Rapper Noel (real name Jang Yong-jun) revealed what he realized after visiting a detention center nine months after his father's death and expressed remorse to his parents.
Recently, a video titled "Noel and Shoes Off, the high school rapper who went to school" was uploaded to the SPNS TV channel.
The hosts said, "He has a brat image, but when we called to invite him, he seemed calm and fine. I felt he was a decent young man, so I was curious about the source of the brat image. I'm curious how he feels these days."
Rapper Noel, who resumed activities, said, "Many people don't know I went to jail. Some people ask, 'Why hasn't that guy been punished yet?' Part of the brat image comes from how I acted, but when people talk to me, many always say, 'He's different from what I thought.'"
Recalling the time he rose to stardom on "High School Rapper," he said, "Even if I earned a lot of money during the stormy adolescent period, the discomfort I experienced wasn't equivalent to the amount I earned. I wondered if I had to endure it just because I earned a lot. It became an opportunity to think violently and extremely." He added, "When I was young it really felt like letting go and riding a bike with both hands off. I lived with a 'even if I die today, it's not a part-time job' kind of feeling. Now I've been to a detention center and I felt like if I made one wrong step here I might leave, so I live with my eyes wide open as a last line of defense."
Noel said he lived in a detention center because of various controversies and learned a lot, saying, "It was psychologically shocking. I saw things I shouldn't have and things I shouldn't see in the detention center, so I decided I wouldn't urinate in that direction either." He added, "I was confined exactly 365 days and went through all four seasons, but the heating and cooling systems didn't work properly. The fan ran for 50 minutes and stopped for 10. There was no air conditioning. I used a solitary cell and the room was really small. All I could do was write letters and sleep."
He said he asked to change rooms because the solitary cell felt stifling but was refused, saying, "I gained a lot of weight because I did nothing there. I ate two boxes of Choco Pie and four packs of sausages at a time. I weighed 58 kg when I went in, but I weighed 95 kg when I left the detention center. And because I hardly spoke, I developed something like aphasia. I forgot how to speak." He confessed, "My mother cried a lot when I was transferred to the detention center. I cried as soon as I went into the solitary cell. I felt sorry to my parents. I had received more love and a better environment than others, but I lived estranged from my family."
Noel gained fame from his debut as the son of the late former lawmaker Jang Je-won of the People Power Party. However, he was repeatedly embroiled in scandals and noise, including being arrested on the spot for unlicensed driving and assaulting a police officer, repeated deviations and controversies, and the shock of Jang Je-won's sudden death.
Noel said, "Above all, I'm sorry to my father and mother. I received more affection and was taken on trips more often than others, and I grew up well, but after listening to things like rapper E Sens's 'Poison' I developed paranoid delusions at home and lived estranged until I was 19. I cut off everything my parents did for me." He said, "At 19 (thanks to High School Rapper) I started earning big money for the first time, and after I went to my father and said, 'It's lonely for a man to make money, I'm sorry,' we had many human conversations."
He continued, "I was in a boarding school in Jeju even in middle school. My parents seemed to want to raise me specially. But from my perspective, the control system there felt like abuse. If you broke the rules, your time was controlled." He recalled, "I listened to a lot of hip-hop then. My family tried to provide a good environment, but I wanted to be with my family and ride bikes in the neighborhood with friends while snacking. I kept asking 'why.'"
Noel, who lost his father nine months ago, added, "I spent my childhood in confusion, but now I want to take responsibility. I want to start a family early. My essential profession is musician, so I want to convey meaning through music as much as possible and devote my personal energy to my family and children."
Meanwhile, Noel's father died on March 31. On that day, Jang Je-won was found dead in an officetel in Gangdong District, Seoul.
In November 2015, while serving as a vice president of a university in Busan, former lawmaker Jang Je-won was accused of committing sexual violence (quasi-rape causing injury) against his secretary A. However, the deceased strongly denied A's claims and emphasized his innocence.
On March 27, A's side released a video believed to have been filmed in a hotel room in Gangnam District, and planned to hold a press conference on April 1 to explain the details of the accusation. However, Jang Je-won was found dead the day before the press conference after a police investigation.
After his father's death, Noel opened up on his personal account, "I respectfully saw my father off for three days. On the day of the funeral, the weather was unusually clear and warm, so I still don't know whether to be glad or heartbroken; the feeling of sadness doesn't seem to have sunk in yet." He said, "It was a time of great fear, helplessness, depression and grief. But looking back, I made many mistakes in my life, and I deeply regret them. I believe this will become an opportunity to live more responsibly, to be able to give, to take care of loved ones, and to live more firmly as a provider and as an adult. From now on I will live more fiercely," he said, revealing his feelings.
[Photo] Screenshot of 'SPNS TV' screen, SNS
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