The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 136

< Verse 20. Battle Rhyme >

“The reason I wanted to see you is because I heard something strange recently.”

“Strange?”

Dolphin debuted at 19 and has been in show business until now, at 27. Counting his trainee days, it’s been a long time, over 10 years.

Most of the managers who were close when he debuted were either team leaders or department heads, and some of those who were team leaders when he debuted had become CEOs. As a result, he had access to more information than others, and he overheard a lot.

However, the more Dolphin heard, the more he knew, the more he kept his mouth shut. It was because he understood the ecosystem of Korea’s show business world, which was dominated by large agencies and major broadcasting stations.

The reason Dolphin made up his mind was because he really liked 888 Crew’s music.

The music of his ideal, the team of his ideal, the image of his ideal, which he had kept in his heart for over 10 years—888 Crew had it all.

Dolphin finally opened his mouth.

“Ohkyung Entertainment is targeting you.”

“Oh… I received a casting offer after the first round of the competition, but I refused.”

Sanghyun thought he was going to hear something huge, but he was disappointed when Ohkyung Entertainment’s story came out.

However, Dolphin’s story didn’t end there.

“I know that. Team Leader Hong Kyungsoo cast you, right?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know everything either… because I’m not affiliated with Ohkyung Entertainment. However, the information I heard is that your name is included in the A&R [Artists and Repertoire, the division of a record label responsible for talent scouting and artistic development] business plan for 2007, for which the budget allocation has been fixed.”

Only then did Sanghyun understand Dolphin’s words, and his expression changed.

It is difficult to fix a large company’s business plan. It is even more so if it is two years in the future.

Nevertheless, the cases where it is fixed are conservative and inertial businesses that have continued from the past, such as military or steel-related businesses, or businesses that they intend to proceed with no matter what obstacles there may be.

“Only my name? Or the entire 888 Crew?”

“Only your name.”

Sanghyun was lost in thought for a moment. Clearly, Team Leader Hong Kyungsoo’s casting offer included Junhyung and Hayeon.

‘Why only me?’

Dolphin’s words followed, breaking Sanghyun’s thoughts.

“And this is something I’m not sure about either, but it seems to be related to Ohkyung Entertainment’s internal politics. Ohkyung Entertainment’s media content department will soon be independent as Ohkyung Media. There are currently two factions fiercely fighting over key positions at Ohkyung Media. One is Team Leader Hong Kyungsoo’s line, and the other is Director Oh Yeonjoo, a *gold-spoon* [born into wealth and privilege] line from headquarters.”

Sanghyun’s eyebrows twitched at the name Oh Yeonjoo, which he heard at an unexpected time.

“Are you saying that there is a connection between internal politics and the movement to cast me?”

“Um… I’m not sure. The times and places where I received the two pieces of information were different. However, there’s a feeling, you know? The feeling that these people are connecting this story with that story.”

Sanghyun suddenly remembered the story that the indie kid *hyungs* [older brothers or male friends] had told him—that the era of streaming would open up in the future, and that musicians’ positions would be reduced.

Somehow, he felt that there was a strange connection between these three stories.

‘If there’s a connection between Director Oh Yeonjoo and me, it’s only the accident compensation. I don’t know the details, but I don’t think Director Oh Yeonjoo would have handled the matter carelessly. Besides, the story that she was promoted to director in just a few months means that the current situation isn’t bad…’

Of course, internal politics can really erupt over nothing. Sanghyun had a similar experience when he was a rookie at a large company.

One of Sanghyun’s mentors even had a political fight over getting a drink from an A4 paper supply company, not even a kickback.

But that was an operation to weed out rotten lifelines, not something to do to someone with a *’빽’* [backing or connections] like Chanel Diamond Forever-class Director Oh Yeonjoo.

Sanghyun pondered for a long time, but there was too little information. It seemed like the top priority was to call Director Oh Yeonjoo after the shoot today and get information.

As he was organizing his thoughts, an uncomfortable feeling suddenly arose.

He felt that Ohkyung Entertainment, or whatever, saw 888 Crew as entirely theirs.

If so, he had to protect it, and Sanghyun was confident that he could protect it.

“Thank you so much for telling me. I think it will be a great help that you told me in advance.”

Dolphin hesitated after seeing Sanghyun’s confident expression.

“You don’t know the power that large agencies have. Do you remember someone named Han Horan among the child actors?”

“Han Ho? I think I’ve heard of him somewhere…”

“He’s a *hyung* who debuted as a singer after being a child actor, and he filed a lawsuit and left his agency because he was sick of the 12-year slave contract and wanted to do his own music. And for 9 years, he wasn’t welcomed in any show business connections, including broadcasting. This exclusion is still ongoing.”

Dolphin seemed to be afraid of the power of large agencies.

However, Sanghyun’s honest feeling was that he wasn’t afraid ‘if that’s all there is’.

Because 888 Crew is not a group that aims to appear on TV or live a celebrity life.

No matter how famous they become, they are underground artists who uphold the Be the Underground spirit. To block their path, you have to damage their musicality and damage the hearts of fans who like their music.

And that was impossible.

“Thank you so much for the advice.”

Sanghyun politely greeted Dolphin and came out of the broadcasting station. It was almost 8 o’clock.

Then his cell phone buzzed and showed a text message.

It was Junhyung.

-Where are you?

-I’m going to the convenience store to buy your toothbrush and toothpaste.

-I bought that yesterday at dawn. Come to the main gate quickly. Let’s go eat.

-Is everyone up?

-I woke them up.

After receiving the text message, he returned to the broadcasting station and saw 7 members waiting for him, yawning widely. Seeing them waiting for him with swollen eyes made him laugh for no reason.

