The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 241

< Verse 37. Next Stage >

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It’s obvious, but there’s a ‘hierarchy’ even among musicians.

S-class musicians collaborate with S-class musicians, and A-class musicians collaborate with A-class musicians.

What if a rapper like Jay-Z or Nas brought a completely unknown rapper on stage?

People would vaguely think, ‘Ah, that rapper isn’t famous yet, but they must have great potential.’

It was the same principle when Bon Jovi, a mega-hit band, used Cinderella as a supporting act on their U.S. tour, turning them into a popular band.

And now.

The audience watching the performance at The Regency Ballroom learned through the opening video that the ‘Asian’ on stage was a rapper who matched KRS-One.

This was quite surprising.

Even Pipi, who was the most popular on today’s tour, was far below KRS-One in terms of class.

So, the audience couldn’t help but focus.

‘Who is that Asian guy and why is he working with KRS-One?’

‘”The way we live” was a track that YouTube pushed on the main page? Is he a famous rapper?’

Curious eyes poured onto the stage.

However, the rapper on stage didn’t seem to feel any pressure at all. He enjoyed the attention and began to reveal his presence calmly and confidently.

The moment the red letters ‘FiveSix’ appeared on the main screen, Sanghyun’s rap began.

There’s no hood, no cocaine, no marijuana in Korea

But I have a killer vibe, money, and flow

A Korean rap star, or a Korean jackpot

We call this ‘compensation’ in Korean

The moment his uninhibited voice echoed through the speakers, the audience could understand what Slum Duck meant by the rambling phrase ‘Real Yellow Nigga.’

Songs usually have the highlight of high notes or techniques placed at the end, but rap is a genre where skill is immediately revealed in the first four bars.

Therefore, the audience could immediately catch that the rapper on stage named FiveSix was good.

‘What’s with that guy? He’s good?’

The surprise wasn’t just for the audience.

Musicians were also surprised.

Those who hadn’t seen Sanghyun’s performance because it was far from Pipi’s rehearsal time or because they weren’t interested in other people’s rehearsals were shocked.

Near-perfect delivery of lyrics.

A rich resonance felt even in his dry voice.

Fluent flow and attractive rhyming.

There was nothing lacking.

Moreover, the rap diction (a rapper’s unique way of speaking) he used, unlike the prejudice against Asians, was also attractive.

If you closed your eyes and listened, no one could imagine yellow skin and black eyes from FiveSix’s rap.

Fuck show business, fuck Oh Kyung

The label I destroyed

My mental state is illegal, but

What I do is killer and legal

Sanghyun’s rap, which started off without hesitation, gradually increased the tension, and the audience’s immersion deepened.

Finally, when the ‘illegal’ line, which had received a good response in Compton Black Block, exploded, some of the audience shouted, ‘Oh, Shit!’

‘Five definitely has the qualities of a star.’

Hadel Raines watched Sanghyun’s performance from the audience and smiled.

When Five is performing as a hype man or rehearsing, he feels very ‘good,’ but when he’s performing on stage, he feels ‘radiant.’

Hadel thought that was the quality of a star.

In the past, he thought that the qualities of a star could be created through promotion, but not anymore. These qualities were innate.

Participating as a hype man for Plan Paper, which has the worst reputation, eliminates the possibility of prejudice, and stealing featuring musicians gives him opportunities.

That’s all he can do and should do.

Shining on stage was Five’s job.

And Five was faithfully performing his role.

-Go get`em!

-Go hard!

When Hadel shouted loudly, the surrounding audience also shouted.

A man in his fifties reacting to a hip-hop performance.

It was a rare sight in Korea, but not in the United States. The place where Sanghyun was rapping now was the birthplace of hip-hop, the United States.

Sanghyun’s “The way we live” continued with a long rap of 20 bars.

A rap star born in a war without guns

Two gold albums, but I’m still hungry

I took a plane and crossed the border to LA,

Now I’m a rapper beyond Korea, Mr. Worldwide

The San Francisco audience listening to Sanghyun’s rap could guess that FiveSix had made music in Korea and was a fairly famous rap star.

