The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 121

< Verse 17. After Today >

***

CBC, one of the three major broadcasting stations in the country.

CBC’s main music program, , was a live broadcast every Wednesday from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM.

was a rare weekday music program.

Having escaped the cutthroat competition of music programs scattered on weekends, it was praised as a ‘hyoja’ [a program that drives high viewership] program that drove higher viewership ratings.

Therefore, Sanghyun had to leave Gwangju on Wednesday morning to appear on the music broadcast stage of ‘After Today.’ Fortunately, with the help of his homeroom teacher, he was able to attend the morning assembly at 8:00 AM and get permission to leave early at 9:00 AM.

Sanghyun, who was leaving school only an hour after arriving, headed to the van parked on the schoolyard due to the lack of parking. Then, his friends shouted through the window.

“Oh! A celebrity!”

“A van, wow!”

“Show us a dropkick on *Popular Music* too!” [referring to a previous incident]

There was even a guy who still brought up the old dropkick incident. Looking closely, it was Junhyung, grinning.

Sanghyun got into the van, lowered the window, and raised his middle fingers to his classmates. The so-called double fuck you.

At that moment, he saw his homeroom teacher looking at him through the window.

-No, teacher, that’s not what I meant……

Sanghyun ended up having to send explanation texts to his homeroom teacher until he passed the Namgwangju tollgate.

Sanghyun breathed a sigh of relief only after receiving a text message from his teacher wishing him well, and greeted the manager who was driving.

“My name is Jang Duyeol. You can just call me Manager Jang.”

“Manager Jang, is this the Indie Kid *hyung’s* [older brother/senior] van? It’s so nice.”

“Ah, no. This is the company’s shared van.”

“The company is Rush Entertainment, right?”

“It’s Rush.”

“Ah, Rush. Sorry.”

Sanghyun belatedly remembered meeting the casting director of Rush Entertainment.

“You must be happy that Indie Kid is doing well.”

“Of course. The A&R [Artists and Repertoire] team is also in a good mood because their first album after signing them was a home run.”

“How many copies have you sold?”

“We’ve sold a little less than 20,000 copies so far.”

“Does the company really buy albums in bulk?”

Jang Duyeol was taken aback by Sanghyun’s sudden innocent question and honked the horn.

‘What? It’s Lee Sanghyun from 888 Crew?’

Within the industry, the image of 888 Crew, especially Lee Sanghyun, was that of a very shrewd person. You could say they were a team that knew how to properly raise their value.

But the question now was too direct and innocent. Could there be an intention behind this question?

‘Well, they’re the type of guys who diss interviews they don’t like to raise their profile.’

There must be some intention.

“Buying in bulk? That’s something they did back in the 80s.”

Jang Duyeol calmly answered according to the company manual, and Lee Sanghyun nodded.

‘What does that nod mean?’

Jang Duyeol glanced at Sanghyun while driving. But Sanghyun was just genuinely curious.

Thus, the van with two people harboring different thoughts headed towards Mokdong, where CBC broadcasting station was located, via the highway.

Sanghyun, who got in the car at 9:00 AM, got out of the car at 11:30 AM.

‘They say the best manager is a fast manager. Cutting from Gwangju to Mokdong in two and a half hours? That’s no joke?’

Sanghyun purely admired as he got out of the van.

“Wow, that’s really amazing. You’re so fast.”

Jang Duyeol started racking his brain again at Sanghyun’s words.

‘What’s fast? Is he saying the album sales are abnormally fast? No, but I think the actual sales are over ten thousand copies? Isn’t this a normal amount of exaggeration?’

Sanghyun followed him, unaware of Jang Duyeol’s complicated inner thoughts. A moment later, they arrived at a *galbitang* [Korean beef rib soup] restaurant near the broadcasting station.

It was a restaurant with private rooms, mainly used by celebrities who had business at the broadcasting station.

After about 10 minutes, Indie Kid arrived, having finished their dry rehearsal. Sanghyun started eating with them.

