The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 196

< Verse 30. Full Moon >

***

Since the beginning of music as an art form, there have only ever been two types of people: creators and consumers.

Initially, there was no room for any other category of people to intervene in the history of music besides these two.

However, as time passed, the world changed, and as capital became closely intertwined with art, a new group of people began to enter the music field.

These were people in the category of ‘evaluators.’

Evaluators began to assess music, assign value to it, and exert significant influence on the history of music. This remained unchanged even after the audience of music expanded from the aristocracy to the general public.

Think of Mozart and Salieri, whose rivalry was largely a creation of evaluators, despite their amicable relationship [a common historical misconception]. Evaluators presented the narrative of ‘a clash between a once-in-a-lifetime genius and a highly talented individual with an inferiority complex,’ attached the term ‘British Invasion’ to the music of The Beatles, and highlighted the value of ‘resistance to racial discrimination’ in the music of N.W.A. [a pioneering gangsta rap group].

More recently, they are the ones who bestow titles such as Album of the Month, Hit Song of the Year, and Golden Disc upon musicians.

These were the evaluators.

Of course, the fact that the most rigorous and valuable evaluators were the public remained unchanged.

However, the public evaluates through consumption, not through explicit articulation. Therefore, the role of evaluators differed greatly from that of the public.

However, evaluators also gradually became corrupted over time, becoming influenced by capital backing rather than fair evaluation based on subjectivity.

In this sense, 888 Crew was undoubtedly in a very disadvantageous position.

888 Crew wasn’t averse to capital, but they weren’t a team desperate for capital flow. They didn’t reject capital, but they also didn’t strive solely for capital success.

‘Move It,’ ‘Daydream,’ ‘Wyckoming.’

This was the reason why 888 Crew’s hit tracks had been ignored by major music platforms.

The movement that 888 Crew sparked in 2005 was difficult to define within the narrow framework of indie music. In terms of buzz alone, even established mainstream musicians found it hard to compete.

However, 888 Crew could not be found in either ‘mainstream music awards’ or even ‘indie music awards.’

They weren’t even nominated, let alone winning awards.

‘Isn’t it the same principle as the Grammy Awards old fogeys giving Michael Jackson’s *Off the Wall* album only one award for R&B Vocal Performance?’

Sanghyun had said to the crew members in an uncharacteristically cynical tone.

Sanghyun’s analysis was accurate.

The vested interests of music experts associated with major music platforms were displeased with 888 Crew because 888 Crew was operating outside the established market system.

They were musicians who proved that they could gain popularity without any interest in promotion, without registering their music (although they later registered three songs), and without being desperate to appear on music shows.

Their uncomfortable success vividly showed that self-made music would become the trend of the future music industry.

888 Crew’s actions couldn’t help but make the vested interests uncomfortable. Perhaps they were the ones who most desperately wanted 888 Crew’s JFTR [their new album] to fail.

The reason why the team ‘888 Crew,’ though not ‘Lee Sanghyun’ affiliated with Ohkyung Media, was blacklisted from appearing on music shows was also due to this.

However, this exclusion seemed to end with *Official Bootleg* [their previous album].

Because JFTR, which started ‘outside the system’ just like *Official Bootleg*, shook the system itself.

***

“Okay, from there, it’s number 1, number 2, number 3. And this is an angle shot, and over there, it hasn’t been set up yet, but that’s where the jib arm will be. Got it?”

The 888 Crew members nodded at the assistant director’s words, and Junhyung asked instead of nodding.

“We don’t have any choreography or backup dancers, so we move around a bit impulsively. Is that okay?”

“As long as you follow the guidelines I mentioned earlier, it’s fine. You can move around as you like, but you absolutely must not change the order of the verses.”

“Why would we change the already determined verse order? Don’t worry.”

After the assistant director made a few more requests at Junhyung’s words, he left.

The 888 Crew members chatted while waiting for the dry rehearsal.

“It’s much bigger than the KM Music Box set.”

“That’s cable, and this is public broadcasting.”

“Is that so?”

888 Crew decided to appear on CBC’s Popular Music. It wasn’t an impulsive decision, but something they had planned since deciding which track from JFTR to promote.

*Official Bootleg* is no exaggeration to say that it achieved everything that underground hip hop could achieve.

It received tremendous love and support from underground fans, and critical acclaim from popular music critics. Moving beyond music, it ranked first in sales among independent hip hop albums, and received love from the public beyond the underground scene.

Therefore, JFTR needed to be an album that touched on aspects that *Official Bootleg* hadn’t experienced. Only then could it surpass *Official Bootleg*.

As part of that, there was a project to present some songs to the public, and CBC’s music show was one of them.

This first public broadcast appearance of 888 Crew garnered great interest and support from hip hop fans.

Real Hiphop appearing on television for the first time.

Real hip hop being shared with the public.

The meaning given to 888 Crew’s first public broadcast appearance.

Of course, Sanghyun had rapped on public broadcast before. But behind that was the power of capital from Ohkyung Media.

But 888 Crew was not backed by such power.

They purely, and only with their music, created an opportunity to show the public the proper 모습 [image/essence] of hip hop.

-Music show audience application? How do I do this?