“What are you grinning at?”

“What are we going to eat?”

“Ugh, it’s cold. Let’s eat something with soup because it’s cold.”

“Yesterday, PD [Production Director] Heo told us to go to the back of the broadcasting station if we want to eat *gukbap* [rice soup].”

“Really?”

With Kim Hwan’s valuable information, the 888 Crew members moved towards the back gate of the broadcasting station.

At that moment, the sun, which had been hidden behind thick winter clouds, revealed its face and began to show bright morning sunlight.

A straight path created by the sunlight appeared between the tall buildings of the broadcasting station located on both sides. And the path gradually began to lengthen as the clouds receded.

In the direction that 888 Crew was trying to move towards.

“Ooh.”

The crew members were impressed by the pretty cool scene.

“What, does it feel like a good omen?”

“What’s at the end… Excalibur!”

Inhyuk, who was in a playful mood, tried to pull out the no-parking sign at the end of the path of sunlight. However, the sign was stuck in a bucket filled with cement, so it was not easily pulled out.

“Tch, is it a barrier?”

Minsu, who was about to say something to Inhyuk for doing stupid things from the morning, suddenly looked up at the sky at the cold sensation touching her cheek.

“Wow.”

The first snow of 2005 was falling.

The pure white first snow slowly fluttered in the wind and fell on the path created by the sunlight.

And on that path stood Sanghyun and the 888 Crew members.

‘It’s white.’

The snow, sparkling in the sunlight, looked pure white.

Sanghyun reached out and caught the snow. A sparkle like starlight fell into his hand.

However, the snow that came into both hands was gray.

Gray, neither black nor white.

It was definitely white when it was in the sky.

“What are you doing?”

Then Hayeon urged Sanghyun. The members were already far ahead.

Sanghyun shrugged his shoulders and walked slowly on the path created by the light, getting hit by the falling snow.

***

The 3rd round performance time of Hip Hop the Vibe 2 was gradually approaching.

The performers practiced and practiced, lest they forget the lyrics, miss the beat, or fail to capture important points.

However, at some point, the practice of matching the teamwork between the teams had disappeared.

This is because the opponent they are working with now is an adversary who will be engaged in fierce verbal battles shortly.

Therefore, the practice in the set of Hip Hop the Vibe, which has a strange tension, was only individual practice. Except for 888 Crew and Stars Records matching Forecast to check the 4 bars that were added.

The cameramen, who noticed the atmosphere, began to move diligently. Thanks to this, the sharp images between the musicians, which had not appeared several times, were captured on camera.

PD Heo Taejin thought that the temporarily changed broadcasting format might be better.

‘The guerrilla concert was also a great success… Is this a blessing in disguise?’

The internet was in an uproar because of the guerrilla concert mission. It slowly started to be listed in the search rankings yesterday, and finally hit number 1 this morning, a day later.

This was partly because so many people had been exposed to the promotion of 888 Crew, Stars Records, and Bounce Rhyme, but the biggest reason was that the reviews of those who watched the guerrilla concert were belatedly springing up like mushrooms.

In addition, the avid viewers of Hip Hop the Vibe had predicted that the guerrilla concert was a scene that could not be found in the trailer, and that something seemed to have changed.

“Writer Sun. Have you contacted all the audience members?”

“Yes. I pulled the insufficient number from the reserve list and matched exactly 151 people.”

Originally, the 3rd round stage, which the audience would watch, was scheduled for Saturday. However, due to the unexpected event of the awards ceremony being canceled, the performance time was postponed to Sunday, and some people were unable to participate.

“But PD, I’m getting a lot of inquiries about whether there are any remaining audience tickets. Or, they don’t necessarily have to vote, but they’re asking if they can watch.”

“Who? Agency officials?”

“There aren’t many officials, but celebrities are contacting us a lot through their managers.”

“Are there any A-listers?”

“There are S-class actors.”

Heo Taejin was quite surprised to hear the names of the celebrities from writer Sun Mina. This was because it included Chungmuro [Korean Hollywood] actors who were extremely reluctant to appear on TV.

“Ask them if they don’t mind being exposed to the camera and if they can stand in the front row. Ask the people who show a positive response if they can do a short interview. Don’t just ask blindly, and keep an eye on them. You know what I mean, right?”

“Yes, yes. Of course, there’s no appearance fee, right?”

“Why would I ruin the budget?”

PD Heo Taejin looked at writer Sun Mina, who was starting to grab the phone with a happy expression.

Hip Hop the Vibe 2 seemed like it would be the best work that would remain in his career.

He was so proud that he ignored the words of his senior PDs, who told him to stop touching the dead child’s balls, and stuck to hip hop content until the end.

‘But I’m worried about Episode 2. Can the teams that have been cast show as much topicality as 888 Crew?’

PD Heo Taejin spent a long time thinking about the 4 teams that would appear in Episode 2, and fell into a dilemma where happiness and anxiety crossed.

In the meantime, time passed steadily, and the rehearsal at 17:00 began.

Unlike usual, there were no musicians singing the complete song at today’s rehearsal. Most of them were just checking the microphone settings and monitoring.

This was consideration for the other party and a defense mechanism for oneself.

Since they’re going to fight fiercely in a little while, consideration not to attack from the rehearsal. Defense not to be attacked from the rehearsal.

From the moment the rehearsal ended, the audience began to enter, and the time when the entrance was completed was a little after 18:00.

There was a small commotion among the audience as several famous celebrities appeared in the filming set, but the musicians only glanced at them and did not show any particular reaction.

And exactly at 18:30.

The 3rd round competition of Hip Hop the Vibe 2 announced its start.

***

< Verse 20. Battle Rhyme > End

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