The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 215

< Verse 33. Hit Song >

***

Sanghyun isn’t one to let fame go to his head.

He didn’t suddenly think he was a great person just because he became famous, nor did he become arrogant, or believe that this fame would last forever.

He’d experienced too many ups and downs, and the success and wealth he’d had were too immense. Besides, he had lost it all at once before.

However, Sanghyun wasn’t someone who rejected fame. Rather, he knew how to appreciate it.

To be precise, he didn’t enjoy fame itself, but he liked the fact that ‘Lee Sanghyun’ was recognized as a musician in the public eye.

It was amazing and fantastic that his actions were now seen through a musical lens and that his interviews had a significant influence on aspiring rappers.

-Kyaaaaa!

-Lee Sanghyun!

‘I appreciate it, but this is a bit much.’

After a long flight of over 12 hours, Sanghyun was greeted back in Korea by screaming fans, clicking cameras, and flashing lights.

He didn’t know how they knew his arrival time, but there were a lot of fans gathered at Incheon Airport. Roughly, it looked like over three hundred people.

‘Is this a peace offering? Or a warning?’

Sanghyun thought as he faced the overwhelming crowd that he couldn’t even imagine breaking through.

The only place that could have leaked his arrival information, which shouldn’t have been leaked, was Ohkyung Media.

However, he couldn’t tell whether this was a gesture of goodwill, sending the message, ‘If you had an agency, you could prevent this kind of thing and be comfortable, right?’ or a malicious trick sending the message, ‘Hey, go to hell.’

“I’m really sorry for bothering you when you’re so busy.”

Sanghyun apologized to the airport staff who were suddenly mobilized to hold back the crowd and then went back inside the gate. He didn’t have the confidence to push through right now.

In the end, it was well over 3 hours later that Sanghyun finally left Incheon Airport.

“Yo, an entertainer trending in real-time search. Looking good?”

It was Junhyung who greeted Sanghyun, who was exhausted after finally getting out of the airport and arriving at the studio.

I thought I would be happy to see him after 3 weeks, but a friend is a friend after all. It was as annoying as if I had seen him just yesterday.

“Looking good my ass. I’m tired as hell. Where are the others?”

“Everyone went to perform. You know, the performance in Hongdae every Friday. Oh, Minho went to take care of some business, and Sangmi was making manuscripts in the studio all day and went to the convenience store for a while.”

“Oh, today was Friday. Why didn’t you go?”

“I couldn’t go because I was experiencing the hell you’re about to go through in advance.”

Sanghyun looked puzzled at Junhyung’s words. But soon, his fatigue was amplified tenfold when he saw what Junhyung was doing.

Junhyung was doing his vacation homework.

“Ugh.”

“Can you see the gates of hell?”

“Ugh, I can see them.”

Sanghyun was confident that he could quickly do the humanities vacation homework in the form of problem-solving. Even when he was attending Unsan High School, he didn’t take the exams properly, but if he did, he could be in the top 30% if he tried.

However, the vacation homework at Seoyul Arts High School required passion, effort, and creativity. Especially for students in the Department of Practical Music like Sanghyun and Junhyung.

“Ugh, I’ll have to do it tomorrow. I’m too tired.”

Sanghyun, who put off today’s work until tomorrow, flopped down on the sofa in the studio. Soon, only the sound of Junhyung’s pen scratching filled the living room.

After doing his homework for a while, Junhyung opened his mouth when he was done to some extent.

“How was New York? Was it fun?”

“It was fun, so I stayed longer than planned. If it wasn’t for the start of school, I would have wanted to stay for another month.”

“Are the women in New York pretty?”

“You know Gossip Girl? It was like Gossip Girl unfolded before my eyes.”

“What’s Gossip Girl?”

Sanghyun turned away, realizing the American drama he watched while studying English before his regression hadn’t been made yet.

He still made these mistakes from time to time.

“It’s something like that. Anyway, I told you to come with me, why didn’t you come?”

“I can’t speak English. It’s better to be in Korea than to be like a mute.”

“There are a lot of Koreans there too.”

“There are more Koreans in Korea.”

“Uh…? That’s right?”

