The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 189

< Verse 29. Just For The Record >

***

Dream Entertainment’s Assistant Manager Moon Ji-yeon wore a tense expression as she watched the 888 Crew fans begin to enter the showcase.

She had been working in stage production for three years, but this was her first time managing a showcase.

Showcases and fan meetings were usually held by major celebrities with a significant fan base. These celebrities had their agency’s stage technical team behind them, so there was rarely a need to hire an external team.

In that sense, 888 Crew was truly unique.

It was the first time that underground musicians without an agency were holding a showcase to commemorate their album release.

And it was free. For 800 people.

‘It’s hard to call them underground anymore, though.’

In any case, after the 888 Show, 888 Crew always turned to Dream Entertainment for any work that required an outside vendor. The contract terms were decent, and the musicians weren’t picky, so it was only natural that 888 Crew became Dream Entertainment’s best VIP client.

This was why Assistant Manager Moon Ji-yeon was in charge of the overall showcase management.

Just then, she heard the voice of the staff managing the entrance through her earpiece.

-Assistant Manager, what should we do with the banner?

-Banner? What’s the size?

-It’s over 2 meters [approximately 6.5 feet] when unfolded horizontally.

-What’s the material of the banner stand?

-Wood.

-Tell them we’ll install it on the outside and return it after the showcase. Explain it nicely so the fans don’t get upset.

-Understood.

Like concerts, the most important thing at showcases and fan meetings is to prevent accidents.

However, while accidents at concert venues are usually safety accidents caused by overcrowding, accidents at showcases and fan meetings are often caused by obsessive fans.

It may be hard for ordinary people to understand, but becoming a *sasaeng* fan [an obsessive fan who stalks or engages in other intrusive behavior] or displaying violent tendencies to make an impression on a star is more common than one might think. Mark Chapman, who killed John Lennon of the Beatles, also cited ‘to get attention’ as his motive for the murder.

‘But even if there are *sasaeng* fans, would they have the courage to do something like that in front of so many people?’

Assistant Manager Moon Ji-yeon suddenly made eye contact with a group of male fans who were finishing their entrance and wandering around looking for their assigned seats. They seemed somewhat shy and timidly passed by Assistant Manager Moon Ji-yeon. However, their appearance was anything but timid.

Broad shoulders and angular haircuts.

Tanned skin and thick bodies.

The kind of people who would yell, ‘What’s your problem?’ if you accidentally bumped into them. There was a subtle hint of ‘that world’ [referring to organized crime or gang affiliations] in their neatly dressed suits and dress shirts.

They didn’t seem to fit the word ‘showcase’ at all, but considering 888 Crew’s music genre, it wasn’t that strange. In fact, there were still many people who thought of hip-hop as something associated with swaggering, rowdy thugs.

Of course, it was impossible to know whether these people were really from ‘that world’ or just looked like it.

There were a lot of male fans at today’s showcase.

Considering that the usual ratio of men to women at showcases is 2:8, or even 1:9, the 4:6 ratio at the 888 Crew showcase was remarkable.

-We’ve passed 400 attendees.

Once again, a message was relayed through Moon Ji-yeon’s earpiece.

The showcase time was approaching.

***

The fans’ laughter and the woman’s voice coming from the speakers were mixed together amidst the musty dust. However, due to the location, it was unclear what exactly they were saying.

One could only tell that they were speaking.

“Ugh, I’m so nervous. Are all eight hundred people here?”

“Ah, how many times are you going to ask? I told you they are.”

“I’m just worried that when we go out there, there will only be eighty people.”

Sang-hyun and the other seven 888 Crew members were backstage, waiting for the voice of the showcase emcee to call their names.

The person who readily agreed to host today’s showcase was Shin Hye-yeon, the host of CBC’s radio program <20 O'Clock Station> and a recognized actress in Chungmuro [the Korean equivalent of Hollywood].

After coming to Hip Hop the Vibe as an audience member and telling Sang-hyun to ‘marry her,’ she had openly declared herself a fan of 888 Crew.

Not long ago, Shin Hye-yeon appeared on a variety show to promote a movie. The show had a segment where managers complained about their hardships, and Shin Hye-yeon’s manager shared his concerns about her constantly starting rap battles while driving.

After this happened a few times, Shin Hye-yeon was being treated as a public enemy by 888 Crew’s female fans, especially Sang-hyun’s female fans. But the fact that she was very close to 888 Crew remained unchanged. Shin Hye-yeon, with the exception of Kia Tigers baseball player Han Gwang-soo, was the only celebrity they maintained a close relationship with.

“I’m grateful to Hye-yeon *noona* [an honorific term used by males to address older sisters or close female friends], but if Hyuk-in *hyung* [an honorific term used by males to address older brothers or close male friends] were here, he would have hosted.”

“Yeah. It’s a bit of a shame.”

They were grateful to Shin Hye-yeon for readily agreeing to host, but they couldn’t help but feel the absence of In-hyuk.

“Ah, but I’m so nervous. This feels like the most nerve-wracking wait time I’ve ever experienced.”

“Joon-hyung *oppa* [an honorific term used by females to address older brothers or close male friends] always says that. You said that during Hip Hop the Vibe too.”

“That means I’m even more nervous now than I was then, Sang-mi. And today isn’t just a performance day, it’s a showcase!”

All the members nodded at Joon-hyung’s words.

Showcase.

An event to showcase a new fashion product launch or a singer’s new album release.

