The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 140

Dolphin glanced at Sanghyun as he started rapping.

The conversation he had with Sanghyun that morning came to mind.

‘Because you’re phoning it in. I’m not usually someone who makes music at this level, but I 맞춰줬다 [matched] my level to the company’s low standards. It’s too easy to see.’

At first, Dolphin tried to deny Sanghyun’s words. He didn’t think he was phoning it in, but that everything was already decided before he even had a chance to intervene.

However, there was a subtle question nagging at his heart.

‘Have I really done my best?’

He seemed to have done his best when he debuted.

However, that best didn’t lead to results. Tracks he worked hard on were rejected for not being marketable, and he always had to rap targeting teenage and twenty-something women.

In the end, all he could do were the scraps of tracks where the rap director would say, ‘This isn’t an important part, so just fill it in roughly.’

Filler tracks added to increase the number of tracks to raise the album price.

Tracks that the public would never listen to, and that even those who bought the album would only listen to once.

That was all that was his share.

‘If I had done my best even with that, would something have changed?’

Dolphin didn’t think so. This scene wasn’t that easy.

However, after finishing his conversation with Sanghyun, he looked through the competition songs and was greatly shocked.

Among the four songs he prepared for today’s competition, there wasn’t a single song that showed ‘Rapper Dolphin’ instead of ‘Celebrity Dolphin.’ Without him even realizing it, Rapper Dolphin was slowly disappearing.

Dolphin had always thought that if he was given freedom, he would write a really killer song.

If the schedule that pressured him every day disappeared?

If the times he had to go on TV and laugh at unfunny stories disappeared?

And this was that opportunity.

There was no room for capital to intervene in the rap battle, and the agency only told him to do his best to win. However, Dolphin made a mediocre rap with mediocre rhymes and mediocre lyrics, as usual.

‘Because you’re phoning it in.’

Dolphin realized that ‘excuses’ and ‘circumstances’ had been eating away at him since some point.

At the moment of realization, anger without a clear target welled up from deep within his chest.

The targets that flashed through his mind were himself, the agency, the entertainment industry, colleagues, reality, Stars Records, 888 Crew, Lee Sanghyun, and so on.

In the end, Dolphin invested all his time from the morning he met Sanghyun until right before the rehearsal, revising the battle lyrics with 888 Crew.

He couldn’t win today’s battle anyway. From Bounce Rhyme’s perspective, Stars Records or 888 Crew were opponents he couldn’t beat.

If so, he wanted to prove himself with even just one song.

In front of Lee Sanghyun, in front of the audience, in front of the camera, that Rapper Dolphin was still alive.

At the same time, he wanted to express his anger.

Anger at his foolish self and the dirty reality of show business.

Numerous emotions and thoughts flashed through his head and disappeared. Tension and anxiety arose and disappeared.

Finally, all that remained in Dolphin’s head were the lyrics.

Dolphin, gripping the microphone so tightly that his hands turned white, began to rap.

Between fall and flight, I’m still me

How much does it cost to live my dream

Do you know what I mean? Just because it glitters

Doesn’t mean that’s all there is

Sanghyun felt a sense of bewilderment the moment he heard Dolphin’s rap.

Dolphin’s rap wasn’t suitable for a battle rap, and it wasn’t the lyrics he had heard during practice last night.

‘How much does it cost to live my dream?’

Despite the lyrics being difficult to understand in context, Sanghyun found himself focusing on the rap the moment Dolphin started rapping.

Dolphin was giving the feeling that he was burning his soul to rap.

Sanghyun realized that Dolphin had felt some kind of change of heart after his conversation with him.

Ironically, poverty seems to set me free

Popularity is a taxi surcharge after 1 AM

Intoxicated with my musicality, drunk on success

The rap director kids are fixing my lyrics again

Hip-hop was the only means of self-expression for black people in the ghetto.

Their raps, full of dissatisfaction with the world, were full of sharp words and boldly revealed their animosity towards the world. This soon became the reason why hip-hop came to represent black people.

