The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 161

“We have a listener asking about Lee Sang-hyun and Shin Jun-hyung’s high school GPA. Ah, now I’m curious too! Is it okay to reveal that?”

“Um… to be honest, I don’t really know. I didn’t pay attention to it.”

“Come on, you really don’t know?”

“Well, one thing’s for sure, I always feel naked after exams.”

“Naked? What do you mean?”

“I feel grade-shamed.”

Sang-hyun’s punchline made Jun-hyung and Min-ho chuckle.

Shin Hye-yeon stared at the 888 Crew members with a dumbfounded expression. She couldn’t understand what was so funny.

However, about 30 minutes into the broadcast, Shin Hye-yeon suddenly clapped and burst into laughter.

“Ah, that kind of grade-shame. Not sexual, but Grade. I guess my brain works differently when I’m talking to rappers.”

This time, the 888 Crew members stared at Shin Hye-yeon with bewildered expressions as she chuckled at a joke that was 30 minutes old.

The filming for 20 O’Clock Station proceeded enjoyably.

The 888 Crew members liked that they could directly communicate with the public through text messages. It was their first time doing a radio broadcast, but they felt like they could keep doing it if it was like this.

While they were sharing stories, the members’ recommended songs and listeners’ requests were played. And finally, it was time for the live performance.

Radio live performances had many differences from rapping on stage or recording in a booth. It was different from stage rapping in that it didn’t consider the audience’s reaction, and it was different from recording in that it had to be done in one take without re-recording.

It was Sang-hyun’s soft voice that signaled the start of the live performance.

I don’t want to live the same life.
That’s why I try.

It’s a very cliché thing to say but it’s the only way
I can explain myself. Fear covers me
If I don’t do it now, I’ll stop for life

Shin Hye-yeon listened to Lee Sang-hyun’s rap and was repeatedly impressed.

Move, which had been released as a single a while ago, was a song she quite liked. Listening to this song kept reminding her of the past. It reminded her of the feelings she had when she decided to quit her job as an announcer after only two months because she wanted to act so badly.

‘How could a high school student write lyrics like this? Aren’t musical talent and songwriting separate issues?’

When she listened to Move, it felt like the narrator of the song was herself.

If you keep it as it is, standing still
That’s something you can never
Undo, just do it my way
I do my thing, I try, and maybe I give up
It’s easier to just let it go

Watching Lee Sang-hyun’s performance, she could understand what it meant to feel that the live performance was much better than the recorded version.

In fact, it was difficult to feel that a rapper’s live performance was better than the recorded version. Many of the various skills that exist in rap lose their color when they go to the live stage.

However, the more she listened to Lee Sang-hyun’s song, the more she felt that the mp3 file didn’t capture all of Lee Sang-hyun’s voice. Of course, this feeling arose because the lyrics were delivered as well in the live performance as they were in the recorded version.

“Wow, this is no joke.”

The sound engineers were also impressed by the input line numbers displayed on the mixer. It seemed like he was rapping very comfortably, but the peak levels were no joke.

Moreover, the precarious coexistence of rap and melody unique to Move had a great charm. A charm that would make even those who were hearing this song for the first time pay attention.

As expected, the listeners who were surprised by the song poured out their reactions.

-Is this really live? Did you accidentally play the recorded version?

-The live performance is much better than the recorded version!

-The lyrics seem to depict how I felt when I quit my job.

The PD [Producer-Director] of 20 O’Clock Station organized the texts that the host would read after the song on the monitor, with a satisfied smile.

In the meantime, Sang-hyun’s verse ended, and Jun-hyung’s verse, which had a different charm from Sang-hyun, followed. Jun-hyung’s heavy low tone, which contrasted with Sang-hyun’s tone, began to exude a different charm.

The 888 Crew presented a total of 4 live clips on 20 O’Clock Station.

Move, Daydream, Dressing Room, and Woo Min-ho’s DJ play.

Since not all eight members were there, Ha-yeon’s verse in Daydream was replaced with Jun-hyung’s unreleased verse, and In-hyuk’s verse in Dressing Room was replaced with Kim Hwan’s unreleased verse.

As a result, this radio live performance became a special stage that could not be heard at the Hip Hop the Vibe concert or on Triple Eight’s album, and the listeners’ reactions were really good.

“You all know that I went to Hip Hop the Vibe as an audience member and did an interview, right? I expressed my interest in Lee Sang-hyun and was criticized by fans and reflected a lot. But I’m going to express my interest one more time today. Today, it’s to everyone in the 888 Crew!”

As soon as the live performance ended, host Shin Hye-yeon gave a comment praising the 888 Crew.

Jun-hyung smiled and thanked her. He felt sorry that there weren’t more fun comments because In-hyuk wasn’t there.

“Lastly, is there anything you would like to say about the 888 Crew’s solo concert next month?”

“Our solo concert 888 Show starts on February 17th in Gwangju…”

The last part of the two-hour radio show ended with Jun-hyung promoting the 888 Show and the full-length album JFTR, which will be released within this year.

“Good job. The listeners’ reactions are so good.”

“Thank you. Thanks to you, PD, we had a lot of fun. We have a lot of teenage fans, and 20 O’Clock Station has a lot of high school students as listeners, so the reactions are really good.”