Kim Woonggak, who was eating the *galbi* [beef short ribs] first, suddenly remembered something and said to Sanghyun.

“Oh, I was going to tell you yesterday, but the featuring fee will be additionally deposited within this week. Is the account number still the same?”

“Yes. It’s only been a few days since you deposited it, why would I have changed the account? But why are you giving me more money?”

“It’s a number one song. The result is so good, it feels a bit too bad to just settle with 1.5 million won [approximately $1,200 USD]. Oh, and next time something like this happens, it’s good for you to express your opinion in advance. If you don’t say anything, some guys will think you’re a pushover and wipe their mouths clean.”

“It’s okay. I don’t do featuring for just anyone. Anyway, I’ll take your advice to heart, and I’ll gratefully accept the additional payment.”

Sanghyun smiled and sprinkled pepper on his *galbitang* [beef rib soup].

Seeing that, Indie Kid’s vocalist Choi Taeil said to Kim Woonggak.

“*Hyung* [older brother/senior], who are we to worry about? If you only consider the album *sueikgeum* [profit] from a musician’s perspective, they’ve earned ten times more than us, right?”

“What? Ten times more?”

“No, what do you mean ten times? If you guys sell a little more albums, I can say without lying that fifty times is possible? After all, the money that goes into inflating album sales and the lobbying costs that go to *gwan gyeja* [people in positions of power/influence] are eventually taken from our *sueikgeum* [profit].”

When you sell a 10,000 won [approximately $8 USD] album, the singer usually gets about 100-200 won [approximately $0.08 – $0.16 USD]. If the singer wrote, composed, and arranged the song, they get an additional 400-700 won [approximately $0.32 – $0.56 USD].

So, if you compare the *ilban gasu* [general singer] who sells a 13,000 won [approximately $10.50 USD] album and earns about 1,000 won [approximately $0.80 USD] with the 888 Crew who sells a 9,000 won [approximately $7.25 USD] album and earns 7,300 won [approximately $5.85 USD], the *sueikgeum* [profit] is vastly different.

Moreover, if the singer didn’t write, compose, or arrange the song, the 1,000 won [approximately $0.80 USD] is reduced to less than 500 won [approximately $0.40 USD].

Sanghyun heard the exact figures of the industry’s situation, which he had only vaguely guessed, and felt truly *aeseokada* [pitiful/regretful].

They wrote, composed, and arranged the song, but they receive less than 10% of the money. Then, what kind of help did the people who eat the remaining 90% give to the *eumban* [album]?

“Then why did *hyungs* [older brothers/seniors] join Rush Entertainment?”

“Still, Rush Entertainment is a good company. They respect our careers and don’t touch us musically.”

“That’s not it, is there a reason why you guys specifically joined an *enteoteinmeonteu* [entertainment agency]?”

Of course, I know that when you belong to an *enteoteinmeonteu* [entertainment agency], *gaoe sueip* [side income], not music, is the main source of income. Once you gain popularity, you can earn hundreds of millions of won [hundreds of thousands of USD] just by touring national *haengsajang* [events] and universities during the festival season.

But if that’s the case, they should have done it sooner, when they were a little younger. Indie Kid had already been living in the *eondeogeuraundeu* [underground music scene] for over 10 years. They may not have made a lot of money, but they were still a team that was steadily progressing step by step. Why did they suddenly join an *enteoteinmeonteu* [entertainment agency]?

“Um… first of all, we’re getting older. We’ve gotten better at music, but the realistic factors that hinder us from making music have also become stronger. But there’s an even bigger reason.”

Kim Woonggak started a long story, unaware that the rice he poured into the *galbitang* [beef rib soup] was swelling.

“Since last year, LOC Group and Ogyeong Group have been offering very sweet poison.”

In 2004, LOC Group made a very sweet offer to musicians. They were going to put a price on music that was virtually free due to unlimited illegal downloads.

However, they said that the market situation was not yet favorable, so they would monetize it, but at a low price. Most musicians had no choice but to agree with their intention to change the free market to a paid market.

And Ogyeong Group followed LOC Group as a latecomer to the paid market.

