The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 234

< Verse 36. No Color >

Sanghyun steered the conversation back to the starting point after Hadel Raines’ sudden suggestion to leave LA.

“Shouldn’t we get to know each other first? I don’t know anything about you except for this business card. I’m even considering the possibility that you might be a con artist.”

Sanghyun’s instincts told him that the old gentleman in front of him, named Hadel Raines, was the ‘real deal.’ But instincts shouldn’t be trusted blindly; they needed a story to back them up.

“A con artist… Well, it would be strange not to think that way.”

Hadel chuckled and continued.

“For the past year and a half, I’ve been traveling across the country, thinking, ‘When I meet the musician I’ve been searching for, how should I introduce myself? What story can I use to present my vision?’ But now that the person is right in front of me, all those thoughts don’t seem important. What I should be thinking about first and foremost is your future, right? The only question is whether I can be a part of that future or not.”

“To make that decision, I need to know about Raines’ past.”

“Alright. Shall we talk? It’s a bit noisy here; how about we move somewhere else?”

“No. I still have business to take care of at Compton Black Block.”

J. Cole, now a musician using the rap name Therapist, would be coming on stage soon. Sanghyun definitely wanted to see his performance.

“Is that so? Then shall I tell you my story?”

Hadel Raines slowly began to unfold his past.

Before his regression, Sanghyun was a huge music listener. However, his interests were more than 90% focused on hip hop.

He had become interested in bands while watching Jay-Z and Linkin Park’s ‘Numb/Encore’ or Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons’ ‘M.A.A.D City’ live, but that was just a treat.

So Sanghyun didn’t know much about music other than hip hop.

But even he knew about the immense popularity of LA metal (also known as hair metal).

Mötley Crüe, Skid Row, L.A. Guns, Guns N’ Roses, and so on.

In a way, the image of ‘American rock band’ imprinted in Korea was close to the unique image of LA metal. Just as the image of an American rapper imprinted in Korea was close to that of a West Coast gangster rapper.

Sanghyun expressed surprise when he heard that Hadel Raines had created LA metal. He was a much more amazing person than he had thought.

After that, the story continued.

Hadel Raines was a very good speaker. His descriptions of situations and emotions were so excellent that Sanghyun found himself drawn into his story.

‘This guy, he would have done well as a singer or announcer? No, a politician would suit him better.’

Finally, Hadel’s story ended with him realizing his own problems during his 10 years of seclusion, and his recent year and a half of searching across the country for a musician to burn his last flame with.

“You probably know what happened after that without me having to say it, right? You’re in front of me, and I’m in front of you.”

“You’re a good speaker.”

“Can you say the same for yourself? When you rap, it feels like the lyrics are thrown into the air and then enter my ears. I thought I hated gangster rap, but it turns out I just hadn’t met a gangster rapper who suited my taste yet. And Suge Knight was a bit of a thug.”

Hadel frowned as he thought of Suge Knight [co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records].

Sanghyun was reminded once again that the person in front of him was a contemporary of Suge Knight, Dr. Dre, and Tupac, who led Death Row Records.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Hadel asked.

“Come to think of it, I’m curious about something. Did you not do your best when you performed as 56?”

Hadel clearly remembered feeling something lacking in 56’s performance. However, when Hoodman appeared on stage and rapped with his hood off, he felt perfection.

Sanghyun smiled at Hadel’s question and asked back.

“Why do you ask that?”

“It might be a rude question, but I felt something lacking when 56 was rapping. But when Hoodman rapped, it was perfect.”

Hadel thought that if it wasn’t intentional, there might be some mental block with 56.

But that wasn’t the case.

“Rather than deliberately half-assing it, there was a bit of exaggeration for the sake of a dramatic situation.”

“Exaggeration, you say?”

“I definitely did my best on both stages. I think my biggest weapon is that I do my best on any stage. However, 56 was in an emotional state where he was building a wall for himself because of the limitations of ‘discrimination,’ and Hoodman was in a state where he had overcome that.”

“…You can switch that like flipping a switch?”

“It’s more of an emotional state issue than a rap skill issue. It feels like immersing myself deeply, like acting. Oh, of course, I haven’t tried acting.”

What FiveSix was saying now was truly amazing.

If that was true, his musical spectrum would encompass everything that could be felt emotionally. And FiveSix was naturally talented at conveying his emotions to others.

If he sang a love song, the listener could feel sweet love, and if he sang about happiness, he could give happiness as well.

What more talent could a musician need than this?

“If what you’re saying is true, it’s amazing. No, it’s amazing because I know it’s true.”

Sanghyun smiled once again as he listened to Hadel’s words.

If the first smile was a smile of anticipation, the current smile was a smile of satisfaction. Hadel Raines had the insight to feel the difference in his performances.

‘He wasn’t a con artist after all.’

Of course, he still needed to check Hadel’s company’s connections, including its network and distribution lines, as well as its internal vision and influence in the music industry.

But he was convinced that Hadel Raines was not a con artist. The fact that his insight into music was more trustworthy than his long story about his past life was probably because he was a musician.

The two continued to talk about various things. They had many questions about each other.