Junhyung burst into laughter at Sanghyun’s stupid expression and asked.

“So what did you do there? Was there anything fun?”

At Junhyung’s question, Sanghyun slowly began to tell the story of his time in New York.

From the Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater, which he participated in as soon as he arrived, to meeting Standard, KRS-One, and The way we live lineup, recording work, music video shooting, and advertising plans using YouTube, etc.

Junhyung was amazed at the Amateur Night and surprised by KRS-One’s abilities when he heard the YouTube story, and then suddenly opened his mouth as if he had thought of something.

“But did that work out well?”

“That? Oh, it worked out well. It’s a condition that won’t be disadvantageous to them anyway. KRS-One helped a lot too.”

“Then you won’t be doing Ohkyung Media activities for a while. What are you going to do now?”

“Is there anything particularly different? I’ll just do 888 Crew’s music as usual. Oh, I’m planning to collaborate with the musicians I met there, even though I can’t meet them in person. I have to include L&S hyungs [older brothers/male colleagues] and 888 Crew members.”

Then the sound of the door opening was heard and Sangmi came in. Sanghyun got up in delight, but Sangmi was indifferent.

“Oppa [term used by younger women to address older brothers or male friends] is here? Where’s my present?”

“Sangmi, isn’t it too harsh to ask for a present as the first thing you say when you haven’t seen your oppa for over 3 weeks?”

“What are you talking about? So where’s my present?”

“I don’t have one.”

“This 거지같은 놈이 [You beggar-like bastard]?”

“What? 거지 [beggar]?”

Sanghyun bickered with Sangmi for a while and then said that he had bought so many presents to match the number of L&S and 888 Crew members that he had sent them by 택배 [delivery service].

Sangmi, who had obtained the desired answer, smiled contentedly, drank water, and went back up to the second floor.

“Ugh, I don’t know who’s going to live with her. But where did Sangmi go? Why is she dressed up like that in the studio?”

“Don’t you know? She didn’t go out anywhere?”

“Really?”

Junhyung started doing his homework again, and Sanghyun lay down on the sofa. He was tired from being at the airport.

Sanghyun fell asleep for a moment, listening to Junhyung’s scratching pen, but had to wake up to the loud voices he heard a little later.

The L&S members and 888 Crew members had returned to the studio after finishing their performance. Miju was the first to find Sanghyun lying on the sofa.

“Sanghyun is here? Where’s my present?”

“Oh, New Yorker. Where’s my present?”

“Did you have a good trip? Where’s my present?”

“It seems like the present trade is pretty good these days. Everyone is looking for presents.”

People clicked their tongues at Sanghyun’s joke.

Then Minho, who had gone out on other business, came into the studio.

“Oh? Sanghyun is here? Sanghyun, where’s my pre…”

“Wow, I didn’t think Minho hyung [older brother/male colleague] would do this. Even hyung is seeing me as a present. This is too much. You should be happy to see someone after 20 days.”

“No, your 화보 [photoshoot] is on 선릉역 [Seolleung Station]… I happened to see it on the way…”

Sanghyun looked apologetic as Minho hesitated as if he was embarrassed. Minho hyung, who had been 추종 [following/admiring] him since the first time he saw him, would never do that.

“Oh? Ah, I’m sorry, hyung.”

“So where’s my present?”

“……”

Minho laughed as he teased Sanghyun.

He wasn’t like this at first, but he was gradually becoming more and more like the 888 Crew.

‘Everyone has changed a lot.’

When I think about it, they have really changed a lot.

Now, there is almost no time to say ‘Shut up and proceed, hyung’ to Minho. He is still called by the nickname ‘Woominhogu’, but musically, Minho often leads the sound of the 888 Crew.

Not only Minho, but also Junhyung, Sangmi, Hayeon, Minji, Hwan, and Inhyuk have all changed. Of course, the L&S members have also changed.

‘Have I changed too? I must have changed, right?’

But what never changes is that they all love music and respect each other’s music.

That’s why I came back this long way. So that I can give a proper blow to Ohkyung Media, who didn’t respect 888 Crew’s music, and Cha Inhyun, who stole other people’s music.

“Didn’t everyone eat? Let’s order some chicken.”

