The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 206

Hye-yeon, who had been enjoying Sang-hyun’s behind-the-scenes stories of “56 JFTR” [Jealousy, Forgiveness, Truth, Romance – the album title], belatedly regained her composure and returned to her role as the host.

There was no time to waste, as the allotted two hours were quickly coming to an end.

Park Hye-yeon genuinely felt like time had flown by.

“Oh, time is passing so quickly. Shall we move on to the next song? I think I’ve kept Sang-hyun standing for too long.”

“I’m starting to feel a little pain in my legs too.”

Since it was a live radio show, Sang-hyun was conducting the interview while standing at the microphone.

“The next song is ‘U-Turn,’ right?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s talk about ‘U-Turn’ after the live performance. Are you ready?”

Sang-hyun nodded at Hye-yeon’s question. He had finished preparing when he sang “I Just See,” so no further preparation was needed.

“I’m ready. Give me ‘U-Turn’.”

As soon as Sang-hyun’s voice trailed off, the beat of “U-Turn” began to play.

The live stage on the radio differs significantly from other performances.

Among these differences, the most notable compared to stage performances is, of course, the absence of an audience.

Since there’s no immediate feedback, it’s impossible to get excited along with the audience or to raise the tension if the atmosphere wanes.

So, the only emotion conveyed in the song was the emotion that the musician intended.

A charm that could be called the beauty of restraint.

That was the essence of the radio stage.

And these characteristics of the radio live performance suited the song “U-Turn” that Sang-hyun was about to sing perfectly.

Track 3 of “56 JFTR,” ‘U-Turn’.

“U-Turn” was the most difficult song to perform live among all the tracks Sang-hyun had made so far.

If he sang it too forcefully, the emotion would be lost, and if he sang it too weakly, the flavor wouldn’t come alive. He couldn’t get too excited, but he couldn’t be too indifferent either.

It was a genuinely challenging song.

So much so that Sang-hyun wondered if he should use the AR [All Recorded – a pre-recorded backing track with vocals] while preparing for the “U-Turn” stage on *Popular Music* [a Korean music show]. In the end, he decided against it.

Therefore, the live performance of “U-Turn” on *Popular Music* wasn’t very satisfactory. Because of the enthusiastic response he received during “I Just See,” he sang “U-Turn,” which should have been sung in a sly and brazen manner, with too much intensity.

Of course, the audience and colleagues said he did well, but he himself thought there were definitely some disappointing aspects. It was the first time since Jeonju Woldiefe [likely a music festival or event in Jeonju] that he was dissatisfied with his own live performance, so Sang-hyun was determined to perform “U-Turn” live better next time.

And today, he was confident that he could sing it in a very sly and brazen manner.

Sang-hyun instantly adopted a confident and sly expression. It wasn’t intentional acting, but a change that occurred the moment he heard the beat.

At that moment, Sang-hyun opened his mouth.

“Bass.”

A thumping bass was heard from the speakers.

The bass, which signaled the beginning of the song, began to play in a sly manner, full of intentional pretense.

The greasy and sly sound described a ‘brazen man’.

Like James Bond of 007 approaching a Bond girl drinking alone. Or like a man who puts on newly bought clothes and teases his favorite girl for no reason.

This kind of pretense wasn’t unpleasant or repulsive, but a pretense that made people laugh and feel favorably.

“Snap.”

The brazen man went even further and began to create a beat by snapping his fingers. The ‘snap! snap!’ sound that came out when he snapped his fingers between the bass began to dig in.

Soon, the clap sound became intertwined with the snap sound and began to replace the drum line.

“E Piano”

The man began to sing in earnest after preparing a piano on the stage.

The piano sound, which pressed the keys for a long time, was inserted between the bass and drums.

Finally, Sang-hyun’s sly and brazen serenade, which wasn’t really a serenade, began.

Among the listeners, there would be many people who were listening to the radio broadcast without ever having heard “56 JFTR.” Because it had only been a few days since “56 JFTR” was released.

