The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 179

***

Rap goes by many names—rhyme, game, and so on—but it’s also sometimes called ‘Street Poet’ or ‘Thug Poet.’ This is because rap lyrics, like poetry, are composed of language rich in implication and metaphor.

Inspired by the 888 Crew’s lyrics, poet Choi Hak-rim focused on the common ground between rap and poetry, leading to the creation of the ‘Poetry and Rap’ event. The inaugural Poetry and Rap event, held at a prominent art gallery in Jongno-gu [a district in Seoul], concluded successfully, garnering significant acclaim and attention.

Interestingly, after the first event, various sponsors began to emerge.

These were enthusiastic requests from influential business figures and art patrons, all vying to be the primary sponsor if a second event were to be held.

Considering that typical art galleries operate with sponsor support and artwork sales to wealthy individuals, it initially seemed odd that these figures would be so interested in Poetry and Rap, an event intended for the general public.

But Poetry and Rap possessed a tremendous, disruptive appeal.

The real reason wasn’t some fairytale-like notion that the 888 Crew rapped exceptionally well or that Choi Hak-rim’s poetry deeply moved people.

The real reason stemmed from the tycoons’ desire for public display and their intellectual vanity. Of course, some also had a genuine interest in art.

Time-based art, which inevitably remains an incomplete art form because it begins to fade the moment it’s expressed.

The novelty of exhibiting this time-based art within a gallery, thereby imbuing it with the characteristics of spatial art, was enough to satisfy the artistic aspirations of the sponsors.

of Poetry and Rap evolved further, thanks to the generous support of sponsors.

While reinforcing the artistic elements, it also strongly promoted public engagement, emphasizing that art isn’t solely for the elite.

This Poetry and Rap event was planned to unfold in two ways.

The first was a gallery exhibition featuring paintings by artists, each accompanied by inscribed poems.

The artists’ paintings, harmonizing exquisitely with the poems’ content, were of a caliber that could be considered artworks in their own right. It was unfortunate that only three of the 888 Crew’s raps were adapted into artworks due to time constraints.

Adjacent to some of these exhibits were headphones, allowing visitors to listen to the 888 Crew’s raps. Out of a total of 27 works, 10 were transformed into raps and played through the headphones.

The second component was a performance by the 888 Crew.

Here, too, a device blurred the lines between time-based and spatial art. The 888 Crew’s performance, held in the art gallery’s main hall, was produced as video art using four ultra-high-definition LED monitors.

The 888 Crew’s expressions and voices.

The audience’s reactions and breathing.

The ambient noise and scenery within the gallery.

Video art capturing all of this without any distortion.

The fact that Choi Hak-rim even incorporated LED video technology, which wasn’t yet commercially available in Korea, demonstrated his dedication to video art.

This is because the project held a memorial significance for Nam June Paik, the pioneer of video art, who passed away on January 29, 2006.

Choi Hak-rim’s planning wasn’t simply about borrowing the form of video art. It also addressed the issue of audience participation and communication, a recurring major theme in Nam June Paik’s work.

‘If I had known about the 888 Crew a little earlier and initiated this project before the teacher passed away…’

This was poet Choi Hak-rim’s greatest regret while preparing the Second Interline.

This was especially poignant because Nam June Paik began his career as an artist with performance music.

Choi Hak-rim’s artistic intention garnered attention from numerous artists and art magazines, attracting more interest from abroad than within Korea.

This was because Choi Hak-rim explicitly stated that he was celebrating the artistic world of Nam June Paik.

The founder who pioneered a new art genre called video art.

Ranked 5th among the world’s 100 greatest artists by the German magazine *Art*.

An artist who stood shoulder to shoulder with Picasso and Monet as the artist of the century, as selected by the American magazine *Artforum*.

The great artist Nam June Paik.

The global interest in the Second Interline, which celebrated the artistic world of this giant, was steadily growing, and inevitably, the 888 Crew’s name was being mentioned alongside it.

***

With a nervous gaze, Sang-hyun surveyed the interior of the Arte Gallery in Hannam-dong [a district in Seoul], reputed to be the finest in Korea and Asia.

Perhaps because he knew that ‘Arte’ meant art in Italian, the gallery’s interior evoked the feeling of a traditional Italian cathedral.

Roughly half of the gallery’s visitors were Korean, and the other half were foreigners.

Among the Koreans, the documentary production team commemorating Nam June Paik was immediately recognizable.

Among the foreigners, reporters, artists, and wealthy individuals from countries like Germany, France, and the United States were easily spotted.

They appreciated the works with serious expressions, listened to the songs, and whispered amongst themselves. Initially, he wondered if they understood the Korean elements, but upon closer inspection, they were all accompanied by art interpreters.

‘Art…’

Sang-hyun naturally considered his music to be art.

However, thanks to today’s event, he realized he had unknowingly categorized art into two distinct types: sophisticated art enjoyed by the bourgeois class and popular art enjoyed by the masses.

He didn’t know much about art. The terms bourgeois art and avant-garde art, frequently heard within the gallery, were merely words he’d encountered.

But one thing was certain: regardless of the rhetoric used or the medium employed, the art he created was rap.

Whether it was perceived as elegant or vulgar was entirely subjective. He was simply communicating his impulses and thoughts.

‘No, not me, but the 888 Crew. Ours.’

So nothing had changed.

