The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 166

***

Choi Han-rim, a poet and cultural columnist for a major newspaper, visited Yongin to compare ‘LOC Group’s World DJ Festival’ with ‘Ohkyung Group’s AIMMF.’

The influence of Korea’s leading capital on indie culture. This was the theme of his column.

He became interested in 888 Crew’s performance because of their consideration for the surrounding buskers during their promotion.

In fact, Choi Han-rim didn’t like rap. As a poet, it was hard for him to enjoy rap that mixed Korean and English haphazardly and included profanity.

This was why he hadn’t watched *Hip Hop the Vibe*, even though he made sure to watch popular TV programs due to his job as a cultural columnist.

However, watching 888 Crew’s performance, he realized he was wrong.

‘I was generalizing a prejudice against a part of the culture to the whole.’

Watching 888 Crew’s performance, he realized that he had unknowingly attributed the behavior of some rappers to all rappers in general.

The performance of 888 Crew, which started with Park In-hyuk’s swagger, was truly amazing. Beyond their skills, there was something that made people’s hearts beat faster with their eight members united as one.

It was a performance that made it understandable why over a thousand people gathered for a simple busking session.

But what Choi Han-rim was deeply immersed in was not the music itself, but the lyrics of 888 Crew.

‘There’s a literary quality to it.’

888 Crew performed 3-5 songs and then invited buskers to join them. Of course, they could have continued to play exciting songs. But a long performance required pacing, and 888 Crew entrusted that pacing to the buskers.

A symbiotic relationship of necessity and goodwill.

‘Who is the leader of that team?’

Choi Han-rim was deeply impressed by the management of 888 Crew.

“We, well, we don’t have any songs that fit this exciting atmosphere. We’re, we’re an acoustic team.”

“It’s okay. Just sing whatever song you feel comfortable with. We’ll adjust the atmosphere for the next song.”

After the buskers’ lyrical songs, 888 Crew also performed mellow raps. These emotional songs of 888 Crew received as much positive response as their upbeat songs.

The audience felt something special about 888 Crew’s emotional songs.

A quiet place on a winter night.

An isolated place where no noise could be heard.

It felt like a friend who had been playing excitedly without any worries suddenly started telling a serious, personal story. Originally, secret stories tend to create a deep bond.

Then, Hayeon’s verse started the song called Doodream.

Doodream (Do Dream).

A title that perfectly blended the Korean meaning of knocking on a door and the English meaning of pursuing a dream. It was very impressive.

‘Is this why they mix English and Korean?’

That was how Doodream, which would become the start of Choi Han-rim’s project ‘Poetry and Rap’ and his invitation to 888 Crew, was beginning.

“The song I’m about to sing is called Doodream, which is included in *Bootleg 0.5*. Originally, it’s a song sung by three people, but somehow I ended up singing a solo version that I made for college entrance exams.”

Hayeon’s voice traveled through the winter air to the people. Perhaps because the previous musician sang Kim Kwang-seok’s ‘Around Thirty’ so beautifully, the atmosphere was very calm.

The audience sent applause instead of cheers.

“Minsik *oppa* [older brother/male friend], the leader and guitarist of the band L&S, played the guitar for this song, and Miju *unnie* [older sister/female friend], the vocalist of L&S, played the keyboard. It’s a little disappointing that the two of them aren’t here, so we’re proceeding with a recorded accompaniment.”

Hayeon, sitting comfortably on the stand, gave Minho a look to play the beat.

Today’s speaker was in a form that selected beats only by the file order of the USB without a screen, and Minho had memorized all the beat orders of nearly 50 songs. Otherwise, he would have had to listen to each one individually.

Thanks to Minho’s hidden efforts, a soft guitar sound began to flow from the speaker. Soon, the sub-guitar and keyboard gradually revealed themselves.

It was a warm-textured performance, but there was a strange bitterness hidden within it. The feeling was even more so because the parts that suited strumming were played with arpeggio, layering the sounds.

