Going into the weekend, one craves for a melodic, optimistic pick-me-up from the workweek. I can’t think of a better one. Look at that thumbnail! It’s so pleasantly blue!
Turned Off The TV... is one of the promoted tracks from Asura Balbalta (stylized as *checks notes* AsuRa BalBalTa), Leessang’s penultimate album before their breakup. The other promoted track, You’re The Answer To A Guy Like Me, is another wonderful song and a good complement on the other side of the hip-hop genre spectrum compared to Turned Off The TV...:
Leessang is an iconic Korean hip-hop group, mostly on the backs of their genre-defining music but also thanks to their members’ affinity toward television appearances. Both Gil, the vocalist, and Gary, the rapper, would lock down long-term TV deals; Gil was a permanent member of Infinite Challenge, one of Korea’s most beloved TV shows, and Gary would land his own role on Running Man not long after, going on to become somewhat of a worldwide celebrity thanks to that show’s breakout success in Asia (and globally).
2011's Asura Balbalta released near the apex of the duo’s household-name-ification, and no one can deny that their success contributed to the album’s unprecedented run on the charts. Despite that, Leessang would not last much longer after this album. After releasing Unplugged in 2012, the group would go through some woes, including a drunk driving scandal involving Gil and rumors surrounding their ambitious, fledgeling company, Leessang Company. They would semi-officially disband in 2017.