Ji Sang-ryeol on his 20-year music comeback: live-only rule, 3-month grind, and a possible sequel to '소주밤'
The comedian-turned-broadcaster opened up on 'Yu Min-sang's Hungry Radio' about refusing lip-sync, pitching Mighty Mouse himself, and what a good debut batting average could spawn.
He knocked on Mighty Mouse's door himself
Ji Sang-ryeol sat down with SBS Roof FM's Yu Min-sang's Hungry Radio on October 20. He broke down how a comedian who put out an album under the name G.C Hammer in 2007 ended up on a Music Bank stage nearly two decades later.
The route ran through KBS 2TV's Men Who Do Housework Season 2, where Ji ran the "G.C Hammer Comeback Project." The original idea—learn rap, then perform at markets for laughs—didn't sit right with him. He pushed back. He wanted a proper music broadcast stage, done live, no lip-sync.
"I opposed that. Even if it's laughter, if we're going to do it, we should do it properly — the final stage being a music broadcast. And I said I would do it live."
The collaboration with Mighty Mouse came from both sides moving toward each other. Ji went to the group directly and knocked. The sheet music came together well. Gyeongri's voice was brought in to complete the track. The result was 소주밤—a featured appearance alongside Gyeongri—which landed a Music Bank stage and a music video. Three months of work in total.
"The evaluation is not bad"
Ji described 소주밤 as a song built for the moment: "The world is heavy, so let's enjoy things lightly and casually." On how it's been received, he kept it measured. "The evaluation from people around seems not bad." From someone who spent 20 years off music stages, that reads as a win.
He also left the door open for more. Because 소주밤 had a good batting average, he joked, it could become 막걸리밤, 양주밤, or 와인밤 down the line. The man has a whole alcohol-themed discography mapped out in his head.
For fans of Ji Sang-ryeol, the Hungry Radio appearance is the clearest account yet of how intentional this comeback was. Not a gag. Not a one-off. A three-month strategic push that ended with a live stage he refused to fake his way through.
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