The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 285

< Verse 44. The End >

***

Musicians and record industry officials who didn’t know Sanghyun well often used the phrase ‘a musician with great talent and even better luck’ to describe FiveSix.

No one denied that FiveSix was a good rapper.

However, some considered him a musician who gained attention from his ambiguous elimination from X-Factor, parlayed that attention into favor at the Grammy Awards, and enjoyed a brief period of great popularity thanks to the overwhelming support of Asian Americans.

There were countless cases of musicians who enjoyed seemingly eternal popularity and dominated national attention, only to disappear without a trace.

Talent could vanish at any moment, and popularity could disappear in an instant if that talent faltered.

That’s why the term ‘One-Hit Wonder’ exists, and why there are over 300 ‘Billboard One-Hit Wonders’ (artists who only had one song reach the top 40 of the Billboard major charts before disappearing), officially tallied by Billboard.

But now, this perception of Sanghyun was fading.

The things he was accomplishing were too great, and his endurance was too remarkable, to see him as just a flash in the pan.

Considering his records in Korea, he had been making music non-stop since mid-2005, tracing a long upward curve.

Moreover, the force he displayed at the countdown event opening 2010 was truly worthy of the New York Times’ assessment of ‘God Of Rap.’

Now, people’s concerns had shifted.

‘Will FiveSix be able to win at the Grammy Awards?’

‘He’ll definitely sweep the rap categories.’

‘With the current trend, could he even aim for the main awards?’

The question had become whether he would win at the Grammy Awards, the most prestigious music awards ceremony in the world.

The nomination list for the <2010 Grammy Awards>, announced on December 20th, a bit later than usual, was filled with the name ‘FiveSix.’

His name was listed in all five hip-hop categories, as well as in the main awards.

-Lee Sanghyun ties the record for most nominations among rappers of all time!

-Same 10 nominations as Kanye West in 2005!

-First rap musician to be nominated in 4 main categories!

Sanghyun, who was on a national tour, didn’t realize it, but Korea was already in an uproar since the end of the year.

This was because ‘Lonely Road Part 2’ was nominated in the R&B category, giving Sanghyun a total of 10 nominations, the most ever for a rapper.

This was the same number as Kanye West in 2005.

However, three of Kanye West’s nominations were as a producer and songwriter, not as a rapper. Unlike Sanghyun, all 10 of his nominations were as a rapper.

And what was important now wasn’t the 10 nominations.

It was more important that 4 of them were in the main categories.

Because the Grammys judge musicality based on popularity, there were quite a few artists who were nominated for all 4 main awards simultaneously.

In 1980, Christopher Cross even won all four main awards.

However, it was the first time a rapper had been nominated for 4 main awards. The most before this was 3, by Eminem in 2001 and Kanye West in 2005.

Moreover, a rapper had only won a main award once, so it wasn’t hard to imagine how much interest there would be.

In some corners of Korea, people were saying, ‘Even if Lee Sanghyun is great, isn’t the media reaction excessive just because he’s been nominated for a foreign award?’

Among these 4 main awards, the one Sanghyun was most certain to win was Best New Artist.

Sanghyun, who was nominated for Best New Artist last year under the name Golden Nu-Era, was nominated again this time under the name FiveSix.

And Sanghyun seemed to have no rivals.

Zac Brown Band, Keri Hilson, MGMT, and The Ting Tings were all great musicians, but they were far short of the impact Sanghyun had shown.

At best, the Zac Brown Band was being considered a ‘challenger’ to Sanghyun, based on their solid underground fan base. Not a competitor, but a challenger.

Because of this, the companies of the above musicians were complaining, ‘FiveSix was already nominated for Best New Artist as Golden Nu-Era, so it’s unfair for him to be nominated again.’

However, the selection criteria for Best New Artist had always been controversial unless there was a super-rookie.

-Awarded to a new artist who has newly achieved prominence within the eligibility period. This means that it does not necessarily have to be the artist’s first album.

It seemed that the Grammys judged that Sanghyun had newly gained prominence because he released his first album in the United States under the name FiveSix.

And in fact, this wasn’t even much of a controversy.

There were cases where musicians who had been releasing albums and active since 2003 were suddenly nominated for Best New Artist in 2007, which even surprised them.

Therefore, the public thought it was natural for Sanghyun to be selected as Best New Artist, and the selection criteria did not become a major controversy.

What they were amazed by was something else.

It wasn’t just Sanghyun who was nominated for the main awards.

Kendrick Lamar was nominated for Album of the Year, and J. Cole was nominated for Song of the Year.

It was very rare for a company to release 3 albums simultaneously, but it was unprecedented in American popular music history for all those albums to be nominated for the Grammy Awards’ main awards.

-Who will be the winner among the three rap musicians who chose to compete by releasing albums on the same day?

-FiveSix’s advantage in album sales, J. Cole’s advantage in single sales, Kendrick Lamar’s advantage in support from rap enthusiasts.

-H&R INC’s amazing upward curve.

-H&R INC already the number one label in the hip-hop scene?