The culture of rap, which started during the DJ’s break time, acquired its current genre characteristics due to this background.

So, the rap that Dolphin was spitting out now was truly proper hip-hop, and a true Battle Rhyme.

Sanghyun wanted to give Dolphin a big round of applause.

It was Shingak and Edition who were more flustered.

‘What is he doing?’

Shingak and Edition couldn’t understand Dolphin, who was suddenly dissing the company instead of dissing 888 Crew. They didn’t understand all the lyrics exactly, but it was clear that he was venting his dissatisfaction with the ‘rap director.’

People ask what I’m fighting for,

Fuck it, I’m about to blow up

Show business, wagging your tongue like crazy

If there’s value in surviving, roll the dice

Sanghyun heard Dolphin’s proper rap for the first time.

Dolphin’s voice, which he had heard until now, was a clean and high tone to deliver the lyrics well to the public, but in reality, his voice had a charming, husky tone hidden within it.

Dolphin’s 12-bar rap impressed the musicians. They came to know the true nature of the rapper Dolphin, who had given a light feeling compared to his long career.

However, the audience was not at all.

Basically, it wasn’t the picture of a rap battle they were expecting, and it was because Dolphin’s lyrics were hard to understand. The audience couldn’t help but think that Dolphin’s rap was full of metaphors and difficult to understand.

Then, Dolphin, who finished rapping, smiled and held out his palm to Sanghyun.

He felt refreshed after spitting out the dregs of his emotions, and he was grateful to Sanghyun for providing the opportunity.

Sanghyun stared blankly at Dolphin’s hand.

Dolphin didn’t know, but Sanghyun completely understood Dolphin’s lyrics. Because Dolphin’s current 모습 [appearance/state] was very similar to his past self.

Dolphin, who became a celebrity to make proper music, but somehow lost his music and became buried in the position of a celebrity.

Himself, who earned money to take responsibility for Sangmi after his parents passed away, but somehow Sangmi left and he became buried in money.

Sanghyun raised his hand and struck Dolphin’s palm.

With a smack- the sound, the two’s hands met.

Sanghyun felt that Dolphin would be making a new start, just like himself who had let go of the past.

After the strange connection with Dolphin, a 4-bar interval followed. After the interval, Sanghyun was waiting for the last turn of the two-on-two battle.

‘Hmm…….’

Sanghyun fiddled with the microphone with a troubled expression.

He knew what kind of 심정 [feeling/heart] Dolphin had spat out the rap with. Because of that, he didn’t want to do the rap that ridiculed ‘Bounce Rhyme’s commerciality’ that he had originally prepared.

‘What should I do?’

Sanghyun had lyrics that came to mind at that moment.

It was lyrics he wrote in the car on the way to Seoul, and he liked them quite a bit as soon as he wrote them.

He hadn’t been able to find a suitable beat and was keeping them stored away, but he thought they would fit the current beat quite well.

Sanghyun, having made up his mind, pointed to Dolphin with his left hand and pretended to tap his ear.

It meant to listen carefully.

Dolphin couldn’t even guess, but the rap that Sanghyun was about to do now was what he wanted to say to him as a ‘senior in life.’

Whether they understood this gesture as a meaning of provocation, the audience cheered.

Sanghyun shrugged his shoulders. This rap was what he wanted to tell Dolphin, who was about to make a new start, but it could also be heard as an attack, depending on how you heard it.

‘That’s how advice is, originally.’

However, Sanghyun believed that Dolphin would grasp his intention.

Sanghyun rapped over the beat without hesitation.

I don’t blame others, I climb the hip-hop mountain with my two feet and legs –

Marry Christmas Santa.

The gift I want is patience and diligence, simple

I don’t ride in the back of other people’s cars, I’m still a ‘non-mainstream’ Fanta [a type of soda]

Office workers who live in the system’s world tend to blame others a lot. That was the same for Sanghyun, who held the position of president.

Perhaps Dolphin, who was tied to the show business system, would be the same.

