The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 20

< Verse 2. Gotta Move >

I felt a bit uneasy about why that lyric suddenly stuck in my head, but having already experienced a mysterious event that defied reason, I decided to let it go.

“Got anything else that would suit a band sound? I’ve noticed a lot of real instrument performances in recent rap songs.”

“I’m sure there’s plenty if you look.”

In the Korean commercial music scene of 2005, hip-hop’s position was like a ‘sudden home run’ in baseball. It was a genre that often underperformed despite efforts to promote artists, yet occasionally produced massive hits.

MC Mong’s ‘I love you, oh thank you,’ a blend of traditional ballad and hip-hop with idol vocal choruses, achieved great success. Epik High and Baechigi’s 2005 hip-hop albums were also well-received.

It was also a time when a strange formula was forming among bands: ‘rapper feature = commercial success.’

‘The indie music scene is generally small, so strange prejudices arise quickly.’

“But what does L&S stand for?”

“What do you think?”

“LG, Samsung?”

“That’s an incredibly corporate name, isn’t it?”

Bang Min-sik chuckled at Sang-hyun’s joke, chewed on his meat, and pointed below the rooftop.

“Local Spirit. Like, New York has its artists, Paris has its artists, and we thought it would be great if Hongdae [a vibrant arts and indie music district in Seoul], Gwangju, and Busan each had artists with their own unique colors.”

At that moment, drummer Hwang In-soo burst into laughter. Yong-joon also laughed, enjoying his soju [Korean distilled rice liquor].

“Ah, hyung [older brother or male friend], stop talking nonsense.”

“When did you come up with that? Hyung, do you have an interview scheduled?”

“Ah, shut up, you crazy bastards. Let’s just say it’s Local Spirit, as I said!”

“Why? Isn’t it?”

Sang-hyun listened to Bang Min-sik’s explanation and thought it was a great team name, feeling the sense of regional pride that hip-hop conveyed. However, Hwang In-soo and Yong-joon snickered and ridiculed Bang Min-sik.

“Absolutely not. Actually, when the three of us, including the vocalist in Daegu, first started playing together, we didn’t have a team name. But some jerk told Min-sik hyung that our band’s music was boring. Back then, our music was even simpler than it is now.”

“So Min-sik hyung was really angry. But then suddenly, the district office approved our performance application and asked us to write down the band name. So hyung, fuming, named it L&S.”

“What does being boring have to do with L&S?”

“Long S. ‘Ji-roo’ (지루) [boring] in Korean.”

In-soo and Yong-joon finished their story and laughed gleefully. Sang-hyun pondered what the ‘S’ could be, and then realized it belatedly and laughed along.

“Ah, stop telling that story! You crazy bastards! Is a story that tarnishes our band’s image that funny!”

“Hyung came up with it and is now shifting the blame? This isn’t the band’s image, it’s hyung’s image.”

The L&S members, sharing soju and slightly drunk, chuckled and laughed.

“But now that Min-sik hyung is getting old and weak, we might have to change it to S&S. Short.”

“Don’t worry. I’m above average, so how about M&S? I’ll cover for Min-sik hyung and count it as average.”

“Sang-hyun is young blood, so when we perform with Sang-hyun, it becomes L&S again.”

Hwang In-soo and Yong-joon teased Bang Min-sik and gulped down soju. Sang-hyun, who had been drinking with them since he was a high schooler and they gave him alcohol as if he were an adult, also giggled, drunk.

Mi-joo, who had calmed down a bit and returned to talk to Sang-hyun again, overheard the story of the L&S members and Sang-hyun, and got angry again and left.

I thought the atmosphere would be serious, but they’re just drinking, laughing, and making crude jokes.

‘Ugh, I’m so annoyed, I’m going to post the meaning of L&S on Cyworld [early Korean social media platform].’

That night, the leader of L&S had to call Mi-joo several times.

***

Hong Ki-young, the owner of Sejong Music Store, was known as the ‘Godfather’ among Gwangju’s independent musicians. This was because he wasn’t motivated by money and tried to create opportunities for Gwangju’s independent musicians.

Also, having been involved in music-related activities in Gwangju for a long time, he recently obtained the title of ‘Head of the Gwangju City Content Planning Department’ from the city hall. The title wasn’t a big deal, but it gave him the qualification to apply for business subsidies from the city hall.

‘I need to win the contract to get the subsidy…….’

The reason he closed his store and came up to Seoul today was for a festival that was holding its first event.

Asia Independent Music & Movie Festival.

ASIA INDEPENDENT

MUSIC & MOVIE FESTIVAL.

Abbreviated as AIMMF.

President Hong Ki-young wanted to host this AIMMF in Gwangju.

