaborated with Jackson Wang for a new track "Imagine" on the hip-pop competition series, Rap Of China.

Personal life

Tablo married Korean actress Kang Hye-jung on October 26, 2009. Their daughter, Haru, was born on May 2, 2010. Tablo has an older sister, Lee Sun-joo, who graduated from Cornell University and an older brother, Lee Sun-Min, who graduated from Brown University and Columbia University.

Musical style

Tablo has been a long-time fan of hip hop music, citing an almost lifelong affair with the culture itself. While listening to hip hop at an early age through artists such as Run-D.M.C. and acquiring Cold Crush tapes, he concurrently gained recognition as a rhymer. His major and enduring love affair with making hip hop music was sparked later in life, however; after hearing Drunken Tiger rapping, the group Epik High was formed in 2000 at an early time in the culture's local evolution. Tablo has since claimed to be the first emcee to have used the "rhyming rifle" technique. With the hip hop scene in Korea and Korean emcees being known for their fickle tendencies, Tablo has through the years kept alive his legacy and career through numerous shows, appearances on influential overseas (American most notably) hip hop artists work, such as EPMD.

Writing

In 2008, Tablo published a collection of short stories he had written, titled Pieces of You. The English translation was published in 2009. In 2016, his second book "BloNote" was published in Korea with a pink book cover.The English version, translated by Tablo himself and with a black cover, was published on December 21, 2016.

Podcast

On June 8, 2019, Tablo posted on his personal Instagram posing the question: "What if Tablo had an English-language podcast?". The podcast premiered with the release of three episodes on August 8, 2019. The Tablo Podcast is produced by Dive Studios. The last episode of The Tablo Podcast aired on September 4, 2020, though two follow-up episodes were released in 2021 to promote the release of Epik High Is Here.

Discography

Main article: Tablo discography

Filmography

Films

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Fantastic Parasuicides	Min-ho	Main role
August Rush	Clarinet player	Cameo appearance; uncredited
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Epik High's Love and Delusion	Himself	Series regular
2005	Nonstop	Tablo	Main role; season 5
2007	High Kick!	Teacher	Cameo appearance (Episode 150)
2008	Woman of Matchless Beauty, Park Jung-geum	Himself	Cameo appearance (Episodes 7 & 8)
Music Bank	Co-host	Alongside Kim Sung-eun and Min Seo-hyun
2009	Mnet Director's Cut	Himself	Television movie
Come To Play	Himself	Ep 262 - Movement Special
2010	Happy Birthday	Himself	Series regular
2013	The Return of Superman	Himself	Series Regular
2014	Show Me the Money 3	Himself	Producer/Judge
2015	Show Me the Money 4	Himself	Producer/Judge
2024	The Rap of China 2024	Himself	Producer/Judge
::

Music videos

::data[format=table]

Year	Music video	Length	Album
2011	Bad ()	4:07	Fever's End: Part 1 ()
Tomorrow (Feat. Taeyang)	4:14	Fever's End: Part 2 ()
2015	꽃 (FLOWER )	4:43	Flower (Xia)
2023	Megaverse	4:09	樂-Star (Stray Kids)
::

Awards and nominations

::data[format=table title="Name of the award ceremony, year presented, award category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination"]

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee(s)/work(s)	Result	Ref.	Korea Grand Music Awards	MAMA Awards
2025	Best Listener's Pick	"Stop the Rain" (with RM)
2011	Best Hip Hop & Rap Music	"Bad" (feat. Jinsil)
2025	"Stop the Rain" (with RM)
Song of the Year
::

