The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 153

Verse 23. The Final Battle

Ordinary art tends to occupy space.

Sculptures need a place to be displayed, paintings need a space to be hung. Theater needs a stage to perform on, and movies need an environment where they can be watched.

However, music, among the arts, focuses more on time than space. It’s an art that gradually disappears from the moment it begins. Fleeting sounds cannot occupy space or time.

Sanghyun felt those moments were too precious.

But even if fleeting sounds cannot occupy space and time, they can occupy memories.

That was today’s first performance song, “Daydream.”

We Eight that Eight that Eight that Crew!

As the signature sound representing the 888 Crew echoed, the audience cheered loudly.

Sanghyun and Hayeon, who were in charge of the first song, stood motionless until the audience’s cheers subsided. However, the cheering went on for so long that it didn’t seem like it would die down on its own.

Eventually, Sanghyun raised his index finger and brought it to his lips.

Only then did the audience’s response subside, and silence fell.

Sanghyun grabbed the microphone and opened his mouth.

“When you’re on stage, you can see the audience very well, more than you think. Smiling and shouting faces, eyes focused on the stage, smiles on the lips.”

As Sanghyun began to speak, two cameras that had been facing the audience turned around to face the stage.

“I can see those camera movements too. The camera is a bit restless today.”

A small laugh rippled through the crowd.

“When I lie down to sleep after a performance, there are strangely scenes that keep coming to mind. Like a scene of a certain audience member, whose name and age I don’t know, smiling brightly. That smile repeats countless times in my head, and by the time I finally fall asleep, I think to myself…”

Sanghyun, slowly looking around the audience, said quietly.

“Is this perhaps a dream?”

The audience began to be drawn into Sanghyun’s voice. Before they knew it, the venue became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

When world-class CEOs like the eloquent ‘Jack Welch’ talk about the company’s vision, the audience often says that they feel the vision entering them directly. (Jack Welch was the CEO of General Electric from 1981 to 2001, known for his charismatic leadership.)

The feeling the audience was getting now was similar to this. Kim Woon-cheol’s ‘special voice’ that Sanghyun possessed was beginning to grab the audience’s minds and not let go.

Following the 3rd round, some of the actors who came to the 4th round performance were also surprised to hear Sanghyun’s voice.

“So sometimes when I go on stage, I feel like I’m walking into a dream. So I can go into a dream whenever I want. Isn’t that cool?”

Sanghyun smiled.

At that moment, a calm yet clear voice began to be heard in the ears of the audience who were concentrating as if entranced.

It was Hayeon’s song that broke the quiet silence.

I’m Daydreamer……

When I take a short trip, to my daydream

I’m Daydreamer……

When I take a long time to get there, on daydream

Hayeon is the best singer in the 888 Crew, but there was no artifice in her voice now.

She was just using a slow but deep melody to casually share the story of traveling through Daydream.

Hayeon’s voice spread through the audience like ripples on a calm surface. The audience, who had been captivated by Sanghyun’s voice, gradually came to their senses.

It was like having a brief daydream.

Day, Day, Day, Ring dream us

Day, Day, Day, It’s Freedom

I’m Daydreamer-

Should I play the music, had to get there on dream.

The moment Hayeon’s calm yet delicate voice ended, a sound with a strong resonance began to fill the stage.

The source of the resonance was an instrument that the 888 Crew had never used before: a grand piano. Soon, the grand piano’s unique delicate and rich sound began to stimulate the audience’s whole body.

At the same time, the lights on the stage went out all at once.

Darkness fell, but it was not a cold and desolate darkness. It was a cozy darkness, like the darkness of a bedroom that you enter to go to sleep after a happy day.

The grand piano in the dark did not stop.

‘What the heck?’

That was the question that came to everyone’s mind.

Just a few minutes ago, they were watching Starz Record’s exciting stage. Everyone was going crazy and jumping around, and the venue was filled with hot energy.

Hip-hop catharsis.

That was why they came to Hip Hop the Vibe.

But the song that the 888 Crew was trying to play now was far from the hip-hop catharsis they wanted.

“Daydream” was not an exciting song, nor did it have the intense vibe unique to hip-hop. There was no drum sound that made the heart pound, and there was no device to induce cheers.

But……,

‘What the heck?’

Why am I so excited?

Why is my heart beating so fast?

At that moment, a light that cut through the middle of the darkness shone on the center of the stage. Sanghyun was standing there.

Sanghyun’s appealing voice began to permeate through the grand piano’s resonance.

I think this is not a stage but a dream.

Deep inside the Matrix or hypnosis,

A place hidden in one place

Otherwise, it can’t shine so brightly.

“Daydream” had no drum source. Various instrument sources harmonized with the grand piano as the main instrument, forming ghost notes, but there were no drums.

Because drums are percussion (instruments that create sound by being struck or shaken).

