The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 26

Sanghyun gave another somewhat dazed bow to the applause. He could see the smiles of those clapping. To Sanghyun, the applause seemed genuine.

‘It was a pretty lacking performance, though….’

What aspect of the performance elicited applause from them?

Lost in thought, Sanghyun was handed water by Miju, who asked,

“How was it?”

“It was fun. Seriously.”

“They seemed to enjoy it too.”

As Miju pointed to the visually impaired, Sanghyun nodded.

“You went home and wrote lyrics yesterday, right? Because you were angry at what the boss said?”

“Yes. I was a bit angry, to be honest.”

“Was it fun writing those lyrics? Were they lyrics you wanted to write?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why did you do it if it wasn’t fun? How can the listener enjoy it if you don’t?”

From Sanghyun’s perspective, or perhaps from the perspective of the average Korean, it was an unimaginable question.

Why did you do it if it wasn’t fun?

Because you have to. To get into a good university, you have to study, and to not fall behind others, you have to get a job.

Because everyone else is doing it. Because all my friends have cars, so I need to buy one too, and because I’m getting older, I need to get married.

It was taken for granted. And that’s how he had lived.

Upon Sanghyun’s common sense, Miju drew a line between art and non-art.

“What the boss wanted to tell you, even taking on the role of an unlikeable villain, is the attitude towards music. The attitude you had when you performed today. Rap is the only art that ‘speaks,’ but are you ‘speaking’ in the way you live?”

Sanghyun suddenly thought of a song released three years later, in August 2008.

A song that expressed a person’s life and way of living, honestly capturing the inescapable anguish and confused heart.

Not a party song, nor a quiet rap with a catchy melody, but a song that reached number 4 on the Billboard Rap Chart.

The Game’s ‘My Life.’

The driving force behind ‘My Life’s’ popularity was undoubtedly the lyrics.

The Game was a rapper who came from a real gangster background.

Born to a drug-addicted father in a dangerous slum, The Game grew up in an underprivileged environment where he couldn’t live a normal life.

Naturally, he was exposed to drugs and guns from a young age, and started gangster activities to make a living. He lost friends and brothers in frequent shootings, and The Game himself was shot five times, nearly dying before barely surviving.

In ‘My Life,’ The Game depicted the lives of gangsters living in the Hood or Ghetto, based on his genuine experiences and thoughts.

It ain’t no bars but niggas can’t get out the hood

Took so many of my friends I should be hatin’ the hood

But the niggas that make up the hood is niggas like me

The Game consistently reveals his love-hate relationship with the hood in ‘My Life.’ It’s where I grew up, but also where my friends died, a place I want to escape from immediately.

At the same time, he asks, “Why did John Lennon leave the Beatles?” reaffirming that he can never leave this place.

The Game, who was suffering from severe depression at the time of making this song, had no choice but to create ‘My Life.’

To heal himself.

If The Game hadn’t rapped, he would never have overcome his depression and suicidal impulses.

Why the homies in the hood gotta eat through evil?

Answer my questions before I put this pistol to my people

A common prejudice about hip-hop is that most of it is just meaningless boasting.

That’s not wrong. Rappers bind money, women, cars, fame, etc., within the framework of swagger, expressing it without worrying about what others think.

But this is by no means meaningless.

Black people born in the hood, growing up in a state where learning is impossible. There were only about three ways for such black people to succeed.

Becoming an athlete, a huge drug dealer, or a rapper.

It was the same for The Game.

We different humans, I’m from mars

So be careful when you approach my foreign cars

You see them 24 inch spinnas? I got that from workin’ hard

Hip-hop is a culture of SWAG [swagger, confidence, and style].

The reason why they boast so much about wealth, success, and fame in hip-hop is because they overcame poverty and unhappiness only through ‘hip-hop.’

‘Ah……!’

Sanghyun realized his problem.

It was true that he chose hip-hop in the hospital, betting on uncertainty, but the way he had been trying to achieve it was still rational.

The way of a businessman, not the way of hip-hop.

‘It looks like you’re just lazing around at home all day?’

‘No. I’m slowly making plans, thinking about how to approach it in the most optimized way.’

‘Does music need that kind of thing?’

Sangmi was right. What he needed wasn’t optimization. It was doing things he couldn’t stand not doing.

“I’m going to go home first.”

Miju smiled brightly. She was originally pretty, but she looked even more beautiful.

Her advice was a great help.

“Thank you so much for today.”

“Just words?”

“Of course not.”

Sanghyun took out a bracelet from his bag and handed it to Miju. Miju looked surprised at the unexpected gift.

“No, it’s not like that. This is just……”

“Please accept it.”

It was a bracelet he bought for Sangmi, but he suddenly felt the urge to give it to Miju.

“Wear it when I see you next time.”

“T-Thank you.”

Not ignoring impulses.

Sanghyun smiled and turned away from Miju, heading home.

‘Doing what you want to do.’

The boundary between art and non-art. Doing things that make your body tingle with desire.

‘Doing it in the way of hip-hop.’

