The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 257

< Verse 40. Unknown Factors >

However, PiPi didn’t betray any of those feelings and extended his hand to Sanghyun.

“I heard about Billboard. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“Until recently, we were hype man and rapper, but now we’re competitors? A very threatening one at that.”

“I guess so.”

PiPi’s tone was gentle, but Sanghyun detected a hint of negativity in his eyes.

‘He could go to Hollywood. This guy’s acting is no joke?’

As expected of someone who has meticulously crafted his public image since his debut. That’s probably why he’s so rotten inside and acts like such a jerk.

While Sanghyun was internally monologuing, PiPi offered a word of encouragement to compete fairly and returned to his seat.

Melody, who had been watching quietly, asked, “Is that Plan Paper, the one you toured with? You guys seem pretty close?”

“Does it look like that?”

“Huh? Aren’t you close?”

“I guess I should make a movie with all the money I’m making. I’ve found a Best Actor award winner.”

“What are you talking about?”

When Melody tilted her head in confusion, Sanghyun changed the subject.

“By the way, did you wait outside too? With a camera attached?”

“Of course. Everyone who received a Golden Ticket probably did.”

“Why are they doing such complicated things?”

“They’re trying to show that it’s fair, by showing the participants among the crowd.”

Sanghyun and Melody chatted for a long time after that.

From the moment you receive the Golden Ticket and enter the waiting room, you cannot use communication devices such as cell phones or radios. Because of this rule, Sanghyun thought the long wait would be very boring, but thanks to meeting Melody, it wasn’t at all.

“Melody, what are you singing for your first song?”

“You have to sing the song you’re most confident in for the first audition. Apart from the fact that you’re done if you fail once, the first impression has a pretty big impact on the next stage.”

“First impression?”

“If you sing well at first, even if the next stage is a bit disappointing, they’ll add points saying, ‘That friend originally had potential……'”

Sanghyun nodded as if he understood.

“You’re singing ‘Theme From New York, New York,’ right?”

“Because it’s the song I’m most confident in. What are you singing? Maybe ‘No Color?'”

“Singing that would be a bit of a cheat… I have something to sing.”

The moment Sanghyun said that, several staff members came in and handed out papers to the participants who received the Golden Ticket.

The paper stated the order in which they would audition in front of the four judges.

‘I’m last.’

Coincidentally, Sanghyun’s turn was last.

No, in fact, there was no coincidence.

It was only natural that the most talked-about or proven participant would be the last to perform.

“Where are you?”

In response to Sanghyun’s question, Melody pointed to her participant number. Melody’s turn was quite early.

After the order was announced, eight participants were called out a few minutes later. There were said to be two waiting rooms in total, but it felt like they were taking about 15 people as a group.

From that moment on, the atmosphere in the waiting room changed.

Until then, the waiting room had been a place for people to get to know each other and share musical stories, but now it was a time of tension as everyone checked the music they had prepared.

Sanghyun also felt nervous.

Unlike other participants, Sanghyun had something to lose. CEO Ha also said that he had to be in the top 5 at least to be free from the image of a commercial rapper.

Come to think of it, rappers were in a very unique position.

Major rappers pursuing commercial success was the same as musicians of other genres, but from the moment they were labeled as being too commercial, they were shunned by enthusiasts. And the enthusiasts’ rejection soon spread to the public.

Of course, there were also grandmasters like Jay-Z, Eminem, and Dr. Dre who transcended that image itself.

While Sanghyun was thinking about this and that and checking the lyrics of the song he would sing today, Melody’s name, ‘Mallory Carroll,’ was called.

Hearing that, Sanghyun approached Melody and said, “You have to get in, Melody. Let’s meet at Boot Camp.”

Boot Camp was a stage where participants who passed the first audition (actually the third) lived together in a group and were eliminated.

Sanghyun wished Melody good luck and reached out his hand, but Melody hugged him instead of shaking hands.

“Oh, I’m so nervous.”

“Think of it as Amateur Night.”

“I was so nervous back then too.”

“Then just be as nervous as you were then.”

Melody laughed loudly at Sanghyun’s words and broke the hug.

Soon Melody went out of the waiting room. Now only about half of the people were left in the waiting room.

After that, people kept leaving.

As the waiting time became too long, Sanghyun gave up checking the lyrics at some point and spent time guessing whether people were eliminated by the cheers of the audience, or he tried to guess the genre of music by the faint beat.

At first, he was nervous, but at some point, he wasn’t nervous at all.

Sanghyun knew the reason.

It was because he loved this uncertainty so much.

After that, PiPi left, and then a few more people left. After 6 hours, only 3 people were left in the waiting room, which had held about 70 people.

“Sanghyun… Lee!”

The moment Sanghyun heard the staff’s slightly awkward pronunciation, he got up from his seat.

***

Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid, Paula Abdul, Kelly Rowland.

These were the judges of The X Factor US Season 1, which started in 2008.

Simon Cowell joined EMI [a British multinational music recording and publishing company] in 1979 at the age of 20 and became the head of Fanfare Records in just 6 years. He was a self-made man.

His eye for discovering new talent was excellent, and even more excellent was his judging that resonated with everyone.

After appearing as a judge on American Idol and gaining worldwide popularity by spewing harsh words and touching comments, he gained the position of the number one box office draw in planning audition programs.

L.A. Reid was the best producer in name and reality. In fact, Simon Cowell didn’t have many cases where a singer he directly produced became a mega-hit compared to his popularity.

