The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 107

The Rap Star – Episode 107 (107/309)

So, PD [Production Director] Heo Tae-jin was in a bind.

He had already edited the pre-interviews with a ‘less famous’ vibe and preset the format, but suddenly the feeling had completely changed. Of course, it wasn’t like 888 Crew was already being called stars, but it was clear that the situation was different from what he had expected.

After pondering for a while, PD Heo Tae-jin finally made up his mind.

‘I need to revise the image of 888 Crew that will be shown in the first round. A team that emerged like a comet from the underground and is now dominating the mainstream! To do that, I need to focus on 888 Crew in the first round!’

Originally, Heo Tae-jin had planned to minimize 888 Crew’s presence in the first round.

Code Name, Bounce Rhyme, Stars Records, 888 Crew.

Among these four teams, 888 Crew was supposed to be portrayed as a fledgling team with an amateur feel. Since their average age was young, he didn’t think it would be difficult to capture that image.

The prelude to the twist was the first round performance.

Ten minutes before the end of the broadcast, 888 Crew would perform last among the four teams. And they would tear up the stage like crazy people. The other teams would be speechless at 888’s performance. If he inserted Code Name’s actions showing a subtle disregard for 888 Crew in the middle, the twist would be complete. The first episode would end with 888 Crew’s performance, and the following trailer would be full of scenes focusing on 888 Crew.

This way, viewers who watched the first round wouldn’t be able to resist watching the second round.

Moreover, if he emphasized the positive backstory of 888 Crew through media play for a week, it would create a buzz that would captivate viewers. In the second round, he would mention the beef with Fuck the Show Business and Code Name, appealing to 888 Crew’s strong pride.

‘Ah, this is perfect… if only these guys didn’t make such a great album….’

Of course, even though 888 Crew had become famous, he could still push this situation if he wanted to.

However, that could be a negative factor for the many viewers who were watching the show with the expectation of ‘888 Crew is really good, right?’

If they tuned in to support them but didn’t feel like supporting them for 1 hour and 20 minutes, then the game is over.

‘Should I be thankful to 888 Crew for this? At least there’s no image consumption.’

PD Heo Tae-jin had a phone call with Lee Sang-hyun about a week ago.

He needed to know about 888 Crew’s future activities to draw a clear picture. And he heard something truly amazing while talking with Lee Sang-hyun.

He had never heard such great confidence before.

“Lee Sang-hyun, congratulations on the album release. It’s a huge hit, isn’t it?”

-Ah, PD Heo. Thank you. But it’s not an album, it’s just a mixtape that we’re selling. An official bootleg.

“Either way, it’s having a bigger ripple effect than most albums, right? The broadcasting industry is paying a lot of attention.”

-I guess so. It’s amazing.

“But I’m curious, why didn’t you register the music online? You registered the copyrights, but you didn’t sign a distribution contract?”

Heo Tae-jin asked, knowing the answer. *They’re trying to sign a contract with a big company under good conditions.* There was no other answer.

However, 888 Crew was not a team that Heo Tae-jin could control.

-Why would I?

“Huh?”

-Even if we release official music, it’ll just get leaked through Pruna or Soribada [Korean file-sharing services popular in the early 2000s], and we won’t make any money. Maybe we’ll get a million won [approximately $800 USD] at best?

Sang-hyun knew that even a mega-hit song like Gangnam Style only made 36 million won [approximately $28,000 USD] in domestic copyright fees. But it earned over 10 billion won [approximately $8 million USD] overseas.

Besides, it was 2005. It was a time when people didn’t even realize that illegal sharing was wrong. He didn’t want to ignore music streaming services forever, but he didn’t want to do it now.

“Well… that’s true….”

-Instead of releasing music online, I’m just going to compete with albums. Besides, if consumers can buy music online, they won’t buy albums. Ah, it’s a shame we can’t use it for Cyworld BGM [Cyworld background music, a popular feature on the Korean social media platform]. I wanted to use our song for the 888 Crew club background music.

