Natasha Shanta Reid (born May 31, 1981), better known by her Korean name Yoon Mi-rae (), often stylized as ''Yoonmirae'', is an American-born South Korean-based solo rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer, who is also a member of

Korean hip hop Korean hip hop, also known as K-hip hop or K-rap, is a subgenre of Korean popular music. It is widely considered to have originated in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and has since become increasingly popular, both in Korea and abroad. While K ...

trio

MFBTY MFBTY, an acronym that stands for "My Fans reBetter Than Yours," is a Korean hip-hop group under Feel Ghood Music consisting of Tiger JK, Yoon Mi-rae, and Bizzy. They debuted in 2013 with the single, "Sweet Dream." MFBTY was meant to be only a ...

Biography

Early life and education

Yoon was born on May 31, 1981, in

Fort Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarters ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

to a South Korean mother and an African-American father. Her father had been a radio DJ while serving with the U.S. military in South Korea in the district of Uijeongbu. Yoon's father cites his record collection as an influence to pursue her music career. After she moved to South Korea as a child, she often faced

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

because of her

mixed heritage Mixed race people are people of more than one race (human categorization), race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyeth ...

. Yoon dropped out of school at age 15 and later took a high school equivalence exam.

Discovery, Uptown and Tashannie

Yoon was discovered in 1995 when she accompanied a friend to an audition for a new Korean hip hop group. She did not audition herself, but a World Records representative heard her singing outside of the audition room and signed her to join a new group called Uptown. The group debuted in 1997, when Yoon was 16. In 1999, she also formed hip hop and R&B duo "Tashannie" with rapper Lee Soo-a, stage name "Annie". They released one album, called ''Parallel Prophecies''. Yoon's name, Natasha, was hard for South Koreans to pronounce, so she used the name "Tasha," in order to better appeal to the intended audience. Uptown broke up in 2000 after several group members were arrested on drug charges. Yoon's then-boyfriend, rapper

Tiger JK Seo Jung-kwon, Hangul: 서정권, Hanja: 徐廷權, also known as Tiger JK (born July 29, 1974) is a Korean-American rapper, record producer and entrepreneur best known as a founding member of Korean hip hop group Drunken Tiger. He has also foun ...

, was also arrested and spent a month and a half in jail. Yoon herself went into hiding during that period.

Solo career and MFBTY

Yoon debuted as a solo artist in 2001, under the moniker "T" which she shortened even more from "Tasha". She released her first album, ''As Time Goes By'' that same year. Her second album, ''Gemini'' and her third album, ''To My Love'', were released the following year in 2002. In 2006, she joined

Jungle Entertainment Jungle Entertainment (formerly known as Jungleboys), is a production company owned by Executive Producer Jason Burrows, Writer/Director Trent O'Donnell, Writer/Performer Phil Lloyd and Head of Production Chloe Rickard. The Sydney-based compan ...

, a label founded by her now-husband

. The following year, she released the album ''T3 – Yoon Mi Rae,'' on which she shared the difficulties she faced as a mixed race artist in Korea. That year, she performed in Seoul, South Korea with American singer

Amerie Amerie Mi Marie Nicholson ( Rogers; born January 12, 1980) is an American singer. Born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, she gained an appreciation of the classical arts from her mother Mi Suk Rogers and of music from her father Charles Rogers, and ...

, who is also of African-American and Korean heritage. In 2012, Yoon became the face of the computer brand

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

in Korea, having signed a one-year contract to appear in their print media and radio advertisements. She was also a judge on the third and fourth seasons of the television talent competition ''

Superstar K ''Superstar K'' ( ko, 슈퍼스타 K) is a South Korean television talent show series which is held yearly. First held in 2009, Superstar K has increasingly gained more attention, considered the biggest audition program in South Korea. Superstar ...

''. Yoon,

and rapper

Bizzy Park Jun-young (Hangul: 박준영), better known as Bizzy (Hangul: 비지), is a South Korea-based rapper and member of the hip-hop trio MFBTY. He is an affiliate of YDG's, Yucka Squad, and also the hip-hop crew, The Movement. He became more know ...

