The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 157

< Verse 24. 2006 >

The 888 Crew’s music sold quite well.

There was a considerable gap between the music release and the profit settlement, so the exact amount couldn’t be known, but according to PD [Production Director] Heo Tae-jin, all three songs were fluctuating between 5th and 10th place on the charts.

However, the 888 Crew couldn’t find their name at the top of the charts. Because they didn’t have an agency to back them, the accurate sales figures weren’t being reflected on the site.

Because of this, the name ‘888 Crew’ was always recorded around 20th place. Except for Jun-hyung’s group song, which was actively promoted by the broadcasting station for Hip Hop the Vibe.

-New singer Suya! Transformed into a sexy Santa…….

The charts in December 2005 were filled with Christmas carols released by major agencies.

“Wow, finally, we’re using our song for the club BGM [Background Music].”

“It’s good to register the music.”

But the 888 Crew didn’t care much. They weren’t a team that was hung up on charts built on top of pyramids, not music. It was what they expected anyway.

In the meantime, the 888 Crew steadily performed a few events and consistently refused broadcast appearances. They would have been willing to appear on programs like Yoon Do-hyun’s Love Letter, but most of the broadcasts they were offered were strange variety shows.

The only public broadcast Christmas special music show they were considering positively overlapped with the schedule for Hommie Vol.3. It was a shame, but nothing was more important than Hommie Vol.3, so they had to give up the broadcast.

Time passed, and Christmas Eve was approaching. And Christmas Eve was the day Hommie Vol.3 was scheduled.

Club Hommie, which they were visiting after 4 months, and the underground hip-hop fans, who they were meeting after 4 months, were still the same as ever. The only thing that had changed was the popularity of the 888 Crew.

4 months ago, the number of audience members recorded at Hommie Vol.1 was 1200.

2 months ago, when the 888 Crew was absent and the lineup was a bit weak for Vol.2, it was 700.

And today, it was 2500.

‘Two thousand five hundred people!’

Even that number, 2500, was adjusted to the maximum capacity of Club Hommie. According to Bae-ga, if the venue was larger, they could have aimed for over 3000 people.

Sang-hyun felt a thrill at the number 2500.

Of course, compared to the audience mobilization of major singers such as Cho Yong-pil, Psy, and TVXQ, 2500 was a woefully inadequate number.

‘King of Pop’ Cho Yong-pil sold out 50,000 seats at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in 2003, and Psy sold out 50,000 seats at the Sangam Olympic Stadium in 2013 after the mega-hit ‘Gangnam Style’.

Moving on to underground hip-hop, Beenzino, Illionaire, and Just Music also had the ticket power to sell out over 2000 seats every year.

Thinking that way, you might think that the most popular hip-hop musicians in Korea gathered and only called 2500 people. Moreover, considering the Christmas Eve special, it was even more so.

But as I said many times, it was 2005 now. And the only thing that had changed between the past 2005 and the present 2005 was only one thing.

The 888 Crew had appeared.

“Hello! We are the 888 Crew!”

-Wowwwww!!!

-888 Crew-!!

When the 8 members of the 888 Crew took the stage at Hommie, a strange roar that was neither a cheer nor a shout erupted. A faint smile appeared on the faces of the musicians on stage.

Broadcast stages like Hip Hop the Vibe are fun, and participating in events and festivals is fun, but underground club performances are the best.

Compared to Vol.1, the number of general audience members has increased a lot, but this place is still the gathering place for the pride of Korean underground hip-hop, which started in 1999.

-Kyaaaaa!

The roar-like shouts didn’t stop. It was hard to believe that these were the people who had been playing for the previous 2 hours of running time.

“No, what are you doing getting so excited from the beginning? How do you know what we’re going to do for the first song? What if we do something like Eight, Eight, Eight Remix?”

At Sang-hyun’s words, the shouts of 2500 people changed into a single sentence.

We Eight that Eight that Eight that Crew-!

Jun-hyung, who was enjoying the cheers, smiled and said.

“I’m sorry, what should I do? Our first song is going to be a bit boring.”

At Jun-hyung’s words, the voices of the audience members who were shouting the chorus of Eight, Eight, Eight gradually decreased. Voices saying ‘It’s okay!’ were heard here and there.

“I’m glad it’s okay. Min-ho hyung! Give me the beat!”

As soon as Jun-hyung finished speaking, a calm guitar sound began to be heard. It wasn’t an electric guitar, and it was a pure acoustic guitar solo without any drum sounds.

The audience quieted down as they heard a guitar sound similar to the intro of Falling Slowly. Just as the unexpected acoustic guitar was about to calm the audience’s excitement,

“Jump-!”

A loud shout that broke the silence was heard.

The 888 Crew members on stage all jumped together and threw the Triple Eight T-shirts, towels, and New Eras [a brand of baseball cap] they were holding in their hands.

The moment their feet, which had jumped high, touched the stage, the beat of Eight, Eight, Eight Remix burst out with a booming drum sound.

-Kyaaaaa!

-Wowwww!

The audience responded with cheers to the unexpected twist.

It was the beginning of a crazy 30-minute performance.

The 888 Crew performed mainly songs from Triple Eight and songs they sang on Hip Hop the Vibe, as Sang-mi advised. Of course, the audience sang along to all the songs, and the atmosphere was so good that it was about to explode.

