The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 89

< Verse 14. Be the Underground >

‘What did I just do? Did I do it right?’

I don’t remember rapping at all. I wasn’t even aware that I was rapping. It felt like I was just hanging out in the studio, chatting, and then someone put on a beat and I just started spitting out some nonsense freestyle.

I looked around and saw Kim Hwan and Park Inhyuk staring at me with wide eyes, looking surprised.

Oh Minji snapped back to reality. There’s only one reason they’d make that face. She had definitely made a mistake.

What happened? What mistake did I make? Did I ruin the beat? Did I intrude on Inhyuk or Hwan’s part? No, isn’t it my turn to do the hook? Did I miss a verse? Why aren’t I singing the chorus?

Minji tried to focus and listen to the beat. But she couldn’t hear the beat at all.

The reason why was something she realized belatedly.

-Wowww!

-Kyaaaa!

The tremendous roar of the crowd was drowning everything out.

Park Inhyuk, sensing that Oh Minji was out of it, started the chorus in her place. The beat was hard to hear because of the loud cheers, but he could barely hear the snare through his in-ear monitors. At that moment, a quick-thinking staff member turned up the volume in his in-ears.

Why Come, Why For, Why Stand. Ho-!

888 is here, everybody scream!

Minji barely managed to come to her senses when she heard Inhyuk’s voice. She hurriedly started singing along to the chorus.

‘What? Is she stupid?’

Looking at Minji’s face makes me laugh. She has no idea what she just did and she’s just blinking her eyes.

She probably thinks she made a mistake.

‘A mistake is a mistake. It was so different from practice, wasn’t it? It’s cheating to suddenly be that good.’

In fact, Inhyuk skipped over a couple of parts of the agreed-upon doubling. Because Minji’s rap was so fluid and solid, the doubling felt superfluous.

‘This is no joke.’

The atmosphere from the crowd changed.

Of course, there were many people who were favorable to the 888 crew from the beginning of the performance. People who were already fans of the 888 crew or who started supporting them after seeing internet articles. But the truth was that there were more people who weren’t.

People who were watching indifferently, on the boundary between interest and indifference. Their gazes began to fill with curiosity and anticipation.

Why Come, Why For, Why Stand. Ho-!

888 is here, everybody scream!

The Ho-! sound grew even louder. The sound of the cheering sticks hitting each other in time with the Ho-! also grew louder.

Sometimes artists say that the public is ignorant. They complain that they are swayed by the opinions of others rather than their own. But none of the artists who say that have succeeded.

The public is never ignorant.

Even if they don’t know hip-hop or music, they are amazing at distinguishing between ‘good and bad’.

And the public was now beginning to judge the mysterious team called 888 as good.

‘I can’t let that assessment be ruined by me.’

Inhyuk started to stroll to the end of the stage. The way he shrugged his shoulders in time with the beat made it look like he was dancing.

The eyes of his colleagues, staff, and the audience all focused on him.

-Thud.

Inhyuk put his right foot on the monitor speaker and bowed his head. Then, he stretched his left hand, which wasn’t holding the microphone, straight up into the sky and started dancing a strange, awkward dance.

-Waaaaa!

-Uwaaaaa!

A cheer filled with laughter erupted. The staff and colleagues nearby also cheered with dumbfounded expressions.

This was Inhyuk’s charm. It may have been a compensation for his childhood, but Inhyuk always does what he wants when it comes to music. Whether it’s weird or cool doesn’t matter.

“That rascal, he dances well.”

The jib camera director chuckled and operated the camera. The jib [a camera crane] moved back and started to capture the angle centered on Park Inhyuk. A solo shot of Inhyuk appeared on the electronic display board. Another burst of laughter erupted at the sight of him dancing awkwardly.

The chorus was repeated a total of 3 times.

The last chorus before Inhyuk’s verse began to play. Inhyuk spontaneously shouted loudly.

Why Come, Why For, Why Stand. Ho-!

Park Inhyuk is here, everybody scream!

Finally, Inhyuk’s verse began.

***

The Codenamed members, who were watching the 888 crew’s performance on the TV in the waiting room, were surprised. It was because of the rap of the woman whose presence was so weak that they weren’t even sure if she was in the same waiting room.

‘Who is that?’

At first, the Codenamed members sneered at the trembling woman. You can see her hands shaking as the electric guitar intro plays.

“How can she rap like that?”

“We’re lip-syncing because it’s a hassle, but they can’t perform without lip-syncing.”

The noisy waiting room suddenly became quiet when Oh Minji’s rap started.

A fluid flow and solid rhyme.

A cool enunciation and perfect breath control.

The harmony with the backing sound, gestures, and eye contact.

There was nothing lacking. Considering that the sound optimization was not perfect because it was an outdoor performance, the delivery was almost perfect.

‘What?’

The Codenamed members, who had been sneering and watching to see how terrible the performance was, all shut their mouths.

Rookie broke the silence that had been flowing for a while.

“What, she’s not very good.”

“I know, but that girl seems to be the best in the crew?”

“You can tell that she’s investing everything in the opening first verse. Those who put all their energy into one verse were defeated in the following two verses as if by a lie.”

Laughter erupted at Woosung’s joke. But the laughter was somehow artificial.

After the first verse and a very short guitar solo, the second chorus came out.

While Rookie, who almost followed Ho! without realizing it, swallowed his saliva, the ‘Senbonzakura’ [likely referring to a flashy, attention-grabbing person] bastard who came out started dancing a strange dance.

“That’s a complete idiot?”

“Doesn’t that bastard know what shame is?”

“Is that what they call stage composition? Who choreographs their dances?”

