The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 104

< Verse 15. Flow >

-Thump!

Dread shot up from his seat, nearly smashing the desk. Kim Byung-woo remained silent, having watched the video as well.

“Fucking hell!”

Dread stormed out, kicking the editing room door open, and disappeared down the hallway.

Dread was consumed by anger. He realized why he had been so desperate to see 888 Crew’s interview while watching Lee Sang-hyun’s interview.

“Damn it!”

It was because he hated 888 Crew.

The fight in the waiting room was infuriating, and the humiliation at the Mudeung Stadium was infuriating.

Yet, 888 Crew’s music lingered in his mind.

On the ride back from Mudeung Stadium to the *sukso* [dormitory], Dread spent three hours thinking about 888 Crew’s performance.

Wyoming, Lonely Road, Gwangju Up. No matter how hard he tried not to, the stage kept replaying in his head.

So, Dread hoped that 888 Crew would burn with animosity towards Code Name. Subconsciously, he wanted to become an ‘enemy’ on equal footing with 888 Crew.

However, Lee Sang-hyun thoroughly shattered Dread’s subconscious and made him aware of his own feelings.

Dread stood in front of the broadcasting station for a long time, mindlessly chewing on cigarettes. Each puff broke the cigarette, and another puff broke another.

As he lit his sixth cigarette, Code Name’s van slid to a stop in front of Dread.

“You’re late? You must be tired. Get in quickly.”

Code Name’s manager, who had been waiting in the parking lot, spotted Dread standing at the gate and drove over.

Dread silently got into the passenger seat. The manager said,

“You know you don’t have any morning schedule tomorrow, right? But you have a music show at 4 PM, so have lunch and come to the salon.”

“Okay. Open the window.”

The manager opened the window, and Dread lit a cigarette. The manager turned on the radio.

“Don’t you have any songs instead of the radio?”

“Songs? Just a moment.”

The manager skillfully rummaged through the albums in front of the car audio with one hand. Then, a familiar number caught Dread’s eye among the albums.

“Wait a minute.”

Dread reached out and grabbed the CD with the sky-blue album cover. The number 888 was engraved on the CD.

888 Crew Official Bootleg – Triple Eight.

“What’s this?”

“Oh? Ah, I went to the broadcasting station and asked the sound team for some leftover song CDs, and this was mixed in.”

“I didn’t see these guys had an album. When did it come out?”

“It came out yesterday. I just brought it because we’re appearing on the same program, so it might be helpful. Give it to me. I’ll throw it away when I get to the *sukso* [dormitory].”

However, Dread looked at the CD for a moment and then opened the case. Inside the case were a paper with the signatures of the 888 Crew members and a track list.

‘What is this? They signed it themselves?’

It wasn’t a copied print but a handwritten signature.

The manager glanced at Dread anxiously. But Dread paid no attention to the manager.

“It came out yesterday, but why is it at the broadcasting station?”

“Well, I don’t know? Maybe they handed it out to the PDs [producers] as a greeting since they’re appearing on *힙합 더 바이브* [Hip Hop the Vibe]?”

“Play it.”

“Huh?”

“Just play it once.”

When the manager hesitated, Dread frowned and put the CD into the car audio himself. Soon, the first track, Wyoming, began to play. Dread had already heard the song, so he was about to skip it but stopped. The beat was simpler than when they performed it.

“The accompaniment is a bit different?”

“When they perform live, they have a backing band, so they make the sound richer, but it seems they pursue a simpler sound on the album.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And the bass sound, which was output as an electric sound during the live performance, is standard on the album. Instead, they captured the electric guitar as twins.”

The manager, who had been excitedly talking, was startled and shut his mouth. It was because it sounded like he was praising 888 Crew. But Dread said nothing.

Soon, the first track ended, and the second track, Lonely Road, came on. Dread listened to the same track order as the Mudeung Stadium performance and thought, ‘This is their killer move.’ Thinking that way made him feel a little better.