As time went on, interest in the Grammy Awards only grew.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the story of Ohkyung Media on the Oprah Winfrey Show, which aired recently, was handled more quietly than expected, thanks to this.

Of course, it wasn’t completely quiet, as Sanghyun’s words and actions themselves were a hot issue.

The identity of the initialed company had already been revealed by audience members, and Sanghyun’s fans criticized Ohkyung Media.

Some radical fans even uploaded videos of breaking Ohkyung’s products to YouTube.

Still, it wasn’t to the level that Hadel was worried about, and thanks to Hadel’s appropriate response, the media didn’t cover it extensively.

Sanghyun also thought it was fortunate because his intention in bringing up Ohkyung Media wasn’t to create noise in the United States.

He was worried about what would happen if Ohkyung Media got involved, as Hadel had already suffered losses trying to secure the ending for the countdown event.

Sanghyun put his interest in Ohkyung Media aside for a while and focused on the Grammy Awards.

Sanghyun, who had never been very interested in honors or titles, was showing great interest in the 52nd Grammy Awards this time.

It was because he definitely wanted to hold a trophy and go see his parents.

***

Everything just kept getting better as time went on.

Album sales continued to soar, and days of constant public interest continued. In line with this, the popularity of Sanghyun, J. Cole, and Kendrick only went up.

And that popularity wasn’t just limited to the United States.

The Golden Nu-Era members, who had gathered at the countdown event, headed to Vancouver, Canada, together for their next destination, where they could feel their popularity.

-Kyaaaa!

-J. Cole! Kendrick! Five!

Originally, Sweden and Canada had a tendency to be enthusiastic about American rap stars. It wasn’t uncommon for American rappers’ songs to reach number one on the domestic charts.

But I was sure that no rapper had ever received this much enthusiasm.

Kendrick even said it was like when the Beatles first arrived in America.

Thanks to that, it was fun to perform, broadcast, and interview. Whatever you said, you got an enthusiastic response.

After spending ten fun days in Canada, the Golden Nu-Era members headed back to the United States.

But there was one crucial difference between coming to Canada and going back to the United States.

If they took first class when they came to Canada, they couldn’t take first class when they left.

“Fuck! What is this?”

Hadel’s New Year’s gift was waiting for them.

A gift of a private jet with the H&R INC logo on it.

“Why are you so surprised? Like you thought I couldn’t afford a private jet because they’re too expensive.”

“Aren’t they expensive?”

“They are expensive, since I could only afford two when there are three of you.”

The three had long been high-income earners subject to the highest tax rates in the United States.

Sanghyun’s daily life didn’t change after returning to the United States.

He was still touring the United States, appearing on TV shows, and singing on the radio.

The only difference was that his value had gone up, and he was appearing on more famous programs.

He appeared on SNL LIVE [Saturday Night Live], one of the most popular programs in the United States, and also on the Ellen Show.

Some radio stations even organized a Golden Nu-Era special, playing songs from , , , and all week long.

But Sanghyun wasn’t just working.

He also spent a lot of time touring various attractions in the United States, getting inspiration, writing lyrics, and making tracks.

Having a private jet had the advantage of being able to do various things while traveling, and H&R INC’s private jet was a flying recording studio and production space.

Sanghyun wrote countless lyrics and recorded in it. But he couldn’t come up with a track he liked as much as when he was making .

But Sanghyun wasn’t too worried.

He had eyes and ears, so he knew that Hadel was worried about him these days. That’s why he knew that Hadel was staying by his side as much as possible throughout the tour.

In fact, this was the first time for Sanghyun.

Until now, the problem was that he had too much to say and too many tracks he wanted to make. Sometimes he would make several tracks on one topic and worry about which one to release.

He had never gone months without making a track he liked, and he had rarely stopped making a track in the middle.

To others, it seemed like Sanghyun was having a slump. And for a musician, a slump for which you don’t know the reason was fatal.

Nevertheless, Sanghyun wasn’t too worried.

‘Why?’

He didn’t know the reason. He just felt okay.

Not a belief that he would regain his senses or inspiration soon, but just, literally, just okay.

‘Why is that?’

Sanghyun continued the tour without finding the answer.

Sanghyun, who started in LA on the far west side and headed to New York on the far east side, was now starting a crossing back to LA, retracing the path he had come.

And this time, Kendrick and J. Cole were with him.

Sometimes they would split up for different performances, but the major travel routes were similar. It seemed that Hadel had arranged the schedule that way.

Thanks to that, the way back to LA was even more fun.

There was no time to be bored while with Kendrick and J. Cole.

Instead, Hadel disappeared more often.

This was because there were too many musicians knocking on the door of H&R INC, which was sweeping the United States with the simultaneous release of 3 albums.

Moreover, after Kendrick, J. Cole, and Sanghyun were all nominated for the main awards at the Grammy Awards, even musicians who were already very popular were contacting them.

But Hadel seemed quite happy. It was like he was unleashing the energy he had accumulated over 10 long years.

In that way, everyone had a busy but enjoyable time, and finally, H&R INC’s private jet arrived at LA Airport.

It was exactly one week before the 52nd Grammy Awards.

***

< Verse 44. The End > End

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