Heo PD felt a sense of confusion in his values ​​after hearing Lee Sang-hyun’s words. Lee Sang-hyun was right. It was obvious that singers didn’t make much money from online music.

But it was also a very strange thing to say.

No, then are the other singers stupid? Why are they releasing music online?

“Ah…!”

Heo Tae-jin was finally able to understand 888 Crew.

The reason why singers release music online, which is much less profitable than albums, is obvious. Aside from the obvious reason that the company tells them to, there is only one reason: It’s to desperately expose themselves more.

If they appear on music shows and their music rises to the top, they get more broadcast opportunities. And broadcasting is an act that increases the possibility of not being forgotten by the public, the possibility of survival.

But 888 Crew lacked that. Broadcasting? Exposure? Survival? They didn’t care about any of that. That’s why they were saying that if people buy music online, they won’t buy albums.

“Wow, unbelievable confidence….”

-Yes?

“Ah, never mind.”

Heo Tae-jin, whose inner thoughts had momentarily slipped out, cleared his throat.

“Then you wouldn’t be interested in music shows either.”

-Yes. I wanted to go out once for the experience, but I guess I can’t. Ah, I can still perform on Hip Hop the Vibe even if I don’t register the music online, right?

“Ah, of course. Frankly, it’s good for us. We don’t have to pay royalties.”

Lee Sang-hyun chuckled at Heo Tae-jin’s words and said goodbye.

-I’ll see you on Saturday, the day of recording.

Heo Tae-jin hung up the phone and took some time to play the official bootleg. He couldn’t help but wonder how great the album was that gave them such insane confidence.

‘Oh, the first track is from the performance at the Mudeung Stadium.’

In fact, it had been a few days since Lee Sang-hyun sent him the CD, but he was too busy to listen to it. He was going to listen to it in the car on his way home from work, but he couldn’t go home because he was living at the broadcasting station.

Since he wasn’t planning on using any of the songs from the official bootleg in the first round anyway, there was no immediate rush.

Heo Tae-jin played the official bootleg with anticipation. But paradoxically, he didn’t have high expectations. Because among the albums he had listened to with great anticipation after hearing ‘This album is amazing,’ there were very few works that met his great expectations.

Only Kim Kwang-seok’s 4th album and Lee Sun-hee’s 13th album, which came out this year, were among the few albums that met his expectations.

The first track, Wycoming, ended, and the second track, Lonely Road, began to play. The Lonely Road on the album had a more restrained grandeur and a richer, simpler taste than the one shown at Mudeung Stadium.

‘That’s right.’

The first two tracks were very good. Then the third track came on.

Heo Tae-jin had a puzzled expression as soon as he heard the intro of the third track.

“What is this?”

Roughly recorded drums, with roughly placed piano toppings. Considering the beat quality of the first and second tracks, this was like rice that suddenly appeared in a formal French course. Just rice without any side dishes.

Heo Tae-jin checked the track list in the album booklet.

‘Crouching Writer? Is it a lyricist here?’

Is he trying to depict the image of writing lyrics while crouching in a room? Is that why he brought such a crude beat on purpose?

He could guess the intention, but considering the splendor and perfection of the first and second tracks, he felt that the track arrangement was wrong.

That was the moment.

Lee Sang-hyun’s rap began to flow out.

Heo Tae-jin listened to Crouching Writer until the end and admitted that he was wrong about the drums and piano accompaniment. The roughly recorded drums and the repeating piano roll were salt and lemon. It had a rough and primitive taste.

And the taste of the rap that the salt and lemon were trying to bring out was not a dish, but tequila.

Heo Tae-jin listened to the 4th track for a moment, then stopped it and went back to the 3rd track. He wanted to listen to Crouching Writer one more time.

It had a different taste the second time he listened to it.

‘It’s closer to a martini than tequila.’

