The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 259

< Verse 41. Streamline >

Verse 41. Streamline

Because Korea and the United States have different cultures, the attitudes musicians display and the attitudes people have towards musicians are very different. Because of this, *The X Factor US* inevitably had many differences from Korean audition programs.

But despite all this, as long as it adopted the audition format, there was one thing that never changed.

That was infinite competition.

***

Sanghyun passed the first audition, the judges’ auditions (official name), perfectly, but the second audition, Boot Camp, was by no means easy.

Of course, ‘not easy’ here didn’t mean he felt a lack of skill, but that there were too many things to be aware of.

A total of 300 first-round qualifiers participated in the second audition, Boot Camp.

The fact that only 300 first-round passers were selected from applicants across the United States meant that the door to *X Factor* was very narrow. But when 300 people competed musically in one place, various problems arose.

Among the 300, there were those who hated rap, and there were racists who discriminated against Asians. Or, apart from that, there were those who were unhappy that a Billboard-level musician appeared on *X Factor*.

Conversely, there were those who were overly friendly for future connections, or those who tried to team up with Sanghyun to pass easily.

Boot Camp was a stage where all rounds were conducted in teams.

All in all, tiring situations continued.

Nevertheless, Sanghyun continued to win.

“Perfect.”

“It was a stage where we could see why pop musicians like rappers for featuring [guest appearances]. Now everyone knows how much a short 8-bar rap can enrich a 4-minute long song.”

On the first day of Boot Camp, which eliminated one-third of the 300, countless rappers who failed to make their presence known during the team mission were eliminated.

Rappers who had to drink the cup of elimination [face elimination] couldn’t help but think that the rapper position was disadvantageous in team missions.

However, the moment they saw Sanghyun’s stage, they couldn’t express their dissatisfaction. The thought that rappers were at a disadvantage did not change, but they had no choice but to swallow the complaint that short 8-bar raps had no impact.

Because FiveSix had shown that wasn’t the case.

After that, Sanghyun received high praise every time a mission continued.

“As everyone knows, rappers hate copying and singing other people’s raps. But in order to do that on an audition program, you need a wide spectrum to write your own lyrics on any subject. Whether it’s knowledge, experience, or even bluffing. In this sense, FiveSix, your spectrum seems very broad.”

“Paula Abdul. I think you’ve forgotten that FiveSix was a rap star in Korea.”

This was the evaluation Sanghyun received in the second mission on the 3rd day, where he teamed up to sing Whitney Houston’s ‘I Have Nothing’.

From this point on, contestants aiming for the win realized that the Asian named FiveSix was by no means easy to deal with.

Until then, there were occasional cases where those who had not heard of MTB or had not seen the New Jersey audition belittled Sanghyun. This was because MTB was not a solo album but a joint album.

Billboard was the goal and a great indicator for musicians, but that didn’t mean that all Billboard musicians were great. There were occasionally musicians who got on Billboard because the trend was right and they were lucky, but their skills were terrible.

Among rappers, Soulja Boy, the owner of Crank That, which was hugely popular in Korea, was receiving this evaluation.

However, Sanghyun was by no means such a musician.

Contestants who confirmed Sanghyun’s true worth began to think that FiveSix was perhaps the strongest candidate for the win.

As a result, there were groans among the rappers.

The ‘singer vs. rapper’ battle was impossible to compare fundamentally, so the singer might win, but it seemed difficult to beat FiveSix in a ‘rapper vs. rapper’ battle.

***

Boot Camp had a tight schedule of having to pass 5 missions in a total of 10 days.

In terms of intervals, they were competing with a new song every two days, and since they had to sing a new song with a new person every time, two days was by no means a long time.

Contestants jokingly called Boot Camp Hoot Camp. It meant that someone was honking and urging them from behind.

But no matter how short the time was, those with skills repeatedly passed. Sanghyun was among them.

After 8 days, when Sanghyun had passed 4 missions, there were 64 contestants left.

“There aren’t many contestants left now.”

“Half of them advance to the next stage, right?”

“Not exactly half, just somewhere around there. Did you hear what they said during the explanation?”

Sanghyun gave an awkward smile to the person who was chiding him.

Sanghyun met a total of five acquaintances at *The X Factor*, including Melody and Pipi. Considering Sanghyun’s not-so-wide circle of friends in the United States, five people was a very large number.

Two of them were people he had met at Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater, and both had to drink the cup of elimination [face elimination] and leave on the first day of Boot Camp.

However, Melody, Pipi, and the remaining one survived until the 8th day like Sanghyun.

The survivor besides Melody and Pipi was Hime, a Japanese female rapper who had built a relationship while participating in *The way we live*.

Hime was affiliated with Sony Music, like Pipi. To be exact, Pipi was affiliated with Sony Music’s US branch, and Hime was affiliated with the headquarters in Japan.

Of course, there was no big difference. Hime was at the headquarters because she had been active in Japan and was contacted, and Pipi was at the branch because she had been active in the United States and was contacted.

At first, Sanghyun honestly thought that Hime had passed the first stage thanks to Sony Music.

That’s not to say Hime was bad.

No matter how big and great Sony Music was, if Hime couldn’t rap, KRS-One, who is called a teacher [respected hip-hop artist], would not have allowed her to participate in the album.

The reason Sanghyun thought this was because he felt that Hime’s rap style, which he had experienced during *The way we live*, was not suitable for the audition’s competition system.

Hime was not a rapper who used rap that quickly absorbed listeners in a short period of time like Sanghyun.

She used a style of rap that subtly and slowly escalated and left a strange aftertaste.

