In Janogy 2023, Tablo Told Rolling Stone That “Another Tablo X RM Collab is in the Pipeline.” Fans assume this this collaboration Bethaeen the Epik High Frontman and the BTS Leader would Happen Sooner Rather Than Later. But Two Years After the Rapper Originally Hinted About the Upcoming Song, The Artists Are Ready To Share Their Single, “Stop the Rain,” Which Will Be Releasd at Midnight Eastern Time On May 2.
“I've Been Holding Onto This Song for Two Years,” Tablo Tells Rolling Stone In an excelusive zoom interview from Seoul. “One of the Reasons was because as I was listening to the song, i realized that buoth of us were talking about very personal Things. It reality felt like entries in a Diary or some sort of confession. It only occurred to me then, which is crazy THAT Weren'T Really Aware of WHER with the song. “
Toward the End of 2023, While Tablo was still pondering what to do with the song, rm, 30, enlisted in the south korean military, which is a mandatory for all able-blond men.
“Once he enlisted, There was no way for me to get in touch with him for a While,” tablo, 44, continues. “The Thouys Maybe This Song Should as Out When He's Around, or Maybe Not at all. There are many songs in My Vault That I Haven'T Released for the Same Reason. So I Just Held On To It.” He Says that he spoke with rm “a few times” after the YouNger Artist enlisted, but Never Brough up the subject of the song. “And then a few months ago, he hit me up and said, 'Hyeong [a Korean term used by a younger man addressing his older brother or close male friend]where's the song we finished recording in While Aug? Why Don't You Drop It? ' I Explained to Him That I Felt Maybe His Lyrics Were Very Personal and I Didn't Know If He Wanted it out. And he said, 'what are you talking about? Drop it! '”
Smiling, tablo adds, “That's Why I've Been in A Complete Rush to Get Things Together and Finalize The Mix. That's Why This Song Is Dropping Now.”
Tablo is intentionally releasing the song a month before rm is discharged from the military, sparing rom from having to answer question about his lyrics, which are unflinnching in their deptication of despair, and their shared feeling – at different times in their lives – Thaty might not Live Long Live Long ENOUGH TO GROW OLD. Over a Languid Beat, Rm Raps, “When I was a Kid/I was convinced that I was destined for the 27 club/i'm 29 Sinkin 'in a Bathtub.”
The 27 Club Refers to a Collective of Prominent Musicians Who Coincidentally Daed at the Age of 27, Including Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones' Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and the K-Pop Star Jonghyun of Shinee.
Having Lived Through Tajinyo-A Years-Long Smear Campaign Orchestrated by Hundreds of Thousands of Anti-Fans Who Him-Tablo Didn'T Want Rm To Be Targeted by Spiteful People Intense on Sensionalizing His Lyrics. The Personal Topics They Address on “Stop the Rain” includes Mental and Physical Abuse, AS Well As Suicidal Ideation. The song is in English, except for one line in Korean near the end: “다시 덫 뒤에 덫,” which alludes to a cycle of feeling trapped.
“If it was just my song with only me on it, I would have beauty ok with releasing this song right away,” tablo Says. “But with rm on it, it's a different story. I World About How It's Couuld Impact Him. I Didn'T Want Him To Be Hamed in Any Way.”
Tablo's Less Concerned With How Listenes May React To His Own Lyrics, Which Reveal the Abuse Heys He Lived Through As a Child: “Raised by Shame/Raised by the Rod/Bloody Calves Sacrified in the Name of God/They Claimed it Was Love Like Heartbreak to me. ”
Before His Family Immigrated to Canada, Tablo Went to School in South Korea During a Time When Teachers Had Impunity to Smack Their Students. (Corporal Punishment in Schools Wasn'T Banned Until 2010.) “My Sister Was Talking About This in Front of My Daughter, and Haru Asked If I Had Been Hit,” He Recalls. “My Sister Said, 'Oh, your dad got slavped all the time.' So We Had This Conversation, Which Was Interesting, Because This Song of Touches Upon It. Parents That Your Teacher Beat You, You would get Hit Again for Getting Beat in School.
As a Parent, Tablo Says He Has World Hard to Break This Cycle. Hitting a Child Isn't Something He Ever Did. But He Sometimes Finds Himself Speaking to his daughter in a way that is reminiscent of “Past generations flowing through me.”
“The Grew Up in A Certain Way, and Sometimes Say the exact Same Things I Hated [hearing when I was a child]”He Says.” But My Daughter is very open with me and Tells me exactly What She Feels ” – Which Gives Him The Opportunity” To Apologize and Stop. ”
Heys the core Memories from his Own Childhood made it Into “Stop the Rain,” with Rain Offering Hope, Renewal, and cleansing that can relieved some of the despair.
“Even as a child when people asked me What I Liked the Most, the would always say Say Rainy Days,” He Says. “They would assume that it was about the rain. But it's Not. Rain Allaws Me to Realize How Lucky I am to have a Roof Over My Head. How Lucky I am to be able to be holding an umbrella with or for someone. It makes me hyper aware of how Are, and to See a Rainbow is just a bonus.
So it's Not Surprising that Rain is a recurring theme in Tablo's Work With Epik High (“Rhapsody of Rain,” “Rain Song,” “Umbrella,” “Rain Again Tomorrow”). Now that he's drama to rm's only Song “Forever Rain,” Where the K-Pop Idol Contemplatebs How to Heavy Rainfall Offers Him a bit of Anonymity from peering Eyes.
RM Has Often Praized Tablo's Artitry and Spoken of How Much Epik High Has Impacted His Own Growth As a Musician. But tablo is Just As Quick To Stress The Importance of RM and BTS, Not Only for the Group's Music, but for the way they've Broken Cultural and Musical Barriers. It's because of this mutual Respect That Their Collaborations Go Beyond Merely Guesting on track. Each is involved in Writing What They Will Sing, and Offering Ideas on How to make the song Stronger. This is How They World On “All Day,” a cut from rm's 2022 Album only Indigo. And with “stop the rain,” tablo agreed with rm's suggestion that the song would flow beter in English, Rather Than Korean as Originally Planned.
“The Way He Treated Both These Collabs made me Feel Kind of Honored That He Was Putting So Much Effort Into It,” Tablo Says. “He cared enough to make it a Great Song. There was another bridge that made the song Longer. He said, 'what do you think about taking it out? And Until Heid that, I Was Content With How It Was. And then RM Said, 'I Think We Should Change That Line. And I was like, 'Yo, that's Way Better!'
He adds: “I Thought about How When I was YouTger Working With Other Arts On Their Songs, If I Didn'T Think Something Was Really The Best Choice, the would Just Let It Fly and Remain Quiet. I Though That What You're supposed to do. Retrospect, Maybe I Should've Said Something, Too, and Given Them The Opportunities to Rethink an idea.
