The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 252

< Verse 40. Unknown Factors >

***

-Tsk, tsk. Lee Sang-hyun gained some popularity in Korea with noise marketing, and now he’s doing the same thing in the US. But this time, he’s doing it kind of stupidly. Racism, really.

-What noise marketing did Lee Sang-hyun do in Korea? Why don’t I remember?

-Isn’t it when he first debuted and gained popularity by dissing the show business industry?

-Come on, that’s not noise marketing. He was just clarifying something unfair.

-It’s because of guys like you that everyone’s doing noise marketing. Even if it’s noisy at first, they remember you in a good way. If he felt wronged, he should have gone to show business and argued it out, why make a rap about it and release it?

-Back then, Lee Sang-hyun and the 888 Crew were complete rookies, would that have worked? As if show business would say, ‘Oh, we’re sorry. We’ll fix it for you.’

-But I tried to find Mix Them : Black to listen to it, but I can’t find it anywhere. It’s not on American music sites, and it’s not on any album lists. Does anyone know where to listen to it?

-Of course not. Do you think America doesn’t have censorship? Would they accept a song like that for distribution?

-Seriously, it’s a complete disgrace to the country. How can a Korean use the term ‘Yellow Monkey’? It’s like spitting in his own face.

-I guess he thought he became white after eating cheeseburgers in America.

-Thinking about it, there are terms for degrading Black, Asian, and mixed-race people, but there aren’t any for white people. Is he really a white wannabe?

-But does anyone know what the rap is about? I even went to the 888 Crew’s showcase, and Lee Sang-hyun is definitely not someone who would make music carelessly.

-Here’s another fangirl.

-Of course, he didn’t make it carelessly. He worked hard to make it for noise marketing.

-Why did he go to America and ruin himself? He would have made good money if he stayed in Korea.

-He must have thought he was a big deal because he was successful in Korea.

The reactions from netizens were intense.

The public’s moral standards were always much stricter towards others than themselves, and that strictness was doubled for celebrities.

Because Sang-hyun had a good image, if this had happened when he was actively promoting, this kind of one-sided bombardment wouldn’t have happened. But Sang-hyun had been gone from Korea for well over a year.

Comments criticizing Sang-hyun flooded in following the column’s content, and just as many mocking posts like, ‘America was nothing, he overdid it and completely failed,’ were also frequently posted.

Other media companies envied Hanju Ilbo for getting a good scoop and belatedly released similar articles.

Some netizens living in LA who had encountered MTB posted the lyrics of the 1st track, saying it seemed like a misunderstanding, but a few explanations couldn’t possibly work.

“Junhyung, does Sang-hyun know about the situation in Korea right now?”

“No. I haven’t called him.”

“What? Why are you so calm?”

Bae-ga gave Junhyung a puzzled look during their drinking session. Like he said, Junhyung had a very calm expression on his face.

“It’s all nonsense. You know Sang-hyun, hyung [older brother or friend].”

“Of course, I do, but don’t you think we need some kind of response?”

“Nah, he’ll take care of it himself. Considering Lee Sang-hyun’s actions that I’ve seen so far, the netizens’ reactions will soon turn into praise.”

Bae-ga had suggested the drinking session thinking Junhyung would have a serious expression on his face, but he was deflated by the nonchalant reaction.

At the same time, he envied the unbelievable trust between Junhyung and Sang-hyun. Junhyung really didn’t doubt him even 1%.

“How can that turn into praise?”

“Who knows? Lee Sang-hyun’s luck always surpasses my imagination, so I can’t imagine it.”

“Aren’t you being too biased towards your brother-in-law?”

“Ah! I’m going crazy because of Sangmi these days. Even if I just take a picture with a fan, it’s a disaster.”

“Isn’t that because you got caught texting some woman?”

“No, what’s really unfair is that the woman was a staff member from the stage production company!”

“I heard she was very pretty?”

“Hyung, am I supposed to check if the staff is not pretty before signing a contract? No, right? I just signed a contract with a stage production company, and the contact person happened to be pretty!”

“Anyway, she was pretty. She was pretty.”

