The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 268

In truth, MTB’s Grammy Award nomination wasn’t entirely unexpected.

While the members themselves—Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Sanghyun—were surprised, critics, industry insiders, and even Hadel Raines considered it a logical outcome.

The records set by Golden Nu-Era were undeniably significant.

MTB had sold 1.5 million copies to date, reaching number 9 on the ‘Billboard 200’ album chart.

Initially, sales were projected to plateau around 1.2 million, but Sanghyun’s appearance on *The X Factor* boosted sales by an additional 300,000 copies.

And there was more.

The success of the singles, in addition to the album sales, couldn’t be overlooked.

‘No Color’ peaked at number 5 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Chart, while ‘Nigga, Yellow Monkey, Flip’ reached number 12 on the same chart.

On the ‘Billboard Hot 100,’ which tracks all singles, ‘No Color’ reached number 11, and ‘Nigga, Yellow Monkey, Flip’ peaked at number 19, a remarkable achievement.

Although they didn’t crack the top 10, it was still impressive for a rookie group’s album, especially considering they had ceased active promotion, to achieve such rankings.

Since the Grammy Awards nominate five candidates for each award, MTB was certainly qualified to be among the nominees, regardless of their chances of winning.

However, the real surprise surrounding MTB’s nomination stemmed from the ‘field’ in which they were recognized.

The Grammy Awards encompass 31 fields, with each field awarding anywhere from one to ten awards.

For instance, the New Age field has only one category, while the R&B field boasts eight, including Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance, and Best Urban Contemporary Album.

Most people anticipated MTB would be nominated in the Rap Field and considered them strong contenders.

The prevailing belief was that MTB, being an album by three musicians with exceptional synergy, would excel in the collaboration category.

And those predictions proved accurate.

MTB received a nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

But that wasn’t all.

1. “Roc Boys”, Jay-Z

2. “A Milli”, Lil Wayne

3. “Paris, Tokyo”, Lupe Fiasco

4. “N.i.*.*.e.r”, Nas

5. “No Color”, FiveSix

Sanghyun’s ‘No Color’ was also nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance.

And….

1. “American Gangster,” Jay-Z

2. “Tha Carter III,” Lil Wayne

3. “The Cool,” Lupe Fiasco

4. “Nas,” Nas

5. “Mix Them:Black”, Golden Nu-Era

It was also nominated for Best Rap Album, recognizing the year’s top rap album.

Thus, MTB garnered nominations in three categories, half of the six awards presented in the hip-hop field.

However, the buzz surrounding the Grammy Award nominations in Korea, and subsequently Japan and China, wasn’t solely due to the hip-hop field nominations.

“What? Where did you say?”

-New Artist!

“Was there even a category like that in the hip-hop field?”

-No, at the Grammy Awards!

Just as there are major charts among the 35+ Billboard charts, there were major awards among the 150+ Grammy Award trophies.

These major awards were called ‘Bonsang’ [Main Awards], and the artists who won them were known as ‘Bonsang Winners.’

The Bonsang weren’t confined to specific fields like rap, gospel, or dance, but were awarded across all genres.

The Grammy Awards, established in 1959, had held 50 ceremonies and awarded over 6,500 trophies. However, only 200 Bonsang had been awarded.

This was because only four Bonsang were awarded per ceremony.

RECORD OF THE YEAR.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR.

SONG OF THE YEAR.

And….

1. Adele

2. Duffy

3. Jonas Brothers

4. Golden Nu-Era

5. Jazmine Sullivan

Golden Nu-Era, consisting of Sanghyun, Kendrick, and J. Cole, was nominated for BEST NEW ARTIST, one of the four major awards.

***

-It’s really strange when you think about it.

-What is?

-The fact that a musician nominated for Best New Artist participated in *The X Factor*. It’s like Shaquille O’Neal playing in a middle school basketball tournament, isn’t it?

-That’s true, isn’t it?

