ADVERTISEMENT

Guess Who Put Bread on the Table by Translating Porn

중앙일보

입력

[photo from Kiggen's Instagram]

[photo from Kiggen's Instagram]

Songwriter Kiggen, who produced quite a number of hits such as Verbal Jint's "Pretty Enough," "Oh Little Girl" from the 'Produce 101 Season 2' EP '35 Boys 5 Concepts,' and NU'EST W's "IF YOU," revealed his past where he had to earn his day to day expenses by translating pornography.

"Oh Little Girl" [photo from Instagram]

"Oh Little Girl" [photo from Instagram]

NU'EST W [photo from Youtube]

NU'EST W [photo from Youtube]

On MBC every1's entertainment show 'Video Star,' aired Nov. 21, Kiggen appeared alongside Rhymer, Hanhae, Lim Young Min, and Kim Dong Hyun, all celebrities of the 'Brand New Music' hip hop company.

[photo from MBCEvery1]

[photo from MBCEvery1]

One of the hosts asked Kiggen "You earned money by translating porn, right?"

[photo from MBCevery1]

[photo from MBCevery1]

Kiggen, a third-generation of a Korean resident in Japan, explained how he "spoke Japanese as a kid because [he] couldn't speak Korean."

The artist responsible for your favorite K-pop songs translated porn?

He added "I came to Seoul without any friends or family. Cooped up in a tiny room, I wondered how I would earn money, and I registered my profile on a job hunting website for foreigners."

After a few days, Kiggen received a job offer, with the employer calling to say that "I called you because you're old to know about these kinds of stuff."

[photo from MBCevery1]

[photo from MBCevery1]

Kiggen said that "(the caller) gave me a USB and said 'I'm engaged in the vocal entertainment business. I'll pay you some amount of money if you translate this.'" What the USB contained turned out to be porn.

[photo from MBCevery1]

[photo from MBCevery1]

Asked, "how much was the workload?" Kiggen answered "well, in porn, the story isn't that important, so I could translate a piece per 10 minutes. Your mind turns to mush after translating about twenty." He added that "I earned several million wons in my twenties." But he added that he quit because he wanted to pursue his dreams.

[photo from Kiggen's Instagram]

[photo from Kiggen's Instagram]

Rhymer, listening to the story, added that "Kiggen underwent some really hard stuff."

By Bongbong and Suwon Han voomvoomk@gmail.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT