The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 216

The album sales of 300,000 copies were the most surprising news Sanghyun heard upon returning to Korea.

He had expected sales to gradually decline since it had already sold as much as it could before he left for New York, so it was amazing that it maintained a similar level to its initial release.

Although the sales figures were clearly decreasing after eight weeks, even the ‘decreased figures’ were weekly sales that ordinary singers would envy.

-Hey, you crazy bastards, breaking records little by little! What are we supposed to do if you break them like that? How can it jump from 30,000 to 300,000 copies?

It was a text message from Bae Ga of Stars Records, who was about to release their third album.

The members of Stars Records were confident that they could surpass the 30,000 copies of Official Bootleg while preparing for this third album, but 300,000 copies were on a different level. Without complex modifiers, the phrase ‘the best-selling album of 2006′ was enough to express its significance.

So much so that Stars Records, which prided itself on being at the forefront of the underground scene, even considered postponing the album release for fear of being compared to the 888 Crew.

Although the 888 Crew was selling JFTR [Just For The Record] like crazy, their massive sales were not limited to JFTR alone.

The domestic brand’s merchandise was also selling like hotcakes.

T-shirts, New Era caps, snapbacks, towels, hand towels, jerseys, and so on.

It wasn’t selling hundreds of thousands of copies like the album, but there was consistency in the merchandise sales. It was showing the sales pattern of a steady seller.

This was because many customers came to buy T-shirts and thought about buying snapbacks when they had money, or came to buy CDs and promised themselves to buy New Era caps later.

The reason for these steady sales was that Triple Eight’s merchandise was different from other idols’ merchandise in that it was for ‘everyday life’ rather than ‘fan activities.’

Kim Hwan, who majored in design, and Woominho would create the initial list of Triple Eight’s merchandise, and the members would vote on it. As a result, the initial list often included obscure products that only fashion insiders could understand.

But who were the 888 Crew members?

The female members were a little less so, but they were confidently evaluated as ‘fashion terrorists’ by anyone.

As a result, obscure and innovative designs were quickly filtered out, and only products with simple designs and the 888 Crew logo were released.

But fans actually liked this. This was because matching 888 Crew’s merchandise with other clothes while keeping only the logo could create a stylish feel.

To buyers, the 888 Crew’s logo was perceived as a cultural brand logo rather than a fan product. Like ‘Fuck Tha Police’ or ‘Wu-Tang’ [references to iconic and influential hip-hop acts and their associated imagery].

Of course, there were complaints from fans.

There were definitely complaints. But most of the complaints were not about design or price.

Most of the complaints from fans were that they wanted products with area codes other than ‘062 X RAP’ or ‘888 X RAP’ [referencing the crew’s local area code and rap affiliation].

However, this was decided when Triple Eight was first established, so there was nothing that could be done. Limited products with other area codes were only given to musicians or fans who won special events.

It was a famous story among hip-hop fans that Kible and Texer, who participated in the JFTR album as ‘Just 888 Kidding,’ asked for limited products instead of featuring fees.

‘I want to be a musician who can collaborate with the 888 Crew so I can have limited products.’

It was a joke that hip-hop fans often made.

Like this, JFTR and Triple Eight of the 888 Crew were constantly generating revenue. However, there was one more album that was not inferior to them.

It was Sanghyun’s solo mini-album <56 JFTR>, which recorded sales of 200,000 copies.

***

‘You son of a bitch.’

Hong Kyungsoo sighed, unable to conjure up any more creative curses. The cigarette in his mouth burned out in vain.

Activities for 56 JFTR were suspended.

It wasn’t that the activities were suspended like JFTR’s, but they were simply over.

This was because the activities specified in the contract were over.

Until the contract expires in the second half of 2009, Lee Sanghyun’s songs will not be released by Oh Kyung Media.

‘Hey, you idiot. Are you crazy? Does that make sense? Coax him, appease him, or threaten him with a lawyer!’

However, if coaxing and appeasing would work, he wouldn’t have resorted to such complicated methods, and threatening was obviously useless.

He was so good at interpreting the contract as a high school student that Hong Kyungsoo was embarrassed to even try threatening him.

‘Section Chief Hong Kyungsoo. Do you know how much revenue you gave up because of Section Chief?’

As Vice President Oh Yeonjoo said, it was a ‘give up,’ not a ‘loss.’

The album continues to sell, and money is being made. Copyright royalties were also coming in.

However, the real profit of entertainment companies was not album sales or broadcast appearance fees, but performance activities. In fact, album sales don’t make much money.

Album production and promotion that cannot sell more than 60,000 copies is an act of deficit that does not break even. Depending on the level of promotion, 60,000 copies could increase even more.

Then why do you do the act of deficit?

Of course, it is to make a name for yourself and be scouted for performance activities such as various events and festivals.

Of course, the production cost of 56 JFTR was close to zero, and the promotion was done by surprise release behind the 888 Crew’s JFTR, so every sale made a profit, but the higher-ups would not be satisfied with that.

What if Lee Sanghyun had taken on all the schedules for university festivals, various local festivals, and events across the country starting in October?

Without exaggeration, you could easily earn about 5 years’ worth of sales for an ordinary self-employed person.

