The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 125

< Verse 18. Hip Hop the Vibe >

By 1 PM, all the cast members had arrived at the studio.

The atmosphere in the studio was warm. The staff were in good spirits because the program was doing well, and the cast members felt comfortable thanks to the familiar staff and studio scenery.

The 888 Crew members, who had arrived early and were getting their makeup done while eating lunch boxes, greeted the Stars Record members who were already there.

After exchanging pleasantries, the topic of conversation naturally turned to the first broadcast of Hip Hop the Vibe and Popular Music.

“Sanghyun, I saw you on Popular Music. It was awesome!”

“Thank you.”

“Hyung [older brother or male friend], Sanghyun is a total celebrity. He’s getting bombarded with gifts from girls, you know? Ugh, seriously. Why don’t I get any?”

“Oh, really? In Gwangju? Or after coming to Seoul?”

“Both. Didn’t you see the people in front of the broadcasting station?”

“You’d call them ‘people’? We came too early to see. Junhyung, didn’t you get anything?”

“I got Pepero [a popular Korean snack] and chocolate.”

“Then what did Sanghyun get that you’re so angry about?”

“He got a BAPE New York, you know? A limited edition hoodie!”

“What? The one that came out in Pusha T’s music video?”

“Yes. And the color is the same too. Blue.”

“Eh, it’s probably a fake.”

“No. It’s real!”

“Wow, seriously pissing me off right now.”

Baega and Junhyung glared at Sanghyun. Sanghyun, awkwardly smiling, raised both hands slightly and joked.

“What can I do? It’s not my fault I’m so handsome and popular.”

Sangmi, who was listening, smacked Sanghyun on the back of the head, telling him to get a grip.

“Don’t accept gifts like that carelessly. They’re all debts!”

“I know, but still, a BAPE New York limited edition…”

As Sangmi said, Sanghyun usually returned expensive or burdensome gifts. But he couldn’t resist the BAPE New York limited edition.

‘That brilliant blue light!’

Instead, Sanghyun thanked the person who gave him the gift several times and, as a token of gratitude, gave them his portable CD player, a bootleg 0.5 [likely a reference to a specific piece of equipment or software], and an official bootleg CD.

In fact, if you only consider the release price, Sanghyun lost out, but being able to have a limited edition piece of clothing worn by a musician he admired was invaluable.

Thanks to that, the smile never left Sanghyun’s face.

Seeing that, the Code Name members sneered.

“Making such a fuss over just a hoodie.”

“Right. I even had a fan who offered to buy me a car.”

“Crazy bastard. Are you talking about that rich stalker ajumma [aunt/older woman]?”

The voices of the Code Name members, who weren’t wearing microphones yet, weren’t quiet. The 888 Crew and Stars Record couldn’t hear them, but the surrounding staff could hear them well enough.

Dread wasn’t too pleased with his teammates’ behavior.

Instead of looking at his teammates, he observed the 888 Crew members who were laughing and enjoying themselves.

‘Could that be considered a sign of carelessness?’

Dread recalled Chae Taehan’s words. That the 888 Crew wouldn’t think of Code Name as enemies at all.

Just then, PD [Production Director] Heo Taejin entered the studio and called the musicians together.

“Everyone except Dread and Edition has done their individual interviews, right? Dread and Edition, I’m sorry, but we’ll do your individual interviews during the break.”

Heo Taejin then told them the viewership ratings for the first broadcast, giving credit to the cast members.

After a brief exchange of laughter, the discussion about the filming began.

“As you know, today’s competition is a theme battle.”

The theme that Baega, who won first place in the first round of the competition two weeks ago, had chosen was as follows:

Stars Record – Time

Code Name – Free Theme

Bounce Rhyme – Synergy

888 Crew – Money

Code Name was in an advantageous position because they were given the broadest free theme.

They could sing previously well-known hit songs, or they could sing the title track prepared for the next album.

“The order of the competition is the order in which I mention the team names. First, Bounce Rhyme versus Stars Record, and then 888 Crew versus Code Name.”

Bounce Rhyme VS Stars Record.

888 Crew VS Code Name.

When the matchups for the second round of the competition were decided at the end of the broadcast, the reactions of Hip Hop the Vibe viewers were similar. Most people commonly thought that it was a fight for elimination between Bounce Rhyme and Code Name.

“First, I’ll start by telling you what’s changed since I last told you. The venue has been changed to a music show set. The number of invited guests has also been increased from 100 to 250.”

Another thing that changed was the rehearsal method.

“You can’t listen to the rehearsal of the opposing team. For example, if Bounce Rhyme is rehearsing, the opposing team, Stars Record, will have to leave for a while.”

“Then can we listen to the other teams?”

“Yes. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s not the opposing team.”

This was a device that PD Heo Taejin used to show the conflict between the overground [mainstream] and the underground [independent] one last time.

Presumably, Stars Record and 888 Crew would pass on the rehearsals they saw to each other. Conversely, Code Name and Bounce Rhyme would help each other.

“Okay, that’s the end of the announcements, and if you have any questions, you can ask your dedicated writers and they will answer them diligently. Now, let’s start filming in earnest.”

Filming began at 1:20 PM.

The basic format of the filming hadn’t changed from last time.

First, all the musicians would sit in the same place and watch the videos, checking each other’s reactions.

The videos they were watching contained scenes from the first round of performances and scenes of each team preparing for their performances, filmed by the broadcasting station’s VJ [Video Journalist]. However, since 888 Crew was far away, there was a lot of footage taken by Woo Minho.

