The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 150

If Sanghyun were asked if Sangmi was good at rapping, he would definitely say no. Anyone who has tried to rap well knows that there’s a surprisingly big gap between speaking and rapping vocalization.

Commonly, good vocalization in rap means that the rapper’s natural voice isn’t distorted even when the voice volume is increased. The title of good vocalization is given to those who can easily produce sounds that ordinary people can only make by straining, without changing their voice. The modifier ‘good tamping’ is often used in these cases.

From this perspective, Sangmi wasn’t born with a natural rap vocalization. Of course, she could acquire it through repeated practice, but Sangmi wasn’t a rapper. She just tried it out whenever she was bored because there were so many rappers around her.

However, conversely, if Sanghyun were asked, ‘Then is Sangmi bad at rapping?’ he would say no to that as well. Because her sense of rhythm and expression were decent.

In this sense, Sangmi wasn’t an excellent rapper, but she was an excellent battler. This was because she used witty language that didn’t offend the other person, based on excellent delivery.

‘Sangmi? Really?’

Bae Sangwook, who had been watching and anticipating Woo Yeonwoo’s performance, was surprised when Sangmi appeared on stage.

“Wow… those 888 Crew guys are really bad.”

“I know, how can they send Sangmi out against Yeonwoo?”

From the after-party of Homi Vol.1, Woo Yeonwoo liked Sangmi. This was because Woo Yeonwoo had a strange fantasy about a younger sister he never had.

As expected, Woo Yeonwoo on stage didn’t know what to do. Seeing that, the 888 Crew members smiled evilly, saying it was all according to plan.

“So, are you ready for the battle?”

PD [Production Director] Heo Taejin asked amidst the cheers of the audience that exploded from the moment Sangmi appeared. Sangmi nodded with a nervous expression, and Woo Yeonwoo reluctantly grabbed the microphone.

Soon, a coin was tossed, and the heads that Sangmi chose came up.

“Ms. Lee Sangmi, who will go first?”

“Um… Yeonwoo *oppa* [older brother or male friend] first.”

“Mr. Woo Yeonwoo, how are you feeling right now?”

“Ah, my head is blank and I can’t think of anything. I’m originally an MC who enjoys battling with aggressive language, but I don’t know what to say at all. I feel many times that the 888 Crew guys are really evil.”

PD Heo Taejin then asked Sangmi.

“Ms. Lee Sangmi, what do you think about Mr. Woo Yeonwoo’s words?”

“Um… a groundwork for after losing? Bait?”

A small laugh came out at Sangmi’s words, and that laugh grew into an even bigger cheer. In particular, the female audience’s response was great.

-Sangmi, win!

-Lee Sangmi!

Sangmi smiled and waved her hand at the enthusiastic support of her older sister fans.

“Alright. Let’s not waste any more time and get started. The order will alternate between attack and defense. There is no set time limit.”

With PD Heo Taejin’s loud shout of ‘Start!’ the stage lights went out. At the same time, the beat flowed out and the spotlight turned on, illuminating Woo Yeonwoo and Sangmi.

As befitting a freestyle battle beat, a simple drum formed the basic four-four time without complex instrument arrangements.

Originally, when doing battle rap, the beat volume was lowered and the microphone volume was raised. This was because it made the MCs’ expressions easier to hear.

“Yeah, We are Stars Record!”

Woo Yeonwoo, who was throwing out a call-and-response to relieve tension, immediately started rapping.

You thought I would lose, so is this groundwork?
Did you learn rap from your *oppa*, short-term intensive
With skills built up, this isn’t a place to meddle
When it’s time to laugh it off, get out of my sight

Woo Yeonwoo calmly continued his rhyme, taking ‘groundwork,’ which Sangmi had used for provocation, as his starting point.

Woo Yeonwoo, who had honed his freestyle skills in the real street full of profanity, was initially burdened by what to say to Sangmi.

But freestyle was a game where there was no room for thought to intervene. The rhymes that he had filled his rhyme notes with began to flow out without him realizing it, and before he knew it, an aggressive flow and rhyme began to overwhelm Sangmi.

