The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 92

Those in the audience who realized what was happening erupted in another enthusiastic cheer.

-Wowwww!

In an instant, Woo Min-ho appeared with the MPC-4000 [a music production controller] and began frantically pounding on the 16 pads.

Woo Min-ho’s emergence, going beyond video directing and DJing to even handling the MPC, added new momentum to the 888 Crew.

‘Tough trying to look cool up front, right? Go crazy for once!’

As if saying that, Jun-hyung and Ha-yeon stepped forward, energized by the support of L&S and Woo Min-ho.

Lonely Road.

The performance, signifying a solitary path, had already been shown in the preceding verses and chorus. However, there was one fact they hadn’t yet revealed.

On the Lonely Road they walked, there were no rivals to stand shoulder to shoulder with, but there were colleagues to go with.

We Eight that Eight that Eight that Crew!

To depict the colleagues walking the Lonely Road together, Ha-yeon stepped forward first.

24 hours a day, game starts at 10 AM.

Insert Coin, get ready, then head to the studio.

Rolling over the topics picked out last night

When the drum sounds, we’re trainees and trainers

Ha-yeon’s lyrics always had a visual quality. Every day off, the crew members would show up at 10 AM as if by appointment.

Hair still damp because they didn’t dry it properly.

Faces looking rough.

But in their left hands, they always held notebooks. To roll over the topics picked out last night together with the crew members.

And when the beat started, all the crew members were both trainees and trainers.

Yeah! We’re far from laziness

Don’t care at all about people who aren’t even enemies

My eternal enemy is still Man in the Crew

Tense is Yesterday, goal is Always been true

A feminine voice, yet with a solid and refreshing delivery that rivaled male rappers. Ha-yeon was every bit the feminine woman, but when she rapped, she exuded a strangely androgynous charm.

That was why she received support from Korean hip-hop fans, regardless of gender.

Lee Kyung-min, Show Business, Code Name.

People who aren’t even enemies.

The 888 Crew’s concern was always the crew members in the mirror, and the goal was Always been true. To imbue their music with sincerity.

-Kyaaaaa!

-Kyaaaa!

As soon as Ha-yeon’s eight bars of rap ended, the female audience erupted in cheers. Female fans began to support Ha-yeon even more than Jun-hyung or Sang-hyun.

Jun-hyung, as if the cheers were for him, shouted, ‘Louder!’ and took over Ha-yeon’s eight bars.

I am a component of myself, I am not completed by myself

When I stand on stage, I scream inside myself

I usually don’t care about other people’s opinions

I’m Ronaldo kicking the ball and Buffon [a famous Italian goalkeeper] at the same time

Sang-hyun was initially surprised when he first heard these lyrics, thinking he was referring to Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal. This was because Ronaldo wasn’t yet the top player in 2005.

But it turned out to be Ronaldo from Brazil.

Jun-hyung brilliantly expressed the lyrics about kicking the ball and blocking it himself.

888, in the studio where we gather

We make history, the School Zone of Korean hip-hop

888, heading straight on the Lonely Road,

Now it’s your turn, You ready? I’m Done.

Jun-hyung finished his eight bars and shouted, ‘I’m Done,’ throwing the microphone to Sang-hyun. Sang-hyun also threw the microphone to Jun-hyung.

The two microphones crossed, and Sang-hyun caught the microphone perfectly and started rapping. It was a prepared performance.

Attacking from outside common sense.

Colleagues causing a commotion are still by my side

The remaining stubbornness is getting stronger

You and you over there trying to stop me, eat this, Fuck That!

Originally, OMB was surprised while watching the rehearsal and asked them to change ‘Fuck That’ to different lyrics. But while rapping excitedly, they couldn’t remember the lyrics they were going to change it to.

Ah, whatever.

At that moment, Jun-hyung shouted ‘Fuuuck That!’ as a backing sound. And then he grinned.

‘This crazy bastard.’

Sang-hyun also grinned and continued rapping.

First Class, awkward, just a pen is enough

Tenacious, and Dope, knocking every day, raising me high

Rapping acrobatics that will lift me up, I’ll make a fuss in my song

No thanks, I don’t need it. Break your help

I create myself, it’s all mine

The words I took out every day, the ones that hit, are also mine

Lonely Road. There’s no trickery on this road

On a diet, I’ll get rid of laziness and sloth.

As soon as Sang-hyun’s rap ended, Bang Min-sik’s eight-bar electric solo burst out. At that moment, Jun-hyung, who wasn’t originally scheduled to, jumped onto the monitoring speaker.

The staff gestured frantically for him to come down, but no one cared.

‘This song is called Lonely Road. A solitary path. I know that everyone gathered here is also walking a lonely path towards their goals.’

Sang-hyun and Ha-yeon looked at each other with bewildered expressions at the sudden impromptu hosting. But Jun-hyung didn’t care.

‘The baseball players here have also broken through a very narrow and lonely path to advance to the playoffs, the biggest festival in Korean baseball, haven’t they?’

-It’s not the playoffs!

-It’s the semi-playoffs!

‘Ah, whatever! Anyway, the championship belongs to the Gwangju Tigers!’

-Anyway, the championship belongs to the Gwangju Tigers!

The audience erupted in laughter-filled cheers that seemed like they would become the official cheering slogan.

‘I support the baseball players from both teams who have gathered here to show their determination to win by breaking through narrow paths!’

At Jun-hyung’s shout, the gazes of Sang-hyun, Ha-yeon, the 888 Crew members, and the L&S members all turned to Park In-hyuk below the stage. It was to the point where Park In-hyuk might have been hearing auditory hallucinations.

Sure enough, Park In-hyuk was mouthing the words.