Because the art he’s trying to do is hip-hop.

Like the legendary hip-hop musician Guru said, to do proper hip-hop, you have to go back to the history of hip-hop. You have to understand the cultural factors of hip-hop and project them into your life.

It seems like I’ve been doing stupid things until now.

What if a song better than Lundy’s Town doesn’t come out? Just make it again, and make it again.

Was the Thugz Mansion he performed today technically better than Lundy’s Town? Absolutely not. But today, he was happy singing Thugz Mansion, and he made others happy.

Not having a proper beat is no excuse. You don’t necessarily need accompaniment to ‘speak.’

Arriving home, Sanghyun started writing lyrics as if possessed. He calmly and carefully chose the words he wanted and pondered the rhymes.

He thought that he wasn’t writing lyrics, but writing ‘sentences’ that he couldn’t bear not to say.

After a not-so-short time.

All the lyrics were completed.

He didn’t know if this would be a good rap. But it was definitely full of words he wanted to say to himself.

Sanghyun pondered the title of the song and filled in small letters at the top of the note.

Gotta Move.

While writing the lyrics for the song ‘Gotta Move,’ he had only one purpose in mind. To completely restore the feeling of today when he listened to this song later.

‘The feelings, emotions, and realizations I felt today.’

Music has a differentiated point among many art fields.

The most important thing is that music is a ‘time art.’

Music is not an art that occupies space like paintings or sculptures. Music opens its mouth and spits out sound, gradually disappearing at the same time.

Rap is even more special.

It is easy to find cases where people hum melodies even if they don’t know the lyrics, but not with rap. That’s why the MCs [Masters of Ceremony, rappers] who make rap may be more focused on the lyrics.

Even if the rhythm, the melody, the groove is forgotten, the message I conveyed remains.

-Click.

The MP3’s recording function was activated. The first song made by Sanghyun, who has the memories of 38 years old.

Sanghyun’s flexible voice, like speaking, echoed through the room, and the song began.

I don’t want to live the same life. So I try.

It’s a very cliché thing to say, but this is all that

Can explain me. Fear covers me

If I don’t do it now, I’ll stop for the rest of my life

When Section Chief Oh Yeon-joo said that the pharmaceutical company had gone bankrupt, he was so anxious and scared because the future was changing. But when you think about it, the future changes anyway.

Anyway, Sanghyun had to try not to live the same life.

If you keep it as it is, it will never

Be irreversible, just do it my way

It’s easier to just do my thing, try, and maybe give up

Just try.

‘Don’t be cocky.’

Sanghyun hadn’t achieved anything yet.

He ignored Junhyung’s set list as if he was something special just because he hung out with the band once or twice.

The changing future may also involve people.

Just as he tries to get along with Sangmi, he may also drift apart from Junhyung. He’s not a friend he’s been with until he was 38 years old. If he wants to be a friend to be with in the future, he has to try.

Since nothing is set, just do it.

If it doesn’t work, give it up. If it works, do it several times to become Better Than

Get into that habit.

Success is like summer.

You never know it’s coming until you try it.

He is a blank slate who knows nothing. Just do what you want without worrying about what others think.

I think like this, so I’ll act like this

Maybe it’s a fight that’s sure to fail

But if I do what’s like me, something will appear.

While rapping very calmly, Sanghyun thought that his voice was like talking to himself.

It was a very fun and mysterious experience.

The lyrics I wrote were not mine, but it was like someone who was trying to comfort me was singing.

Sanghyun improvised a very simple chorus.

Gotta move.

movin’ it. move it.

Gotta move.

movin’ it. move it.

Gotta move…….

***

Junhyung, who was listening to a foreign rapper’s song on his computer, checked the text message on his phone that was buzzing. It was a short text from Sanghyun.

-Check your email.

Email?

At the sudden words, Junhyung accessed his email and found an attached file from Sanghyun.

“Gotta Move?”

A song file? What is it?

Junhyung played the attached file.

Soon, a crackling sound was heard, and Sanghyun’s voice began to be heard through the poor sound quality.

A pure voice without any effects, including the beat.

Since the email also included the lyrics, Junhyung read the lyrics while following Sanghyun’s voice. Soon, he was moved by the sincerity contained in the voice.

‘Good.’

Is this the skill that made the band ask him to join?

Gotta move.

movin’ it. move it.

Gotta move…….

The song ended. Junhyung, who read the lyrics once more without the song, belatedly checked the bottom of the email.

‘Verse 2 is your part, so write the lyrics by tomorrow. It’s homework from your hyung [older brother or close male friend].’

Junhyung chuckled and sent a text to Sanghyun.

-You send it on Sunday evening and tell me to write it by tomorrow, are you telling me to stay up all night?

Sanghyun’s reply was only two ‘ㅇ’s [Korean equivalent of ‘ok’]. The insincerity was as if asking, ‘Can’t you even do that?’ so Junhyung rolled up his sleeves.

That’s how ‘Gotta Move,’ the first song that signaled the start of Sanghyun and Junhyung, was being created on a quiet Sunday.