Lee Ok-joo (born December 6, 1985), better known by her stage name Tymee (formerly known as E.via and Napper), is a South Korean

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

, and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. She is currently represented by Outsider's label ASSA Communication and is known for being

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

's fastest female rapper.

Career

2009–2013: Debut, Controversy, ''Must Have Mini Album''

Her first EP ''E.via a.k.a. Happy Evil'' was released on the 18th May 2009. This included a collaboration with singer Sori () which earned her significant media attention and popularity.

Controversy Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...

erupted when "Oppa! na Haedodwae?" ("

Oppa Oppas (died after 712), also spelled Oppa, was a member of the Visigoths, Visigothic elite in the city of Toledo, Spain, Toledo on the eve of the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, Muslim conquest of Hispania. He was a son of Egica and therefore a br ...

! Can I do it?"), the lead single from Tymee's debut album, was banned from being performed on Music Bank due to the lyrics of the song containing lascivious content and various

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

words. E.Via was later banned from performing any of her songs from her debut album on other music programs due to the lyrics being deemed suggestive and provocative. Despite the ban, Tymee's album and "Oppa! na Haedodwae?" received overwhelming responses on online music sites. The next song she performed was "Shake" from her ''Must Have Mini Album''. The music video was released on April 29, 2010.

2013–present: Label controversy, name change

On January 5, 2013, Tymee announced she had left Dline Art Media (her record company) and changed her stage name from E.via to Tymee. In a statement posted online, she said that she was in a similar situation as boy group Block B (who were suing their former label, Stardom Entertainment, at the time for inadequate compensation). She continued, "Due to financial as well as other realistic difficulties, I've decided to take back the music that's been changed due to my company's opinions and promote on my own. ecause of the unspeakable difficulties and unbearable exhaustion I've gone through I came to this conclusion to save myself from falling apart." Tymee's agency claimed they only owed her 2.7 million won, to which she replied, "Though it was difficult to accept that the work I've done for the past 2 years only amounted to that much, I restrained myself thinking of the music I'll be able to do freely in the future."

Discography

* ''E.via a.k.a. Happy Evil'' (2009) * ''Motiphie Meets E.via!'' (2009) * ''Must Have Mini Album'' (2010) * ''Viapolar'' (2010) * ''E.Viagradation Part.1 (Black & Red)'' (2012)

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tymee 1985 births Living people South Korean hip-hop musicians South Korean hip-hop singers South Korean women rappers South Korean hip-hop record producers Unpretty Rapstar contestants 21st-century South Korean women singers 21st-century South Korean rappers