Today, 888 Crew was planning to perform exactly half of the 14 tracks from JFTR, which meant that JFTR, which no one had ever heard before, was being revealed to the world for the first time.

Just then, Min-ji, who was thinking about something, opened her mouth.

“We first met around this time last year, right? The dates are almost the same, aren’t they?”

“Oh, yeah. Was it early June when we first met? Or mid-June?”

“I think it was early. I think it was around June 3rd. Anyway, we didn’t know anything back then… It’s really amazing.”

Kim-hwan smiled and added to Joon-hyung’s words.

“There were some people who knew each other well, though, right?”

“Ah! Those know-it-alls? That’s right. I hadn’t even thought about them… I wonder what those people are up to?”

Sang-hyun didn’t participate in the first meeting, but he heard that there were a few more people who had gathered through the community. However, they were too arrogant and pretentious, so Joon-hyung kicked them out.

“Min-ji *noona*, do you know what? All four of them contacted me again. They asked if they could rejoin 888 Crew since they were original members.”

“That’s funny. What original members? When did they contact you?”

“It was all different times. The first one contacted me during The Puck Show Biz, and the next one was when we performed at the Kia Tigers game, I think? On the day the trailer for Hip Hop the Vibe came out, all four of them texted me again. I felt a little bad because they seemed to be regretting it a lot, but I couldn’t accept them.”

“What would have happened if we had accepted those people in the beginning?”

“I don’t know. Wouldn’t they have all left when we were getting criticized nationwide for the Show Business interview?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Sang-hyun, who had been listening to Min-ji and Joon-hyung’s conversation, thought to himself that each and every member of 888 Crew was precious. Thanks to them, Sang-mi was able to smile at her parents’ columbarium.

“But now that I think about it. Sang-hyun, you didn’t come until the second meeting, right? Then isn’t Sang-hyun our junior? We’re 888 Crew 1st generation, and Sang-hyun is 2nd generation.”

Sang-hyun gave Joon-hyung a pathetic look at Joon-hyung’s words. The 888 Crew members were precious, but it seemed necessary to exclude this annoying guy.

“If you put it that way, is Min-ho *hyung* 3rd generation, and Sang-mi 4th generation?”

“Oh, that’s right. Now you’re making sense. Our youngest, Sang-mi, you have to say ‘*sunbaenim*’ [a term used to address senior colleagues or mentors] to your heavenly senior!”

Sang-mi and Sang-hyun sighed at Joon-hyung’s antics. However, they didn’t know that today was the 1st anniversary of 888 Crew, so it felt new.

‘It’s already been a year. No, is it only been a year?’

Even when they were recruiting 888 Crew a year ago, they didn’t expect to release an album and have a showcase. It would have been even harder to believe if someone had told them that it would be just one year later and when they released their first album.

But Sang-hyun wasn’t satisfied. Far from being satisfied, he felt like he hadn’t even started properly. The 888 Crew members were unselfish and kind, but their greed for musical achievement was enormous.

And today would be the first step.

First full-length album.

Just For The Record.

As an official record.

When you think about it, JFTR was a very arrogant and presumptuous album title.

The name implied that Bootleg 0.5, Official Bootleg, Hip Hop the Vibe, and even 888 Show were all ‘unofficial steps.’ It also meant that the numerous songs that had made them popular nationwide, beyond Gwangju indie, had come from ‘unofficial steps.’

So, many fans who liked 888 Crew couldn’t help but have expectations. Of course, if they didn’t meet those expectations, they would receive that much criticism, but 888 Crew,

“Are you confident?”

“Of course.”

“Do you even have to ask? How hard do you think we worked to make this?”

From afar, the fans’ energetic shouts of ‘Eight, Eight, Eight in da house!’ began to be heard.

Shin Hye-yeon had been obsessed with hip-hop movies like 8 Mile and Hustle & Flow for a while, so she must have seen it there.

If so, there was only one answer they could give.

“We-!”

At Joon-hyung’s lead, all the crew members shouted energetically.

“Eight That Eight That Eight That Crew-!”

The confident ‘footsteps’ of 888 Crew headed from behind the dark stage ‘onto the stage.’

June 10, 2006.

The powerful footsteps of JFTR, which would bring about great changes not only in the Korean hip-hop scene but also in the Korean music industry itself, began in that way.

***

Who are the people who are most sensitive to the news of 888 Crew’s album release, which suddenly burst out without any warning?

Excluding the hardcore fans of 888 Crew and hip-hop enthusiasts, which is too obvious, there was only one category of people who were the answer.

That was the people in entertainment agencies.

Some of the public tend to think of entertainment agencies as a land flowing with milk and honey, but the reality is not at all like that. Rather, it is a world with very weak business inertia and a seriously red ocean where the market changes every moment. If entertainment agencies were such an easy business, Samsung, Doosan, and other major Korean companies would not have left them alone.

The show business, especially the music industry, is a world rife with winner-take-all, the winner’s curse, high-risk, and random returns.

In this world, the most popular person was not a diligent person, nor was it a clever person. It was someone with good instincts.

And having good instincts meant being able to read the public’s needs well and being sensitive to trends. And the more sensitive they were to trends, the more sensitive they were to the music of 888 Crew.

To put it a bit hyperbolically, they were thinking that the biggest change since Seo Taiji and Boys changed the paradigm of Korean popular music in 1992 might be coming.

Originally, this evaluation should have been given to Tell Me in 2007, which heralded the popularity of hook songs and the beginning of the idol war.

However, in June 2006, 888 Crew was intercepting that evaluation.

< Verse 29. Just For The Record > End

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