Who Is Perry? G-Dragon's Early YG Producer Reportedly Missing for 16 Years

SBS investigative program "Unanswered Questions" is seeking information on Perry, a rapper and producer who helped shape YG Entertainment's early music and whose whereabouts have reportedly been unknown for 16 years.

The program issued a public call for tips on Sept. 17, asking to hear from anyone who knows Perry's current whereabouts or remains in contact with his family. According to the notice, Perry continued his music career in South Korea from the mid-1990s before reportedly being last seen in Los Angeles in 2010.

For newer K-POP fans, Perry may not be a familiar name. But before YG became home to acts including BIGBANG and BLACKPINK, he was one of the producers working behind some of the company's defining early releases.

Perry, whose full name is Perry Thomas Borja, began working with YG in the late 1990s. His credits span artists including Jinusean, 1TYM, Lexy, Wheesung, Gummy and SE7EN, placing him among the producers who helped establish the hip-hop-driven sound associated with the label's early years.

He was also an artist himself. In 2001, Perry released his solo album "Perry By Storm," which featured an artist who would become one of YG's biggest stars: G-Dragon.

Then only 13 years old, G-Dragon appeared on the album's title track "Storm" alongside Sean and Masta Wu. The album also featured a track titled "G-Dragon," featuring Perry, marking one of the young trainee's earliest official YG releases, five years before BIGBANG's debut in 2006.

G-Dragon later recalled Perry taking an early interest in him. In a 2012 interview, he said that after meeting Yang Hyun-suk at around 13, Perry, then one of YG's main producers, also took notice of him and offered to produce for him.

Perry has since sometimes been described as an early mentor or "songwriting teacher" to G-Dragon, reflecting a working relationship that began well before his debut with BIGBANG.

Perry remained connected to the next generation of the label as well. Among his later credits was BIGBANG's 2010 Japanese single "Beautiful Hangover," on which he participated in the songwriting. It is one of his last clearly documented major music credits before his public activities largely stopped.

Around the same period, Perry reportedly returned to the United States. Former YG artists who had worked closely with him have also spoken about losing touch. Masta Wu has said he only heard that Perry had returned to the U.S., while Jinusean's Sean has similarly said that news of Perry stopped after he left Korea.

However, his name did not immediately disappear from YG's corporate records. Perry was listed among the company's exclusive producers through its third-quarter report in 2013 before disappearing from that list in its 2014 filings. Yet the same period's company disclosures still named Perry alongside Teddy and G-Dragon when describing YG's in-house team of producers and studios. The conflicting references make the exact timing and circumstances of his departure from YG unclear.

Concern over Perry's whereabouts gained wider attention in 2021 when a person identifying himself as Perry's nephew posted online asking for help finding him. He said Perry had last been seen in Los Angeles in 2010 and that the family had also been trying to locate him.

Until now, much of the discussion surrounding Perry had circulated among longtime YG and K-POP fans. SBS' decision to publicly seek information has brought renewed attention to the mystery.

More than a decade after Perry disappeared from public view, questions remain about what happened to a producer whose work can be traced through YG's formative years, from Jinusean and 1TYM to a teenage G-Dragon and eventually BIGBANG.