“Even with the vacation, if the listenership is this high, we’ll be able to talk to a lot more high school students when we come back during the semester.”

“Even during vacation, most humanities students are doing night study, right?”

“Is that so? Still, a PD’s greed knows no end. I sincerely hope that we have another chance to see you again next time.”

“We’ll come running whenever you call us.”

The 888 Crew members exchanged pleasantries for a long time, shook hands with the PD of 20 O’Clock Station, and left the broadcasting station.

The place where they headed after finishing their broadcasting schedule was not Gwangju, but L&S’s album recording studio. They were planning to work on the radio schedule on Friday and then focus on recording on Saturday and Sunday.

When the 888 Crew members arrived at the recording studio, they were able to hear some very welcome news.

“Style Young is planning a program called Royal Band this time!”

“Royal Band? What kind of program is it?”

“A band survival show.”

It was common for broadcasting companies to follow suit when a particular program format became popular.

Style Young, a cable broadcasting station that was in competition with KMnet, was producing a band version of Hip Hop the Vibe in a similar context.

The important point was that L&S was going to appear on Royal Band.

The 888 Crew members sincerely congratulated L&S on the opportunity that had come to them.

They were sometimes sad that L&S, who had led them in the early days of their careers, seemed to be falling behind little by little, but they hoped that they would enjoy as much popularity as the 888 Crew this time.

“You guys have been on shows like this before. Is there anything to be aware of?”

“Well, if you fart, it goes into the microphone?”

“Do you want to die?”

Jun-hyung had to taste Mi-joo’s hand after a long time [getting slapped or hit].

Soon the recording studio was filled with cheerful laughter.

***

When a company is small, public relations is a very important tool. It becomes the foundation for capital inflow that can lead to the development of a larger and stronger company.

It was a well-known fact that a strange but interesting 3 million won advertisement that said, ‘It’s really good for men, it’s really good for men’ inflated the corporate value of C Food Company several times.

Public relations is also important when a company becomes very large. This is because this is the point when a ‘brand name’ becomes a ‘luxury brand’.

This was the reason why credit card companies competitively held concerts and poured huge paychecks to super-large musicians such as Beyoncé and Maroon 5.

The reason why Ohkyung Group invested a lot of money in AIMMF (ASIA INDEPENDENT MOVIE & MUSIC FESTIVAL) was for a similar reason. Of course, they also wanted to keep LOC Group, a competitor, in check from the success of the Worldwide Indie Music Festival.

The 888 Crew received an offer from AIMMF and accepted it last summer after Homi Vol.1 ended and they were slowly making a name for themselves in the underground scene.

From February 3rd to February 5th.

This was the reason why the 888 Crew participated in AIMMF, which was held for 3 days in Yongin.

However, the performance did not proceed smoothly.

This was because they received a very unpleasant offer as soon as they arrived.

“Don’t say ridiculous things. How can you change something that’s already been decided?”

“I know it’s a difficult request, but can you please check it out?”

“Ah, really. Are you acting up because you’ve become a little famous? You’ve already signed the contract, what is this? Didn’t you get the performance fee? You got it all.”

As the person in charge of the sub-stage raised his voice, the eyes of the musicians who were waiting nearby turned to them.

“We’ll proceed with the rehearsal in 30 minutes, so please be aware of that. This is just an absurd request…”

Eventually, the person in charge of the sub-stage left.

Sang-hyun was angry for a moment, but he understood the staff. It would have seemed like they were delaying things with something that wasn’t a big deal when they were busy.

However, this was a very important issue for the 888 Crew.

Kim Hwan, who was in charge of the invitation, looked apologetic.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t check properly…”

“I reviewed the contract with you. How could that be your fault?”

Sang-hyun shook his head and comforted Kim Hwan.

What made the 888 Crew feel embarrassed was not that they had to stand on the sub-stage instead of the main stage. It wasn’t that the sub-stage musicians weren’t given a proper waiting room, and it wasn’t that the rehearsal time was extremely short.

These problems were understandable enough.

This was because they signed the contract with AIMMF before they became famous.

In addition, when they looked at the lineup of the main stage, only the names of the most popular idol singers and foreign musicians were listed. Other than that, they only saw singers who seemed to be promoted by large agencies. It was immediately felt that the lineup was not based on musical talent.

‘Is it because we still don’t have enough recognition?’

In a way, they were burning with passion.

Although the effect of Hip Hop the Vibe was wearing off, the 888 Crew was still very hot. Therefore, Sang-hyun expected that the organizers would move them to the main stage lineup when they arrived at the venue.

However, the organizers gave them an indirect message that ‘you are not a team that is loved by the whole nation yet’. Or maybe they still had a vague aversion to hip-hop music.

Anyway, the 888 Crew was not dissatisfied with the internal performance situation such as the sub-stage.

What really embarrassed them was a secondary condition, which was the interview specified in the appearance contract.

-All performers of AIMMF have an essential obligation to respond to interviews that are used in various promotional media such as video, audio, and text.

The following clause stated that there would be no interview manipulation or editing that would damage the image of the performers, and there were also clauses regarding the rights that the performers could exercise in the event of a problem.

The clause itself was not a problem at all. He left the invitation for the performance to Kim Hwan, but Sang-hyun carefully reviewed the contract.

The problem was with the company that was conducting the interview.

The interview company was, Show Business.

End

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