AIMMF was a festival newly promoted by the leading conglomerate, Ohkyung Group. Ohkyung Group was in a serious rivalry with LOC Group, the sponsor of the ‘World Wide Indie Music Festival,’ which was holding its fourth event in Jeonju.

If LOC Group only provided financial sponsorship for the World Wide Indie Music Festival for corporate image promotion, Ohkyung Group planned to take care of everything from promotion to artist management until AIMMF was established.

“Ah, Director Hong, you’re here?”

“Hello. The traffic was so bad that I was a little late. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. Please, have a seat.”

President Hong Ki-young and the Managing Director of Ohkyung Group’s Public Relations Department shook hands.

President Hong was in the position of ‘Head of the Gwangju City Content Planning Department,’ and the Managing Director of Ohkyung Group’s Public Relations Department was in the position of ‘Chairman of the AIMMF Music Content Committee.’

“Let’s watch this video first.”

“Is this really an impromptu jam video without prior notice? I trust that the Director knows that videos filmed with prior agreement are obvious.”

“Of course.”

The AIMMF Chairman, who believed that you had to see a jam to know the basics of a performance, connected the camcorder to the computer. Even so, he sighed.

‘I’m at this level and I’m still watching camcorders.’

The Chairman soon shook his head and focused on his work.

“Judging by the composition, it was filmed from the front.”

“I hid the camcorder inside the projector beam. It had to be from the front.”

“I see.”

As the jam in the video progressed, both the AIMMF Chairman and President Hong became silent. The Chairman was frustrated that he had to worry about casting at his level, so he closed his mouth, and President Hong closed his mouth out of tension.

In fact, President Hong had only watched the first two weeks of the four-week jam video.

‘There won’t be any problems, right?’

When they didn’t do well, he was nervous and tense, and when they did well, he glanced at the Chairman’s expression and wore a proud expression.

The Chairman chuckled inwardly.

‘A director from a metropolitan city is so naive. Even if it’s an honorary position and an external job. And this is a real jam video?’

The Chairman had requested a real jam video, but he expected President Hong to film a video that was ‘prepared as if it were live.’ In fact, that was the obvious thing to do.

But he really hid the camera and filmed a jam video.

‘What a naive guy.’

To the Chairman, who had experienced the harsh political world of a large corporation, President Hong’s honesty was interesting in a way.

‘Hmm, but they’re pretty good. This team’s performance is really good. Especially the bass and drums are no joke. If the vocal part had a few more keys in the range…… Oh, is this an original song?’

The Chairman, who had risen from an ordinary employee to the vice president of Ohkyung Group Entertainment without any connections, had sufficient musical knowledge.

About a year ago, the Chairman was pushed out of the power game of internal politics and demoted to the AIMMF Public Relations Department, a dead-end job. The title was just Chairman, but in reality, the job was no different from that of the outreach department.

It was as humiliating as being advised to resign.

Therefore, the Chairman gritted his teeth and wanted to successfully host AIMMF and re-enter the mainstream entertainment line that he had devoted his life to.

The Chairman watched the video and came up with various ideas.

Should I create a stage of harmony by mixing the good points of the two bands from Daegu and Gwangju, where there are regional sentiments?

Or should I induce regional sentiments in a negative way?

A blatant confrontation between Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces [historical rival regions in Korea]?

How about creating noise marketing by causing plagiarism controversies?

Around that time, a high school student in a school uniform was coming onto the stage.

“Huh?”

President Hong tilted his head. He knew almost all the Gwangju band players, but this was a face he had never seen before.

‘Who is this kid? I should have checked the video in advance……. This is unsettling, isn’t it?’

But he had been so busy lately that he had no free time at all. He also had faith in the skills of the Gwangju band players, who were like his own children.

‘They must have put him on stage because he’s skilled, right?’

When they were talking back and forth under the stage out of the camera’s view, he skipped the video back a bit and saw that high school student appear. Judging from the conversation, it seemed like Lee Kyung-min of Golden Finger was acting up.

‘Lee Kyung-min needs to fix his personality. He’s spoiled because he was raised so preciously in a rich family.’

Fortunately, the Chairman didn’t pay any attention to Lee Kyung-min’s antics.

The high school student, who was contemplating the song selection for a while, said this and that and adjusted the performance of the band L&S.

The sound gradually began to build up.

“Hmm.”

The AIMMF Steering Committee Chairman wore an interested expression.

If it was Run-DMC’s Walk This Way, it was a song he enjoyed listening to in his youth. It had been a long time.

‘The keyboardist doesn’t seem to know this song at all?’

It was a bit disappointing that the keyboard was just following the electric guitar line, but it was intriguing.

Finally, L&S, Mi-joo, and Sang-hyun’s Run This Town in the video began. The eyes of the Chairman, who had been watching with interest, gradually began to change.

< Verse 2. Gotta Move > End

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