The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 79

(Omitted)

LE: The 888 Crew is often referred to as major rookies among hip-hop fans. Are there any rappers in the current hip-hop scene that you consider rivals?

Lee Sang-hyun: I haven’t actually met them in person to call them rivals, but the rapper I’m most looking forward to is Caliph.

LE: Oh… You mean the rapper from Soulmakers? That’s a bit unexpected. What makes you say that?

Lee Sang-hyun: I really liked the vibe that Caliph’s rap showed on Soulmakers’ first album released last year. Especially in songs like ‘Rookie’ and ‘Unsung,’ the direction of the lyrics and rap was great.

I know that Caliph produced most of the beats on the Soulmakers album. He’s a musician I definitely want to work with.

LE: Lee Sang-hyun, you seem to have a very wide listening spectrum. Soulmakers is considered a team with potential among industry insiders, but they aren’t yet well-known to the general listening public.

Lee Sang-hyun: I think that in just one or two years, they will become an indispensable name in the Korean hip-hop scene.

LE: Now there are only two questions left. That’s a shame. First of all, what is the 888 Crew currently preparing?

Shin Jun-hyung: There are three main things.

First, we are planning to host the 888 Show in mid-October. We are still deciding whether to do it in Gwangju or Seoul, but we might do it in both places with a week’s interval.

Next is the mixtape. However, the songs we performed at Club Homie will not be included in the mixtape, and we are planning to release the recorded files of those songs separately within a few days.

Lastly, we are preparing for collaborations with crews representing other regions. Remember the domestic brand with the 888 Crew logo I mentioned earlier?

The 888 brand limited edition will be engraved with 051 X RAP or 031 X RAP, etc. These are not for sale and will only be given as gifts to the teams we collaborate with. You could see it as a token of friendship.

LE: A limited edition sounds tempting! I hope the 888 Crew will be generous and make an LE [Limited Edition] limited edition for us too. (laughs)

Now for the last question. What is the 888 Crew pursuing in the long term? And what is your ultimate goal?

Lee Sang-hyun: What we are pursuing in the long term is, of course, money, fame, and popularity.

LE: That’s a completely unexpected answer. Could you explain in detail?

Lee Sang-hyun: To reach our ultimate goal, we have to go through many stops in the short term and long term. I think it’s a lie to deny the money, fame, popularity, etc. that we will encounter at these stops.

Of course, money, fame, and popularity are not the ultimate goals of the 888 Crew. They are a measure of whether we are on the right path, and Haeundae.

LE: Huh? Haeundae?

Lee Sang-hyun: A byproduct. Sorry. (laughs)

Getting back to the point, I mean that if we move towards our ultimate goal, money, fame, popularity, etc. will follow.

We know that the 888 Crew cannot make music together forever. Ah, of course, we might be together forever. It’s up to each person’s choice. But in most cases, it’s not easy.

That’s why our ultimate goal is very simple.

Forever 888.

For everyone who knew the 888 Crew to remember us forever. For the current complete 888 Crew to live forever in everyone’s memory. Just like the Beatles did, and N.W.A did. To do that, we have to work harder.

Park In-hyuk: Wow…

Lee Sang-hyun: (laughs)

***

Among LA hip-hop musicians, DJ Standard received unique evaluations. In a word, a nerdy DJ. In fact, Standard was also a dropout from Aarhus University, a prestigious university in Denmark.

Standard’s music was by no means uninteresting or trite. He was good at music. He had a sense, and he also had the inspiration to use that sense.

However, Standard was the type to make music with effort and knowledge rather than pure inspiration. A DJ who makes music like studying.

Unlike most musicians who catch momentary inspiration and create music, Standard placed more importance on ‘forcing’ sounds to be created.

There was a reason for Standard’s musical stubbornness, and it was the philosophy he had since he dreamed of music.

He believed that ‘musical inspiration’ was an illusion that would disappear someday. He believed that the total amount of inspiration that a person is born with and consumes is determined from birth. That’s why he was convinced that musicians retire when that total amount of inspiration runs out.

“Hey, DJ Nerd.”

Standard frowned at Welder’s words.

Recently, his roommate Welder started calling him DJ Nerd (someone deeply immersed in one field).

“Fuck you.”

“Where did you go yesterday? I didn’t see you all day. Did you get a girlfriend or something?”

Standard shrugged.

“I went to the Mary Foxie Agency.”

“Huh? Are you signing with Mary Foxie? It’s not a very good agency for DJs, is it?”

“Why would I sign with those idiots? I’d hesitate even if they gave me $100,000 as a signing bonus. I just came to entrust Mary Foxie with sound source registration at someone’s request.”

“Oh, is our DJ Nerd already aiming for Billboard?”

“Get lost if you’re going to talk nonsense. I have to prepare for the show.”

“You always have the same show, but what are you always preparing for?”

Standard ignored Welder’s words and put on his monitoring headset.

In Korea, when you say DJ, people usually think of someone who just plays music. More narrowly, they think of radio DJs.

However, DJ originally had a much broader meaning.

A DJ proactively combines existing songs to create new songs and adds improvisation to the set list through scratching or turntable techniques. They are also creators who create new sounds through remixing, composing, and arranging. When you think about it, DJing is an older culture than rapping.

In fact, DJs existed even when rap music did not yet exist. Also, the birth of rap began when DJ Kool Herc shouted street slang to the music.

Therefore, unlike general perception, DJs also need a lot of effort to prepare for a performance. And Standard was a musician who never fell behind in effort.

Standard, who had been preparing for the party at 10 p.m. for a long time, was hungry and took off his headset. Just in time, Welder, who had gone out, came in with a hamburger.

“Are you almost ready?”

“Almost. What are you going to sing today?”

“I’ll probably do what I did last week.”