‘The third track is Gwangju Up, huh.’

Finally, the second track, Lonely Road, ended, and the third track came on. But the beat of the third track was not the Gwangju Up beat.

He wondered if only the beat had changed, but when he looked at the track list in the album booklet, he saw an incomprehensible title called ‘Crouching Writer.’

Dread didn’t know much about hip-hop, but he still had the basics he had learned over the past three years of activity. He also had hip-hop knowledge he had learned while being scolded by producers.

And according to Dread’s common sense, such a beat could not be included in an album.

“What is this?”

There was no beat at all.

There were only drums and piano.

The drums were not intense but rather just keeping the beat, and the piano was repeating the same pattern of chords.

This wasn’t just rough; it was careless.

Then, after a short interlude, the rap began.

I’m on the ring, Lyricist Octagon

Still, I’m an otaku crazy about lyrics

I only think about lyrics like a mother

The things I have to do are the same every day

Dread gradually became immersed in Sang-hyun’s rap. It was a very strange thing.

Careless drums and simple piano.

Lee Sang-hyun’s voice, mixed too loudly over the beat.

This was a track that had no side dishes or soup, just rice. But it had the power to focus people. Dread realized that the power came from the lyrics.

Usually, when you listen to a song, there is room for ‘thoughts’ to intervene. No matter how much you like a song, you inevitably have other thoughts that are unrelated to the song in between. And that can’t be helped.

But this song, ‘Crouching Writer,’ controls those thoughts. If you focus on this song for the first 10 seconds, you can’t think of anything else.

The reason is that the content conveyed by the lyrics endlessly stimulates the listener’s mind.

I only think about lyrics like a mother.

Dread thought, ‘What does that mean?’ when he heard this part. And he immediately realized that the lyrics simultaneously meant housework and lyric.

Dread continued to focus on Lee Sang-hyun’s voice. Without realizing it, he perked up his ears to not miss the lyrics.

Interesting expressions continued endlessly.

Even if you don’t live in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, you’re close to Sookmyung

If you listen to this, you go to Hong Kong and spend money: Macau

Sookmyung Women’s University is located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

Usually, getting high is called going to Hong Kong, and Hong Kong and Macau have casinos.

Like side dishes that have gone bad in the summer, ‘Um, it’s stale.’

I’m sick with a disease that spits out rap instead of curses, Tic disorder

The endlessly continuing rap finally came to an end.

Dread was frantically trying to understand the rap and belatedly realized that a long time had passed.

“*Hyung* [older brother/male friend], how long is this track?”

“I think it’s over five minutes, but I don’t know exactly. It’s a hundred-*마디* [verse] rap.”

“A hundred-*마디* [verse]? A hundred-*마디* [verse]? You only rap for a hundred-*마디* [verse]?”

“It’s a big deal on the internet right now. It hasn’t come down from the real-time search rankings.”

Koreans tend to be very enthusiastic about firsts or record-breaking achievements.

The first 100-*마디* [verse] rap in Korea.

Possibility of being listed in the Korea Guinness Book of Records.

Many of those who saw these phrases were curious and listened to Crouching Writer. Among them were many people who were not interested in rap or had negative views. But even those people are drawn to Crouching Writer.

Oh, rap is this fun? With admiration.

Dread stopped the song.

‘Boxers can’t compete with gymnasts.’

It was as if he could hear Lee Sang-hyun’s voice. And he felt that he couldn’t deny it.

Dread said to the manager.

“Manager *hyung* [older brother/male friend]. Let’s go to the company instead of the *sukso* [dormitory].”

“Huh? The company? At this hour?”

“Ah, just go if I tell you to.”

When Dread got annoyed, the manager turned the car around without complaint. Fortunately, it was in a location where he could quickly enter the Yeongdong Bridge with a U-turn.

