The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 113

“I want to win.”

“At what?”

“Against the 888 Crew. I’m up against the 888 Crew on Hip Hop the Vibe this time…”

Dread couldn’t finish his sentence.

Chae Dae-han started laughing like crazy as soon as he heard Dread’s words. Chae Dae-han laughed for a long time before finally speaking.

“You guys want to beat them? With rap?”

“Yes.”

“There are only two ways. Either give the 888 Crew money to rap poorly, or hire someone to assault them so they can’t speak. Even if their arms and legs are broken, if they can still talk, they wouldn’t dare to even compare themselves to you guys.”

“…….”

Dread had somewhat expected that answer, but hearing it directly from Chae Dae-han made it feel very real.

Chae Dae-han’s assessment of musicians is never wrong. Even if a hundred producers confidently say it will work out, if Chae Dae-han says it won’t, it usually doesn’t.

When Dread fell silent, Chae Dae-han kicked Dread’s shin and asked.

“Is this Code Name’s entire opinion?”

“……No.”

“Just you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Just…”

At Chae Dae-han’s question, Dread incoherently told the story of his encounter with the 888 Crew—his burning desire to win, no matter what.

Chae Dae-han, who had been listening quietly, suddenly remarked, “That’s the psychology of a stalker. Endlessly watching, and then, at some point, wanting to imprint yourself on the other person’s mind.”

“That’s not it!”

When Dread shouted, Chae Dae-han frowned.

“Who are you yelling at? Do you want to die?”

“I admit that the 888 Crew is good, but they’re still just amateurs… !”

“You have the characteristics of a *tsundere* [a person who is initially cold and hostile but gradually warms up to someone] beyond a stalker?”

“Tsun…dere? What did you say?”

“In Korean, it would be something like ‘Heung-hae-rong.’ ‘Heung-heung’ in front and ‘hae-rong’ behind. Are you a pervert?”

Dread felt like his solemn feelings were being twisted, so he tried to explain, but Chae Dae-han didn’t listen. Then, at a random moment, he suddenly fell into deep thought. More than ten minutes passed before Chae Dae-han, who had been thinking for a long time, finally spoke.

“Hey, you. Just because the company made you rap a little, do you think you’re a rapper? You’re not even a rap beginner. I’m not saying this to hurt you; I’m saying it sincerely.”

“They haven’t been doing it for very long either.”

“No. The 888 Crew members just hadn’t made rap yet, but they were already deeply immersed in that culture. Rap is about spitting out your thoughts in your own way. But you don’t have any part of your body charged with rap. You’re completely discharged, so what are you going to spit out? You need to fill up on inspiration by listening for at least a year before you can even think about fighting.”

“Then if you make it for me…”

“I was being nice, but you’re trying to take advantage of me? If you’re going to say such disgusting things, get out of here right now. What have you been listening to until now? I said that rap is about spitting out your thoughts in your own way, right? So how can I make it? Am I you? Huh?”

Dread, pondering the harsh words, stood blankly for a moment before bowing to Chae Dae-han.

“I’m really sorry about the guitar. I mean it. I just thought it was a public guitar because it was standing next to the chair. I’ll be going now.”

“Is this guy just going to say what he wants and leave? Hey, can you write a hundred bars for me by tomorrow?”

“A hundred bars? Does that mean the snare comes out two hundred times?”

“Wow, damn. That’s right, but it’s frustrating to see someone who wants to fight the 888 Crew talking about the concept of bars. You’ve heard ‘Crouching Lighter,’ right?”

“Yes.”

“Does that rap seem compressed or stretched out? Do you think he had more than a hundred bars to say? Or was it about twenty bars that he stretched out to a hundred?”

Dread thought about ‘Crouching Lighter’ for a moment before answering in an unsure tone.

“I think he had more to say.”

“That’s right. Lee Sang-hyun could have said two hundred bars, but he only said a hundred. So how full would a sixteen-bar verse be? A guy who can spit out two hundred bars on one topic reduced it and reduced it and packed it into 16 bars.

Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes.”

“If I told you to write sixteen bars, you’d probably write about ten and have nothing more to say, right? Because you haven’t filled anything up. So you have to fill the rest with anger, guts, and effort.”

“Can I win if I do that?”

“No, you still can’t win if you go up against them with skill. But you’ll have a little bit of a chance.”

“What should I do?”

“Write a hundred bars every day. And hope that the 888 Crew gets arrogant on Hip Hop the Vibe. Right now, the 888 Crew’s minds are probably full of wanting to go up against Stars Records. Honestly, Bounce Rhyme or Code Name aren’t even appetizers. They’re just like water before a meal.”

Dread groaned at Chae Dae-han’s blunt words and held back his retort. Chae Dae-han continued.

“If you guys want to win, you have to go up against the 888 Crew in the second round. There are no dropouts in the first round of Hip Hop the Vibe, right? So be terrible in the first round. No, you’re already terrible, so just do what you always do. Then the 888 Crew won’t have any sense of competition or crisis with you guys, and they’ll lose it even more after seeing that stage. Now all their attention will be focused on Stars Records. Because musicians are originally that kind of people.”

Chae Dae-han made a strange “eum-eum” sound, then took out a piece of A4 paper and scribbled on it.

“Okay, look. This is the best-case scenario. First, you guys have to come in last place in the first round. And Stars Records has to come in first place. Then the 888 Crew will automatically come in second place, right? Now all of the 888 Crew’s attention will be focused on Stars Records, who are in first place, and you guys take advantage of that gap! You go up against the 888 Crew.”

