Epik High‘s Tablo revealed a story about how he almost debuted as a JYP Entertainment idol.
Recently, a video titled “Tablo Almost Debuted as a JYP Idol” was posted on Tablo’s YouTube channel.
Tablo shared that while attending Stanford University, he was active in an underground hip-hop group. “One day, I got a call from an unknown number saying it was JYP. They said they had listened to my demo and wanted me to come by,” he said.
After receiving the call, Tablo went to the JYP office. He recalled, “Back then, Cheongdam-dong wasn’t like it is now. I went to this shabby office, and the hallway was really eerie. With every step I took, I wondered if this was a hidden camera prank or if I was about to die. Inside, it was even messier, filled with cigarette smoke, and it looked like the detective agency office from Squid Game where the female lead was searching for her family.”
It turned out that the meeting was actually an audition. Unaware of this, Tablo said he kept doubting it was a scam. “I wasn’t a proper rapper or producer; it was just a hobby. When I said I was a Stanford student, their eyes lit up like I had already passed,” he said. “They asked me to sing anything, so I sang a song by Kim Jong Seo. They told me I was accepted even before the first hook.”
Then JYP asked him to dance, but Tablo said, “I can’t dance. I’ve never danced in front of anyone, and I said I never would. It was my first audition, and they were also flustered. When they asked if I was going to rap, they told me to try rapping. When I freestyled, everyone was amazed. It wasn’t because I was that good, but because it was the first time they’d seen someone freestyle rap.”
Tablo said, “They said they were making a boy band. I think g.o.d had already debuted by then. When they said they were creating a new boy group, I thought, ‘If it’s from the place that made g.o d, maybe this is for real.’ But I’m not idol material. When I said that, they said they needed a rapper in the group and would contact me again.”
He added, “I wasn’t thinking much and went back to school, but then I got a call saying I had passed. But I was already in school mode with a lot going on,” and so he declined the idol offer.
Tablo concluded, “I think that group was probably Noel. The next boy group to debut after was Noel. My friends said, ‘That could have been you.’ But I’m really glad I refused. Noel is a vocal group. There was no place for a rapper there.“