The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 46

Verse 6. Fuck Tha Show Biz

Just then, Junhyung, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.

“Could I have everyone in the crew’s attention, please?”

Inhyuk, Hwan, Minji, Hayeon, and Sanghyun all looked at Junhyung.

Junhyung said with a determined voice.

“The underground scene in Korea is very small. So, first impressions tend to stick. Sanghyun and I are already exposed, so there’s nothing we can do, but the other crew members haven’t participated in performances or interviews…”

“Haven’t participated…?”

“There’s no need for you to start your careers under the name of the 888 Crew. You guys haven’t done anything wrong, but there’s no need to get hate just for being associated with 888.”

Hayeon asked.

“Are you saying you and Sanghyun did something wrong?”

“No, it’s not like that, but we’ve got a negative image. I won’t be upset at all if you guys leave the crew. That goes for you too, Hayeon.”

“……”

A strange silence fell for a moment.

Junhyung looked around with determined eyes. It was Park Inhyuk’s hearty laughter that broke the silence.

“Puhahaha!”

“Hehe.”

Kim Hwan and Oh Minji also laughed along.

Junhyung looked bewildered at the sudden laughter, which didn’t stop easily. Park Inhwan, still chuckling, barely managed to speak.

“I’m trying to decide if I should be filming a legal thriller or an independent film with a media company, and this guy is over here filming a Hollywood hero movie by himself.”

“Why? This is the kind of virtue a leader should have. Unexpected cheesiness and childishness. Isn’t it great?”

“Wow, Hollywood style.”

“This is all the fault of dating sims [dating simulation games]! If you say lines like that, the heroine will be like, ‘Sugoi, Junhyung-san! [Amazing, Mr. Junhyung!]’ with sparkling tears, so you think it’s real!”

“Unnie [older sister]! I think that’s a generalization about dating sims. Junhyung is just childish; it’s not a problem with the game genre!”

“Hmm, when I look at it, Hayeon subtly defends dating sims? Tell me honestly, how many CDs do you have at home?”

“I-I don’t have any…!”

In an instant, the studio became noisy and bustling. Junhyung blinked, taken aback by the unexpected reaction.

“No… but still…”

“What do you mean, ‘but still’? Why would we leave the crew? I’m actually fired up right now. Doesn’t this feel a bit like N.W.A being oppressed by the police for being black? Or like Eminem receiving death threats from black people for being white?”

Kim Hwan agreed with Park Inhyuk’s words.

“That’s why we need Show And Prove even more.”

Show And Prove. An old hip-hop adage.

Show and prove it.

Everyone’s eyes lit up at Kim Hwan’s words. That’s right. The most important thing in making hip-hop music is proof. The gloomy atmosphere completely disappeared, and the 888 Crew members’ eyes were full of energy.

“Let’s prepare the 888 Crew mixtape (Mix Tape: a non-commercial album, usually in hip-hop, it means an album made by putting their own lyrics on other musicians’ songs) faster.”

“Shouldn’t we show something before that?”

“That’s right. If we release a mixtape now, we’ll be condemned regardless of the result.”

“We might become the poster children for noise marketing.”

The L&S band members and Miju were deeply moved by the drastically changed atmosphere of the 888 Crew.

In particular, Bang Minsik, as a leader, understood Junhyung’s feelings 100%, so he was even more so.

Miju, who was full of sensitivity, actively volunteered to be a guest keyboardist as if trying to hide her red eyes, but the quick-witted Park Inhwan discovered Miju’s eyes and teased her for being a crybaby.

“The crybaby speaks!”

In the end, Park Inhwan got hit on the back.

Sanghyun smiled as he watched their antics. Junhyung’s worries are valid, and the crew members’ actions are admirable. Kim Hwan is right. No matter how angry or heated they get, the only thing they can do is prove it with their skills.

Show And Prove. Again, Show And Prove.

“It wasn’t to this extent, but there were underground musicians who were criticized for various reasons in the past.”

Everyone’s attention was focused on Yongjun’s words.

“Minsik hyung [older brother] will know. The band team called Guitar and Note, and Finish Line.”

“Ah… I know.”

“Guitar and Note couldn’t overcome the pressure due to the huge acclaim of their debut album and were suspected of plagiarizing a song by a Swedish band for their second album’s title track. Finish Line was criticized for their overly commercial music after their first album.”

“So?”

“Guitar and Note fell apart. The next album, and the album after that, were terrible. But Finish Line became incredibly popular. In the end, they proved it with their skills. Finish Line is the Big Fish band that’s active now.”

“Ah…!”

The 888 members exclaimed in admiration.

The Big Fish band was a band that recorded high album sales based on a solid underground fan base and occasionally made popular singles that charted.

Even if they weren’t popular superstars, everyone would have sung a Big Fish band song at karaoke at least once or twice.

“What I’m saying is basically the same as Hwan’s opinion. You have to prove it with your skills. The term ‘bad boy’ is often used in the sports world. The term ‘bad boy’ is usually used for players who have problems in their private lives or are rude but are incredibly good.”

“Strangely, people like bad boys.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Yongjun said strongly.

“I can say for sure. The song you guys show this time will determine the fate of the 888 Crew for the next year or two. The reason I’m saying this is that it’s good to be full of enthusiasm, but I also think you need to look at the situation coolly.”

Everyone nodded. Then silence fell. But this silence was not the heavy silence from before but a silence that flowed with serious contemplation.

Then, breaking the silence, Sanghyun opened his mouth.

“A diss track.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s release a diss track.”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

Disrespect.

Shortened to Diss.

A hip-hop-specific aggressive culture that uses aggressive lyrics to criticize the opponent.

“Diss means attacking with a song, right? Criticizing?”

“Yes.”