“Call!”

Everyone agreed to Bang Minsik’s suggestion, and the chicken arrived quickly.

‘KRS-One and Standard should have seen this.’

Somehow, the story of Korea’s delivery culture came out, and Standard and KRS-One were frustrated because they couldn’t believe it.

“Let’s eat!”

Soon, 11 걸신 [gluttons] began to tear apart the chicken.

When L&S and 888 Crew get together, there are always plenty of stories, starting with music.

If New York was a fantastic place, this was a very comfortable and warm place.

Sanghyun enjoyed a chicken feast with his family, laughing and chatting, even though he was tired. It was a peaceful time.

But this peace was the calm before the storm.

Hong Kyungsoo and Cha Inhyun were causing the storm.

***

With the broadcast of Popular Music’s second week of August, 888 Crew’s first full-length album was able to leave when it was time to applaud.

It was decided to stop broadcasting activities except for performance activities under the agreement of the members.

Of course, they could still appear on music shows. But they couldn’t be nominated for first place or win first place. No matter how good the music is, it was impossible to be nominated for first place for 8 weeks.

‘No, is this also a self-imposed limit? Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey recorded Billboard single No. 1 for 16 weeks with One Sweet Day.’

I was curious about the Billboard long-term record, so I searched the internet and found that One Sweet Day was the single and The Beatles’ 13th album was ranked for 113 weeks.

Sanghyun hoped that the next 2nd album would break the 8-week record and continue to be ranked for 10 weeks and 20 weeks.

As JFTR stopped broadcasting activities, the ‘most anxious’ were the other public broadcasters except for CBC.

-888 Crew is on the MSC and KSC broadcasting station blacklist.

-They were banned from appearing on music shows because they didn’t have an agency.

-888 Crew doesn’t offer 접대 [bribes/favors], so they can’t appear on music shows.

Because there was no way to explain this if 888 Crew stopped their activities amid countless rumors being produced.

The rumors were too strong to ignore, and 888 Crew was doing too well.

MSC and KSC tried hard to get 888 Crew to appear on entertainment shows even if they couldn’t appear on music shows, but 888 Crew was a team that was very reluctant to appear on shows that were not related to music.

In the end, when there was no way to put between 888 Crew and the broadcasting station, the broadcasting station reluctantly sponsored ‘888 Show Volume 2’, which was scheduled for the week after the college entrance exam.

The method was to rent MSC Open Hall and KSC Open Hall for free. As a result, 888 Crew was able to hold two performances in Seoul with a rental fee of 0 won.

The rumors subsided when the names of MSC and KSC were included in the sponsors of 888 Show Volume 2.

“Wow, they’re really 독한 새끼들 [tough bastards].”

“Rather than being 독하다 [tough], they’re really smart. They’re not afraid either. What if MSC and KSC get really angry and go crazy? Why did they refuse all appearances like that?”

“Then they would have gone to CBC. CBC is secretly hoping for that. Didn’t you see the 888 Week ratings?”

“Anyway, no one has done well by touching 888 Crew in this field. Show Business was completely absorbed by the company, and the person who manipulated the interview was 권고사직 [forced to resign], right?”

“If you count the small things, there will be more, right? Code Name is said to be disbanded, and AIMMF lost face because 888 Crew was performing next to them.”

“Ordinary people may not know, but we also lost face enough to lose face. Wow, it’s the first time I’ve seen a musician rent a public hall for free. Then all the admission fees, except for the small things, will go into 888 Crew’s pockets. Should I do music too?”

“With your face?”

These conversations between broadcasting station officials spread among the public, and eventually, the story was told that MSC and KSC had knelt down to 888 Crew. When you think about it, it wasn’t wrong.

Like this, 888 Crew stopped broadcasting activities and was focusing on the second solo concert, which was about 100 days away, but that didn’t mean that JFTR’s topicality was over.

JFTR was still selling well, still echoing on the streets, and still breaking records.

314,309 copies.

This was the number of album sales that 888 Crew’s JFTR was recording.

It was the overwhelming No. 1 album sales in 2006, and it was the most sales of any hip-hop album released in Korea.

< Verse 33. Hit Song > End

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