The smooth lines, the street performances, the rap he performed at Club Hommie, and the rap he would perform at the Arte Gallery today were all fundamentally the same.

Having reached that conclusion, Sang-hyun looked around the gallery at his crew members with a much more relaxed demeanor.

He had intended to share his mindset with any crew members who seemed overly anxious, but judging by their expressions, it didn’t seem necessary. Everyone appeared to be thinking along the same lines as him.

Sang-hyun suddenly turned to his crew members and carefully broached the subject.

“Should we head back to the studio after our performance today and review JFTR’s tracks one more time?”

“Agreed.”

“Me too.”

“Tch, I was going to suggest that first.”

“Sang-hyun always tries to take the lead on everything.”

The crew members unanimously agreed, to the point where he felt slightly embarrassed for having asked so cautiously.

While observing the gallery today, the 888 Crew members had been reflecting on whether they had become too preoccupied with JFTR’s ‘delivery method’ all along.

Of course, they had given it their best effort. They had worked diligently on sophisticated beats, flashy raps, and diverse elements intended to replicate the success of the official bootleg.

However, some tracks came to mind where they couldn’t confidently assert that the most crucial, genuine impulse and sincere emotion of the 888 world were present.

Sang-hyun finally felt certain.

‘JFTR will be a success.’

While obsessively focusing on the regular album work, a nagging anxiety had lingered in the back of his mind: ‘Will it be a success?’

No musician was immune to that kind of anxiety, but it was a feeling he hadn’t experienced when creating Bootleg 0.5 or the official bootleg. Back then, he had truly poured everything out, spitting out the rap as if he were vomiting.

Perhaps, since becoming affiliated with Ohkyung Media, he had become fixated on the idea that the music of ‘888 Crew Sang-hyun’ had to bear the seal of the underground.

‘Let’s not obsess over the release date. Let’s not obsess over the number of tracks, and let’s disregard what others think.’

In that way, the 888 Crew was safely navigating the most perilous and challenging crisis they had faced, without even fully realizing it.

***

Oh Yeon-joo greeted Sang-hyun and the 888 Crew members. Perhaps because she had seen them perform at Hommie’s or at Hip Hop the Vibe, it didn’t feel like she was meeting the members for the first time.

“You don’t seem very nervous?”

“The music I make is the same regardless of the venue, so what’s there to be nervous about?”

“Even with the art world around the world paying attention?”

At Oh Yeon-joo’s words, Sang-hyun shrugged.

“I look forward to a great performance.”

After offering her support, Oh Yeon-joo began to view the works at the Arte Gallery. She was drawn to a piece titled ‘Blooming,’ so she listened to the accompanying rap and recognized Lee Sang-hyun’s voice.

Blooming. Inside it

Blooming. Outside it

Taking root at the end of a long, long patience

Blooming. Inside the heart

A voice that is consistently captivating and surprisingly stirs people’s emotions.

Initially, she was puzzled by the unfamiliar combination of rap and poetry, but the poem, transformed into an intense rhythm, possessed a different kind of delivery power than the original poem’s feeling.

‘In my case, is gratitude blooming?’

Oh Yeon-joo was feeling grateful to Sang-hyun. She had misinterpreted Hong Kyung-soo’s intentions and found herself in a difficult situation, yet he hadn’t displayed any resentment.

He had only made a few requests to rectify the situation.

‘Is that really possible?’

From her perspective, it wasn’t a difficult task, but whether Sang-hyun’s plan would succeed depended entirely on his music.

Oh Yeon-joo pondered these thoughts while appreciating the gallery exhibition. She recognized several familiar faces among the visitors.

There were also people from the LOC Group.

In fact, Oh Yeon-joo’s reason for visiting the Arte Gallery today was, strictly speaking, related to the LOC Group.

Ohkyung Group had failed to secure sponsorship for . From Ohkyung’s perspective, which typically only sponsors major galleries, Poetry and Rap was considered a low-class event.

However, as affluent individual sponsors emerged and the Second Interline evolved to a completely different level than the first, and unfortunately, with the passing of Nam June Paik, it garnered attention from the art world globally.

Whenever the three major broadcasting stations mentioned the Second Interline, they highlighted the LOC Group as a sponsor.

Since the LOC Group had grown by wielding influence in the cultural and artistic spheres, its responsiveness in this area was inevitably superior to Ohkyung’s.

The problem was that the chairman, who harbored a strong dislike for the LOC Group, was becoming increasingly displeased. Consequently, even without explicit instructions, his subordinates felt compelled to take action.

The specific mission assigned to Oh Yeon-joo was to participate in the charity auction of video art works and purchase them at the highest price in the name of the Ohkyung Group.

The 888 Crew was scheduled to perform a total of three songs today, and the three video art works created from those performances would be sold at auction. The proceeds from the sale would be donated in full.

Within the art world, it was anticipated that a respectable price would be achieved, as the opportunity to possess a moment of artistic communication held significant value.

Therefore, by purchasing the video art at the highest price, a connection would be established between Poetry and Rap and the Ohkyung Group. The potential bidding limit that Oh Yeon-joo had confirmed for today was substantial.

“We will now begin Act 2. We would like to thank all visitors for gathering in the main hall.”

At that moment, an announcement calmly broadcast the start of the performance in multiple languages.

People began to congregate in the main hall of the Arte Gallery.

In the center of the main hall, the 888 Crew members were seated, led by poet Choi Hak-rim.

End

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