The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 146

Verse 21. Change

Sangmi added,

“Of course, we need new tracks too. But people want to hear one new track with five familiar ones, not six new tracks. What’s the theme for the *Hip Hop the Vibe* final battle this time?”

“Hip hop.”

“I thought PD [Production Director] Heo Taejin was giving us a reward when I first heard the theme for round four. A reward for the two teams who fought tooth and nail and won in rounds one, two, and three. Honestly, with the theme of hip hop, you can sing any song you want, right? It’s like saying, ‘Do the song you want to do.'”

“But new songs have been well-received on *Hip Hop the Vibe* so far, like ‘Get That Money.’ I don’t think it’s necessarily about the difference between brand new tracks and famous tracks, is it?”

Inhyuk joined the debate.

The aggressive and uninhibited debate, unique to the 888 Crew and the driving force behind their steady growth, began. Needless to say, this debate was deeply rooted in the crew members’ unwavering trust in each other.

“No. Do you think the *Hip Hop the Vibe* audience represents Korean hip hop fans? The *Hip Hop the Vibe* audience are hardcore hip hop fans, literally. Or fans who have infinite affection for the cast, regardless of the music.”

Sanghyun listened to Sangmi and Inhyuk’s conversation with a pleased expression. Sangmi is the only one among the eight members of the 888 Crew who has the perspective of a non-expert. And right now, Sangmi’s perspective is a great help.

The debate ended with Sangmi’s victory. To be precise, it wasn’t so much a victory as it was a persuasion.

Joonhyung, who had been listening to the debate, excitedly opened his mouth.

“Then how about this for our next performance? We pick the tracks and verses that we really want to perform from the songs we’ve made so far. And then we combine those songs and verses to create a set list!”

“Oh, then one group song is already reserved. We just need to gather the verses.”

“That’s right. It would be great if we had a nice beat… Sanghyun, do you have any standard beats left these days? It seems like you’ve been sending me fewer beats lately.”

“He’s busy. I heard he’s doing really well in LA.”

“Ah, right. Hyung [Older brother/male friend] Myungjin told me last time. The Standard remix was ranked quite high in some LA music magazine. Was it NPQ?”

“Ah, that hit number one.”

At Sanghyun’s words, the crew members were surprised and asked.

“Really? Number one? Then our music hit number one in LA?”

“Well, yes, but I’m not sure how well-known it is. I was curious, so I did some Googling, but it didn’t come up. Maybe it’s not that famous?”

“Is that so? We can just ask Standard directly.”

“He seems so busy these days that he’s out of his mind. He doesn’t even read his emails, and it’s hard to call him.”

Joonhyung joked that he might be abandoning them because he’s become famous, and Sanghyun shook his head with a smile.

Standard had taken Sanghyun’s account number, even getting angry while doing so, even though Sanghyun had said it was okay several times. He said that if he wanted to give more but was ultimately refused, he would unconditionally pay the original artist as much as a DJ would typically pay for a remix.

The reason Sanghyun liked Standard was because Standard was known as a musician who kept his word. The things Standard had done for poor rappers he had befriended during his underground days were quite famous.

With Sangmi’s hint as a clue, they began to rework the performance set list.

“Should we do ‘Let’s Move’? We’ve never performed that live since we performed it at *Gentle Straight Line*.”

“Wouldn’t ‘Let’s Move’ be a bit ambiguous in terms of vibe? It’s not exciting, and it’s not emotional.”

“We can do it as the first song.”

Because there was no pressure about new tracks or new scenes, they were even more inspired to do what they wanted.

The 888 Crew didn’t just prepare for the performance during those two weeks.

They selected six of the event invitations they had been receiving non-stop and carried out the schedules. Four of them were events in the Jeonnam and Gwangju areas, and two were events in Seoul.

The purpose of these performances was to purchase recording equipment for the studio.

In fact, they had enough money to buy recording equipment now. Official bootlegs and domestic products were still selling steadily. No, rather, sales were showing a steep increase.

However, spending a significant amount of the money at once was unsettling because they didn’t know what might happen in the future that would require urgent money. Therefore, the 888 Crew went on tour to accumulate a kind of retained earnings.

They also wanted to experience their fame.

And they really felt their fame. They felt it so much that they were exhausted.

The 888 Crew had no manager and no vehicle. The first performance venue was a festival in downtown Gwangju, so they took a taxi to the performance venue without thinking, and had to go through a lot of trouble.

“It’s Lee Sanghyun!”

“Kyaaaa!”

Sanghyun, Sangmi, Hayeon, and Minho, who arrived at the venue first in two taxis with four people in each, realized that hell was here.

Sanghyun quickly called Minho, put Hayeon and Sangmi in the middle, and surrounded them like bodyguards. He and Minho, being men, could endure being touched a little and could withstand being pushed around, but Hayeon and Sangmi couldn’t.

If the line men (private security guards who prevent spectators from entering at urban festivals, etc.) hired by the event organizers hadn’t appeared when a huge crowd suddenly gathered, Sanghyun thought he would have been crushed to death.

“No, don’t you celebrities realize you’re celebrities? You take a taxi and get off at the entrance of the festival site? And there are two women with you? Are you hurt, or is anything missing?”

Sanghyun said to the festival organizers, who were speaking with a mixture of absurdity and concern, with a smile.

“Joonhyung, Inhyuk hyung [older brother/male friend], and the rest of the members will be here soon, right? Can’t you just sneak Minji nuna [older sister/female friend] out of there? Leave the other three in the middle of that mess.”

“Why?”

“It’s fun. If only Minji nuna [older sister/female friend] isn’t there, they’ll be able to get through that easily. I trust our crew members.”