Welder and Standard ate hamburgers while talking about today’s performance. Welder was also a musician. But he wasn’t a DJ like Standard; he was a rapper.

“Aren’t you tired of singing the same song every day? Make some new songs.”

“What can I do if I don’t have any inspiration? And give me the beat you’re going to give to that Korean guy. You know, the song that Chinese people like. I like that beat.”

“Chinese?”

Standard looked puzzled at the sudden words.

“Guangzhou Up, you know. I heard that Chinese people say it’s the name of their country’s city?”

“Huh? I heard Lee said it was the city he lives in? Isn’t Lee Korean?”

“Is there any reason why a Korean has to live in Korea? He can live in China. Look at you. You’re Danish, but you live in America.”

“Is that so? I haven’t heard him say he lives in China… I’ll know if I ask him later. And I let you hear that beat as soon as I made it, but you said it wasn’t good.”

“No way!”

Welder opened his mouth, sipping only cola, as if he remembered it late.

“Anyway, Guangzhou Up isn’t good for party play. You felt it at the last performance, right?”

“It sounded good when I listened to it as a sound source… Is it because the linguistic color is too strong?”

“There’s that, and Asians are originally too diligent. They do what they’re told well. So I think the rap is too honest. It’s a characteristic of the race.”

Standard, who claimed to be a fan of Sang-hyun, frowned at Welder’s words.

“Isn’t that a racist remark?”

“Don’t say such a big deal! What kind of discrimination is this? I’m saying that Asians are kind and diligent. And Lee? That friend raps well. It’s just not a style that will work in America.”

“I think it will work?”

“Hey, Standard. DJs can succeed by working hard and studying. When I look at you these days, I think that might be a faster way. But not rappers. If a rapper can’t show himself as he is, he will fail. And if he shows himself as he is but isn’t attractive, he will fail.”

Standard didn’t fully agree, but Welder’s words made some sense, so he closed his mouth. Welder, who was taking out a Budweiser from the refrigerator and drinking it, gestured out the door when Standard finished his hamburger.

“Let’s go. It’s a bit early, but we have to leave now to not be late.”

“Go first.”

“Huh? What about you?”

“I’ll take my car.”

“You’re coming to the venue in that junk car?”

“I went to the Mary Foxie Agency in that junk car yesterday.”

Standard shrugged.

“I have some set list to fix. Anyway, I’m on the after-party lineup, so it’s too early to go now.”

“It’s boring to go alone? I can’t help it. Don’t be late.”

Welder, who was grumbling, left the house, and Standard sat in front of the computer. He wanted to show something to Welder and others.

He didn’t completely deny Welder’s view of rappers. Rawness was a unique aspect of hip-hop culture compared to other arts. But he thought Lee was an excellent rapper. In particular, he was a musician who could accurately catch what he intended while making the beat and make a rap based on it.

‘Standard, you make good beats, but you’re too rational. There’s nothing that makes you want to rap as soon as you hear it. You have to calculate the rap?’

What Standard usually heard was, after all, an extension of what Welder said to Lee.

So, he wanted to show something.

-Click.

Standard played the sound source file. This song was the first beat made at Lee’s request.

‘Standard. Can you make South beats?’

‘South? How can I understand if you just say that?’

‘I mean trap using 808 drums [a drum machine known for its deep bass].’

‘Is this what you’re saying using an international call? It’s four in the morning here now!’

‘It’s a bit complicated to explain by email. I don’t know the composition terms well either.’

Making trap sounds itself was not very difficult. He also enjoyed listening to musicians like Gucci Mane or T.I.

However, the direction Lee was asking for had a unique point.

Lee kept asking to reduce the number of instruments used or simplify the beat. At the same time, he asked for a heavy sound that was not light using ghost notes [subtle, quiet notes that add rhythm]. Besides, the strange thing was that he asked to lower the BPM (beats per minute) [the tempo of the music]. It was club tune music.

Standard accepted all of Sang-hyun’s requests. And when the result came out, he couldn’t help but be surprised.

‘How did this guy think of this direction?’

Strictly speaking, Lee’s request was not new at all. There were many beats with slow BPM, and there were many beats with simple instruments. But the important thing is the position where the music is used.

That’s how the song Eight, Eight, Eight was born.

Standard was planning to debut Eight, Eight, Eight at today’s party. It wasn’t originally planned.

‘It’s a bit lacking to just play the sound source in its current state.’

Even if he only played the sound source, he would receive good reviews. But it won’t be imprinted on everyone.

It’s not that the rap is lacking, and it’s not that the beat is lacking, but there is a sense of difference that culture and language give.

After thinking for a long time, Standard suddenly came up with a great idea. It was to mix dubstep into Eight, Eight, Eight.

Dubstep is a subgenre of electronic music that started in the UK and is gaining explosive popularity in Canada and the US. Dubstep sounds gave a heavy feeling due to their unique low frequency, which gave listeners pleasure. It is often called heavy metal in the electronic world.

‘How did I think of this? It’s amazing?’

Standard was excited by an inspiration he hadn’t felt in a long time. Standard usually calmly analyzed any inspiration or feeling and decided whether to use it or not, but he couldn’t stand it.

Dubstep trap!

‘Should I reverse the atmosphere in the chorus and explode the dubstep sound? Since the original BPM is slow, a huge hook might come out if I only fix the chorus? No, what about mixing all parts from the intro? Or should I just put it in the verse as a reverse idea?’

In that way, Standard exploded the inspiration he had cherished and cherished and began to create a sound using trap and dubstep.

This was an attempt ahead of Diplo or DJ Skrillex, who skillfully mixed dubstep, house, and trap to appear in the mainstream.

The moment when ‘Eight, Eight, Eight’ LA version, DJ Standard Remix was born.

End

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