While watching the performance preparation videos of Bounce Rhyme and Code Name, 888 Crew was able to realize an important fact.

That their performance songs weren’t created solely by the power of the musicians.

It may seem obvious, but the music of Code Name and Bounce Rhyme had the power of huge capital behind it. A stage that combined the capabilities of many composers, lyricists, and producers.

It was a cleverly made video that ordinary people couldn’t feel, but those who actually made music could quickly notice it.

“Hmm…”

Sanghyun focused on Code Name’s video.

First of all, the beat choice was very good. By bringing in the typical party tune sound of West Coast hip hop, they were aiming for both the enthusiast crowd and the general public.

However, the rap of the Code Name members who digested it didn’t have a big impact.

Sanghyun knew the rumors circulating around 888 Crew and Code Name. He didn’t know why such rumors were circulating as if they were established facts, but the rumor that the fight between 888 Crew and Code Name was a prelude to gaining the support of Ohkyung Entertainment’s huge capital was quite hot.

However, the rumors were not true at all.

Rather, the 888 Crew members were people who were trying to break Code Name, who had the power of Ohkyung Entertainment behind them. Only with their music.

Sanghyun, who had been focusing on Code Name’s video for a long time, belatedly realized that Dread was not visible on the screen. He often appeared during group interviews, but he was not seen in the process of preparing the song.

Presumably, Dread was in charge of the solo song part. Because the solo song was not visible in the video.

‘I’m going to fight him.’

However, Sanghyun soon stopped caring. Because no matter what Dread did, Code Name couldn’t beat them.

Video viewing – Interview – Music stories shared by musicians – Interview – Rehearsal – Interview

The filming of the simple format proceeded smoothly.

The second round was an important episode for performances. Therefore, compared to the first round, the filming time for parts other than the performance was much shorter.

Thanks to this, when the clock was pointing to 6 PM, most of the filming that could be done in the studio was over. However, since the most important performance remained, there was a strange tension among the musicians.

That tension was broken by a man who came into the studio.

“Did you order lunch boxes?”

The musicians and staff began to eat the lunch boxes delivered to the studio.

“This lunch box will be the last supper for one of these teams.”

Junhyung said, munching on his lunch box. Inhyuk responded.

“As long as it’s not us.”

“Stars Record can’t be either. We have to send you off in the finals.”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

“Aren’t you guys being too careless? Is Code Name that bad?”

At Sangmi’s words, all the 888 Crew members shrugged their shoulders. Even Minji and Hayeon.

Just then, Woo Yeonwoo appeared, drinking coffee.

“I can hear you guys saying you want to send us off all the way over there. You bastards.”

“Ah, Yeonwoo hyung [older brother/male friend]. We saw Bounce Rhyme’s rehearsal and Dolphin was doing a solo song.”

“Really? Well, Dolphin isn’t someone who’s lacking in terms of pure rapping. Do you guys know who’s doing Code Name’s solo song?”

“Isn’t it Dread?”

“That’s right. I honestly thought Rookie would do it. Still, isn’t Rookie the most unique in terms of vocals? Of course, it’s all the same there.”

“How’s Dread’s solo song? Did he do well?”

“I don’t know. He kept forgetting the lyrics during the rehearsal and was just setting up the microphone. But the beat was good.”

“Really? What kind of beat is it?”

“I don’t know exactly what instruments were used…”

As Heo Taejin predicted, 888 Crew and Stars Record began to share information. It wasn’t so much about taking sides, but rather because they were the only ones who could talk to each other comfortably. They had also been told by the writer that it was okay to share rehearsal information.

“Baega hyung [older brother/male friend], but isn’t the theme really too much? Did you deliberately give us money?”

“Why are you guys whining at me? I saw you guys rehearsing, didn’t I?”

The 888 Crew and Stars Record had various chats during the evening break. Starting with the story of Triple Eight, which surpassed 12,000 copies in sales and ran out of preliminary stock once again, there were many stories up to Hommie Vol.3 in December.

The story, which seemed like it would never end, was cut short by PD Heo Taejin’s shout that ‘the invited audience has entered.’

“Hyungs [older brothers/male friends], you have to win. You guys are destined to fall in the finals! Aja Aja [fighting/go go]!”

“Fighting!”

With the 888 Crew’s support, which was hard to tell whether it was cheering or cursing, the four teams of musicians moved to the set of KMnet’s music program, ‘KM Music Box.’

-Waaaaah!

-Wow! Stars Record!

-Kyaaaaak! Lee Sanghyun!

-Rookie oppa [term used by young girls to refer to older male figures]!

And as soon as they arrived at the set, they could hear tremendous cheers. The cheers of today sounded particularly loud to the musicians who had been in a quiet and static studio for quite some time.

PD Heo Taejin, who grabbed the microphone, introduced the four teams of musicians in turn. The 250 audience members screamed as if they were 2,500 people.

“Lastly! 888 Crew, who appeared like a comet in the underground and are now dominating the mainstream!”

The cheers of the fans welcoming 888 Crew erupted once again.

The teams that received the loudest screams during the introduction were Code Name and 888 Crew. Whether it was good luck or not, there were quite a few Code Name fans.

“I know that the invited audience members have been waiting for more than 3 hours, and the musicians must be tired from filming for a long time.”

Heo Taejin skillfully adjusted the atmosphere and continued.

“Round 2 of the competition, let’s start right away.”

The three teams except for the first performer, Bounce Rhyme, went down the stage.

< Verse 18. Hip Hop the Vibe > End

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