Illionaire Records

Illionaire Records was an independent South Korean record label formed in January 2011 by rappers The Quiett and Dok2. The label also represents rapper Beenzino. Despite its small size, Illionaire Records was considered one of the most influential hip hop record labels in South Korea due to the popularity of its artists.[1][2][3] As of 6 July 2020, Illionaire Records announced via their official social media accounts that they are now defunct.

Illionaire Records
The logo of Illionaire Records
Founded2011 (2011)
FounderThe Quiett, Dok2
Defunct2020 (2020)
Distributor(s)CJ E&M, Genuine Music Inc.
GenreHip hop
Country of originSouth Korea
LocationSeoul, South Korea
Official websitehttp://www.illionaire.kr

History

Friends and rappers The Quiett and Dok2 formed Illionaire Records on January 1, 2011. They signed rapper Beenzino later that year. The Quiett later said in an interview with Complex that he wanted to start a small label to avoid the traditional k-pop major label system. "On major labels, the money made by the artists is first given to the company to pay the bosses, managers, and staff members. In our case, we’re the bosses," he said. The label has only one employee and none of the three rappers are bound by contracts.[2]

The label experienced a surge of popularity in its first few years due to Dok2's many collaborations with Korean-American singer and rapper Jay Park.[1]

Illionaire Records toured Korea in the summer of 2012.[4] On November 11, the three artists released the free track "Illionaire Gang" to coincide with their "Illionaire Day Concert."[5]

In 2014, the label were the headliners for the "Asian Music Festival Summer Concert" in New York City on May 21.[6] That summer the label also released a compilation album entitled "11:11."[7]

Dok2 and The Quiett represented Illionaire Records on the third season of the TV rap competition SMTM(Show Me the Money), where they were the producers of winning contestant Bobby of IKON.[8] They, being famous only under-ground, became famous to people after they appeared in the Show Me the Money. Showing the genius recording ability, Illionare Records became even more spotlighted.

On 6 February 2020, Illionaire Records announced via Instagram, founding member Dok2 and the label mutually agreed to terminate his contract. No official reason was given for the departure.

Illionaire records announced on 6 July 2020 that they will close their record label via their official Instagram[9] and Twitter[10] account. They stated they will continue to support their artists in their future endeavours. No other reason was provided for their sudden departure.

Subsidiary Projects

Dok2 and The Quiett, founders of Illionaire Records, had established a new label under Illionaire in September 2016. The subsidiary company was named Ambition Musik; being true to its name. Subsequently, the newly-established record label had announced the arrival of a plethora of new artists, including Kim Hyo-eun, Changmo, Hash Swan, and later, Ash Island , Leellamarz and producer, Way Ched, through the official Ambition Musik Instagram account. New additions to the record label were to be listed under Ambition Musik, and not the initial record label Illionaire.

Influence on Korean Hip-Hop

Prior to the establishment of Illionaire Records, the concept of showing off one’s wealth and social status was not widespread within Korean culture, unlike the prevalence of such issues in the Western music scene. A common misunderstanding amongst individuals was that rappers usually struggled financially, as seen in the first generation of hip-hop artists. However, Dok2 wanted to innovate. To establish his own brand, bringing a new meaning to the Korean hip-hop scene. Illionaire Records further proved the power of Korean rap and hip-hop music; becoming a major staple and leader in modern Korean music, popularizing the genre and spreading it worldwide. Modern rap artists, building on the grounds of this success story, have made themselves a well-known stakeholder in the future of Korean Hip-hop.

Concert Tour in the US

2016

  • 07/21 - Chicago, IL – Concord Music Hall
  • 07/22 - New York, NY – TERMINAL 5
  • 07/23 - Atlanta, GA – Center Stage - The Loft - Vinyl
  • 07/29 - Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern

2017

  • 11/30 - San Francisco, CA – Regency Grand Ballroom
  • 12/02 - Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco Theater
  • 12/03 - Seattle, WA – Neumos
  • 12/08 - 'Atlanta, GA – Center Stage'
  • 12/10 - New York, NY – Highline Ballroom

Background of Korean Hip-hop culture

Towards the end of the Korean War, Korean people became more acceptable westernized culture.[11] Especially, the biggest change was accepting Hip-hop culture. Since Korea had really conservative beliefs, it was hard to mingle with a culture that expresses freedom and criticizes society, like Hip-hop does. However, as people's thought has been changed, Hip-hop gained a lot of popularity. Dok2 is one of the pioneers of Hip-hop in Korea.

Artists

Illionaire Records

Ambition Musik

Former

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References
  1. Lee, Madeline. "2 CHAINZ AND ROLLIES: THE NOISEY GUIDE TO KOREAN RAP LABEL ILLIONAIRE RECORDS". Vice. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  2. Cho, Jaeki. "The Rise of Illionaire Records, the Independent Label Taking Korean Hip-Hop to the Next Level". Complex. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  3. "15 Korean Rappers You Should Know That Aren't Psy". XXL Magazine. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  4. "ILLIONAIRE RECORDS, 'They Love Who? (Remix)' Free Track Revealed". HiphopKr. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  5. "The Quiett, Dok2 and Beenzino Releases Free Track 'ILLIONAIRE GANG'". HiphopKr. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  6. "Beenzino, Dok2 & The Quiett To Perform In NYC For Asian Music Festival Summer Concert". KpopStarz. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  7. "1LLIONAIRE Records Releases "연결고리 (YGGR) (ft. MC Meta)" Official MV". HiphopKr. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  8. "Rappers Dok And The Quiett Confirmed As 'Show Me The Money 5' Producer-Judges". Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  9. "1LLIONAIRE RECORDS OFFICIAL (@1llionaire_records) • Instagram photos and videos". instagram.com. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  10. "https://twitter.com/1llionaire". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-07-06. External link in |title= (help)
  11. Dixon, Dwayne. "East Asian Youth Cultures Spring 2015". Retrieved 2018-02-26.
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