In particular, when they sang ‘Run This Scene’, which decorated the finale of Hip Hop the Vibe, a shout that could have been believed even if 25,000 people had come, not 2,500, erupted.

The climax of the shouts was the moment when special guest Qalib appeared.

“SHOUT-OUT TO MY MAN! QALIB!”

-It’s Qalib!

-Kyaaaa! Qalib!

Qalib experienced a huge increase in recognition after Hip Hop the Vibe was broadcast. Considering the short broadcast time, it was a miraculous level. The reason for this increase in recognition was not only because his rap was good, but also because his handsome appearance was a pretty big plus.

He was a bit shabby and couldn’t dress well now, so he looked a bit countrified, but Qalib was originally very handsome. As a joke, when So Ji-sub [a famous actor] released a hip-hop album, it was said that ‘Qalib had his title of top visual rapper stolen’.

Of course, Qalib’s biggest weapon was his rap, but this background was also hidden in the unexpected hit of his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Jun-hyung and In-hyuk, who had become quite close, booed Qalib, who received absolute support from the female audience.

But Qalib didn’t care and started rapping with ease. No, to be precise, should I say that he added his voice to the audience’s rap?

Run This Scene! Walk on Korean hip-hop!

twenty-four seven, writing lyrics is my job!

The Soul Makers members, including Qalib, were scheduled to open Hommie Vol.4, which was scheduled for February. Originally, ‘Once in a Lifetime’ was supposed to be released in 2007, so he rose to the surface more than a year earlier.

The debt to Qalib, who had his big hit song stolen because of him, was not completely gone, but I thought I had buttoned the first button well.

Sang-hyun watched Qalib rapping with a happy expression.

A photo of Sang-hyun’s expression and Qalib’s appearance, which was absorbed in rapping, taken from an exquisite angle, would be posted a few days later with the title ‘Manager’s expression looking at his affiliated celebrity.jpg’.

After hidden guest Qalib went down from the stage, there was only one song left for the 888 Crew.

“Do you know who’s next?”

-Starz Records!

“That’s right. It’s the Starz hyungs [older brothers/respected seniors] who are constantly blocking our path. These hyungs really bother us a lot. But I can’t say anything because the Hommie performance was created thanks to the hyungs.”

Sang-hyun took over Jun-hyung’s words.

“When you do hip-hop in Korea, you can’t avoid the Starz Records hyungs. So I thought, if you can’t avoid it, try to use them appropriately. Well, since they have experience, wouldn’t they be our backup men?”

As the audience began to shout Starz Records, Jun-hyung waved his hand.

“It’s true that Starz Records is coming out, but you don’t have to cheer for them if you don’t mean it. Oh, I told you not to shout. The old men’s ears are going to fall off.”

The audience, like rebellious children, shouted again at Jun-hyung’s teasing.

“Ah, if you do this, the Starz hyungs’ noses will only get higher [become more arrogant]. They’ll misunderstand that the cheers for us are for them, you know? Min-ho hyung, just give me the beat quickly.”

The Starz Records, who were taking action to get angry as soon as the intro was heard, appeared. Bae-ga strode up to Sang-hyun and tried to put him in a headlock, but Sang-hyun quickly stuck next to Sang-mi.

The audience made laughter-filled noises.

The last song of the 888 Crew’s performance was Forecast, a collaboration track from Official Bootleg and a group battle song from Hip Hop the Vibe.

The version to be performed today was not the Hip Hop the Vibe version, but the official version included in Official Bootleg. It was the first live performance of the official version, but the 888 Crew and Starz Records, which had evolved one step further through 6 weeks of filming, continued their flawless performance.

Like possessed, amazing

Amazing to wannabe rappers

Amazing that you thought you saw my weakness

You seem to be mistaking the rule

The moment Sang-hyun’s rap, who was in charge of the last verse, ended, the stage lights suddenly went out.

Soon, 13 phrases glowing in the dark appeared on the stage, which had turned into complete darkness.

STARZ X 888

It was a phrase hidden in clothes that looked like simple plain black T-shirts. It was clothes that Sang-hyun had specially made for today’s performance.

As if the musicians were turning around, the glow in the dark disappeared one by one.

When the lights came on again, the 888 Crew on stage had disappeared. Instead, Starz Records, who would be responsible for the last show time, remained.

-Starz Records!

-888 Crew!

However, the voices of the audience members shouting for the two teams continued as if they would last forever.

***

After the very enjoyable performance at Club Hommie, the 888 Crew did not schedule any more performances and took a short break.

Since all the crew members had been working hard on crew work for more than half a year, quite a few people were upset about the strained relationships, including with their families.

Jun-hyung went on a short family trip, getting slapped on the back, saying, “Why is it so hard to see my son’s face?” Jun-hyung’s parents wanted Sang-hyun and Sang-mi to go with them, but Sang-mi had planned a trip with her middle school friends, who would be hard to see in the future, so she had to politely decline.

Woo Min-ho, whose home was in Daejeon, returned home for the first time in a while to celebrate the end of the year, and Oh Min-ji and Kim Hwan, who had decided to drop out of Yonsei University, went up to Seoul for a farewell party and year-end party with their classmates. Ha-yeon went on a trip to Busan with her high school friends, and In-hyuk rested while studying hard and meeting friends who called him from various places.

< Verse 24. 2006 > End

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