“This isn’t *seonui* [good intentions]. When streaming services start, musicians won’t receive even 1 won [less than $0.001 USD] per stream. The *jeon ttegi eumwonpari* [selling music for extremely low prices] is starting. From as little as 0.2 won [less than $0.001 USD] to as much as 0.8 won [approximately $0.0006 USD]. If this happens, the *eumban* [album] market will completely die, and the value of *eumwon* [music] will decrease day by day. They’ll probably start partnering with the group’s telecommunications company.”

Sanghyun was able to learn for the first time that the start of the Korean-style streaming service, which he had not been able to properly resolve until his death, was in 2004-5.

Indie Kid, who had been in the music industry for double digits, was accurately predicting the future.

“To be honest… it’s really embarrassing, but we joined the *enteoteinmeonteu* [entertainment agency] as a *dopi* [escape]. If streaming services are fully established over time, there’s no guarantee that our value will be the same as it is now. There’s no guarantee that we can live as musicians, not celebrities.”

Their story ended with a proposal to 888 Crew.

“*Hip hop* culture will grow even more in the future. You can see it just by looking at you guys. So, join Ogyeong *enteo* [entertainment agency] when your value is the highest. They’ll probably accept even if you ask for the entire 888 Crew to be signed. Ogyeong *enteo* [entertainment agency], a latecomer, is in a hurry.”

Sanghyun did not respond to Indie Kid’s proposal. The future they predict is what will actually happen. But Sanghyun already knew the future and had enough thoughts about it.

Whether it works out or not depends on their musicality.

“Oh, it’s all swollen. Let’s eat quickly. The dress rehearsal is at 1:00 PM.”

The Indie Kid members started eating their rice in a hurry, and Sanghyun also forced down a few spoonfuls. Because he won’t be able to eat anything until 8:00 PM.

After finishing the heavy lunch with the Indie Kid members, Sanghyun immediately started preparing for the dress rehearsal. He changed into his stage clothes and got his makeup done. Contrary to Sanghyun’s expectations, it wasn’t thick makeup.

‘Then there won’t be a *heutnallyeora cheonbon-aeng* [a reference to a visual style resembling cherry blossoms scattering, often used in exaggerated makeup] incident, right?’

It seemed to be because he originally had good skin and the raw, underground image of a rapper.

The reason Sanghyun participated in today’s music broadcast of ‘After Today’ was because of Indie Kid’s desperate request and curiosity. He had heard some rumors, but Sanghyun didn’t know much about show business music either.

Without having to quote the old saying ‘Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times,’ he wanted to experience it at least once. Of course, he had no intention of getting involved in this world. Just once.

However, Sanghyun became disgusted with this one-time experience less than a minute after the rehearsal started.

***

The dress rehearsal for ‘After Today’ started at 13:10 [1:10 PM].

The song, which started with Indie Kid’s performance, continued with Choi Taeil’s vocals, who was in charge of the first verse and chorus. And then it was Sanghyun’s turn. But Sanghyun didn’t rap.

“What’s wrong?”

Choi Taeil waved his hand to stop the performance and accompaniment.

Sanghyun, who was listening to his in-ear, opened his mouth.

“This beat is wrong?”

“Huh? The main sound is the performance, so what’s wrong with the beat? Are you saying our performance is wrong?”

“No. That’s not it, this rap part is the *eumwon* [music file]. It’s full AR [All Recorded/lip-syncing].”

“Huh? Really?”

At the unexpected sound, Choi Taeil gestured to play the beat. Sanghyun was right. The beat heard through the in-ear had a rap on it at the *eumwon* [music file] level.

Choi Taeil, who checked the beat, had a flustered expression.

“What? This isn’t the MR [Music Recorded/instrumental track] we made? Ah, maybe the MR [Music Recorded/instrumental track] we used when we did the dry rehearsal without you was entered by mistake?”

“Ah, that could be it.”

As if something had happened, the main PD [Producer Director] of the sound team in charge of sound production came up on stage.

< Verse 17. After Today > End

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