K, Hollywood.

Laughter burst out.

The baseball players, who had been watching the 888 Crew’s performance with excitement, felt a strange emotion after hearing Jun-hyung’s words.

Since elementary school, getting hit by bats from seniors [a common hazing practice]. Worrying about their parents’ thin wallets when baseball bats broke. Anxiously worrying about having their position taken by the ace. Worrying that if they weren’t drafted in their senior year of high school, their ten years of effort would disappear and they would become unemployed.

The very narrow and lonely path they had walked while enduring countless worries and pains came to mind.

‘Lonely Road…….’

And the professional stage they had broken through to reach. Moreover, the semi-playoffs.

The desire to win at all costs became even more desperate.

In that way, Jun-hyung was unknowingly fulfilling the true meaning of the celebratory performance. Lonely Road became a song even more suited to baseball than the originally planned Strong Swing. And that was while telling their own story about hip-hop, not a story about baseball.

Jun-hyung, who had properly shown the demeanor of a Hollywood-style leader, jumped around, preparing for the end of the song. Min-sik’s solo part was over, and the final chorus was approaching.

‘Everyone together! Came From the Lonely Road!’

Came From the Lonely Road!

‘One more time! Came From the Lonely Road!’

Came From the Lonely Road!

When the prepared phrase ‘Came From the Lonely Road’ was displayed on the electronic display board, the audience excitedly followed along.

‘Louder! Came From The Lonely Road-!’

Came From the Lonely Road-!

‘Everyone-!’

Came From the Lonely Road. From the lonely road.

***

‘Hey, who are those guys?’

‘Yes? According to the cue sheet, they’re called the 888 Crew…….’

‘No, who doesn’t know their name? What are they?’

The subordinate was at a loss because he didn’t understand the intention of the broadcasting content department team leader of Ohkyung Entertainment. But fortunately, the subordinate knew a lot about the 888 Crew. He had happened to go to Sinchon [a district in Seoul] and see the Club Homi performance, and he had become interested in the 888 Crew since then.

Thanks to that, the subordinate was able to report what he knew to the team leader in a fairly thorough manner.

‘The 888 Crew is a team of eight members. The rappers are the six who appeared in the two performances. They are underground musicians who make hip-hop music in Gwangju and joined forces in the middle of this year, I believe.’

‘Middle of this year? Are you sure?’

‘Yes. I’m sure.’

‘Then do they only perform in Gwangju?’

‘They performed once in Seoul. They performed at a club called Sinchon Homi, and the performance was so amazing that the 888 Crew became a big topic among hip-hop fans for a while.’

‘The reason they were picked up for this performance is because they made a cheer song for Han Gwang-soo, right?’

‘Yes. That’s right.’

‘That cheer song is purely their own song?’

‘Yes. Ah, the 888 Crew is a fan of the Gwangju Tigers, so they provided the cheer song for free. In return, the Gwangju Tigers produced the Gwangju UP music video for them.’

‘That’s not right…… something’s strange?’

‘Yes?’

The subordinate questioned the team leader’s muttering.

‘The fact that they dedicated it for free means that it’s a pure team with no company or agency involved, right? Because if there was a company or agency, they wouldn’t release it for free. And seeing that they even got a music video taken?’

‘Um…… as far as I know, they just make music and promote it themselves.’

‘Then what is that stage? You’re telling me that’s a stage with no capital involved? That it’s just a stage made by amateurs getting together? Does that make sense?’

‘Well, I don’t know…….’

Listening to the team leader’s words, it seemed like that was the case.

‘Who did the music mixing? What crazy people use those drum kits on top of the orchestra sound? And what producer cuts off the beat and makes it a cappella at the highlight of the performance?’

The subordinate carefully asked at the team leader’s outburst.

‘I, I liked the performance, but do you feel it’s not good…….’

‘Are you tone-deaf? How is that performance not good?’

‘Then why…….’

‘That’s gambling. Instead of just using a 909 drum kit [a classic drum machine], they used orchestral percussion, and instead of stacking up electric sounds at the highlight, it would have been fine. Then, no matter how bad it was, it would have been an 80-point stage.’

‘Then what is it now?’

‘It’s 100 points. So the guy who made that stage gambled to raise it by only 20 points. It’s a stupid thing to do, because it’s a stage that gets 80 points even if you stay still, but if you gamble and fail, it could become a 20-point stage. Do you know what I mean? High risk, low return.’

High risk, low return.

‘Why do they do that? Even if their singer is the Beatles, they wouldn’t do that.’

The subordinate didn’t know what to say, so he just stayed still, very intensely still.

The team leader’s monologue continued.

‘It’s really strange? Seeing that they composed the stage with such ridiculous gambling moves, it seems like there’s no producer involved……. Then did they really make that stage themselves? Is that even possible?’

Ohkyung ENT recruited Code Name, who were known as ‘bastards’ beyond being troublemakers, because they had something to aim for. It was because they wanted to take the position of a culture leader in the hip-hop culture, which was predicted to become a big trend in the future.

‘If there were guys like that, there would have been no need to bring Code Name, even giving them a penalty for breach of contract?’

The team leader, nodding his head, gestured to the subordinate.

‘You go find out about those 888 Crew guys right now. Check if they’ve signed a contract with anyone, and find out if they’ve ever been affiliated with a company in the past. And if possible, find out about their family situation.’

‘Yes, I understand.’

The subordinate left, and the team leader stroked his rough beard and continued to monitor the video. The screen he was watching was not like the ones on TV, with commentary or advertisements, but a direct line that captured every scene of the stage.

The video was now showing Gwangju UP, which started after Lonely Road.

***

End

ⓒ