The Codenamed members laughed and sneered at Park Inhyuk’s dance. The atmosphere loosened up a bit.

And Park Inhyuk’s rap started.

***

Park Inhyuk’s rap style was perfectly described by Sanghyun as ‘strolling around.’

Park Inhyuk’s rap is unkind. It was rare for him to hit the snare on the beat, and he didn’t use a consistent method of pushing and pulling the beat. Literally, as he pleased.

Also, if all the members of the 888 crew write lyrics in a top-down manner, Inhyuk writes lyrics in a parallel structure. It’s a way of listing sentences and words that have a similar vibe.

That’s why Park Inhyuk sometimes gets questions from members like, ‘What the hell does this mean?’ But none of the crew members thought that Inhyuk should change his style of writing lyrics. It was his unique style, and it was the only way he could show it.

With the exception of Sanghyun, Junhyung is the most highly regarded member of the 888 crew. Considering the uniqueness of being a female rapper, Hayeon is also highly regarded. But hip-hop fans didn’t say that Junhyung and Hayeon were better at rapping than Sanghyun.

This is because the way Junhyung and Hayeon rap is not much different from the way Sanghyun raps. Except for ‘rap skills and vocal tone,’ which are areas of personal preference, Sanghyun was superior to Junhyung or Hayeon in most aspects.

However, there were occasional posts saying, ‘Isn’t In-Hulk (Park Inhyuk) better than Lee Sanghyun?’ The reason was that Sanghyun and Inhyuk’s raps were completely different genres.

And Why Commin’ was a song that perfectly expressed Inhyuk’s unique style. In particular, the early part of the rap, which was made up of only words, was definitely the highlight.

Why Come, Why For, Why Stand. Ho-!

Park Inhyuk is here, everybody scream!

Inhyuk’s verse began as he shouted the chorus and enjoyed the cheers for a moment.

Gwangju, Eight Three.

In-Hulk, That’s Me.

I, have grown up.

Even more, have risen.

Nasty, Thirsty.

Busking without instruments.

Mustang, Lincoln.

I don’t need it, on the beat.

‘Nasty, Thirsty. Busking without instruments.’

Nasty means terrible or dirty. It is a word often used by rappers when they describe themselves as ‘real rappers who started from the streets (underground)’. The reason why Nas, the king of East Coast hip-hop along with Jay-Z, calls himself Nasty Nas from Queensbridge is also because of that.

So ‘Nasty, Thirsty’ was about the thirst for Nasty, and ‘Busking without instruments’ was about the essence of hip-hop culture that allows you to busk without preparation.

‘Mustang, Lincoln. I don’t need it, on the beat’ meant that I don’t need luxury cars like Mustangs or Lincolns. Because I’m on the beat.

Inhyuk’s lyrics, which seem disorganized at first glance, had this charm.

Shark Teacher who bites off everything that gets in the way

There may not be a cell chance, but I have 888 teeth

If it’s my turn next, be prepared

Like Kim Gu, my criminal record is roughly Baekbeom [Kim Gu, also known as Baekbeom, was a Korean independence activist. The line implies a long and significant record, though not necessarily criminal].

Inhyuk, who was dynamically riding the beat with his right foot on the monitor speaker, looked very excited.

Mix Up.

In sports games, actively exchanging pinches by demonstrating skills beyond one’s capabilities.

The stimulation he received from listening to Oh Minji’s rap was flowing in a good direction.

Dark Templar that cannot be seen when alone

If you put two together, they grow and turn red and try to control you

Mind Con(trol), Like the, Psycho,

Go wipe the window, Viper, good job Lycos.

Park Inhyuk, who was rapping without hesitation, suddenly remembered Sanghyun’s words.

Today, the audience will not think of hip-hop when they see Codenamed’s performance. Because we’re up first.

‘Can I do it?’

Inhyuk suddenly felt an impulse. And he did it.

Because if you want to do it, you do it.

Kim Hwan and Oh Minji, who were matching the doubling, were embarrassed when Inhyuk started the last 4 bars of his part, the 2nd verse.

Originally, the lyrics started with ‘If a cypher comes out-‘, but suddenly the lyrics changed to ‘If a stage comes out-‘.

‘What? Is it a mistake?’

While they were hesitating, Park Inhyuk’s rap continued. Kim Hwan and Oh Minji focused on Park Inhyuk’s rap, which they could hear through their in-ear monitors. And then they gave up on doubling and screamed.

‘Ah, this crazy bastard.’

Kim Hwan couldn’t help but laugh.

If you want to come on stage, fix your makeup

Even your lip-syncing is like that? Codenamed: Shut up

Why come? Why for? Prehistoric song?

You look like you’re having trouble breathing, go far away.

It was a cool rebuke to Codenamed.

“What? Did you hear that?”

“Wow, this hyung [Korean term for older brother or male friend] is so charming.”

“Oh, Park Inhyuk is just Park Inhyuk.”

Sanghyun, Junhyung, and Woominho, who were watching the performance in the waiting area set up in the relay vehicle right next to the stage, were impressed.

He usually plays around by freestyling whenever he’s bored, but he dissed Codenamed with a freestyle while 12,000 people were watching.

Of course, it was only a matter of changing a few words from the original lyrics, but it seemed amazing that he could do that on this big stage. And it’s being broadcast live!

Why Come, Why For, Why Stand. Ho-!

888 is here, everybody scream!

Viewers with good ears began to follow the entire chorus. Viewers who didn’t hear the lyrics clearly also understood Why, so they shouted ‘Why, Why, Why’ excitedly.

888 is here, everybody scream!

< Verse 14. Be the Underground > End

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