As expected of a freestyler representing Stars Records.

Your position isn’t rapper, just a cartoonist
You seem to be misunderstanding, this is different from cartoons
No underdog rebellion, nothing like that will come out
Can this game be a match? Dare you and I?

In 2005, even people who bought hip-hop albums and liked rap music had almost no chance to hear freestyle unless they went out to the streets of Hongdae [a district in Seoul known for its urban arts and indie music scene].

It was thanks to groups like ‘Freestyle Town’ that emerged around 2010 that freestyle began to be shared with the general public, not just a culture for rappers.

Because of this, such scenes were amazing to the audience, except for a few hardcore hip-hop fans. In fact, there were far more views that Junhyung’s freestyle, which he showed to Shingak in the third round, was ‘prepared in advance’.

The excited audience screamed.

Woo Yeonwoo, who had never received such a big cheer while freestyling, was slightly embarrassed and missed the beat, but quickly got back on track.

Rather, Woo Yeonwoo, who had relieved his tension, began to swim through the beat like a fish in water.

The age difference between you and me is more than a zodiac cycle
In other words, the difference in style between you and me goes beyond the twelve zodiac signs
When she grabbed her first birthday object, I grabbed the mic
When she babbled, I’m spittin’ hot rhyme

-Wow!

People poured out enthusiastic cheers at Woo Yeonwoo’s amazing wordplay.

Woo Yeonwoo was 29 years old, and Sangmi was 16 years old. Woo Yeonwoo’s rhyme, which emphasized his incomparable experience and career, instantly put the image of a child on Sangmi.

The most powerful attack in a rap battle was lines that matched the opponent’s image but were difficult to counter. In that sense, Woo Yeonwoo’s attack was very powerful.

It was time to finish.

The winner and loser of the fight determined at eye level
You’re looking up at me who is way higher
The aggressiveness in my rhyme is increasing
You know who’s behind me, right? Bae (Belly)

Woo Yeonwoo, who was 188 cm tall, approached Sangmi, who was less than 160 cm tall, and turned his head this way and that as if she couldn’t be seen. With a provocative performance, Woo Yeonwoo’s turn ended.

People screamed wildly.

“Wow, that’s amazing. How good is that *hyung* [older brother or male friend] in a real street cypher [informal gathering of rappers]?”

Junhyung shook his head at Sanghyun’s exclamation.

“No, he seems to be possessed right now. He’s originally more aggressive, but… was Yeonwoo *hyung* originally this good at freestyle?”

“That *hyung* is famous for being good.”

“No. He’s tall and has a style of spitting out rap, so he overwhelms the opponent, but his flow and rhyme weren’t this meticulous…”

Junhyung scratched his head. He felt like he had passed on a formidable enemy to Sangmi for nothing.

It was true that Sangmi was better at rap battles than him, but the problem was that she had no stage experience. If the opponent does this well in the first attack, you can’t help but feel pressured.

Sangmi’s turn to defend, who was receiving worried glances, came around.

Usually, in a freestyle rap battle, in order to prove that it is pure (unprepared rap), it was necessary to counter what the other person had said earlier. And that was called defense.

‘Wow, Yeonwoo *oppa* is really good.’

Sangmi thought that while listening to Woo Yeonwoo’s rap on stage. But she wasn’t nervous like Junhyung was worried.

Because this was a bonus game.

Sangmi firmly believed that the 888 Crew would eventually beat Stars Records and win, whether they took the first or second attack. It would be nice to take the second attack, but that was just for convenience.

In a way, it was a blind belief without any particular basis, but that was Sangmi’s true heart. That’s why all she had to do was enjoy her first stage properly.

“Give me the beat!”

With PD Heo Taejin’s shout, the same beat as before flowed out. Sangmi’s rap, who had already organized her thoughts, began without hesitation.

-Wow!

-Kyaaaa!

The audience who heard Sangmi’s rap screamed tremendously, and Woo Yeonwoo also looked at Sangmi in surprise. He thought she would do well because she came out representing the 888 Crew, but this was beyond imagination.