It wasn’t a particularly flashy performance, nor was it a particularly sophisticated chord progression. However, a sense of stability without lacking anything was felt. The guitar and keyboard calmly led the performance so that Hayeon’s voice could be best expressed.

In the meantime, Hayeon’s chorus began.

Knocking on dreams again today

Knocking on tomorrow again today

Knocking on the sky again today

Knocking on myself again today

After the chorus of ‘Knocking on,’ there was a ‘knock-knock’ sound as if knocking on a door. It was a simple device, but it created immersion in the song.

Sanghyun had once commented on Hayeon’s rap, saying that she makes ‘descriptions that seem to be drawn with the eyes.’ This song was a culmination of that descriptive power.

The audience vaguely recalled a scene of a small, young girl knocking on a very large brown door.

Hayeon’s rap began.

Knocking on dreams again today

Practices to prove my worth

The countless microphones I’ve held so far
The typhoons that attacked my roots

The reason Hayeon wanted to become a celebrity was to prove her worth to the family elders who treated her as a ‘burden.’

After her mother passed away, Hayeon couldn’t help but feel that her ‘roots’ were shaking. Because her father and she were not blood-related.

So all she could do was music, and only music. Doodream was a song that contained her feelings.

The doorknob of success is still hard to open and stiff

Besides, it’s cramped, the worn-out streets are dark

Bright light leaks through the crack in the door

My throat is hoarse again from shouting to open it

While listening to Hayeon’s rap, Choi Han-rim kept thinking of a certain painting. He pondered for a long time what that painting was, and finally he could recall it.

‘Ah, *The Little Match Girl*.’

It was a painting drawn by a famous fairy tale painter. A picture of the Little Match Girl shivering in the cold on a worn-out street, looking at the light leaking through the crack in the door.

The opportunity I’m trying to seize

It’s probably proportional to the number of times I knocked on the door

If someone inside doesn’t open it

I’ll knock harder and break down the door

The feeling of the rap began to escalate.

Although it started with a story about hardship, Hayeon was not a passive person. Rather, she was a person who kept knocking on the door even if she despaired in front of it.

If it doesn’t open even if I keep knocking, I’ll knock harder and break down the door.

This was the true meaning of the title Doodream.

And she was breaking down the door. The only difference was that she had friends who were breaking it down with her.

The Start Line is never the same

Failure doesn’t belong to the scope of success

Don’t say you learn from defeat,

I’ll deny defeat and do it again

And knock on the door again.

‘Don’t say you learn from defeat. I’ll deny defeat and do it.’

The lyrics had depth the more you pondered them.

Finally, Choi Han-rim began to connect poetry and rap, and the audience felt like they had seen Shin Hayeon as a ‘person.’

Not a singer who can only be seen through the TV screen, through that high stage, but an ordinary person with thoughts and worries.

Knocking on dreams again today

Knocking on tomorrow again today

Knocking on the sky again today

Knocking on myself again today

Among the audience who were immersed in Hayeon’s rap, someone flicked their tongue after ‘Knocking on,’ adding the sound ‘knock-knock.’ It was a way of making a clock sound that they had all done at least once when they were young.

All the audience began to follow that sound.

It was because the audience, who had been silent because they didn’t want to disturb Hayeon’s voice, had found a way to cheer.

When thousands of people made the same sound in time with the beat, a tremendous resonance was felt.

The scene was properly captured by CBC’s camera, which had been set up to capture good images.

‘These are scenes that are too good to cut and paste into a news frame. If it were a documentary format, it would be a perfect picture… Should I say something?’

It is said that great art has self-sustaining power. In that sense, 888 Crew’s music was no different from having tremendous vitality.