And they also knew that he had come to LA for greater success.

The delivery of emotions was so dramatic that it was like watching a play.

Of course, when underground rappers say ‘I’m great’ in their lyrics, it’s more often a desire to ‘want to be that great’ than the truth.

However, the audience thought they trusted FiveSix’s lyrics for no reason.

No, there was a reason.

The source of trust was skill.

This is the way I’ve lived.

The way we live.

Only life, Until I leave.

Truth moment was like Performance, live

That’s how the story of how the musician 56 has lived and will live came to an end.

The beat, which had been ringing like crazy, disappeared in an instant as the rap ended.

Sanghyun’s shout-out with a lot of reverb echoed over the silent stage.

Respect Korea! Frisco!

And PLAN PAPER!

Paper… Paper…

The tremendous shout echoed throughout the concert hall.

The audience heard FiveSix shout out Plan Paper and belatedly realized that the current performance was Pipi’s opening stage.

‘Ah… then is it already over?’

At the same time, they realized that FiveSix’s performance was over.

Opening musicians usually sing one song. Sometimes they sing one song and then sing the next song with the main musician.

However, the stage went dark again after “The way we live.”

This meant that the opening rapper’s performance, pushed by the Pipi crew, was over and Pipi’s performance would follow.

But people wanted to hear more of FiveSix’s rap.

-What? Is it already over!

-It’s a curtain call tour, so do a curtain call!

-You have to tell us why your name is FiveSix! Are you also an Elvis fan?

When someone, thinking of Elvis Presley’s album ‘Elvis 56,’ said loudly, some of the audience burst into laughter.

They were hoping for Sanghyun to reappear.

There is an album called to be released in May 2010.

is a collaboration album between Nas, one of the two kings of New York, and Damian Marley, the son of legendary reggae musician Bob Marley.

Prominent American music critics always attached this modifier to this album.

‘The moment you listen to track number 1, you have no choice but to listen to the entire album.’

‘If you hate hip-hop or reggae, I hope you don’t listen to track number 1 of this album. Once you listen to it, you can’t stop.’

The name of track number 1 of was As We Enter.

As We Enter, which opens the album, shows the extreme of catharsis that can be created with black music from the beginning.

Nas takes over Nas’s rhyme and continues with reggae, and Damian Marley takes over Damian Marley’s reggae and finishes with rap.

It was about delivering a rap that you couldn’t help but listen to.

The stage composition that Sanghyun presented was also like that.

The sudden appearance of KRS-One caught the audience’s attention, and this attention was soon conveyed to Sanghyun’s rap.

It didn’t end there.

If you listen to Sanghyun’s rap, you can’t help but be curious about the musician 56.

‘He’s a Korean rap star? How famous is he?’

‘He’s a gold musician? Is that gold 500,000 copies? Or is it Korean gold?’

‘The lyrics say he went to LA, but why is he opening for Pipi?’

‘KRS-One is a New York musician, so why did he go to LA?’

-Hey! Do one more song.

-Curtain call!

This was why someone shouted ‘curtain call,’ half jokingly and half out of curiosity, and it spread to the audience.

But they were misunderstanding something.

Sanghyun’s performance wasn’t over yet.

After a short blackout, another video appeared.

The audience assumed that it would be Pipi’s video this time.

It was a bit disappointing, but Pipi was also a musician they liked, so the audience started to focus on the screen again.

However, the person who appeared this time was wearing a very large hood that completely covered their face.

And soon someone’s voice was heard from the screen.

-The song I just sang isn’t about gangsters. I can’t sing about the gangster life.

‘Is that Pipi?’

Some of the audience thought so.

-But I think someone will sympathize with my song. Why? Because it’s the same.

‘Isn’t that FiveSix’s voice from just now?’

Some people noticed quickly.

-Korea doesn’t allow guns, but the ’empty bullets’ clutched to survive are everywhere.