Of course, these people had never heard “U-Turn” or “I Just See.”

So, they would be thinking that Sang-hyun’s “U-Turn,” which was flowing out of the radio, was completely unexpected.

“I Just See” was a song that anyone who liked Sang-hyun’s rap style couldn’t help but like.

Perfect delivery of emotion and lyrics.

The unique lyrical style that only Sang-hyun possessed.

Rap dribbling that maximized the flow.

Even though it was a popular emotional song, it was the main song that made people evaluate that even the same thing was different when Sang-hyun did it, satisfying all aspects of the rap.

However, “U-Turn” was a song that could be divisive.

Sang-hyun personally liked “U-Turn” the most among the tracks of “56 JFTR.” That’s why he wanted to make “U-Turn” the album’s solo title track.

However, “U-Turn” was eventually selected as a double title track along with “I Just See,” because of the strong request from the Oh Kyung Media A&R [Artists and Repertoire] team.

‘Wouldn’t “I Just See” be better as the title track than “U-Turn”?’

Of course, it wasn’t that “U-Turn” wasn’t attractive.

If you asked someone who liked both “U-Turn” and “I Just See” to pick the song they liked more, most people would pick “U-Turn.”

However, among the fans who only looked at Sang-hyun within the category of hip-hop, there were people who didn’t like “U-Turn.”

To be exact, they didn’t like half of the song “U-Turn.”

Because the first half of “U-Turn” was proceeding with a strange melody.

향해 있어-어. (Hyanghae isseo-eo.) [Facing towards you-uh]

멈출 생각이 없어 너어-언. (Meomchul saenggagi eopseo neo-eon.) [I have no intention of stopping, you-uh]

무-서워, 닫혀 있-는 (Mu-seowo, dathyeo it-neun) [I’m scared, it’s closed]

사이드 볼 생각 없니? (Saideu bol saenggak eomni?) [Don’t you think about taking the side road?]

The beat of bass, piano, and snap harmonizing.

On top of that, Sang-hyun’s unique song, which was developed around falsetto, was gently placed.

It was expressed as a song, but in fact, it was an ambiguous feeling that was difficult to call a song or a rap.

It sounded like an R&B vocalist singing leisurely, and it also sounded like a melodic rap with a lot of empty beats.

This was a track in the style that Sang-hyun had already shown once in ‘Gotta Move’.

A track that made musicians more fascinated than the audience.

The more musicians who had prejudice against rap, the more surprised they had to be.

A melody that seems like it will come out, but rap comes out, and a melody that pops out at the moment when rap seems like it will come out.

Even when the rap is in progress, the melody is in charge of the rhyme check, and even though the melody seems like it will continue, the rap suddenly cuts off the beat and finishes it, a style that gives musicians tremendous pleasure.

This was Verse 1 of “U-Turn.”

However, if the proportion was 60% rap and 40% melody in “Gotta Move,” it was 40% rap and 60% melody in “U-Turn.”

In other words, it was a song that focused more on melody.

The reason was simple.

It was because he was expressing the pretense of a sly and brazen man with a melody.

A sly melody was more suitable to announce the beginning of the message to turn the steering wheel towards another guy and make a U-turn than rap.

망했어, 굴-곡 (Manghaesseo, gul-gok) [It’s ruined, curves]

어-없는 직선- (Eo-eomneun jikseon-) [A straight line without-]

아-앞만 보고- (A-apman bogo-) [Ah-looking only ahead-]

달려가, (Dallyeoga,) [Running on,]

‘What? What is this?’

Musicians who heard “U-Turn” for the first time couldn’t help but be surprised.

Some of the public with excellent musical sense may have had this experience.

Listening to a great vocalist cover rap music and feeling, ‘He’s good, but is something a little awkward?’

If you have had this experience, you can be proud of yourself for having very good ears.

The reason for the awkwardness was the problem of vocalization.

The basis of vocalization for vocalists is resonance. It meant making a sound like a stringed instrument.