Not income, but sales.

In this situation, Hong Kyungsoo was being called a retard at the company level.

So much so that his father at headquarters said that he couldn’t hold his head up because of him.

What’s even more infuriating is that Lee Sanghyun continues to appear at Oh Kyung Media even after causing them so much trouble. This is because he was learning composition from Chae Daehan.

‘Fuck, let’s do it once.’

And that added momentum to Hong Kyungsoo’s actions.

‘There isn’t. There really isn’t.’

When he checked with the Korea Music Copyright Association [KOMCA], all of Lee Sanghyun’s songs on the USB provided by Cha Inhyun were not copyrighted. Not only the beat and rap, but also the linguistic copyright of the lyrics.

In fact, it couldn’t have been registered.

In order to register a sound source excluding lyrics, you must submit a ‘complete sound source,’ but Lee Sanghyun’s songs were not recorded in a formal studio, so there was no complete sound source yet.

You can present a guide version, but Lee Sanghyun, who is endlessly picky about music, would not do that.

Hong Kyungsoo quickly registered the beat and lyrics for copyright. The copyright holder became Cha Inhyun.

They were already in the same boat.

‘Wow, all three songs are so good? Cha Inhyun, you’ve been wandering around since One, but you’ve finally brought something amazing.’

‘Are you considering it positively?’

‘Of course. These days, existing composers and lyricists are struggling because they can’t write hit songs. They say the trend has changed too rapidly. Well, I’ll have to see what the A&R [Artists and Repertoire] team estimates, but this is enough for the title song?’

‘Then please take good care of it.’

‘Cha Inhyun, you’re going to be a star composer. You were originally close to Lee Sanghyun, right? Your younger brother changed the trend, so your older brother is benefiting.’

Cha Inhyun smiled inwardly at the employee’s words.

‘I’m not benefiting, I’m winning with my own strength.’

Cha Inhyun presented the song to the A&R team, and Hong Kyungsoo subtly exerted his power behind the scenes, so everything went smoothly.

Oh Kyung Media was already worried because Joo Yohan’s album didn’t have a main title song or a follow-up song, but Cha Inhyun’s three submitted songs were like rain during a drought.

About half a month later, the recording schedule and promotion schedule gained momentum, and about a month later, Cha Inhyun finally escaped from being a trainee.

He signed a five-year exclusive contract with Oh Kyung Media and was assigned a studio as a singer-songwriter. He was also able to receive a generous contract fee.

Even while things were progressing like this, there was no reaction from Chae Daehan and Lee Sanghyun.

No, Lee Sanghyun was originally not interested in other singers at Oh Kyung Media, so let’s make an exception, but Chae Daehan was too quiet. Chae Daehan, who hates Joo Yohan, must have listened to the songs on the newly promoted album at least once.

‘Chae Daehan may not know all of Lee Sanghyun’s songs.’

Cha Inhyun and Hong Kyungsoo thought so.

Anyway, it didn’t matter if it was discovered after things had progressed to some extent like now. It was going to be caught someday anyway, and rather, they were looking forward to Lee Sanghyun’s face distorted with shock and anger.

That’s how August passed, and then September passed.

The season when your back gets wet even if you move a little passed, and the leaves turned red and blue, and the blue sky encouraged outdoor activities.

October.

The work that had been going on while the 888 Crew, who had stopped JFTR activities, was madly devoted to personal activities and performances, was finally finalized.

‘Joo Yohan, who has been active on the small screen and the big screen! Joo Yohan has finally returned as a singer thanks to the support of fans who have sent him for a long time!’

‘I’m really looking forward to it. Joo Yohan’s 3rd album Coffee’s hot debut stage! Let’s check it out together now!’

On October 3rd, Joo Yohan’s album was released.

And October 3rd was Sanghyun’s birthday.

***

The 888 Crew stopped JFTR activities and became even busier.

It’s a natural story, but all the reasons for that busyness were due to music activities.

First of all, all the members started personal activities.

Even before that, they occasionally did personal activities while featuring, but basically, the 888 Crew had been active as a team. Except for Sanghyun, who was in a special situation.

However, Sanghyun’s 56 JFTR became an excellent stimulus for the members.

‘If I had released an album, could I have sold it like Sanghyun?’

As he has stated several times in interviews, the enemy of the 888 Crew was always the 888 Crew in the mirror. So yesterday’s Sanghyun could be today’s goal for myself.

The personal activities of the 888 Crew, which started like that, made the black music trend in the popular music scene, which was already accelerating, even faster.

Hayun achieved the most popular success with personal activities. Hayun was the only member of the crew who had dreamed of being a ‘celebrity’ first, so she released a mini-album with four popular songs.

However, the album’s title song was a song with the original color of hip-hop that told her own story rather than popularity, and it was ‘Channel Heaven’ featuring Sanghyun.

Hayun’s question of whether there is a channel that shows this stage even in heaven received great praise from people who have lost someone precious.

There was no special promotion, so it did not record high rankings on music shows, but it achieved a successful success in terms of music charts and topicality.

It was the moment when she imprinted the musician ‘Shin Hayun’ on the public, not ‘Shin Hayun of the 888 Crew’.

< Verse 33. Hit Song > End

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