“But wouldn’t it be better to go up against them in the third round instead? When there are only three teams left?”

“No. It’s not one-on-one then. It’s a three-way battle with Stars Records involved, so how can the 888 Crew *not* be nervous?”

“Ah… I understand what you mean.”

“As far as I know, the second round is a best-of-three series where three players come out and compete one-on-one, right? And the winner of the first round chooses the theme for the second round competition? Or the opposing team chooses it? Something like that.”

“I haven’t heard that the second round is one-on-one.”

“The PD [Producer Director] will probably say it as soon as the first round performance is over. He’s probably hiding it to create dramatic tension. I heard it through a contact, so it’s probably right.”

“You know the format really well.”

“I was a big fan of Hip Hop the Vibe 1. Every time they introduced foreign music, they made so many mistakes that I watched it with a monitoring mindset and filed claims every day. But then I started to feel attached to it. Like how you feel about the 888 Crew right now.”

Chae Dae-han smiled and continued.

“Anyway, the theme of the second round is important. No matter how careless the 888 Crew is, they still have the power to easily crush you guys, so the theme of the second round has to be difficult *for* the 888 Crew. Something they haven’t experienced before. Like show business, or money, or betrayal. Those kind of ambiguous topics. Topics that are difficult for the general public to relate to.”

Dread nodded. Then he got hit on the back of the head by Chae Dae-han for nodding so presumptuously.

“You’ll need some luck.”

“You’ll need a lot. Stars Records wins in the first round, you and the 888 Crew are matched up in the second round, and the theme of the second round is difficult for the 888 Crew. If even one of these three elements doesn’t happen, just think that the heavens have put you in the loser position.

And even if these three elements are met, nothing will happen if you don’t try. After all, the other guys in Code Name won’t do it even if you tell them to.”

Dread noticed the hidden meaning in Chae Dae-han’s words.

Since it would be impossible for the other members of Code Name to beat the 888 Crew, he meant for him to at least try to beat Lee Sang-hyun.

Dread nodded firmly. And he got hit again for nodding so presumptuously.

“Can you write a hundred bars every day from tomorrow until the second round performance?”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Trying isn’t enough. You have to do it no matter what. Come here after your schedule is over.”

Dread received the USB that Chae Dae-han handed him and left the room. Chae Dae-han watched Dread’s retreating figure with an interested expression.

Originally, guys usually come to their senses in an instant if they have a reason, but he didn’t expect a troublemaker and trash like Dread to change so quickly.

‘888 Crew, huh…’

Chae Dae-han had a lot of interest in the 888 Crew’s music, but he didn’t have much interest in the people themselves, but now he was starting to get curious.

How much charm do they have that Dread fell for them so completely?

***

While Dread was recalling his encounter with Chae Dae-han, the six members of the 888 Crew went up on stage. Sang-mi and Min-ho didn’t come on stage today, so the members who went on stage were Lee Sang-hyun, Shin Jun-hyung, Kim Hwan, Oh Min-ji, Park In-hyuk, and Shin Ha-yeon.

As the team with the most members, the stage already felt full when the 888 Crew went up.

The 888 Crew’s appearance drew the attention of not only the musicians and voters but also the general staff to the stage.

Will their music, which expressed Code Name as gymnasts, really be on a different level? Are they boxers like they said? Will they sing the songs from Triple Eight that heated up the show business world for a while?

These curiosities were holding their attention.

“888 Crew, are you ready?”

“Yes!”

At the same time as Sang-hyun’s energetic answer, a beat that was quite familiar to the 888 Crew’s fans began to play. At the same time, Oh Min-ji, Park In-hyuk, Shin Ha-yeon, and Kim Hwan, who were responsible for opening the performance, jumped forward.

The 888 Crew was going to sing a total of three songs within the 12 minute 30 second frame today.

1. Coffee Machine With Shin Ha-yeon

2. Changing Room With Shin Jun-hyung

3. Eight, Eight, Eight Los Angeles Remix

Among these, only Coffee Machine was a song from ‘Bootleg 0.5,’ and Changing Room and the group song remix were songs from ‘Official Bootleg Triple Eight.’

Originally, the 888 Crew had accepted PD Heo Tae-jin’s request and decided not to sing any songs from the Official Bootleg in the first round.

This was because PD Heo Tae-jin judged that it would be best to sing the songs from the Official Bootleg in the 3rd or 4th round, as the hip-hop fans’ interest in the Official Bootleg was expected to be high.

However, the response to the Official Bootleg was much better than Heo Tae-jin had expected. The first edition of 2,000 copies sold out in 2 hours, and Crouching Lighter ranked in real-time search for quite a long time, albeit in the lower ranks, thanks to the hip-hop fans’ interest.

In the end, the image-making of giving a twist to the performance from clumsy rappers, which was intended in the planning stage, was canceled, and they ended up singing songs from the Official Bootleg from the first round.

However, the song that opened the performance was not a song from the Official Bootleg. A song that was quite familiar to the 888 Crew’s fans and hip-hop fans.

It was Coffee Machine.

The scent of the beans is only from me
A barometer that judges me
Grinding in each way.
Blue Mountain, this is climbing

Coffee Machine, which expresses musical inspiration as coffee beans and chooses the material that coffee = rap comes out according to each person’s color according to the grinding method.

Originally, it was a song by Park In-hyuk, Kim Hwan, and Oh Min-ji, but in today’s performance, it was a song sung by four people with Ha-yeon’s verse added.

As soon as the chorus ended, Park In-hyuk jumped out to the front with his unique shoulder-shrugging motion.

End

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