On the other hand, rap was almost the only genre of modern music that treated a person’s voice as percussion.

So, when a vocalist raps, he or she is singing a rap that was made to be sung like a percussion instrument, focusing on resonance, and making the sound of a percussion instrument with a stringed instrument.

Of course, a subtle awkwardness was bound to occur.

However, from the beginning, Sang-hyun was dramatically crossing the line between percussion and stringed instruments with a created intention, breaking down the boundary.

The public might say, ‘Oh, it’s fresh,’ but it was a method that was even considered a new genre to Korean musicians.

This was a method that began to become popular in the United States in 2006, and soon became mainstream, led by Chris Brown and Jeremih.

In a few years, rappers such as Beenzino and Okasian digested it the best, and it was also a part that had a significant impact on the musicality of vocalists who gained popular popularity, such as Zion.T, Gray, and Crush.

It was also a method that was often used in so-called cloud rap.

너 너무, 빠-른 거 아니니-이? (Neo neomu, ppa-reun geo ani-i?) [Aren’t you too, fast-er?]

이미 법, 어긴 거, 여기서 제발 (Imi beop, eogin geo, yeogiseo jebal) [Already the law, broken, please here]

Sang-hyun’s unique flow, which goes back and forth between falsetto and true voice, filled the 35-second Verse 1.

Soon, it was the chorus’s turn.

돌려, 돌려, 돌려, (Dollyeo, dollyeo, dollyeo,) [Turn, turn, turn,]

당장 네 핸들 (Dangjang ne haendeul) [Immediately your steering wheel]

돌려, 돌려, 돌려, (Dollyeo, dollyeo, dollyeo,) [Turn, turn, turn,]

당장 네 핸들 (Dangjang ne haendeul) [Immediately your steering wheel]

A man who begs to turn the steering wheel of his heart, which is facing another man, and come to him.

However, this begging wasn’t humble, but brazen.

The pretense that I’m a really cool guy, so come to me quickly.

A charm that makes you want to turn the steering wheel for some reason.

돌려, 돌려, 돌려, (Dollyeo, dollyeo, dollyeo,) [Turn, turn, turn,]

당장 네 핸들 (Dangjang ne haendeul) [Immediately your steering wheel]

돌려, 돌려, 돌려 (Dollyeo, dollyeo, dollyeo) [Turn, turn, turn]

당장 네 핸들 (Dangjang ne haendeul) [Immediately your steering wheel]

The expression ‘turn’, which is repeated countless times, was also fun.

When saying ‘dol’ of ‘dollyeo’, he says it in a strong tone, 돌! (Dol!), but when saying ‘ryeo’, he loses confidence and feels like he is begging.

Sometimes, a man’s pretense can be very attractive when it is released.

The feeling of seeing the fingertips of a man who says strongly, ‘We’re dating from today,’ trembling.

Someone might say to Sang-hyun, why do you pay attention to such things, but he was a person who believed that the smallest part could be the most important part.

Especially if it’s art that expresses impulse.

돌려, 돌려, 돌려, (Dollyeo, dollyeo, dollyeo,) [Turn, turn, turn,]

당장 네 핸들 (Dangjang ne haendeul) [Immediately your steering wheel]

돌려, 돌려, 돌려, (Dollyeo, dollyeo, dollyeo,) [Turn, turn, turn,]

당장 네 핸들 (Dangjang ne haendeul) [Immediately your steering wheel]

The chorus, which is repeated a total of 4 times, didn’t feel boring at all.

And Verse 2 began.

If Verse 1 was the image of a man full of pretense, Verse 2 contained the image of a man who was gradually losing his pretense and showing his sincerity.

Therefore, Verse 2 had a much larger proportion of rap.

However, the beginning of the rap was still melodic. Because it was still in the stage where slyness was more묻어나는 [묻어나는 (mudeonaneun) – imbued/tinged] than sincerity.

< Verse 31. Jealous, Forgiveness, Truth, Romance > End

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