The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 126

Sanghyun went down to the stage, examining the members of Bounce Rhyme.

Dolpin, Edition, Shingak.

Tension was evident on all three of their faces.

Sanghyun watched both Bounce Rhyme and Stars Records’ rehearsals. And the result he predicted was 100 to 0.

Stars Records at 100, of course.

This one-sided assessment wasn’t due to the technical aspects of the rap.

Rather, in terms of sound quality, Bounce Rhyme had some advantages over Stars Records.

The full stage composition was decent, and the beat choices were also attractive. Sanghyun heard that they had hired a pianist from a prestigious competition to perform live, though he didn’t know them personally.

However, Bounce Rhyme’s music lacked one element that rap possesses, which makes hip-hop fans go wild.

That was ‘story’.

Rap has always been a genre criticized by traditional musicians. Keith Richards, the guitarist of the Rolling Stones, once gave an aggressive interview, saying that rap’s impressive success only showed that there were a huge number of tone-deaf people in the world.

‘They just put on a drum beat and get excited when someone yells over it. There’s a huge market for people who don’t know musical notes.’

Sanghyun didn’t know if Keith Richards genuinely felt this way or if it was just media play for show business buzz.

However, Sanghyun knew what rap had gained by giving up melody, one of the core elements of music.

It was their own story.

Rap is almost the only first-person music genre where the artist becomes the narrator. Even when using storytelling techniques to write fictional lyrics, the rapper’s identity inevitably finds its way into the verses.

Because of this, hip-hop fans love peeking into the lives of rappers through the music they listen to. The desire to peek into the rapper’s life grows stronger the more they like the rapper, and becomes more intense the more they empathize with the rapper’s story.

This is also why E-Sens, who committed the serious offense of using marijuana, received support mixed with criticism from many hip-hop fans.

A child who lost his father in 1996.

The day he left his youngest child, who monopolized his love.

I couldn’t believe it, it felt like a dream, I wished it was a dream

The next day, I was on the ground, the ground sinking.

If Dad takes me fishing again, I’ll never

Show that I’m bored, the 3545 number [likely a reference to a specific bus route or phone number associated with his father]

Show me the car parked in the parking lot again.

The reason why E-Sens’ album ‘The Anecdote,’ released while he was in prison, was praised as Korea’s ‘Illmatic’ [referencing Nas’s seminal hip-hop album, implying a similar level of quality and impact] and broke the album sales of numerous idols was also the story.

However, Bounce Rhyme’s music lacked that.

There was nothing that made you feel like you were peeking into the genuine inner selves of the musicians, not just a packaged product. That’s why Sanghyun made the overwhelming prediction of 100 for Stars Records.

Bounce Rhyme’s performance, which started with the theme of synergy, proceeded smoothly. Perhaps because they were originally composed of members who rapped, the delivery aspect of the rap wasn’t bad either.

Better than one, better than two, better than three
A ship sailing through the waves of the beat

Bounce Rhyme’s rap filled with hardcore boom bap beats [a style of hip-hop characterized by heavy, hard-hitting drums] continued. In Edition’s dance part in the middle, male audience members erupted in loud cheers.

That’s how Bounce Rhyme’s first song ended.

Bounce Rhyme’s screen timer, which started at 12 minutes 30 seconds, had decreased to 8 minutes 45 seconds, and at the same time, the phrase ‘Stars Records’ appeared on the screen.

12 : 30..

12 : 29..

At the same time, even before Bounce Rhyme had left the stage, a dull drum beat began to ring through the speakers.

Roughly pushing aside the flustered Bounce Rhyme members, Stars Records’ Wooyunwoo and Yeomhyunpil jumped onto the stage.

-Wowww!

The audience erupted in cheers at the intense psychological warfare that satisfied the eyes.

‘They talked like they were going to be refined, but they’re so aggressive?’

‘They’re building a hip-hop gentleman image, but their words and actions are different!’

Along with the cheerful exclamations of the 888 Crew, Stars Records’ rap began to sound its horn. The people who moved aside after hearing the horn were Bounce Rhyme.

Stars Records’ song with the theme of time was a content that perfectly suited the dignity of veterans.

Lyrics that skimmed through the history from 1998 to Hip Hop the Vibe in 2005. And a declaration that their names were always engraved in that history.

It was a song I had already heard during rehearsal, but the energy shown on the main stage was on a different level from the practice stage.

-Stars Records!

-Stars!

The song that marked the end of the battle that alternated between Bounce Rhyme and Stars Records was Bae Sangwook’s solo song.

Stars Goes on.

As the rough melody of Stars Goes on, which sampled Tupac’s legendary song Life goes on, flowed out, hip-hop fans just went crazy. Even those who didn’t know Life goes on thought the beat was strangely familiar.

This was because Life goes on was the original song sampled by g.o.d’s ‘To Mother’ [g.o.d being a popular Korean boy band from the early 2000s].

‘Wow, the beat choice is amazing.’

Sanghyun admired while listening to Bae Ga’s solo song. It was an undeniably clever choice of song.

As Bae Ga’s solo song ended, only rough cheers of ‘Stars! Stars!’ remained in the concert hall.

Now, all that was left was the vote to determine the winner, and the members of Stars Records’ faces were full of confidence.

‘Bounce Rhyme vs. Stars Records, Stars Records vs. Bounce Rhyme. The final battle between the two teams has come to an end.’

