DJ Tukutz (투컷), a member of the South Korean hip-hop group Epik High, recently revealed his usual conversational strategy when approaching singer Taeyang (태양) for a favor. To his surprise, Taeyang immediately discerned his true motive.
On the 13th, Epik High's official YouTube channel released a video addressing fan questions. During the segment, a fan asked for advice on how to effectively ask others for favors. Mithra Jin (미쓰라 진) chuckled, remarking, "Friends you contact regularly wouldn't suddenly call you to ask, 'How have you been lately?'" Tablo (타블로) added, "The phrase 'I've been following your activities' is also very suspicious."
Upon hearing this, DJ Tukutz immediately protested, stating, "'How have you been lately?' and 'I've been following your activities' are both phrases I use very often."
Tablo promptly retorted, "After saying all that, aren't you just going to ask them for a feature?" DJ Tukutz openly admitted that he indeed had something he wanted to ask for.
DJ Tukutz then shared a recent chat exchange with Taeyang on a messaging app. He first messaged Taeyang, "How have you been lately? I've been following your recent activities. Actually, there's something I wanted to..." Before he could finish his sentence, Taeyang immediately replied, "Hyung, I think I know what you're going to say."
This made Tablo and Mithra Jin laugh, noting that for intuitive people, once someone starts deliberately building up to a request without getting straight to the point, their true intentions can already be guessed.
The two advised that if you genuinely need to ask someone for a favor, it's more natural to get straight to the point rather than beating around the bush, and then express gratitude or offer greetings afterward.