Knocking on dreams again today

Knocking on tomorrow again today

Knocking on the sky again today

Knocking on myself again today

Watching 888 Crew’s performance, Choi Han-rim was able to come up with the title of the column he would write in a few days.

bhudh-sko

= True Independent Wins Over Giant Capital.

bhudh-sko is an Indo-European word that is the etymology of the word busk, and it meant ‘to win, to conquer.’

Choi Han-rim was evaluating that 888 Crew’s busking gave more vitality to independent culture than LOC’s World DJ Festival or Ohkyung Group’s AIMMF, which had huge capital invested.

***

Sanghyun had said when promoting the performance that today’s busking had no set playtime. But in his mind, he was expecting about 2 hours. Considering it was an impulsive performance, even 2 hours seemed long.

But the actual performance was completely different from what he expected. As the open-minded audience of thousands and the buskers joined the performance, the performance continued without knowing when it would end.

888 Crew – Busker – 888 Crew’s repetition.

The repetition of the atmosphere rising and falling.

At first glance, it might seem like a failed performance flow. Considering that a normal performance slowly raises the atmosphere, reaches its peak, and then ends with lingering feelings and resonance.

But this was not a normal performance.

The midwinter concert held in their own pure space where no noise could be heard had magic.

“Wow, it seems like people keep increasing? Did you come after watching the sub-stage performance?”

“It’s not fun!”

“What do you mean it’s not fun? All the musicians there are very good.”

“I went knowing that 888 Crew was coming out!”

Few people left the venue, and only those who joined gradually increased. Before they knew it, the audience had far exceeded a thousand, approaching nearly twelve hundred.

The reaction was also interesting when fireworks went off from the AIMMF venue about an hour after the performance started.

“Oh? Is it already seven o’clock? Seeing the fireworks go off, I guess the main stage performance has started. Aren’t you going?”

Inhyuk, who was joking with the audience while Minho was looking for the Wycaming beat, said. Only then did quite a few audience members check their watches and move quickly. But most of them took off their coats halfway and came back.

“Why are you coming back?”

“Ah… I’m a real Usher fan!”

The singer who was responsible for the highlight of today’s main stage was the famous Usher.

Inhyuk asked a man in his mid-30s who was an Usher fan.

“Then you should go see it.”

“I think there will be another chance to see the main stage performance someday, but I don’t think there will be here. No, well, there will be a chance to see 888 Crew, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel the feeling I’m getting in this place right now.”

“Wow, *hyung* [older brother/male friend], you speak well. But Usher also appeared on *Inkigayo* [a Korean music show] in 2004. Watch the rerun.”

Inhyuk mentioned Usher’s SBS *Inkigayo* appearance, which had been a mystery in the broadcasting world for a while.

Whether he was an old fan who didn’t watch terrestrial music programs well, the man in his mid-30s looked puzzled. And then he had a heated argument with Inhyuk for a long time.

The man said that there was no way that could be true and not to joke around, and Inhyuk was frustrated that it was real. Some audience members said it was real, but the man never believed it. In fact, there were more people among the older audience who didn’t believe it.

“Wow, this *hyung’s* [older brother/male friend] stubbornness is no joke? Bet? Bet?”

“Okay. How much are we betting?”

“Money is okay, but if you lose, buy ten of our albums and give them to the people around you!”

“What if I win?”

“Then I’ll give you thirty albums.”

“Call!”

“Let’s exchange phone numbers first. What’s your name?”

In the end, Inhyuk actually exchanged phone numbers. Sanghyun was dumbfounded and tried to stop him, asking what kind of bet it was, but the stubbornness of the two men on fire didn’t seem to be broken until they saw the result.

The audience was so amused and asked them to post the results on the 888 Crew Cyworld club.

Like this, the 888 Crew’s performance, where all sorts of happenings took place, was well over 3 hours, heading towards 4 hours.

Now, except for the songs that were a little lacking in live practice, it seemed like they had almost done all the songs they could perfectly sing.

But there was still one song they hadn’t sung.

It was Fuck the Show Biz.

End

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