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MC Mong announces new album, concert before heading overseas to study

Published: 18 Jul. 2025, 17:22 Updated: 19 Jul. 2025, 12:06

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

Rapper and producer MC Mong speaks at an album launch event in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, on Oct. 25, 2019. [YONHAP]

Producer and rapper MC Mong said Thursday he will release a new album and possibly hold a concert this year before leaving overseas to study.

In a lengthy post uploaded to Instagram on Thursday, the rapper said he will leave all of his production duties at music labels One Hundred Label and Big Planet Made to the former firm's founding chairman Cha Ga-won.

The announcement comes after he was sidelined from his own company, One Hundred Label, that he co-founded and produced music for. The firm issued a statement on June 13, citing that it was for “personal reasons.”

MC Mong said in his post he was “not in a position to be able to produce music due to severe depression and worsened health condition after a surgery."

“I have decided to study overseas for my own development,” he said. “I will release an album within this year [...] and hold a concert — something I am unsure I will ever be able to do again — as a gift for my fans before leaving the country,” the “Circus” (2008) singer said.

"Though I’ve come to it later in life, my desire to grow and to live more healthily is stronger than ever. I’m choosing the path that allows me to make music for as long as I possibly can."

MC Mong’s departure overseas follows a string of controversies surrounding himself and his label.

One Hundred Label cut ties with boy band The Boyz's then-member Ju Hak-nyeon in June after it was reported that the singer had met with Japanese former porn star Asuka Kirara. While Ju admitted to meeting with Kirara in May, he denied reports that he engaged in prostitution with her, something she has also denied, and said he will sue the agency for unlawfully terminating his contract.

Media outlet Ten Asia had reported shortly after Ju’s contract termination was announced that he admitted to agency employees that he paid Kirara for sex. A source cited by the outlet claimed “a producer at One Hundred was also removed from duties because of prostitution-related issues.”

In a seeming response to onlookers’ speculations tying him to the scandal, MC Mong wrote to fans in his post Thursday, “Please don’t focus on rumors or unsubstantiated talk.”

MC Mong debuted as a member of hip-hop group People Crew in 1998 and found huge success with songs like “Ice Cream” (2008), “Indian Boy” (2009) and “Sick Enough to Die” (2010), as well as his appearance on KBS comedy show “2 Days & 1 Night” (2007-). But he abruptly ended all activities towards late 2010 after he was accused of purposefully pulling his teeth out to dodge Korea’s mandatory military service.

The rapper co-founded One Hundred Label with Cha in 2023. The company, in addition to being a talent agency, is also a parent company to labels including Big Planet Made — which houses Taemin, Lee Seung-ki and Lee Su-geun — Million Market and INB100.

One Hundred Label said in a statement that MC Mong’s announcement was “not discussed [with the company] earlier” and declined to comment on his health, as it is a “private matter.”

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]