Sanghyun nodded at Yongjun’s question.

As the 2000s entered the late stages, the word diss became popular, and even words like self-diss were created, but in 2005, it was not such a familiar word.

The first diss song in Korean hip-hop that Sanghyun remembered was ‘Noja’ by 4WD and Verbal Jint in 2000, which dissed JoPD. At the time, this song caused a great sensation among hip-hop fans, and after that, quite a few diss tracks were created.

“Who are we going to diss?”

“Of course, show business and editor Hwang.”

“Won’t it backfire?”

“I think the most important thing in hip-hop is saying what you want to say. That’s why there are long lyrics that are differentiated from songs.”

An explanation of editor Hwang’s malicious interview editing.

A public criticism of show business.

A mockery of noise marketing.

A diss track was needed to digest all of this.

This is a little different from a simple diss.

We need a song like ‘Fuck tha police’ that N.W.A showed in their revolutionary album Straight Outta Compton.

N.W.A is the beginning, history, and legend of West Coast hip-hop, commonly referred to as gangster hip-hop.

Many critics considered N.W.A, which stands for Niggas With Attitudes, the most important group in hip-hop history.

N.W.A, which criticized the government and vividly expressed the lives of black people, was restricted from American radio broadcasts due to its explicit lyrics. In addition, they were suppressed by the police and received a serious level of FBI warnings. Nevertheless, they sold ten million CDs.

Dr. Dre.

Easy-e.

Dj yella.

Ice Cube.

MC Ren.

Arabian Prince.

Sanghyun needed the consciousness they had in 1988.

“Fuck tha Show biz.”

Sanghyun declared.

Yeah. Fuck tha Show biz.

“Fuck tha Show biz…? It sounds familiar for some reason?”

Park Inhyuk smiled and tapped Sanghyun on the shoulder at Junhyung’s muttering.

“N.W.A.”

“That’s right.”

“Ah!”

Only then did everyone recall ‘Fuck Tha Police,’ which made N.W.A a legend.

Only the L&S members had no idea what was going on.

“Are you really confident in making a killer song? This is beyond a diss, and the song you’re trying to reference is too legendary.”

“You’ll get ripped to shreds if you don’t do well?”

“If you’re really bad, it’s a worse attempt than not doing it at all?”

Hayeon and Park Inhyuk warned Sanghyun. But unlike their words, Sanghyun could read the trust they showed.

“What are you talking about anyway?”

“Fuck tha… what?”

Miju and Minsik asked. Park Inhyuk briefly explained about N.W.A.

“So, it’s a song that contains a sense of resistance? Like Rage Against the Machine (RATM)?”

This time, the 888 Crew members didn’t know RATM. Minsik explained briefly.

“Sanghyun-ah. Do this song alone.”

“Junhyung, you got hate too, right?”

“No. This is a song where the message is important. If two rappers rap in different styles, the focus may be on the superiority of the rap rather than the message.”

Sanghyun nodded inwardly at Junhyung’s words. Junhyung definitely has an eye for it.

“Just leave it to me.”

“You’re going to start working on it right away, right?”

“Immediately.”

Sanghyun smiled confidently.

Just you wait. If show business wanted noise marketing, I’ll prove my skills and give them back even bigger noise marketing.

***

As of 2005, the history of the Korean hip-hop scene is less than 6 years. Compared to the United States, the home of hip-hop, it is a very short history.

The interesting thing is that the Korean hip-hop scene was created around ‘online communities’.

Since 1999, the Korean hip-hop scene has started with communication clubs such as Hitel’s BLEX and Naunuuri’s S&P.

Almost all black music musicians in the early 2000s were from communication clubs.

Online hip-hop community = Korean underground hip-hop scene

2005 was the time when the above formula was almost established.

Therefore, the Korean hip-hop scene had a tendency to spread even small incidents very quickly through the ‘hip-hop community’.

And in early August 2005, a post was uploaded to the hip-hop community.

-This is why hip-hop gets hate.

A post with a provocative title began to cause a stir.

***

“888 Crew?”

Bae Sangwook, who was active under the rap name Vega, wiped away sweat and tilted his head.

The club Masterplan (MP), which led Korean hip-hop, closed its doors after its last performance in December 2001, and for a while, hip-hop underground musicians had no opportunity to perform. Bae Sangwook always regretted that.

While the first generation rappers of Masterplan were debuting in the overground [mainstream], Bae Sangwook continued to work for the underground and finally signed a contract with Club Hommie, which opened at the end of August.

Under Bae Sangwook’s leadership, they agreed to hold hip-hop performances once every two months for the next year.

“What’s 888 Crew?”

“Don’t you go to the community these days?”

“It’s been a while since I went. I’m too busy with Hommie’s first performance. I’m practicing, coordinating contracts, and planning the lineup.”

Bae Sangwook was sweating to make the first performance a success. If it weren’t for the crew member who came to visit him during practice, he would have been practicing.

“Why? Did a killer album come out? From a place called 888 Crew?”

“No. No album at all.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s a hip-hop crew that’s active in Gwangju, and there’s been a lot of talk about them in the community since the day before yesterday.”

“Jeolla-do Gwangju? Gyeonggi-do Gwangju?”

“Jeolla-do.”

“Wow, there’s a crew in Gwangju too. But why? What’s the talk about? Are they really good?”

“No. It’s not that, but there’s a lot of talk because they’re arrogant and rude.”

Bae Sangwook looked puzzled at his colleague’s tone.

“How do you know that? Have you met them in person?”

“Not really… Do you know Show Business?”

“That gossip magazine?”

“Yeah. The problem is the Show Business interview with the 888 Crew guys. I saw it too, and first of all, those young bastards are rude, aren’t they?”

Verse 6. Fuck Tha Show Biz End

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