‘Did she just think of that?’

In particular, the level of countering was no joke.

Yeah, I’m much shorter than *oppa*
So when you look at me, bow your head and lower your eyes
Behind *oppa* is Bae, behind me is only me
If you respect him that much, go and pour him a drink

Woo Yeonwoo felt the image of the younger sister in his imagination shatter. Pour him a drink?

But Sangmi’s rap didn’t end there.

What else did you say? Ah, yeah, bragging about age
In a few years, *oppa’s* line will be “Age, go away”
What I grabbed when I was a baby was *oppa’s* collar
The skills that fell like a waterfall, Niagara

There was an exclamation of ‘Ooh’ at the collar part, and a sound of ‘Wow’ at the Niagara part.

Sangmi was accurately remembering and countering Woo Yeonwoo’s 16 bars. As expected of the best toxic speaker of the 888 Crew.

Sanghyun raised both hands and feet whenever he had a disagreement with Sangmi. This was because Sangmi had an amazing memory that dug up and nitpicked ‘when, where, in what situation, and what was said’.

‘Yeonwoo *hyung*, now you know what a true older brother is. There are no older brothers in novels…’

Sanghyun watched Woo Yeonwoo being scolded by Sangmi with a satisfied smile.

Next year is thirty, a plate of eggs [Korean expression for turning thirty]
Even if *oppa* retires, I’m still active
Sitting in an armchair, watching me do well
Recall “I had a rap battle, with her.”

In fact, it was Woo Yeonwoo’s first time having a rap battle with a woman. There weren’t that many male freestylers either, and there weren’t many players in Korea who shared the freestyle culture itself.

However, if all female freestylers had this tenacity, he had no confidence in winning.

The twelve zodiac signs are bullshit, it’s too itchy
I’m worried about this style, where did the person who does rap battles go?
I don’t know, I’m young, what am I afraid of

-Kyaaaa!

-Lee Sangmi! Lee Sangmi!

When Sangmi’s rap ended, the female audience showed support that filled the stage.

Sangmi thought that the ending was a bit disappointing, but she smiled brightly because the atmosphere was so good. She felt like she had done much better than usual.

PD Heo Taejin, who was watching the rap on stage, was also surprised by how well Sangmi did.

“Okay, now the attack and defense will switch. It’s Ms. Lee Sangmi’s turn to attack. But when did Sangmi start freestyling?”

“Oh, rather than starting specifically, I just naturally improved as I scolded my *oppas* to the rhyme.”

A small laugh broke out at Sangmi’s answer.

“The *oppas* must have suffered a lot to get this good?”

“No. How much trouble would the *oppas* have caused for my skills to improve? So I suffered.”

PD Heo Taejin burst into a hearty laugh at Sangmi’s small and pretty, yet confident answer.

It was time to switch the attack and defense. Sangmi would attack first, and Woo Yeonwoo would counter.

“Give me the beat!”

The changed beat began to flow out. Sangmi calmly began to rap again. No, she began to scold Woo Yeonwoo.

The result of the freestyle rap battle was Sangmi’s victory.

In fact, Sangmi’s attack, which mainly practiced countering, was not very smooth. But it was still full of witty expressions, making it fun to listen to. Woo Yeonwoo listened to Sangmi’s rap and countered well, but there was no taste in nitpicking.

If you only consider the rap, it was a battle that Woo Yeonwoo would win, but Sangmi had a stronger taste in the back-and-forth battle, so Sangmi was able to win in the end.

“I won!”

Seeing Sangmi jumping up and down in joy, Woo Yeonwoo shook his head. She’s so pretty and cute, but she spews out such scary and harsh words.

‘My purity has been tainted…’

The Stars Records members, who knew Woo Yeonwoo’s fantasy, patted him on the shoulder.

In the end, the order of performance went to the 888 Crew, who cleverly made a match-up using Sangmi as a hidden card.

< Verse 22. Orbital Correction > End

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