Song Baek-kyung lashes out at shaman who implied YG producer Perry is dead

Perry, an early rapper and producer at YG Entertainment [Song Baek-kyung's social media]

As the whereabouts of Perry (54), a rapper and producer who helped shape the early sound of YG Entertainment, remain unknown, his former 1TYM bandmate Song Baek-kyung has expressed outrage at a shaman who posted a video speculating about whether Perry is alive or dead.

Song shared a screenshot of the shaman's video on his social media Monday, writing that he had not wanted to watch it but had come across it by chance. "Even I was disgusted," he wrote. He criticized the shaman, asking, "What do you know? How dare you casually talk about whether someone is living or dead?"

In the video Song referenced, the shaman looked at a photo of Perry and made remarks implying he had died — saying his face "looks dark" and asking, "Is he actually alive?" and "I don't think this person is with us anymore." The shaman also made comments that could be interpreted as insulting Perry, saying he appeared to have "gone down a bad path" and that she "saw needles."

Song fired back, saying, "I can see something dark too — that's what's inside this ajumma's heart." He added that "needle marks" could be seen on the shaman's own face as well, in a jab at her appearance suggesting she had received cosmetic procedures at a discount.

Perry, believed to be a Korean American, vanished from public life around 2010 and has not been seen since. Fellow artists who were close to him, including Shawn, as well as his own family, have said they do not know where he is. The mystery drew renewed attention after SBS's investigative program "Geugeosi Algo Sipda" (I Want to Know That) announced it was accepting tips on his whereabouts.

Perry began his career in Korea in earnest with the 1997 debut album of YG hip-hop duo Jinusean and went on to work as a YG producer, contributing to albums by Jinusean, 1TYM, Se7en, Wheesung and Big Bang, among others. He also released a solo album in 2001. His influence was so pervasive that the early YG sound is widely credited to him. His sudden disappearance drew particular suspicion because he still had time remaining on his contract with YG Entertainment. That contract has since expired.

In 2021, an internet user who identified themselves as Perry's nephew posted that Perry had last been spotted in Los Angeles in 2010 and had been missing ever since, adding that they had filed a missing-persons report with the Department of State. No news of Perry's whereabouts has emerged since.

paq@heraldcorp.com