And the moment the word ‘Korea’ came out, the audience all knew that FiveSix was going to perform another stage.

-Yellow Nigga!

-Freaky Chinky!

Just as the word Nigga is a racial slur but is used in a positive sense among black people, there was no negative feeling in the Chinky that someone shouted at Sanghyun.

-The song I’m going to sing now is No Color. Even if you mix yellow or white with black… the color is black.

And Sanghyun’s rap began in the dark.

The color is black. The color of music that fascinated me.

The color is black. A color slightly different from my skin.

The color is black. The color I poured my passion into.

The color is black. The color is black.

The moment The color is a Black formed an attractive rhythm, the audience’s help came in.

-The color is a Black.

-The color is a Black.

The deep darkness began to fade little by little.

But the stage was still dim.

In the darkness, the silhouette of a rapper holding a microphone with both hands could be seen.

He looked like he was praying.

Now everyone knew his name.

FiveSix.

The color is black. The color of music that fascinated me.

The color is black. A color slightly different from my skin.

The color is black. The color I poured my passion into.

The color is black. The color is black.

As the chorus gradually unfolded, the darkness of the stage gradually disappeared.

Finally, the moment ‘The color is black’ was repeated and the chorus ended, bright lights came on.

That’s right, the color of my skin revealed in the light is different

But the color of my blood flowing under my skin is the same

Red to the point of being black, a yellow flack someone put on me

Kick that track, Track fast track, Spit out track by chasing the road to success

(Kick that track, Track fast track, Spit out track)

Sanghyun is definitely good at rapping.

The swagger track of “The way we live” was amazing, so the San Francisco audience shouted for a curtain call.

But as in Korea, Sanghyun was the most shining musician when he expressed the ‘truth’ about the situation he was in.

A rap that gives the person listening the illusion that I’ve become a rapper.

That’s what happens when Sanghyun spits out his heart in rap.

That’s what was happening on the stage in San Francisco now.

Speak like a 5-year-old, ‘I’m not fake, I don’t lie’

If I were in Korea, my pockets would be full of car keys (Key)

A 56-inch monster wheel, a 56-foot building

I threw it all away and became an Underground rapper 56 in America

Sanghyun, who was rapping with his hands together, looked like he was praying.

And the audience thought that prayer was directed at them.

You have a choice. Are you going to discriminate against me?

I’m not a K-Town rapper. My K stands for King and Kill

My heroes are the same as you. 2Pac and Biggie

If Pac and Big’s killer appears in front of me

The bail I will pay is $10 million.

Has there ever been an Asian rapper who has stood up to prejudice so confidently?

It’s not that there haven’t been Asian rappers before.

Most of them pretended not to be prejudiced and acted nonchalant.

The rest were angry and told them not to.

But they eventually collapsed, and there was no ‘Asian rapper’ at the center of hip-hop that had continued since the Golden Era.

But FiveSix was being honest.

I’m this kind of person, and I don’t think we’re different.

He didn’t force it.

He was just calmly expressing his thoughts.

What was scary was that his rap was so immersive that it was more appealing than forcing it.

In the meantime, the verse ended and the hook began.

It wouldn’t have been just Sanghyun’s illusion that the number of people singing along to the hook had increased much more than before.

The color is black. The color of music that fascinated me.

The color is black. A color slightly different from my skin.

The color is black. The color I poured my passion into.

The color is black. The color is black.

Of course, hoping that all prejudice would disappear with just one song, just one great stage, was a story that would only appear in a movie.

Even the audience who are cheering for the ‘underdog’ Asian rapper now may show resistance when Sanghyun tries to rise to the position of ‘top dog.’

But what is clear is that Sanghyun was trying and doing it wonderfully.

And if these attempts are gathered, someday Sanghyun will be given the title of ‘America Rapstar.’

Sanghyun’s San Francisco performance, which will change so much, was coming to an end.

***

< Verse 37. Next Stage > End

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