However, Sanghyun’s thoughts were a little different.

‘I don’t blame others, I climb the hip-hop mountain with my two feet and legs.’

He liked many aspects of music, but he liked the fact that everything was decided by ‘my fault’ the most.

If he didn’t like the lyrics, there was no other reason. He just didn’t put in enough effort.

If he couldn’t rap? He just didn’t practice enough.

Now I mixed alcohol, so I’m more toxic

I translate hip-hop into audible Korean: comprehension

I don’t belong somewhere, I don’t follow others well

If I have to belong, it’s in the realm of the gods

Dolphin looked at Sanghyun with a surprised expression.

‘I don’t belong somewhere, I don’t follow others well. If I have to belong, it’s in the realm of the gods.’

It was lyrics that perfectly suited his situation. However, this wasn’t the rap that Sanghyun had originally prepared.

‘What is it? Is it freestyle?’

However, it was too perfect to be freestyle. It seemed like he had spontaneously brought in a suitable rap from among the existing raps.

How many lyrics would he have to write, how much effort would he have to put in to spontaneously bring in the necessary lyrics and perfectly 박을 때려 [hit] the rap into a beat he was matching for the first time?

Of course, this is something that takes time,

But it’s definitely not a dream, it’s a reality

My friends tell me, please wake up from your dream

Okay, I’ll break the final boss dream before the year is over

The moment Sanghyun’s rap ended, Dolphin could tell that Sanghyun’s rap was giving him advice.

That young guy is so arrogant.

However, Dolphin smiled, and Sanghyun smiled too.

The audience watching the battle had puzzled expressions at the friendly 모습 [appearance] of the two, regardless of the battle. The musicians guessed that there must have been some kind of emotional connection that only the parties involved could feel.

That’s how the battle between ‘Bounce Rhyme and 888 Crew,’ which decorated the end of the two-on-two battle, ended.

Another vote followed, and 151 audience members completed their 6th vote.

Now, all that was left were 3 group battles.

888 Crew vs. Stars Records – Forecast

888 Crew vs. Bounce Rhyme – Do the Rap

Bounce Rhyme vs. Stars Records – Control Tower

The first of the group battles was Stars Records vs. Bounce Rhyme.

The group battle wasn’t a concept where direct attacks were exchanged. Instead, it was a fight to show off which side’s rap was more flashy and 멋진 [cool/stylish] within the same beat.

In the battle between Stars Records and Bounce Rhyme, Dolphin’s struggle and Edition’s unexpected 활약 [performance] stood out.

Edition showed a 멋진 모습 [cool appearance] for the first time in Control Tower. In fact, it was the verse that the company had made for him, so he was able to show off his unique 발성 [vocalization] to his heart’s content without any worries.

However, the weight of the hip-hop 더 바이브 [the vibe] female rapper was leaning towards Shin Hayeon or Oh Minji for anyone to see.

The second was the battle between 888 Crew and Bounce Rhyme.

The two teams’ group song, titled Do the Rap, unfolded fiercely. Sanghyun and Dolphin, who had been boasting a friendly atmosphere until just now, properly faced off.

The last was the fight between 888 Crew and Stars Records.

A rap with 4 bars added to the Forecast verse included in the official bootleg. There was no hook, but there were 6 12-bar verses, making it a long 72-bar song.

However, the audience didn’t find Forecast boring at all.

This was because those who had listened to the official bootleg or watched the music video on Hiphoppl knew this song. Because of this, it was the only song among the 9 songs performed today that the audience could sing along to.

With that, the 9 performances ended with Forecast.

3 one-on-one battles, 3 two-on-two battles, 3 group battles.

The audience, who had to judge the songs that 전환되는 공수가 테니스처럼 [the changing attacks and defenses like tennis] quickly, finally relaxed and began to wait for PD [Producer Director] Heo Taejin’s result announcement.

“I will announce the results of the one-on-one battle first. The first one-on-one battle, Stars Records vs. Bounce Rhyme is…….”

< Verse 20. Battle Rhyme > End

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