In the end, Bae-ga had to listen to Junhyung’s relationship problems for two hours before returning home.

Bae-ga, who returned home, turned on the internet but turned off the computer because he was in a bad mood. He couldn’t possibly like the portal sites plastered with insults about Sang-hyun, who was a dear younger brother.

‘Can this atmosphere be reversed?’

Bae-ga fell asleep thinking that.

And the next day, like Junhyung believed, the situation began to change.

“E, Editor-in-chief? I just talked to a reporter, and that reporter is cursing Hanju Ilbo a lot?”

“Who is Han Reporter?”

“Yes. My classmate who is a correspondent in New York.”

“Ah, Han Wooyoung? Why is Han Wooyoung cursing Hanju Ilbo? Aren’t you guys from the same Han clan?”

“Stop joking and listen. Jay-Z posted something yesterday at dawn.”

“Jay-Z, isn’t that the guy with thick lips who married Beyoncé last month? He’s a really famous rapper in America, right?”

“That’s right.”

“What did Jay-Z post? Did he criticize Lee Sang-hyun’s album?”

“No. He praised it.”

“What?”

The editor-in-chief, who had been listening without much thought, was startled and asked again.

“What do you mean? Isn’t Jay-Z a really famous person?”

“He’s extremely famous. Haven’t you seen Forbes magazine? Jay-Z and Beyoncé earn over 200 billion won a year together [approximately $170 million USD]. Do you get how amazing he is now?”

“200 billion won?!”

“Jay-Z is the owner of the basketball team New Jersey Nets (now Brooklyn Nets). In 2005, he was the owner of the soccer team Arsenal FC. How do you think he made his money?”

“……Stocks?”

“He’s a rapper, so he made it by rapping. That rapper praised Lee Sang-hyun’s album, you know? Do you really get it now?”

“This lucky bastard! Quickly find the original text of Jay-Z’s post and translate it to make it sound as praiseworthy as possible. Then what are those crazy Hanju Ilbo bastards? What did they believe in to receive the contribution? They were the fastest to release the follow-up article too, right?”

“Yes. It seemed like they prepared it from the beginning.”

“Hold on. Do you know who that critic Hanju Ilbo mentioned is?”

“No. I can’t find the original text, so I can’t search for it. I tried changing it into English in my own way, but it doesn’t come up.”

“Then let’s raise suspicions about that critic too. First, take Jay-Z’s post as it is and make an article. Bring it to me right away.”

“We haven’t posted any articles yet, right?”

“Not yet. We can’t clean up after those Hanju Ilbo bastards, can we?”

-Hanju Ilbo’s incomprehensible attempt to tarnish Lee Sang-hyun.

-Lee Sang-hyun, praised by Jay-Z, the king of New York hip-hop.

-Album praised by Hollywood’s top rap star Jay-Z.

The moment Myungsan Ilbo’s article, which had a bad relationship with Hanju Ilbo, was released, the internet turned into a mud fight.

Netizens who were still attacking Sang-hyun argued that Jay-Z’s mention was just lip service.

They also made a plausible argument that Lee Sang-hyun joined Koch Records while going to America, and Jay-Z’s mention was a promotion from Koch Records.

On the opposing side, defending Sang-hyun, many reacted by saying how much money would Jay-Z, who earns several hundred billion won a year, have to receive to give lip service?

The reaction on the day Myungsan Ilbo’s article was released was half and half.

And the next day, The Game posted an article about MTB.

The day after that, KRS-One posted an article about MTB.

These two articles were spread like a storm by major media companies that were closely watching the situation. In particular, KRS-One’s comments focused on Lee Sang-hyun.

The public didn’t know much about The Game and KRS-One, but they soon found out.

Articles explaining their greatness poured out in droves. There were even many facts that were more exaggerated than reality.

“Hey! Kim Hak-soo, you crazy bastard!”

“J, just wait a little bit. Anyway, there’s nothing in the article I posted that isn’t factual, right?”

“Are you talking about facts now? Wi Hwabaek is furious and threatening to sue us!”

Hanju Ilbo was embarrassed by the rapidly changing atmosphere and tried to fix it somehow, but it was impossible to fix.