, formed the hip hop trio

(My Fans Better Than Yours) in 2013. The group's first single, "Sweet Dream," ranked #1 on three Korean music charts shortly after its release. They had debuted the song at a concert in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. MFBTY signed to Tiger JK's newly created

Feel Ghood Music Feel Ghood Music () is a South Korean record label and entertainment agency founded by Tiger JK in 2013. History Originally created in July 2013 by MFBTY to house the new group and their members (Tiger JK, Yoon Mi-rae, and Bizzy) the company Fe ...

label later that year. In September 2013, Yoon earned the #1 spot on ''Billboard'''s

Korea K-Pop Hot 100 The K-pop Hot 100 is a music singles chart in South Korea, launched by '' Billboard'' in conjunction with ''Billboard'' Korea () on August 25, 2011. It is the second Asian ''Billboard'' chart after the Japan Hot 100. The chart used the same multi ...

list with her song "Touch Love" from the South Korean drama ''

Master's Sun ''Master's Sun'' () is a 2013 South Korean television series starring So Ji-sub and Gong Hyo-jin. The romantic comedy is written by the Hong sisters and aired for 17 episodes on SBS TV every Wednesday and Thursday at 21:55 ( KST) from August 7 ...

''. In December 2014, Yoon released the single "Angel," which quickly became #1 on four Korean music charts. Also that month she revealed that the American film ''

The Interview ''The Interview'' is a 2014 satirical alternate history action-comedy film co-produced and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in their second directorial work, following ''This Is the End'' (2013). The screenplay was written by Dan Sterl ...

'' used her song "Pay Day" without permission, and that she was taking legal action.

Personal life

In June 2007, she married

in a private ceremony in a Buddhist Temple. The wedding occurred a month before the death of Tiger JK's grandmother who had wanted to see them wed before her passing. Yoon gave birth to their son Jordan Seo in March 2008. Yoon and her husband are advocates against child abuse. In 2011, they appeared in a photoshoot with their son in ''Vogue'' Korea for the "Stop Child Abuse & Love Children" campaign. They also filmed a public service announcement for the World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse, performing at the 2011 Child Abuse Awareness Concert. In 2012, South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare commended the couple for their efforts in promoting child abuse prevention. Yoon has also promoted awareness of multiculturalism within Korean families. In 2008, she volunteered for seven months at a multicultural youth camp.

Discography

Studio albums

Collaborative albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Soundtrack appearances

Television appearances

* 2018: The Fan - Fan (Episode 1) * 2016:

Fantastic Duo ''Fantastic Duo'' ( ko, 판타스틱 듀오) is a South Korean television show where fans can sing a duet with their favorite singer using their cell phones. This show is currently hosted by Jun Hyun-moo, Kim Bum-soo and Kim Jun-hyun. It airs o ...

– Contestant (Episode 17-20) * 2011:

Superstar K3 ''Superstar K3'' () is the third season of the South Korean television talent show series ''Superstar K'', broadcast by M.net. The theme song for this season, "Fly" is written by producer Park Keun-tae and sung by Super Junior-K.R.Y. It was rele ...

– Judge

Awards

MelOn Music Awards

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Mnet Asian Music Awards The MAMA Awards (formerly Mnet Asian Music Awards) is a major music awards ceremony presented annually by entertainment company CJ E&M. First held in South Korea, the majority of prizes has been won by K-pop artists, although there are other As ...

, - , align="center",

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, align="center", "Have You Forgotten?""2007 Mnet KM Music Festival Part1"
''MAMA''. Retrieved 2014-12-14. , align="center",

Best R&B Performance The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...

, , - , align="center",

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, align="center", "Touch Love" , align="center" rowspan=2, Best Original Soundtrack , , - , align="center",

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, align="center", "I Love You" ,

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoon, Mi-rae 1981 births Living people 20th-century South Korean women singers 21st-century South Korean women singers American emigrants to South Korea American musicians of Korean descent Uptown (band) members Jungle Entertainment artists Korean Music Award winners MAMA Award winners South Korean women rappers South Korean hip hop singers South Korean female idols South Korean people of African-American descent South Korean rhythm and blues singers Southern hip hop musicians Melon Music Award winners