The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 279

As the BET Cypher’s signature opening sound filled the massive screen, the audience in the awards hall turned their attention to it.

Three albums had broken into the Billboard 200’s top 30 upon release, with one even debuting at number 5. The singles also charted well, reaching the top 25.

Although official sales figures weren’t yet available, industry insiders predicted that all three albums would achieve platinum status or come close.

This was the first official event featuring the artists behind these albums.

Adding to the excitement, Schoolboy Q, who had risen to prominence after being featured on Kendrick’s album, was also part of the performance.

For any hip-hop fan, it was an event not to be missed.

As always, the BET Cypher began with a close-up of a Sprite beverage next to the DJ’s turntable, a sponsored shot.

The audience anticipated the familiar ‘jjikki jjikki’ turntable scratch, followed by DJ Premier’s face and then the start of the rap extravaganza as the camera zoomed out.

However, the DJ manning the turntable for the H&R team’s cypher wasn’t the familiar face of Primo.

It was an unfamiliar white man.

“What? Who is that?”

“Who is he?”

At that moment, a caption appeared, resolving the audience’s curiosity.

* DJ STANDARD

Los Angeles & Denmark

The DJ responsible for the turntable, replacing Primo, was Standard, the main producer of H&R INC.

The first musician to appear over the beat laid down by Standard was J. Cole.

Last year, I watched this at home, but this year I’m inside the screen.

It feels like I’ve entered the TV, now I can’t drink and take my clothes off

Can’t even cause a ruckus, I’ve become accustomed to releasing that stress with beats,

The Young King of New York

As mentioned earlier, the BET Cypher was beloved because it offered fresh combinations of various musicians.

However, there was another crucial reason.

It allowed viewers to hear the most recent emotions of rappers in their rawest lyrics.

The BET Cypher provides the beat, and the actual recording schedule isn’t far from the awards ceremony. Therefore, it allowed artists to talk about their current perspectives, rather than past ones like when writing an album.

This was why J. Cole was able to express the feelings he had after releasing so brilliantly.

Schoolboy Q, who appeared after J. Cole, was similar. He jokingly said that Kendrick’s album succeeded because of him and expressed his respect for Kendrick, J. Cole, and Sanghyun.

Then, he declared that everyone watching the cypher should remember the name Schoolboy Q before stepping back.

“Compton Mo` Fucker!”

* Kendrick Lamar

COMPTON, LA

Next up was Kendrick, who appeared with a powerful shout.

What I represent, the whole coast line

All on my back, fool, I’m a whole mind

I do it every day, every moment, always

I just said why I came, rap is over.

The crowd’s cheers drowned out the speakers as Kendrick’s rap exploded.

-Wowwww!

-Kendrick! GET IT!

The audience who had flown to Atlanta for the BET Hip Hop Awards were mostly self-proclaimed rap enthusiasts.

Therefore, they couldn’t help but feel a thrill from the moment Kendrick’s verse began.

They could feel that the revival of the West Coast hip-hop scene, which was being pushed back by East Coast hip-hop, would start with Kendrick.

Now the remaining verses are warnings to enemies,

Respect for friends, or shout-outs to TDE [Top Dawg Entertainment, Kendrick Lamar’s record label] and H&R

H&R isn’t Hadel Raines, it’s not Human Resources either

Not Home Run, not Hardcore Rap.

Honor To Rap, or Horror To Rap

Reverence to some, terror to others

Kendrick rewrote his BET Cypher verse four times.

And all because of Sanghyun.

He was greatly shocked after hearing Sanghyun’s verse for this cypher.

Among the Golden New Era members, Kendrick and Sanghyun had a strong sense of rivalry.

To be precise, it was a bit ambiguous to call it a rivalry because Sanghyun knew Kendrick’s ‘great future,’ but it was true that they had a significant influence on each other.

Of course, this didn’t mean they weren’t close.

Rivalry was a separate emotion from friendship.

In contrast, J. Cole was stimulated by Sanghyun and Kendrick but didn’t feel a sense of rivalry.

To J. Cole, rap was a tool within music that allowed him to express himself best. Therefore, he would use things other than rap for the perfect sound.

He sang in famous songs like Apparently, and he filled the first track of the <2015 Forest Hill> album with only wordless humming.

As Sanghyun had thought before, if Kendrick was so good at rap that he reached the level of an artist, J. Cole was like an artist who had become too good at rap.

However, Kendrick and Sanghyun were ‘rappers’ who pursued better and higher rap, rather than ‘artists.’

That’s why they had a stronger influence on each other.

‘How is it? Isn’t it crazy?’

Kendrick’s eyes, reflected on the large screen, seemed to be asking Sanghyun.

However, Sanghyun didn’t answer.

Because his answer would be given by himself on the screen in the next turn.

As Kendrick’s rap ended, Sanghyun walked to the center.

At that moment, a caption appeared, welcoming Sanghyun’s appearance.

* FIVESIX

Los Angeles & Korea

-Kyaaaaa!

-Fivesix!

-Touch The Sky!