Because of this, when *The way we live* first came out, there were many comments that Hime’s skills were not good, but as time passed, opinions changed to ‘It wasn’t good at first, but the more I listen to it, the more I think it has a strange charm.’

However, Sanghyun watched Hime’s stage several times at Boot Camp and realized that she had not benefited from Sony Music.

He couldn’t know everything by listening to the short rap she used on the team stage, but her rap style was definitely different from the past. The taste of subtle lingering was still there, but unlike the past, she definitely exploded when she had to.

If Hime’s rap in the past was a traditional fullback [defensive soccer position], now it could be described as a libero [more versatile soccer position].

‘There still seems to be some immaturity, but it’s definitely more attractive now.’

One day, Sanghyun asked Hime about the reason her style had changed.

Hime’s answer to that was something Sanghyun had never imagined.

‘It’s because of you. To be honest, I believed that I couldn’t completely bring out the feeling of the native language in a language other than English. So I studied the unique feeling of Japanese rap.’

‘I don’t think your judgment is wrong?’

‘That’s right. If it was completely wrong, there’s no way the old feeling would still be left in my rap now. But I don’t think it was wrong, but I don’t think it was right either.’

Hime thought that the correct answer was Sanghyun’s rap.

Sanghyun thought that more and more rappers were being influenced by him, whether he intended it or not.

Even the great Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole were influenced by Sanghyun while making MTB. Of course, that influence was not one-way.

“What are you thinking about while eating breakfast?”

At that time, Hime, who was eating breakfast with him, broke Sanghyun’s reverie.

“Huh? What?”

“I’m asking what you’re thinking about.”

“Ah, it’s nothing. This is delicious. Try it.”

“If you go to Osaka, there’s a more delicious one that I know. Come visit Japan sometime.”

“Okay. By the way, it’s my first time eating sushi at 8 in the morning.”

“Well, what about it? It’s good if it’s delicious.”

Boot Camp is where contestants have fierce competition, but the various services are as good as a 5-star hotel, especially the meals.

The types of cuisine were diverse, perhaps because there were so many different races. Of course, there was American cuisine, and there was everything from Italian cuisine to Mexican and Japanese cuisine. Sadly, there was no Korean food.

“Ah, come to think of it, isn’t today the first broadcast of *X Factor*?”

“Huh? Has it already been that long?”

Sanghyun looked at the calendar at Hime’s words and expressed surprise. He didn’t know how time had passed.

“If the first broadcast airs, won’t there be a commotion in Korea?”

“I wonder?”

“You’re not saying no. Maybe Japan will compare me and you.”

“Hey, our styles are completely different.”

Sanghyun said that, but he knew that they would probably compare them with 100% probability. Not only in Japan but also in Korea.

While Sanghyun was stuck in Boot Camp where he couldn’t use his phone or the internet, *The X Factor* was finally broadcast.

-Amazing, FiveSix.

-There’s something indescribable in your music. And I want to give it the name Unknown Factor (X-Factor).

Sanghyun naturally knew that *X Factor* would cause a big stir in Korea if it was broadcast. This was because he had experienced firsthand how Psy’s every move, who had hit the jackpot with Gangnam Style, was made public in the media.

However, Sanghyun’s thoughts were only half right.

Why half? Because Sanghyun’s appearance on *The X Factor* became a hot topic covered as top news not only in Korea but also in Japan and China. Furthermore, the extent of the topic was far beyond what Sanghyun had imagined.

It wasn’t just a hot topic in Korea, China, and Japan.

*The X Factor*, which was produced and where Sanghyun is currently active, became a big topic in the United States as well.

-Hot 56 Guy.

This was the phrase Rolling Stone posted on the main page of its website after the first broadcast of *The X Factor* ended.

In the United States, attractive men are commonly called Hot Guys. So it wasn’t difficult to figure out the meaning of ‘Hot 56 Guy’.

However, there was one more interesting meaning hidden in ‘Hot 56 Guy’. The Billboard Hot 100 ranking that Sanghyun’s solo song No Color was recording when the first episode of *The X Factor* aired was 56th.

No Color, which peaked at 21st, was still listed in the top 100 a month later. It wasn’t even in the bottom ranks, but in the middle ranks.

Everyone could predict what would happen when Rolling Stone, one of the two major pop music magazines in the United States along with Billboard, mentioned No Color on its main page.

22. No Color (FiveSix Solo)

The Hot 100 ranking began to rise. It was a rapid rise from 56th to 22nd.

Hadel was confident that he would break the high score of 21st next week and go higher.

And another interesting thing happened related to the ranking.

-1. No Color (FiveSix Solo)

-12. No Color (FiveSix Solo)

No Color ranked 1st, 1st, and 12th on Korea’s three major music sites, respectively.

-Hey, Shiba [derogatory term]. They’re doing all sorts of dirty things.

-Strictly speaking, wasn’t it because of Ohkyung Media that Lee Sanghyun left Korea?

-Huh? What does Lee Sanghyun leaving Korea have to do with Ohkyung Media?

-Ohkyung Media pushed Lee Sanghyun after they got screwed big time in that copyright incident. Anyone who knows, knows.

Because the site that ranked 12th was a subsidiary that separated from Ohkyung Media along with Ohkyung Entertainment, netizens poured out their 욕 [curses]. It was like scratching and making a sore.

And this hot reaction soon led to viewership ratings.

The second episode of *The X Factor* had a viewership rating of 3.2 percent.

In this way, Sanghyun’s popularity was becoming much hotter than before he left Korea.

***

< Verse 41. Streamline > End

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