Because Jay-Z, a worldwide star famous even in Korea, was involved, the reaction did not subside easily.

But that wasn’t the end.

Three weeks after Hanju Ilbo’s first article was released, the final blow was struck.

————

Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

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39. Mix Them : Black [DEBUT]

– Kendrick Lamar, FiveSix, J.Cole

————

First Korean to enter the Billboard chart.

It was only natural that the media was turned upside down.

Of course, there had been chart entries by ‘Korean-Americans’ before. But they were Korean-Americans. Lee Sang-hyun was the first musician who grew up in Korea, spoke Korean, and had Korean citizenship to reach the Billboard chart.

‘National prestige,’ ‘First Korean,’ ‘First Asian rapper’ Numerous titles and colorful modifiers decorated the newspapers every day.

Hanju Ilbo was being criticized as much as it could be, and media companies were pouring out articles praising Lee Sang-hyun almost every day.

Some media companies even sent correspondents in other regions to LA.

Of course, there were still people who cursed Lee Sang-hyun.

Perhaps because it was difficult to easily admit a negative opinion once it had been expressed, what they were clinging to this time was the credibility of the Billboard chart.

-It’s such a fuss to go up on the hip-hop chart. Do you know how many sub-charts there are on Billboard? 35, a whopping 35.

-I’m saying the same thing. It’s not Billboard Hot 100 or Billboard 200, so what’s the pride of Koreans?

-Wow, that’s really amazing. What do you have to do to not get criticized? Isn’t it amazing if a Korean goes to the American underground and reaches 39th on Billboard?

-The two guys above are guys who don’t know anything. They’re just pretending to know after searching somewhere. It’s true that there are many sub-charts on Billboard, but the R&B hip-hop album chart is a major chart.

-That’s right. People who like band music may give more credit to the Modern Rock Tracks chart, but usually, the R&B hip-hop chart is considered the number one sub-chart. You can think of it as the next major chart after the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200.

-Bullshit. How can a rap chart be the number one sub-chart? No matter how popular hip-hop is in America, does that make sense?

-You’re so ignorant. Is rap the only genre in R&B and hip-hop? Do Alicia Keys and Jennifer Lopez rap?

-You may not know well. I’ll explain it to you. The ‘R&B hip-hop chart’ is not as narrow as we think. It’s a chart that encompasses all black music, including soul, and includes Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Michael Jackson. Of course, these people go directly to the higher groups, the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200, so they just don’t have R&B hip-hop chart records, you damn morons.

But once they stepped on a height that they had never occupied before, Billboard, the negative public opinion disappeared in an instant.

Now, the only concern the media was talking about was one thing.

How far will this debut at 39th go?

In the midst of the nation’s attention, the Billboard chart for the following week was announced.

Junhyung woke up without realizing it.

Looking at the clock, it was 6:30 AM, late to be called dawn and early to be called morning.

As Junhyung, who woke up thirsty, went out to the living room to get water, he saw a newspaper sticking out through the crack in the front door. And on the headline of the newspaper, he vaguely saw a very familiar letter.

It was 888.

Junhyung instinctively believed that the story in the newspaper was about Sanghyun.

On the first page of the newspaper was a picture of Sanghyun, and below it was a chart.

’30th? The newspaper was talking about being in the top 10.’

Junhyung read the newspaper with a disappointed expression. And then, startled, he checked the chart name again.

“Huh……?”

The Billboard 200.

The album chart for all albums.

Finally, MTB had surpassed the hip-hop R&B chart and made its name on the Billboard 200.

It wasn’t just Junhyung who was surprised.

Three songs from MTB were released as singles through H&R INC, and two of them made it to the Hot 100.

-The Billboard Hot 100

The singles chart for all singles.

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53. No Color(FiveSix Solo) [DEBUT]

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67. Ni**a, Yellow Mon**y, F**p [DEBUT]

It seemed that it wasn’t just Korea that was feeling surprised.

The headlines of various Korean media outlets were taken from the titles of articles simultaneously published by the New York Times and the LA Times.

-, Go to the next stage?

< Verse 40. Unknown Factors > End

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