References

References

1. http://book.naver.com/bookdb/book_detail.php?bid=5348341 Naver Book Review
2. "Tablo's Dreaming Radio". [[Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation]].
3. (2008-02-14). "Tablo is replacing HaHa". [[Allkpop]].
4. "interview". cnnindonesia.com.
5. "Tablo biography & interview". YonhapNews.co.kr.
6. Davis, Joshua. (2011-07-01). "The Persecution of Daniel Lee".
7. "Tablo's homepage".
8. Lah, Jung. (May 24, 2002). "Straight Outta...Seoul?". [[The Stanford Daily]].
9. Davis, Joshua. (July–August 2011). "The Persecution of Daniel Lee". [[Stanford University]].
10. (2007-08-15). "interview on degrees".
11. (2007-02-28). "Tablo interview on music".
12. Lim, Woojin. (2021-02-23). "Epik High's Tablo: Compelled to Make Hip Hop".
13. "Tablo on YSMM". [[YouTube]].
14. (2022-02-24). "1. God-Blo".
15. 김보영. (2014-08-22). "타블로와 강혜정, 이하루…이렇게 끼 넘치는 가족 또 있을까".
16. "interview". Hankooki.com.
17. (October 5, 2005). "Epik High: Albums". Map the Soul, Inc..
18. (March 12, 2007). "Epik High to expand into Japan with sample CD". [[Arirang TV]].
19. (January 2008). "2007 total sales". {{ill.
20. (July 2025). "Epik High Soars to New Heights". [[The Korea Times]].
21. link. (2011-01-24 . Retrieved on 2009-04-13)
22. link. (2012-05-11 Libro Book Review)
23. (6 April 2009). "Epik High - Hon: Map the Soul". KoME U.S.A..
24. ease Date: September 16, 2009, from http://nuel92.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/album-epik-high-e-hip-hip-released-september-16-2009/
25. "Woollim Entertainment".
26. "YESASIA: Epik High Special Album - Epilogue CD - Epik High, Mnet Media - Korean Music - Free Shipping - North America Site".
27. link. Melo
28. link. (2012-03-06 09-29, 2010 ''The Korea Herald'')
29. (2010-08-27). "Prosecution looks into Tablo allegations". [[The Korea Herald]].
30. Abbott, Kate. (September 27, 2010). "Korean pop star battles attacks on Stanford record". [[The Stanford Daily]].
31. [http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/_06/0611-2.jpg Transcript 2] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-06-08 )
32. [http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/_06/0611-1.jpg Transcript 1] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-06-08 )
33. (October 30, 2014). "Tablo explains 'Born Hater' was not meant to criticize former label, Woollim Entertainment".
34. Davis, Joshua. (April 24, 2012). "The Stalking of Korean Hip Hop Star Daniel Lee".
35. link
36. "Tablo Signs With YG For November Comeback". [[HanCinema]].
37. (2011-09-28). "Epik High's Tablo Joins YG Family". Asia Pacific Arts.
38. "Tablo reveals "Airbag" ft/ Naul".
39. "Tablo releases Part 1 of "Fever's End" album".
40. (2012-07-25). "Epik High to return this September". [[Allkpop]].
41. "Tablo to Babysit Haru on 'Superman is Back'".
42. (2014-04-15). "Tablo to return as radio DJ". [[The Korea Times]].
43. 이민경. (2014-04-15). "타블로, 4년 10개월 만에 '타블로의 꿈꾸는 라디오' DJ 복귀".
44. (2014-04-10). "Korea-China collaboration: TABLO works with top artist Bibi Zhou". YG LIFE.
45. (17 October 2014). "YG Entertainment Delays Epik High's 'Born Hater' Music Video Release Due To Pangyo Techno Valley Festival Tragedy". KpopStarz.
46. (6 October 2014). "YG Entertainment Launches Promotions For New K-Pop Group iKON Following The Success Of Reality TV Survival Band WINNER". KpopStarz.
47. (31 August 2015). "Tablo And Joey Bada$$ Announce Upcoming Collaboration 'Hood'". KpopStarz.
48. Bilian. (2017-01-27). "Hype's Now Playing: Gallant x Tablo x Eric Nam – Cave Me In".
49. "Spotify".
50. Bandwagon. (2022-09-03). "Jackson Wang and EPIK HIGH's Tablo team up in 'Imagine' for 'Rap f China' - watch".
51. (October 26, 2009). "Tablo and Kang Hye Jung release wedding photos". [[Allkpop]].
52. (May 2, 2010). "Tablo and Kang Hye Jung become parents of a baby daughter". [[Allkpop]].
53. "Twitter".
54. Cho, Jae-hyon. (2009-11-24). "Tablo's Brother Under Fire". [[The Korea Times]].
55. 윤민용. (2008-10-22). "타블로 소설 출간도 되기전 '선풍'".
56. 최지예. (2016-09-20). "타블로, 8년만의 신작 '블로노트' 출간…권지용·장범준 참여".
57. link
58. "Tablo releases the first 3 episodes of 'The Tablo Podcast'".
59. "Dive Studios is trying to turn K-Pop fans into podcast listeners by grabbing their attention on social media". Business Insider.
60. "The Tablo Podcast – DIVE Studios". DIVE Studios.
61. (September 4, 2020). "Tablo brings this era of the podcast to a close".
62. "KGMA 2025 - Voting Guides".
63. link. (2014-12-09 . ''MAMA''. Retrieved 2015-01-20.)
64. Benjamin, Jeff. (October 16, 2025). "MAMA Awards 2025: First Wave Of Performers Revealed For Hong Kong Show".

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