The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 210

Verse 32. Through to New York

As Sanghyun stepped onto the stage of the Apollo Theater, he scanned the audience below, a habit he’d developed. His gaze swept from left to right, taking in the multitude of faces.

Those seated directly in front of the stage.

Those standing on either side of the stage.

The judges, meticulously taking notes.

These diverse individuals were the driving force behind Amateur Night’s ability to create stars and cement legends for over 70 years.

‘How far will my music reach these people?’

Judging by the audience’s attire, there seemed to be quite a few tourists, but the vast majority were, of course, New Yorkers.

People who shared the vibe of New York City.

From the moment he stepped onto the stage, Sanghyun felt a mix of tension and excitement.

Though described as ‘tension’ and ‘excitement,’ it was a unique feeling that couldn’t be fully explained without experiencing it firsthand—a sensation that filled his entire body just before a performance, a tremor of anticipation.

This was why musicians were drawn to music, and why Sanghyun, who had chosen music over business, felt such profound happiness.

“Hello.”

As Sanghyun greeted the audience from the stage, they responded with enthusiastic hellos.

“I’m 56, a rapper from Korea. Does anyone here know the capital of Korea?”

In response to Sanghyun’s question, some people who appeared to be Chinese hesitantly answered Seoul. However, most people didn’t respond. He couldn’t tell if they didn’t know or if they knew but were too shy to say.

Moreover, there wasn’t a single Korean in the Apollo Theater, though he had expected there would be at least one or two.

‘I guess even I haven’t truly experienced the heart of Harlem unless I was just driving through.’

In a few years, the crime rate would drop further, and it would become a much safer neighborhood, but in 2006, Korean tourists’ fear of Harlem at night hadn’t completely disappeared.

People began to focus on Sanghyun’s words. Here and there, reactions like, ‘A rapper? He’s got a good voice!’ emerged.

“The capital of Korea is a city called Seoul. It’s about one-tenth the size of New York State, but its population is about half that of New York State. It’s a city with an incredible population density, and as such, a lot of things happen there. It’s not unlike New York.”

The Apollo Theater audience was familiar with rappers’ local swagger, so they easily predicted that Sanghyun would express pride in Seoul, the capital of Korea.

In Korea, Gwangju UP received a good response not only because the song was good but also because there hadn’t been such a song before, it was novel.

However, in New York, the hometown of Biggie Smalls [The Notorious B.I.G.], where there’s even a saying, ‘All the hip hop flows through New York,’ he couldn’t expect such an advantage.

So, this was a place where he had to discard all the benefits gained through his regression and fight purely with the ‘rap skills’ he had honed.

‘Ah…’

At that moment, Sanghyun realized why he was so excited about the native hip-hop culture and felt such a strong urge to participate in Amateur Night.

No matter what anyone said, Sanghyun was fundamentally a good person.

After his parents passed away, he hadn’t treated Sangmi well due to extreme responsibility and pressure, but apart from that time, Sanghyun had always strived to be a good person.

Among other things, he was someone who valued fairness very highly.

Getting paid fairly for the work he did, receiving back as much as he put in.

The reason he quit a decent large company wasn’t just a matter of aptitude, but because he couldn’t stand the corporate culture of a large company where the concept of fairness had been eroded.

The same was true for not preempting future hit songs.

It wasn’t just because he wasn’t confident in recreating the beats exactly or because he couldn’t memorize all the lyrics, but Sanghyun wouldn’t plagiarize other people’s work even if he could perfectly recreate the same beat and memorize the lyrics. Because that wouldn’t be fair.

That’s why he hesitated to register Gwangju Up, worried that it might have inadvertently copied the chorus of a Japanese musician. Later, he registered it through a foreign music distribution company because he was certain it hadn’t been a copy.

Sanghyun was such a person who placed great value on fairness.

And there was an unease that lingered in Sanghyun’s mind, concerning the advantage of regression.

‘Could it be that my success in music and being recognized as a top-tier rapper in Korea is all due to the benefit of regression? Knowing the sounds of the future?’

He knew it was a question that had no easy answer, so he didn’t dwell on it deeply, but Sanghyun had definitely considered it.

And each time, he felt uncomfortable that he couldn’t simply dismiss it.

But America was different.

The local swagger of Gwangju Up, the colloquial and everyday lyrics of 888 World, and the trap sound of Eight Eight Eight were all elements that had been fully explored in the United States since 2005.

So, in the United States, there was no advantage of regression in evaluating his rap skills.

Only the talent that the person named ‘Lee Sanghyun’ was born with.

And the effort of 56 years added to it.

A place where no other factors were involved other than these two. A fair place. The home of hip-hop, America.