Among the cocktails that Heo Tae-jin especially liked, there was the martini, which is called the king of cocktails. Martini was a simple cocktail made with only gin, vermouth, and olives. The reason why this simple cocktail is called the king of cocktails is because it is made using only pure distilled water without any stimulating syrups, fruit juices, or drinks. Martini transforms into dozens of flavors depending on the temperature, ratio, and time.

Martini enthusiasts often complain that ‘one glass is too little, and two glasses are too much.’ This is because if you drink only one glass, you feel unsatisfied, and if you drink two glasses, you can’t control yourself.

Heo Tae-jin felt that way when he listened to Crouching Writer.

In Crouching Writer, the piano is too loud compared to the drums, and Lee Sang-hyun’s voice is too loud compared to the piano. The voice almost sounds like it’s in a no-mixing state.

You can hear almost everything, even the sound of his voice cracking slightly and the sound of him catching his breath.

‘That’s strange. Why is the sound quality so good only on this one?’

Heo Tae-jin listened to Crouching Writer for the fifth time and then went back to the 1st and 2nd tracks. The recording quality of Wycoming and Lonely Road felt like the vocal input device was lacking to be called a regular album.

However, Crouching Writer sounded so delicate that you could believe it was done in a professional studio. Moreover, it sounded like there was no dynamic processing or EQ control. But the emotion of Sang-hyun conveyed by this no-mixing sound source is so intense. You could feel exactly what emotional state he was in.

‘A real talent is a real talent.’

In fact, Heo Tae-jin didn’t feel much freshness in the format itself of ‘100 bars of rap’ that was being talked about with the Korea Guinness registration. It was because he used to enjoy Canibus’s 100 Bars. And frankly, if a rapper wanted to, they could do 100 bars or 1000 bars. The problem is that they can’t do it in an interesting way.

The point that surprised him was the Korean dribbling, which was even said to be a language that couldn’t be rap.

My life, my religion, my attitude, orbit

If hip-hop is poison, there is no antidote

Syphilis, pain that has become associated with pleasure

If you curse my poetry, it’s blasphemy

Marco, the admiral who sails the ship of phonemes

Heo Tae-jin had a deep affection for hip-hop, but this was the first time he had seen someone write lyrics like this.

‘Instead of releasing music online, I’m just going to compete with albums.’

I know where these crazy guys’ confidence comes from.

‘It would be difficult to release Crouching Writer on the show, right? It’s also a problem whether he can perform 100 bars live, but if the public isn’t interested, it’ll be difficult to get a big response, right?’

Heo Tae-jin thought this way until just a week ago, when he had a phone call with Lee Sang-hyun. But every day that passed, 888 Crew’s status rose, and every day that passed, they became a hot topic.

The story of being registered in the Korea Record Institute will probably be decided as a non-existent story. This is because if the Guinness record has to be updated every time someone does 101 bars and someone else does 102 bars, it is difficult to find record-breaking significance in rapping with the concept of bars.

‘But isn’t this something that can be packaged differently?’

Anyway, Heo Tae-jin had to highlight 888 Crew as much as possible in the first round.

The image of being an amateur and rising as an icon of reversal has already collapsed. Then, from the beginning, the feeling of a sniper rising from the underground, or the feeling of a confident rookie who has never tasted defeat in his career, is better.

He seriously began to consider the live performance of Crouching Writer.

What if we cut down on unnecessary interviews and self-introductions and perform Crouching Writer live? With just two things, real drums and real piano?

The image of the pianist and drummer receiving bright lights in a dark background, and Lee Sang-hyun sitting down on one side of the stage and rapping, immediately came to mind.

‘And if we send the video to the Korea Record Institute with the promotion of unedited footage, wouldn’t it become a hot topic?’

Heo Tae-jin walked around the conference room, thinking about various images.

However, he didn’t seem to realize that he was so engrossed in Crouching Writer that he wanted to hear it live.

End

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