-I don’t know lol. I need to have done it before.

-I never thought I’d be applying to be an audience member for a music show in my life. You guys are the first team to do this to me.

-I’m going to take a half-day off if I get this.

-What if it’s all old people and middle-aged men when we go?

-If anyone asks me if I came from HiphopLE [a popular Korean hip hop online community], I’ll treat them to pork rinds after the show. Let’s enjoy hip hop all night together with hyung [older brother/male friend].

-Wow, JFTR tracks are coming out on a public music show? Crazy. It’s crazy.

In fact, the longing that Korean hip hop fans have for native hip hop isn’t just about the skills that native rappers show.

Of course, there is also longing for the skill aspect, but more than that, they have a great longing for the fact that rap music is ‘mainstream.’

Imagine producing a rapper’s live clip on the UK’s public broadcaster BBC Radio, and inviting a rapper to the US’s most popular comedy program SNL [Saturday Night Live] to create a stage.

A swagger track that says ‘I’m a rapper who does this kind of music and has this kind of style’ sells millions of albums and constantly echoes on the streets.

What rapper Hwaji wished for in his song ‘When That Day Comes’ in November 2006.

When that day comes, wherever you walk on the street
You will hear the sound of rhythm spreading through the air.
Rap is very popular both domestically and internationally.
That’s the world of my dreams.

Sanghyun knew that this was a wish that would actually come true in about ten years, but hip hop fans did not.

To them living in 2006, it seemed absolutely impossible for hip hop to rise to mainstream music in Korea.

That’s why they were supporting 888 Crew.

Hoping that JFTR would be a kind of starting point.

Just like black music rose to the mainstream throughout the United States thanks to Run-DMC or Michael Jackson.

The guardians of Korean hip hop, who are receiving these expectations and hopes, were smiling brightly while shaking hands with female idols.

“Can you sign this for me?”

“Of course. I can.”

Junhyung smiled mischievously and carefully signed the JFTR album that a female idol held out.

The female idol, who received the album back, asked with wide eyes.

“Could you possibly give me your phone number…?”

“Phone number?”

“Is it not possible?”

“Uh… whose number?”

“I want to get all four of your numbers….”

As Junhyung, Sanghyun, Kim Hwan, and Woominho smiled broadly, the female members of 888 Crew shook their heads and sighed.

It was lamentable that hip hop fans had such great expectations for these idiots.

Sangmi made a resolution in her heart while watching Junhyung’s nonsense.

‘It’s time for 888 Crew’s reality part 2.’

Around 888 Crew, who were appearing on Popular Music, celebrities were 끊이질 않았다 [never-ending]. Some were lingering near the waiting room, and many were watching the rehearsal.

And most of those celebrities were idols. Regardless of gender.

Of course, it wasn’t that idols felt an enormous romantic attraction to the 888 Crew members and were clinging to them. There may be some people like that, but more than that, it was a sense of admiration and respect.

Idols were the ones who knew the dirty parts of the show business industry and 천민자본주의 [crass capitalism] all too well. They were also deeply aware of the powerful forces that those things possessed.

To them, the idea that this large agency system could be broken was unimaginable.

But there were people who broke it.

It was broken so 통쾌하게 [satisfyingly/liberatingly] that it was speechless.

That was 888 Crew.

888 Crew were the ones who grew up outside the system and were shaking the system. JFTR, which had just been released for a little over ten days, had already surpassed 50,000 copies in sales, and the four tracks that were distributed were overwhelmingly ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

888 Crew would be in first place on today’s music show as well. There were no competitors.

‘Lee Sanghyun…’

The musician standing at the center of it.

More than half of the female idols who had talked to 888 Crew felt attracted to Lee Sanghyun.

Among idols, the contract that Sanghyun had with Ohkyung Media was a huge topic. It was even more so after the contract terms were revealed.

In 1990, Michael Jackson received a royalty of 41% per song he released. Unrivaled number one in the industry. At the time, the average royalty for superstars was 12%.

Lee Sanghyun’s contract terms were like that.

Of course, the distribution rate was not incredibly high, but it was quite high, and more than that, the fact that he could choose which music to make was amazing.

The public sometimes has the prejudice that idols have no desire to do anything and have no skills, but they became celebrities because of their outstanding appearance. But among them, there were many who really wanted to sing and entered agencies to become idols.

So, the more those people were, the more they felt great admiration for 888 Crew.

“888 Crew! Final camera rehearsal!”

Then the assistant director’s voice called out to the 888 Crew members.

“I’ll give you my phone number if I get the chance later! See you next time.”

The 888 Crew members were smiling foolishly, but they had to go up on stage while being hit on the back by the female members.

Seeing that, the idols knew that even if 888 Crew spoke kindly, they were drawing a clear line with them.

They were people from another world. With a clear difference between inside and outside the system.

‘I’m jealous…’

The young singers under the stage felt envy and shock while watching 888 Crew’s rehearsal stage.

888 Crew, who went up on stage, were endlessly free.

No backup dancers, no choreography, no script. Every time they rehearsed, their gestures and movements constantly changed.

888 Crew would be the first to go on stage without any preparation since the birth of music shows.