Halfway through their conversation, J. Cole’s performance began, and they watched the stage together.

“If that friend’s performance had been first, I might have given him my business card.”

Even as Hadel said that, he was thinking that if he had to choose between 56 and Therapist, he would choose 56.

“You could contact that friend too, right?”

“Well, I have a lot of wealth, but I don’t think I can break two people out of their existing label contracts. It’s always harder to get rookies out before their debut than it is to get debuted singers out.”

“Does it cost that much money?”

“It’s not easy to sell lottery tickets that haven’t been scratched yet, right? Especially if someone else is eyeing them. Ah, well, I could do it if I wanted to. Actually, the problem is more about time than money. I want to focus on work quickly.”

At that moment, J. Cole, or rather, Therapist’s performance ended.

Therapist was the last underground musician to take the stage at Compton Black Block. After a 5-minute break, the mainstream rappers’ performances would begin.

The surroundings were noisy because of the sounds of the audience talking, but because the speakers that had been blasting out loud beats were turned off, everything felt quiet.

This was also the reason for taking a 5-minute break.

It was because they had to calm the ears of the audience, whose thresholds had been raised by listening to loud beats, in order to create great excitement again.

There were many unseen efforts and methods hidden in performances that seemed to be established by the simple proposition of singers coming out and singing.

And the man who had expressed his desire to put in such effort and trouble for Sanghyun, Hadel, finally asked the question.

“FiveSix. Will you answer my question now? Do I have the right to intervene in your future?”

“People might misunderstand it as a proposal if they hear it.”

“What’s the difference anyway?”

“Can I give you one piece of information and ask one question before I give you my answer?”

“You’re quite strange. You enjoy using discourses like a seasoned businessman rather than a musician’s way of speaking.”

Hadel frowned when Sanghyun didn’t react much.

“So, what are the information and the question?”

The information Sanghyun conveyed was simple. It was to correct the parts that Hadel was greatly misunderstanding.

First, he said that he was not an ‘American’ with American citizenship but was born and raised in Korea, and then he said that he was not currently affiliated with a ‘label’.

“In Korea, I’m active in a team called 888 Crew. It’s not an official label yet, but we’re planning to make it one. But I’m not a musician affiliated with a label like Raines thinks.”

“How long have you been in America?”

“I came to America at the end of February this year and traveled for about half a year. I settled in LA on the first day of October.”

“I was lucky. After Compton Black Block ends, several records will try to contact you.”

Hadel’s expression brightened.

He wasn’t worried about the money it would take to break Sanghyun’s label contract but rather the time it would take.

Then Hadel paused and asked.

“Don’t you have to go to the military in Korea?”

“My military issue has been resolved, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“That’s a relief. But didn’t you do any music activities in Korea? Why did you come to America?”

Sanghyun smiled and said.

“It’s homework for you. If you find out what kind of musician I was in Korea, I’ll ask you my last question.”

“Homework wasn’t on the schedule?”

“It just came to mind. Don’t you need a process to evaluate the qualifications of a supporter who will determine the direction my microphone will be pointing in the future?”

Hadel burst into hearty laughter at Sanghyun’s words.

“Good. Good. I like it.”

“And this is… something like a hint I’m giving you.”

Sanghyun suddenly headed to the stage of Compton Black Block.

The 5-minute break was already over, and the musician opening the first performance was passionately rapping on stage.

Hadel Raines and Sanghyun had been talking under a large tree far away because the stage was noisy. It was a distance where they couldn’t see the stage well but could hear the sound.

Just as Sanghyun arrived on stage, the musician’s first song ended.

The musician on stage opened his mouth.

“Some people may not like that I came to Compton. As you all know, I’m one of the rappers representing the East Coast. But at the same time, I’m also a member of Therapy.”

Therapy was a project group created by musicians from New York representing the East Coast and musicians from LA representing the West Coast.

“The deaths of Pac [Tupac Shakur] and Biggie [The Notorious B.I.G.] gave us great shock and regret. And we realized that pride in one’s region is different from feelings of exclusion towards other regions. You all know what I mean, right?”

Therapy included prominent musicians from Nas to Dr. Dre.

And even the musician speaking on stage now.

“I think hip hop is about talking within one circle. And that circle can extend to the whole world. There’s a musician here in LA. He was an incredibly successful rapper in his home country, but he’s struggling in LA to draw a bigger circle.”

The musician on stage winked at Sanghyun, who was already waiting in the waiting line.

“Right, FiveSix?”

“Yes, Teacher. But isn’t your sermon too long?”

A small laugh erupted from the audience at Sanghyun’s playful answer as he went up on stage.

That’s right. The mainstream rapper in charge of opening Compton Black Block today was KRS-One, who has the nickname Teacher.

KRS-One knew that Sanghyun was in LA, and from the moment he was invited to Compton Black Block, he had proposed this stage.

So, in fact, Sanghyun had the Hoodman card even if the first stage failed, and he had prepared the KRS-One joker even if Hoodman failed.

No matter what happened, the name 56 could not be left out of the story of Compton Black Block spreading to LA.

< Verse 36. No Color > End

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