The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 108

< Verse 16. Ripple Effect >

***

The Korean underground hip-hop scene in 2005 was different from today’s environment where albums and singles are released frequently. There weren’t as many rappers, and established methodologies were still developing. As a result, underground hip-hop fans valued hip-hop albums much more than they would in the future, when rappers became abundant.

Also, songs were viewed more as something to ‘own’ rather than simply ‘consume.’ This was because the music wasn’t mass-produced to be listened to a few times and then forgotten. Of course, it couldn’t compare to the 80s and 90s when record shelves overflowed with vinyl and bootlegs.

Therefore, when an album dropped in the hip-hop scene, listeners spent a considerable amount of time sharing, discussing, and reminiscing about it. Among these albums, 888 Crew’s official bootleg, *Triple Eight*, was mentioned for an especially long time.

Even three weeks after its release, hip-hop fans were still buzzing about it. The reaction was even more intense than when Garion’s first album or Starz Record’s second album came out.

– This is crazy, seriously.

– Seriously, seriously crazy.

– The quality is this good for their first official release. Aside from the slightly disappointing recording quality, it’s really the best.

– Strictly speaking, it’s not an official release. This is still a bootleg, so their first *official* album hasn’t been released yet.

– I don’t care, it’s just seriously crazy.

When hip-hop fans talked about 888 Crew’s official bootleg, they almost always used the word ‘crazy.’

The more knowledgeable a hip-hop fan was, the more they valued the official bootleg. They could sense that the songs on it far surpassed the standard of Korean hip-hop in 2005.

Some, who grew up during the Seo Taiji era, even compared 888 Crew to Seo Taiji [a highly influential Korean musician].

– There’s not a single track to skip. I felt it when I saw the Playoff performance live, but Oh Min-ji’s rap has improved so much. If you ignore the fact that she’s a female rapper, she used to be the weakest member, honestly.

– I really like Park In-hyuk. The locker room lyrics are something only a character like Park In-hyuk could write. ‘I rapped so much that everything got wet.’ Wow.

– What about Lee Sang-hyun? I still like Lee Sang-hyun the best.

– What’s there to say about Lee Sang-hyun? It’s boring now.

– Saying that is a waste of breath. In economics papers, the United States is sometimes excluded when discussing international indicators. This is because including the United States makes the gap with the second place too large, skewing the percentages. Excluding Lee Sang-hyun when talking about 888 Crew is the same principle.

– I think the most amazing thing is that they produced all the tracks themselves.

– But who made the “Lonely Road” beat?

– I heard the leader of the band L&S made it.

– The really great thing about 888 Crew’s official bootleg is that it’s just as creative as mainstream hip-hop. I feel bad for the Korean musicians I’ve supported so far when I make this comparison, but 888 Crew’s rivals aren’t other Korean musicians. I’m sure they have the mindset of competing with mainstream musicians.

– I sincerely think this album would have caused a sensation even if it had come out about 5 years later.

– Still, isn’t the quality a bit lacking compared to mainstream hip-hop? Both the sound quality and the mixing.

– That’s why I said creativity. Honestly, 888 Crew has only been around for half a year since their debut. According to interviews, they each made music before their debut, but they didn’t do it seriously. So, it would be stranger if the sound was perfect. And sound quality issues aren’t directly related to album quality issues. Because it’s underground.

Of course, not everyone considered the official bootleg to be the best. Everyone has different tastes.

Sang-hyun and the 888 Crew members acknowledged these differences in taste, but the listeners themselves debated these differences.

– I admit that the official bootleg is good, but isn’t the deification too much? Starz Record’s second album was also good. When I compare Starz Record’s second album *Starz* with the official bootleg *Triple Eight*, I think *Starz* is better?

– I agree that *Starz* and *Triple Eight* can sound similar. *Starz* is even better in terms of sound quality. But if you dig deeper, the two albums have completely different values.

– Why?

– I’ll explain it this way. First of all, *Starz*, the second album of Starz Record, is a ‘connection right’ [a term implying continuation of a legacy]. You can think of it as inheriting the direction of Korean underground hip-hop that started in 1997. You can also express it as inheriting and developing it. Or you can express it as a summary of Korean hip-hop. Anyway, *Starz* is an album that reinterprets and references Korean hip-hop and extracts the essence of that world.

– Then what about *Triple Eight*?

– The official bootleg isn’t a connection right, but a new book, a new release. This is because they bring out a world that they have completely created, rather than a world that continues from existing Korean hip-hop, and unfold the story in a new direction. I don’t know if that world is brand new even in American hip-hop. But the important thing is that it’s a direction that didn’t exist in the existing Korean scene.

Will the world that aspiring rappers who are imitating 888 Crew now use in a few years be the world of the current Korean hip-hop scene? Or will it be 888 Crew’s world, 888 World? If the latter grows to the point where it becomes the standard of Korean hip-hop, we are witnessing the starting point of the ‘second generation hip-hop’ with 888 Crew’s appearance in 2005. Critic Lim Young-ho’s words also touch on this point.

– Wow, this person is very smart. So, in this album, is there a song that maximizes? That summarizes? Anyway, what represents that 888 World?

