YOON MIRAE FACTS

#YOONMIRAEFACTS

#33 TOP FEMALE RAPPER

ACTIVE:  1997 TO PRESENT

Natasha Shanta Reid (born May 31, 1981), known by her Korean name Yoon Mi-rae, is an American-born South Korean rapper and singer.

 She is part of the Korean hip hop crew The Movement and current member of MFBTY.

She is married to Tiger JK, and has one son with him. She was selected the 12th best new female emcees dominating mics worldwide by MTV IGGY in 2011.

Early life

Reid was born in Fort Hood, Texas to a Korean mother and an African American father. She often faced discrimination because of her mixed heritage.

Her father, Thomas J. Reid, was a DJ when she was young, so she naturally became acquainted with music. Because her father was also in the military, Reid lived in multiple locations, including Fort Lewis, Washington, Washington DC and Germany.

Career

In 1995, she accompanied a friend to a World Records audition for a group which would later becomeUptown. She did not audition herself, but a World staff member heard Tasha singing the lyrics to songs outside of the audition room, and casted her immediately.

 Uptown debuted in South Korea in early 1997, when Reid was just 16. Tasha was one of the first mixed race artists in Korean music, causing much criticism in a homogeneous society.

Tasha later revealed her struggles in her 2007 single, "Black Happiness", which spoke of how industry executives told her to deny her African American heritage.

In 1999, she also formed Tashannie, a hip-hop and R&B project for which she was the primary vocalist, alongside Annie Lee, who was also a member of Uptown. Uptown broke up in 2000 after a scandal proved two members to be involved in drugs. A year later, Tasha debuted as a solo artist, under the moniker T.

In 2002, she released her 1.5 album, Gemini. It was the first Korean hip-hop album to debut in the Japanese market. Tasha later left World Music to join Jungle Entertainment, a label founded by now husband Tiger JK.

In February 2012, Yoon became the face of Hewlett-Packard by signing a one-year contact to appear in their print media and radio advertisements.

She was one of four judges for the third season of Superstar K, and as of October 2012, was also judge for the fourth season.

On January 2013, Yoon, together with husband Tiger JK and Bizzy as members of MFBTY (My Fans Better Than Yours), were selected as representatives of Kpop for Korea at the International Music Tradeshow on Midem, in Cannes, France. They performed in their own showcase 'K-Pop Night Out at MIDEM 2013'.

In September 2013, Yoon earned the #1 spot on Billboard's Korea K-Pop Hot 100 list with her song "Touch Love" from the South Korean drama Master's Sun.

In December 2014, her groupMfbty was rebranded under her name. Their first single under that name "Angel" hit no. 1 on the Gaon charts.

 Also in that month she revealed that the American film The Interview used her song "Pay Day" without permission, and that she will be taking legal action.

Personal life

Reid speaks Korean and English fluently.

She is an advocate against child abuse as seen by her participation in Vogue Korea's Stop & Love Campaign in 2011 and performing at the 2011 Child Abuse Awareness Concert. Together with Tiger JK, she received a commendation from South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare for her efforts in promoting child abuse prevention.

She also promotes awareness with multicultural families as seen with her seven month volunteer commitment in a multicultural youth camp in 2008. This is probably a result of her own history as a child of mixed ethnic origin where she experienced prejudice in Korean society against her racial background.

In June 2007, she married Tiger JK (member of Drunken Tiger) in a private ceremony. The wedding occurred a month before the death of Tiger JK's grandmother who had wanted to see them wed before her passing. Yoon became pregnant with son Jordan, the same month Tiger JK's grandmother died in July 2007. Jordan was born later in March 2008.