Under the leadership of PD [Production Director] Heo Taejin, who came onto the stage, voting began immediately.

The 250 audience members exchanged opinions with the people around them and carefully exercised their right to vote.

And the result that came out.

198 to 52.

It was a complete victory for Stars Records.

‘Thank you! Thank you!’

The members of Stars Records bowed to the audience on the stage. Applause flowed out in response to the greeting.

The 888 Crew members also welcomed Stars Records as they came down from the stage.

‘Hyungs [a Korean term used by younger males to address older males they are close to], you worked hard. The stage was really amazing!’

‘A proper display of seasoned veterans!’

‘Did you just say seasoned veterans?’

Wooyunwoo smiled brightly and ruffled Junhyung’s hair wildly. As that image was broadcast on the screen through the camera, the audience erupted in cheers.

‘As expected, BL [Boy’s Love, a genre of fiction focusing on romantic relationships between male characters] is popular. Should I try it once…?’

Sanghyun had to spit out the water he was drinking at the webtoon writer Sangmi’s muttering.

As soon as the battle between Bounce Rhyme and Stars Records ended, the phrase ‘888 Crew VS Codename’ appeared on the screen.

Dread watched Park Inhyuk, Shin Junhyung, and Shin Hayeon of the 888 Crew, who were going on stage, with a nervous gaze.

Dread had received harsh training from Chae Daehan for two weeks. In fact, at first, it was quite unfamiliar to receive training in the genre of rap. However, as time passed, he could understand what Chae Daehan was asking for.

Chae Daehan wanted him to become a person who expresses himself. And in order to express, there had to be something you wanted to express.

The song Dread prepared today was De-Red.

The prefix ‘De’ had the meaning ‘about…’, and Dread compared the red stop signal to his rap.

So today’s competition song, De-Red, had the meaning of ‘Red Alert’ in Korean.

It is almost impossible for Codename to beat the 888 Crew in a multi-game series. But wouldn’t it be possible to make them pause with his red alert?

‘Are you ready?’

Inhyuk, who came onto the stage, examined Junhyung and Hayeon. Both of them had a sense of tension, but they weren’t trembling.

We Eight that Eight that Eight Crew!

The three of them, who loudly shouted the phrase that had become a pre-performance mantra, completed all preparations.

Soon, a heavy drum that was close to the sound of dum-dum-dum-, signaling the start of the performance, appeared.

The first song that the 888 Crew prepared for today with the theme of ‘money’ was Park Inhyuk, Shin Hayeon, and Shin Junhyung’s Full Clip.

The meaning of Full Clip was a fully loaded magazine.

This song was inspired by Gang Starr’s Full Clip of the same name.

The influence that Gang Starr, formed by DJ Premier and Guru, had on hip-hop around the world was hard to express in words.

DJ Premier perfectly applied sampling techniques to hip-hop and cemented his name as a top-class producer for over 30 years, from the golden era of the 80s to after 2010.

Guru caused a sensation with his unique speaking-like rap style and was the person who created ‘jazz hip-hop’, which is evaluated as having upgraded hip-hop to the next level.

The influence of these two giants continued to Korean musicians, and of course, it was also conveyed to the 888 Crew.

‘I think money is just like a blank shot behind a real bullet. There’s not much to use it for, but it makes you feel secure because you have it?’

Park Inhyuk, Shin Junhyung, and Shin Hayeon had the same perspective on money.

They believed that having money doesn’t directly help their music, but without money, music can’t be free.

They were also inspired by the fact that money is often expressed as bullets in Korea.

Inhyuk’s voice appeared over the heavy drum sound.

I make money but I don’t spend it

I make money but I don’t spend it

Even dog poop is hard to find when you need it for medicine

I make money but I don’t spend it

Inhyuk began to mumble like a drunk person. Inhyuk’s slurred voice dug between the dum-dum-dum drums.

The hook of Full Clip consisted of very simple and one-dimensional lyrics. It was to the point where you would think it was childish as soon as you heard it.

However, this was not a roughly made hook, but a device that contained an intentional ‘ignorant’ feeling.

‘Money is ignorant. Once you start using it, you can’t control it.’

I make money but I don’t spend it

I make money but I don’t spend it

I don’t fire the bullets

I’ve saved in my account recklessly

The beat began to escalate.

Inhyuk’s mumbling voice became clearer and clearer, and the sound coming through the speakers became thicker.

At the same time, hi-hats began to enter between the 4-beat snares of dum-dum-dum-dum, and the sound became richer as the bass and strings entered.

People predicted that something would change when the beat reached its peak.

But Inhyuk wasn’t that kind.

Before the beat reached its peak, a sudden shout hit the audience’s ears.

I make money but I don’t spend it-!

I make money but I don’t spend it-!

Even dog poop is hard to find when you need it for medicine!

I make money but I don’t spend it-!

With a bang! The beat instantly rose to the top floor as if taking an elevator.

The sound of dum-dum-dum began to change to doo-doo-doo!

The drum source did not change, but the tone was raised sharply similar to the rimshot playing method, and a heavy mastering was added.

This was a part that clearly showed the sense of Woo Minho, the main producer of the 888 Crew, to sound producers from all over the country.

I make money but I don’t spend it-!

I make money but I don’t spend it-!

The bullets I’ve saved in my account!

I don’t fire recklessly-!

The moment the chorus ended, Junhyung growled and jumped onto the beat.

End

ⓒ