The staff, who were watching the celebrity with curious expressions at Sanghyun’s playful words, were dumbfounded. Sanghyun was scolded by Sangmi and Hayeon to come to his senses, but even the two of them seemed to be expecting it a little.

The performance, which began after overcoming unexpected hardships, was so much fun.

It wasn’t an atmosphere where people listened to hip hop music in detail, understood the lyrics, and enjoyed it like the *Hip Hop the Vibe* audience, but it had a crazy, wild taste.

The highlight of the performance was definitely Gwangju UP.

“Light Gwang! Town Ju!”

-Gwangju UP!

Gwangju Up had the power to make the citizens of Gwangju go crazy. In Gwangju, it was much more popular than the Eight, Eight, Eight remix.

Taking the first performance as a lesson, they rented a car and smoothly carried out the sixth performance. Of course, the driver was Park Inhyuk, who was the only one with a Class 1 Ordinary Driver’s License.

“Just trust the best driver!”

Sanghyun wanted to get his license quickly.

“Wow… so that’s why everyone works so hard at events and tours university festivals.”

Joonhyung exclaimed after finishing all the schedules and checking his bank account.

The money earned by the 888 Crew, like Joonhyung’s exclamation, was by no means a small amount. The amount recorded in the bank account after completing six performances was a whopping 60 million won [approximately $45,000 USD].

The cost of hiring an A-list celebrity at a typical university festival was about 15 million won [approximately $11,000 USD] based on 2005.

Due to the nature of university festivals, the festival period and demand overlapped, so the price was inflated, and the price of an A-list celebrity at a general event was usually over 10 million won [approximately $7,500 USD]. So, the 888 Crew, who earned 60 million won from six performances, were treated like A-list singers.

However, they were not yet a complete A-list in the full sense of the word. First of all, there were six performers, and if you include Sangmi and Minho, the total number of people was eight.

In addition, there was a high possibility that the price would drop from the moment the broadcast of *Hip Hop the Vibe* Episode 1 ended. I already knew that they were conducting preliminary interviews with the rappers who would participate in Episode 2.

Nevertheless, it was really amazing that the crew had achieved this level of performance in just six months since its creation.

Kim Hwan looked at Sanghyun’s face as he excitedly talked about which brand of equipment to buy. He was six years younger, but there were many times when he was truly admirable.

In fact, Kim Hwan, who was in charge of recruiting for the 888 Crew, often heard the words “3 or 4 people” when receiving recruitment calls.

Lee Sanghyun, Park Inhyuk, Shin Hayeon, Shin Joonhyung.

These were usually the performers that the event organizers wanted from the 888 Crew.

However, Sanghyun insisted on an 8-person system no matter what. He would raise the pay as much as he could, and even if they didn’t raise it any further, they would go with 8 people.

Honestly, this was a loss for the performers.

Going with 3 or 4 people and receiving 8 million won [approximately $6,000 USD], and going with 8 people and receiving 10 million won [approximately $7,500 USD], inevitably caused a difference in the amount of distribution.

‘But he never shows it.’

This was a fact known only to the leader Joonhyung, Sanghyun, and himself, who was in charge of recruiting for performances.

Kim Hwan impulsively, but with the conviction that he wanted to be with the 888 Crew forever, opened his mouth.

“I’m going to drop out of school.”

“Huh? School?”

“Yeah. I’m going to focus on music now. Ah, of course, I’m not giving up on design, but I don’t need a diploma anymore.”

The crew members congratulated Kim Hwan on his declaration. As soon as the congratulations for Kim Hwan ended, Minji brought up that she was also considering it. She added that, in a way, the best thing you can do with what you learn in the philosophy department is writing lyrics.

The studio quickly became noisy.

Inhyuk suggested a snack party to celebrate, and Joonhyung, who had been looking for a chance to drink, slyly brought up beer.

In the end, Uminho and Park Inhyuk, who were smokers, left the studio to buy something to eat.

Minho and Inhyuk sat at the octagonal pavilion not far from the studio and smoked. After smoking for a while, Minho opened his mouth.

“Inhyuk.”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t it about time for you to make a decision?”

White gas, half breath and half cigarette smoke, scattered into the air due to the cold weather.

“What decision? I only have until March next year anyway.”

“Honestly, Sanghyun and you are the most popular right now. You have enough talent, enough personality, and good public recognition… what’s the problem?”

“I’m already getting beaten to death by my parents just for being on TV.”

It wasn’t that Inhyuk had no desire for music. But he wasn’t sure if he could make a living from music for the rest of his life.

Even if I somehow make a living until I’m forty, what about fifty? Sixty? Can I get married? What if hip hop becomes unpopular starting next year? Can the inspiration I have last forever?

Inhyuk’s worries rode the cigarette smoke and flew high into the sky. Then Minho asked.

“Inhyuk, do you think Sanghyun can’t succeed with music?”

“Sanghyun? No way. I think Sanghyun would do well even if he went to the United States. Man, when I saw him talking to a foreigner in Seoul last time, his English was so good. He was a complete native.”

“I see you the way you see Sanghyun.”

“Well… if cigarettes are my inspiration, I’m closer to ashes than smoke. Falling when I’m all burned out. Right now, the source of my musical inspiration is my rebellion against my parents’ pressure, but from the moment I choose music, I’ll be worried instead of pressured.”

Inhyuk flicked off his cigarette.

“Let’s go. The kids are waiting. Ah, I should quit smoking because I feel sorry for the kids.”

“You don’t even smoke much because you’re worried about the smell. You even carry mouthwash with you.”

Inhyuk and Minho rinsed their mouths with mouthwash and headed to the mart [convenience store].

***

< Verse 21. Change > End

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