– Of course, it’s “Crouching Writer” and the group song “Eight, Eight, Eight Remix.” The really great thing about 888 Crew is that “Crouching Writer” encapsulates the 888 World in terms of lyrics, and the group song encapsulates the 888 World in terms of sound. What I really regret is that I don’t know why they didn’t put “Crouching Writer” as the first track and contrast it with the last track, the group song. It would have been an almost perfect album if they had.

– But if “Crouching Writer” came out as the first track, wouldn’t the tension of the raps behind it die?

– Well, if they arranged it with that in mind, wouldn’t it have been right to go to the 5th or 6th track?

– I’ve already memorized all 100 bars [a measure of rap verse length]. If I repeat it 10 times when I go to work in the morning, I’ll arrive at the company.

– But “Crouching Writer” is good, but aren’t there some artificial parts in the lyrics that are different from Lee Sang-hyun’s usual style? There are also some parts where colloquial and literary styles are mixed. Lee Sang-hyun originally uses an extreme colloquial style.

– I think he intended it while playing with words. There are parts in the middle where he rhymes with Chinese characters, unlike Lee Sang-hyun, right? While listening to that, I felt like he was saying, ‘It’s not that I can’t use the current hip-hop methods, it’s that I don’t.’

– That’s too much of an exaggeration, isn’t it? Lee Sang-hyun isn’t a 10-year-old rapper, would he have been so conscious of that? He just used all sorts of methods because it was difficult to write lyrics while playing with 100 bars of words. Why do you even say he intended it?

– So, what intention is that? He just did it. Honestly, I think 888 Crew is okay? The rap is… well… it has some feeling. Their personality doesn’t seem that great, though. Well, Lee Sang-hyun does okay too. He doesn’t seem like a complete human being, though. But when I see hipsters deifying Lee Sang-hyun, there are times when I feel disgusted.

– Are you enemies with 888 Crew? Why does it seem so hard for you to admit that they rap well?

– So, you don’t like “Crouching Writer?”

– No, who said it’s not good? Apart from it being good, your attitude of saying, ‘Anyone who doesn’t like *Triple Eight* is tone-deaf. Are you a hip-hop ignorant?’ is annoying.

– But what can I do if it’s the truth? Anyone who doesn’t like *Triple Eight* is tone-deaf.

– Ugh, you crazy bastards.

***

“Ugh, these crazy bastards.”

Dread slammed the laptop shut. *It’s impossible to communicate with these hipsters.* Who said the rap is bad? It’s just that the deification is too much. Is 888 Crew Cho Yong-pil [a legendary Korean singer]? Is Lee Sun-hee [another iconic Korean singer]?

‘No, no. The rap is also bad. The album is just so-so, and there’s no good feeling, right?’

Just very, very slightly innovative……

Dread took off his headset and took 888 Crew’s album out of the CD player. Then he put it back in the album case. He had to give it to PD [Production Director] Heo Tae-jin instead of the manager, so he couldn’t just give him the CD.

‘But this is a limited edition, right……?’

The initial quantity sold out in 2 hours, and the second reprinted official bootleg was slightly different from the first edition. The price was the same, but the CD case was different, the album cover was different, the inner pages were different, and the CD material was different.

In addition, according to what he found out, only 50 versions with autographs were released. The original selling price was 9,000 won, but it was being traded for at least 40,000 won on Hiphopplaya’s used goods site. There were even people who were doing limited edition *jaeteukeu* [a Korean term for financial speculation or investment].

“Tsk, what’s the point of having something like this.”

Dread put the CD in his coat pocket. Someone might misunderstand if they saw it. But the pocket was too small, so the CD didn’t fit well.

After struggling for a while, Dread barely crammed the CD into his pocket and left the waiting room where he was alone, heading to PD Heo Tae-jin’s room.

The hallway was quiet. Except for the occasional staff members passing by, the cast members were not visible.

The recording schedule started at 4 o’clock, but Dread, whose personal schedule was messed up, had been waiting in the waiting room since 2 o’clock.

‘Anyway, Ohkyung Entertainment’s schedules are so inflexible.’

As Dread was heading to Heo Tae-jin’s PD room, he suddenly saw a vending machine. Since he saw the vending machine, Dread decided to get a can of coffee. To survive in the show business world for a long time, you have to make a good impression on the PD, so it would be better to give him a can of coffee along with the album.

– Clunk.

As the coffee came out, Dread squatted down to take out the coffee. At that time, 888 Crew’s official bootleg, which he had crammed into his inner pocket, popped out. With a thud, the album fell to the floor of the hallway.

“Ah, damn it. The case is scratched.”

Dread wiped the dust off the album with his coat and got up. At that moment, he saw the face of someone who was standing behind him waiting for their turn at the vending machine.

It was Lee Sang-hyun.

“Uh……? Uh……”

Lee Sang-hyun was looking at him with an ambiguous expression. Dread looked back and forth between the 888 Crew’s album he was holding dearly(?) in his left hand and Lee Sang-hyun’s face, then quickly hid the album.

Dread’s face turned red.

< Verse 16. Ripple Effect > End

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