But L.A. Reid was truly a Midas touch [a legendary king who could turn anything he touched into gold, meaning he had a knack for making things successful].

Bobby Brown, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Outkast, Avril Lavigne, Usher, Kanye West, Rihanna, and even Paula Abdul, who was a judge. If we mention the future that has not yet been realized, Justin Bieber was also a superstar who was discovered and raised by L.A. Reid.

Paula Abdul was a female singer who dominated the late 80s and early 90s.

Originally, she was a cheerleader for a basketball team, but she danced so well that she received numerous love calls from music video directors and was in charge of choreography for numerous singers’ music videos.

And by chance, she was in charge of backing vocals for Janet Jackson’s song, which became a turning point and led her to jump into the path of a singer. At one time, there was a controversy over ghost singers (those who sing instead of the singer), which was caused by prejudice against her being a cheerleader.

Paula Abdul proved her skills with confident live performances, and the public had no choice but to admit that Paula Abdul’s singing skills were also amazing as well as her dancing skills.

Lastly, Kelly Rowland was a singer who led the great success of the group ‘Destiny’s Child’ with Beyoncé. Destiny’s Child sold 40 million albums in the United States alone.

Although her popularity tended to be overshadowed by Beyoncé, she was a female singer who was evaluated as never being inferior in terms of a musician’s capabilities.

These four prestigious judges were called by The X Factor.

However, the filming atmosphere of these four was not very good.

It wasn’t that they had a bad personal relationship. Rather, the four had each reached the top of their positions, so they met quite often in the vast United States.

The bad atmosphere was because they had fierce disagreements.

“It’s terrible. I almost fell asleep listening to the song.”

It was L.A. Reid, not the participant, who looked absurd at Simon Cowell’s words.

“Grooviness and boredom are different. This vocal is definitely not singing a boring song. Of course, it’s not an ordinary groove, so it may feel boring to someone, but I don’t think the judges should not feel that.”

Most of the disagreements the judges showed occurred between Cowell and Reid.

The X Factor was a format in which a participant had to receive ‘Yes’ from at least 2 of the 4 judges to pass. So, when Cowell and Reid had disagreements, the actual decision-making power passed to Paula Abdul and Kelly Rowland.

But the problem was that Paula Abdul and Kelly Rowland also had slightly different views. Paula Abdul looked at the undeniable talent at the moment, while Kelly Rowland estimated the potential or the degree of growth.

As a result, there was not a single participant who received a unanimous Yes while conducting the Newark auditions.

There were not many participants who received 3 Yeses, and Melody was the most praised among them.

“Excellent. Usually, we call Frank Sinatra the emperor of standard pop. I would like to give Melody the title of empress of standard rhythm and blues.”

Starting with Simon Cowell’s praise, most of the judges praised her. However, Paula Abdul did not press Yes because she thought Melody had not shown everything.

“I don’t think the title of standard that Cowell mentioned is that welcome. Melody has more talent and could have shown a more dramatic stage. She’s just shy. To take away 5 million dollars, you have to put everything on stage, even if it exposes Melody’s unpretty side in front of the camera.”

Only a total of 4 people, including Melody, received the judges’ pleasant Yes, and the evaluation of the remaining participants continued to be sharply divided.

After a long time, it was finally the last group.

Since the last group was the remaining ones, there were only 6 people.

And Sanghyun was among them.

Sanghyun was waiting behind the stage.

He couldn’t see the stage, but he could hear the participants singing, the judges’ comments, and the audience’s cheers very well.

He should be nervous by now, but he wasn’t nervous at all.

Compared to the people next to him who were screaming and singing to loosen their throats, Sanghyun was just standing still.

Sanghyun was standing still and recalling the filming site of Hip Hop The Vibe.

‘Wasn’t I nervous back then either?’

He was incredibly nervous at the first club performance, Homi’s performance. He was also nervous at the cheering performance for the semi-playoffs at the Mudeung Stadium.

But after that, he didn’t seem to be nervous.

He was nervous, but whenever he turned his head, there were 888 Crew members. He was so happy laughing and chatting together that he didn’t have time to be nervous.

Although he was in a distant land, Sanghyun always thought of the 888 Crew members on stage, and he always felt like he was making music with them.

Just like now.

While Sanghyun was thinking of the 888 Crew members, one by one, the participants who had been waiting with him disappeared.

Finally, when Sanghyun was left alone, the staff gestured.

“Are you ready?”

“We Eight that Eight that Eight that Crew.”

“Pardon?”

“No. Let’s go.”

The steps to the stage were very light.

Come to think of it, he only appeared on The X Factor for a collaboration with Eminem. Even if he fails here, he can try again.

With that, Sanghyun stepped onto the stage.

About five hundred audience members were sitting in a fan shape and looking at the stage, and in the center of the fan shape were four judges.

When Sanghyun was scanning the stage from left to right as a habit, Simon Cowell opened his mouth.

“Hi, FiveSix.”

As soon as Cowell’s words fell, the audience began to stir. The words Billboard and MTB were heard everywhere.

Most of the people who came to see The X Factor today were interested in music.

Of course, not all of them would have heard of MTB [Music Television Broadcasting, a South Korean music television channel].

But they would have definitely heard the name ‘FiveSix’ in the Billboard charts, music review magazines, or newspapers.

The audience’s attention was immediately focused on the stage.

Sanghyun slowly greeted them, receiving the familiar public attention.

< Verse 40. Unknown Factors > End

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