Cheers erupted every time the rappers on the screen appeared, but the cheers for Sanghyun seemed particularly loud.

The rappers attending the awards ceremony knew that the cheers were proportional to the anticipation, and they also knew where that anticipation came from.

Steady Rapper.

Because none of the songs Fivesix had released so far had failed.

Of course, there were songs among the MTB albums that weren’t popular with the public. However, none had been criticized by enthusiasts, and the rap itself had never been criticized.

And this was an amazing record.

Because even Tupac, Biggie, and Eminem had songs that were criticized.

‘If this continues for 10 years, or even just 5 years, wouldn’t he build a discography that no rapper could touch?’

However, there was one thing that the rappers who thought this didn’t know.

That Sanghyun’s record had continued from Korea.

At that moment, Sanghyun’s rap began.

***

Sanghyun had never thought of himself as a perfect person. Rather, he thought that even after experiencing the unbelievable event of regression, he was immature and made many mistakes.

However, on the other hand, he thought that even if he regressed 100 times, he would still be immature and would naturally make mistakes.

Sanghyun believed that he could do his best every moment because he was emotional, impulsive, and imperfect.

If he could live a perfect life calculatingly, he would only act as efficiently as necessary and react as much as needed every moment.

‘Even if there is no art that everyone in this world likes, I have to shout out loud that my art is right.’

That’s why he was going to shout out loud that he was right. He didn’t know if it was really right or not, but he was going to shout it out anyway. Because that’s how he could do his best again and live his once-in-a-lifetime life wonderfully.

And today, the target of his shout was those who said that he had benefited because his skin color was yellow and underestimated his efforts in the LA underground.

“Are you paying attention? You bastards.”

Sanghyun’s rough rap, pointing his finger at the camera, began like that.

When I was called a monkey

The guys who never gave me a banana

Now that I’m a monkey

They’re annoyed that I climb trees well

Nigga or Nigger is considered a word that represents racism, but it didn’t originally have that meaning. The etymological origin, Negus, is a word that refers to the emperor of Ethiopia, a word that refers to royalty.

In fact, there has been a constant debate among black rappers about whether or not to use the N-Word.

Russell Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Records, was against rappers using Nigga, saying that it was spreading racist words.

However, rappers like Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg used the N-Word, making good use of its original meaning, and said that they would one day regain its original meaning.

Sanghyun was the same.

When he first heard the racist word monkey, he felt unpleasant and bad. That’s why he believed that the more he used these words wonderfully, the narrower the position of those who discriminated against race would be.

It may be an exaggeration, but he hoped that when a Korean international student was called a monkey, he could retort, ‘So what? Haven’t you heard Fivesix’s rap?’

There’s a Korean proverb that says this.

‘Even monkeys fall from trees.’

That’s right, I’m going to fall too

A vertical drop from 5 to 1.

Of course, you guys can’t even climb

I’m talking about Billboard, you idiots.

-Kyaaaaa!

-Yiaaaaa!

People cheered at Sanghyun’s rough rapping, which used to enjoy smart and gentle lyrics and expressions.

“Crazy bastard.”

KRS-One, who was sitting at the table across from him, said, looking at Sanghyun.

However, the rap was not over yet.

Unlike the guys who just sit at their desks and go ‘Tik-Tak’ on their keyboards

Next to me is K-Dot [Kendrick Lamar’s nickname]

Of course, I also write lyrics on the keyboard

But the ‘0’ in my bank account is more than the alphabet ‘O’ in your article

O My Got!

The rappers shook their heads as ‘Oh My God,’ which contrasted the number 0 (zero) and O, exploded.

An unbelievable, huge punchline had exploded.

You’re not good enough to be mentioned on BET, Bell Biv DeVoe [American music group]

Appetizer level, never a main course

You wanted fame, how do you feel? Mentos? [referencing Mentos commercials]

Ah, Bell Biv DeVoe. No, Mentos. Is it Mentos?

The H&R INC family in the video burst into laughter at Sanghyun’s appearance, tilting his head as if he was confused about Bell Biv DeVoe’s name and shouting Mentos (candy).

He could picture Bell Biv DeVoe’s expression as they watched this video.

Representing LA with Black Hippy [hip hop group], LA Lakers

What those who try to attack me need is, Delta Force [elite special operations force]

Because I’m creating every day by putting my name on the Credit [credits]

The Credit I’ve built with rap is international, Standard Chartered [multinational bank]

Sanghyun’s rap ended with a punchline that cleverly connected the line that he was constantly creating, so his name was on the Credit (the list of producers at the end of a movie or drama) with creditworthiness.

Hadel Raines had a habit of carefully examining the expressions of the audience after his artists’ performances.

It wasn’t anything special, it was probably a habit that all producers had.

But this time was different.

Instead of looking at the audience’s expressions, Hadel closed his eyes.

Then, he enjoyed the thunderous cheers and applause that echoed through the Atlanta Civic Center.

Fivesix really seemed to be thinking of touching the sky.

That’s why he was shining so brightly.

< Verse 43. Touch The Sky (完) > End

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