Epik High is back! The kings of many a high school karaoke sing-along party have returned with LOVEDRUNK, the title track of their latest album, Sleepless In ____. (No, I didn’t forget to finish that sentence, that’s literally the album.)
It’s not an exaggeration to call this three-man group one of the biggest names in Korean hip-hop. Since their debut in 2003, Epik High has published nine full albums and numerous remixes, covers, soundtracks, and special fan-only albums that have all met with varying degrees of musical and economic success.
They’re also a mainstay of Korean karaoke noraebangs everywhere, with many of their best-known title tracks like One, Run, and (especially when it’s drizzly) Umbrella holding fast to the regular karaoke rotation, a decade after their releases.
That doesn’t mean that Epik High has stopped releasing new music; in fact, in the past few years, they’ve been as active as ever. Sleepless In ____ is their first album since their breakup with YG Entertainment, and it shows; compare LOVEDRUNK with a more upbeat, mass-produced YG album title track like, say, Up and the difference is immediate and overwhelming.
The music video for LOVEDRUNK stars Jin Sae Yeon and IU, the latter whose career we’ve chronologically charted every so often (we’ll return to the next part of her discography very soon, and it’s gonna be a good one). Incidentally, this isn’t IU’s first appearance in an Epik High release. She previously featured in the title track for their ninth album, Love Story (albeit not in the music video):