Dread took the album out of the car audio. Dread stared intently at the album for a long time and then put the album in his bag.

The manager said urgently.

“Ah! 허 PD *nim* [Producer] asked for that CD.”

“What are you talking about? You said the broadcasting station gave it to you, so why are they asking for it?”

“It wasn’t a CD to give as a spare, but the assistant director must have accidentally included it. They said it’s needed for this *힙합 더 바이브* [Hip Hop the Vibe] broadcast?”

“Really? Then I’ll take it to them.”

At Dread’s words, the manager shed tears inside. Dread didn’t know, but it was a ridiculous lie that 888 Crew’s official bootleg was at the broadcasting station. That album was sold out in 2 hours after its release.

Besides, the manager was so happy when he saw the handwritten signature inside that he almost screamed.

-The first 30 people and 20 randomly selected people will have handwritten signatures in the delivered albums. Those with handwritten signatures must upload a *인증샷* [proof shot] of the album and signature. Please leave your name, the last four digits of your phone number, the last four digits of your zip code, and the area code you want to be engraved on the T-shirt with the *인증샷* [proof shot], and we will manufacture the T-shirt and ship it to you immediately.

The manager was excited about the thought of receiving the 888 X 888 T-shirt. He was frantically *고민* [agonizing] whether to use Seoul 02, his current residence, or Jeju Island 064, his hometown, as the area code to be engraved on the T-shirt.

But Dread neatly resolved that *고민* [agonizing].

‘Dread, you *개자식* [son of a bitch]! Ugh! *개새끼* [son of a bitch]!’

The manager had been working as a manager for six years after coming to Seoul from Jeju Island, and this was the first time he had cursed his *담당 가수* [assigned singer] so much.

The van carrying the silent manager’s cries finally arrived at the company. It was already past 3 AM, approaching 4 AM.

The manager, who was more exhausted than tired, asked Dread.

“But why did you come to the company?”

“*Hyung* [older brother/male friend], you can go now. I have something to do.”

Dread said that and got out of the van.

The company was still lit up even in the early morning. Dread hesitated for a moment and then entered the company.

***

Bae Ga, Bae Sang-wook, the leader of Stars Records, finished showering and sat in front of the computer. Today was the day that 888 Crew’s official bootleg, which the Korean hip-hop scene was paying attention to, was released.

If he asked Sang-hyun, he could get an album, but the etiquette between musicians wasn’t like that.

If you bought the album yourself and then casually mentioned that you bought the album, the relationship between the musicians would become stronger.

‘What?’

Bae Ga, who was already logged in to the website of 888 Crew’s domestic brand, Triple Eight, was puzzled when he refreshed the page but the screen didn’t change from a white screen.

No matter how many times he refreshed, the main screen wouldn’t load.

‘Is there a problem with the website?’

In the end, it took 2 hours for the website to function normally. A letter of apology from 888 Crew was posted on the main page of the website.

It was an apology that the server couldn’t handle the surge in traffic. Bae Ga casually read the apology but was stunned when he saw the last sentence.

-We will try to secure the official bootleg Triple Eight *물량* [quantity] as quickly as possible. Thank you sincerely for your support.

‘What does this mean?’

Bae Ga quickly moved the mouse and clicked Album in the 888 Crew Goods category.

And he let out a sigh.

888 Crew Official Bootleg – Triple Eight (Sold Out)

‘These crazy bastards.’

What underground musicians sell out 2,000 copies in 2 hours after release?

Bae Ga finally picked up his phone. Now he had no choice but to get it directly from Sang-hyun.

But Bae Ga was disappointed when he heard a sound that shattered his expectations.

-*Hyung* [older brother/male friend], I’m sorry. It sold out so quickly that I even *풀었어요* [unleashed] the albums that were made for *증정용* [promotional purposes].

In that way, 888 Crew’s official bootleg was leading a huge *흐름* [trend/flow].

< Verse 15. Flow > End

ⓒ