Rapper Woo Won-jae revealed that he handed every bit of income he made after debut to his mother — and when he finally got the bankbooks back, he choked up after discovering an unexpected act of love.
Recently, Woo appeared on rapper and TV personality DinDin’s YouTube channel, opening up about how he felt when he suddenly started earning big at the start of his career. After gaining fame through Mnet’s Show Me The Money 6, he rose to success quickly, but he admitted he struggled to keep his footing when a level of income he couldn’t handle at such a young age started pouring in.
“At first, I was really immature. I even thought, ‘Should I go check out a Maserati tomorrow?’” he laughed. “I told Gray about it, and he said, ‘Absolutely do not buy a car right now. Start saving first,’ really firmly. It was the first time he had ever scolded me that seriously.”
Realizing he couldn’t manage his finances on his own, Woo decided to entrust all his income to his mother. “Back then, I had no knowledge about money, and my schedule was insanely busy,” he explained. “So my mom took full charge.”
When he turned 31, Woo decided to live on his own. Setting financial and emotional independence as his goals for the year, he received his bank accounts and assets back. That’s when he discovered his mother’s true intentions. “I was shocked looking through the account history. There were consistent donations made under my name. There were so many I had no idea about,” he said. “My mom had been secretly doing good deeds.” He added, “She had also been steadily putting money into installment savings. I told her, ‘I’m the one earning it, so please use it,’ but she had barely touched it. In the end, she even gave me some allowance money and a letter. Seeing that really moved me.”
Meanwhile, Woo Won-jae first drew major attention after placing third on Mnet’s Show Me The Money 6. He recently returned to music with his first new EP in about two years, titled ‘mp3.’