Percussion is an instrument that doesn’t suit dreams. Hitting and striking can heighten tension and make the heart beat faster, but it couldn’t caress like a dream you once had.

Run around as if your whole body is light.

I feel someone looking at me.

Hundreds of eyes, several cameras

Look at their two hands and feet clicking on me.

Sanghyun suddenly raised his head. He couldn’t see his surroundings well because of the bright light.

Interestingly, when the lights are shone so that the audience can see the stage well, the musicians themselves cannot see their surroundings well because of the bright light. Whenever that happened, Sanghyun thought that he was rapping surrounded by light.

He could vaguely see the eyes of the audience and the camera through the bright light. The reason why those things can be seen even through the light is perhaps because the light they emit is brighter than the lighting?

I hear cheers, maybe I’m a Superstar

Spotlight like God’s hand touching me

A fleeting glance seems eternal,

I think my eyes are gone, everything shines brightly, Uh

The piano sound began to weaken.

Pianissimo. Very softly.

The harmony made up of rich chords changed to a single note, and the strength of the force pressing the keys gradually weakened. But the sound was not blurred.

Sanghyun’s voice grew louder.

Fortissimo. Very strongly.

The voice that had been dryly spewing out as if in a dream began to have a resonance comparable to that of a grand piano. Sanghyun’s voice revealed a strong presence.

A dream entered without falling asleep

Excitement gained in proportion to effort

I only dream when I give up sleep,

I only breathe on the breathless stage

Sanghyun had achieved a complete crossover since the soft, linear performance with L&S. The 38-year-old self and the 18-year-old self were completely fused.

But sometimes, very rarely, he worried that he might wake up and return to the reality of being 38 years old. He wondered if his happy daily life now might be a dream.

‘That can’t be.’

But the sure proof that this place was reality was his pounding heart. It was the excitement that he gained more and more as he worked harder.

This was a place where he could only dream real dreams after giving up sleep, and a place where he could only breathe real breaths on a breathless stage.

As soon as the 16-bar rap ended, the double grand piano performance continued. The audience’s cheers naturally permeated through the piano.

But this cheer was not the cheer of the scene.

It was Uminho who softly sampled the cheers that the audience had shown during the first round performance and made them permeate through the beat like an instrument.

The instrument that brings you back to reality from Daydream was not the drums, but the cheers of the audience. Whenever the musicians on stage heard the cheers of the audience, they could always realize that this place was reality.

The audience who heard the recorded cheering sound seemed to realize their role and added a big cheer to the recorded sound.

Hayeon, who was outside the range of the lighting, walked into the circle of light.

I’m Daydreamer-

When I take a short trip, to my daydream

I’m Daydreamer-

When I take a long time to get there, on daydream

Hayeon’s strong voice confessing that she had been traveling in Daydream for a while.

Day, Day, Day, Ring dream us

Day, Day, Day, It’s Freedom

I’m Daydreamer-

Should I play the music, had to get there on dream.

Sanghyun’s low voice softly wrapping around Hayeon’s vocals.

Day, Day, Day, Ring dream us

Day, Day, Day, It’s Freedom

I’m Daydreamer-

Should I play the music, had to get there on dream.

A cross-section of the performance was cut out, but Sanghyun’s countless efforts to match the harmony were hidden in that cross-section. That’s why music is fun, and the stage seems fun.

The 600 audience members, 40 staff members, and 5 Starz Record members fell into Daydream. Even Cha In-hyun, who wanted to ignore the 888 Crew, was in it.

That’s how Daydream was faithfully announcing the start of the 888 Crew’s performance.

***

The 888 Crew’s performance, as always, grabbed people’s hearts and left a strong impression as it progressed.

Park In-hyuk, Oh Min-ji, and Kim Hwan’s Why Come fell onto the stage where the emotion of Daydream had not yet faded.

There were countless people who saw the performance at the Mudeung Stadium, which was the reason why the 888 Crew became ‘nationwide’. Not to mention today’s audience who love hip-hop culture and love the 888 Crew.

Because of this, Inhyuk, Minji, and Hwan couldn’t get a chance to sing the chorus of Why Come.

Why Come, Why For, Why Stand. Ho-!

888 is here, so everyone scream!

Because the audience completely stole the role.

“No, if you do this, we’ll lose all of our appearance fees. You have to give us a chance to sing too!”

The audience couldn’t help but send laughter and cheers to Inhyuk’s joke after the performance.

After Why Come, Junhyung, Inhyuk, and Hwan’s Background followed. In the Background performance, Uminho’s wonderful backup play with turntables and MPC [Music Production Controller] was a masterpiece.

All the player!

Play the music!

In their some background!

There’s nothing cool in what others have said!

As today’s 888 Crew’s performance concept is ‘the stage I want to do’, more energetic and passionate performances than usual continued on the stage.

Of course, hidden behind it was a deep regret for Hip Hop the Vibe, which was running towards the end.

End

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