This was why Sanghyun admired American hip-hop culture so much and felt such a strong urge to participate in Amateur Night.

‘Let’s become an underdog again in the home of hip-hop.’

Sanghyun clenched the microphone and made a resolution. At that moment, the worries and hesitations he had been carrying disappeared at once.

Sanghyun smiled without realizing it and said.

“The title of this song is Seoul City Mind.”

At that moment, a beat began to flow through the speakers. It was thanks to the promise made according to the predetermined script.

The Apollo Theater audience had amused expressions as soon as the beat started playing.

This was because the beat that was playing was N.Y State of mind, a track from Nas’s legendary album Illmatic, released in 1994.

An instrument that sounded like a distant car horn, or like a brass sound echoing from the top of a New York skyscraper, slowly emerged.

After that, a raw drum that sounded like a gunshot burst, and the life of New York that Nas felt in 1992 when this song was recorded began to be expressed.

People nodded and started to keep time with the beat. Most of them had high expectations for the music that the Asian man on stage would show, thanks to the familiar beat.

This wasn’t just because N.Y State of mind was a famous song. It was because of the stark contrast to the previous stage.

The previous stage featured Frank Sinatra’s Theme from New York, New York, a song that praised New York as ‘the city that never sleeps.’

I want to wake up in a city, that doesn’t sleep

And find I’m king of the hill – top of the heap

These little town blues, are melting away

I’m gonna make a brand new start of it – in old New York

Like this, Frank Sinatra described New York as a happy city. A city where even the blues melt away.

But Nas’s N.Y State of mind was the opposite.

For Nas, New York was a very dangerous city. A city suffering from the risk of shootings by rival gangster crews, a city where you had to sell drugs to survive.

Got younger niggaz pullin the triggers bringing fame to they name

and claim some corners, crews without guns are goners

In broad daylight, stickup kids, they run up on us

I think of crime when I’m in a New York state of mind

And in this song, Nas created a punchline that would be mentioned forever until the culture of hip-hop disappeared (and is still being mentioned).

I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death

For him, New York was a city where you could die the moment you fell asleep. In N.Y, sleep and death were like cousins.

Like this, the two songs showed a stark contrast.

The city that never sleeps, as Frank Sinatra said.

The reason why you can’t sleep, as Nas said.

Frank Sinatra’s song would be more appealing to tourists visiting New York, but not to those living in New York. Nas’s song was much closer to them.

Because this was Harlem.

Of course, it would be rare for anyone to suffer from a direct threat of death, but the threat of death wasn’t the only thing that attacked life. [Harlem, even in 2006, carried a reputation for being a tough neighborhood.]

On the stage where all the audience’s attention was focused, Sanghyun finally opened his mouth.

“I don’t know how to start this shit.”

The audience smiled slightly at Sanghyun’s words and then cheered.

This was because it was the intro that appeared in N.Y State of mind.

There was one little-known episode in N.Y State of mind, which was that the recording track included in the album was the first recording and a one-take track (a track that was done without re-recording).

DJ Premier, who recognized Nas’s potential, which wasn’t very famous at the time, called Nas to his studio, and the first work began with Nas.

Nas was recording with a producer in a professional recording studio for the first time, so he said, I don’t know how to start this shit, feeling embarrassed while listening to the intro.

Premier told him to do whatever he wanted since it was just a guide track, and Nas immediately spewed out N.Y State of mind, which represents Illmatic, like a storm.

So, Sanghyun’s words gave a small amount of fun by following Nas’s intro, but it was also a declaration that he would soon unleash rap no less impactful than Nas’s.

That’s how Sanghyun’s chorus began.

Seoul City Mind

(Seoul’s way of thinking)

Seoul City Vibe

(Seoul’s feeling)

Serious crime.

(It’s a serious crime)

Don’t love this city rhyme

(Not loving this city rhyme)

We spend a hard time

(We spend a hard time)

But never cry

(But we can’t cry)

City light is so bright

(The city lights are so bright)

Can’t close my eyes.

(I can’t close my eyes.)

The chorus that it is a serious crime not to love this city, and that the city lights are so bright that you can’t cry or close your eyes.

The chorus of Seoul City Mind, which fits into the beat perfectly, resolved the doubts about Sanghyun’s skills that quite a few audience members had.

This was because only simple rhymes and simple flows came out due to the nature of the chorus, but you could feel a solid foundation in it.

Of course, the fact that the doubts were resolved did not mean that they were necessarily impressed by Sanghyun’s skills.

This could be seen as just passing the minimum standard for expressing rap music, which still shows an exclusive attitude towards races other than blacks.

The real evaluation can only be received in the verse that connects lines and lines to form a flow, and maximizes the rhyme through that flow.

< Verse 32. Through to New York > End

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