-Good analogy, but why Shaquille O’Neal of all people? He’s so much bigger than everyone else.

-FiveSix was like Shaquille O’Neal on *The X Factor*. No one could stop him.

-If you’re going to talk about basketball legends, please don’t bring up Mutombo. Their prime times were different.

-I didn’t bring up Mutombo? But Mutombo got dominated by Shaquille O’Neal.

-You son of a bitch.

-Is basketball and rap all that’s on black guys’ minds?

-But aren’t you guys associating Golden Nu-Era too much with just FiveSix? FiveSix generated a lot of buzz on *The X Factor*, but Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole were also amazing in MTB.

-That’s right. I like J. Cole.

-Still, I like FiveSix more. His purpose in making music is pure.

-I don’t know. Would someone truly pure appear on a commercial broadcast like *The X Factor*?

-What crazy talk are you spouting? FiveSix was a strong contender to win *The X Factor*. $5 million was almost within his grasp. But as soon as the collaboration with Eminem was confirmed, he walked away from the $5 million.

-Isn’t that just because Sony Music’s meddling got on FiveSix’s nerves? He didn’t come back because he felt like shit.

-Can you give up $5 million just because you feel a little bad?

-Um… no.

-The rappers who participated in *The X Factor* are the ones who are pitiful. It seems like they’re all overshadowed by Five’s shadow?

-Is Hime the only rapper left now? I think Hime will be eliminated this week too.

-That’s because FiveSix raised the standard of rap performance to the maximum and then left.

-Plan Paper clumsily tried to imitate Lonely Road and completely failed. That guy lost everything without gaining anything. Why did he even appear on *The X Factor*?

-If FiveSix hadn’t appeared, PP would have benefited quite a bit, right? He’s honestly too handsome.

-His skills?

-His face.

It had been a while since Sanghyun was eliminated from *The X Factor*, but the public still mentioned Sanghyun’s name whenever they talked about the show.

No matter what the outcome, the real winner was FiveSix.

And this public opinion intensified even more after the Grammy Award nominations were announced.

It didn’t make sense that a musician nominated for a Grammy Award’s main award was eliminated from ‘just’ *The X Factor*, and there were rumors involving Sony Music about the reason for his elimination.

-Will Golden Nu-Era be able to win an award?

-I don’t know. Isn’t Lil Wayne too strong for Best Rap Album or Best Rap Solo Performance?

-I don’t know. I think No Color is a better song than A Milli. Because No Color is a story that can only be told through hip-hop music.

-But the Grammys consider both commercial success and musicality. If they think the musicality is similar, isn’t Lil Wayne too far ahead in commercial success?

-What bullshit are you talking about? MTB is far ahead in terms of musicality. Lil Wayne is an incredibly good rapper, but the overall significance of the album is much greater in MTB.

-That’s just your opinion. Just because music satisfies the public doesn’t mean it’s less musical. That’s just a snobbery of enthusiasts.

-I also think it will be difficult for MTB to win in the album or solo categories. But isn’t a collaboration possible?

-Jay-Z and Golden Nu-Era seem to be neck and neck. Jay-Z has a much higher name value, but the Grammys don’t surprisingly value name value that much.

-The Grammys don’t care about name value? If FiveSix hadn’t appeared on *The X Factor*, would MTB have been nominated? I doubt it.

-It’s true that the Grammys care about public awareness, but MTB would have been nominated in the hip-hop field regardless of *The X Factor*. It just wouldn’t have been nominated for the main award.

-If Golden Nu-Era wins Best New Artist, *The X Factor* will be incredibly embarrassed.

-They’re already embarrassed enough just with the nomination.

-There’s still one more way for them to be even more embarrassed. Let’s wait for tomorrow. The announcement is usually around this time.

-Announcement? What announcement? The nomination list has already been announced.

-Have you forgotten what the Grammy Awards announce after the nominations?

-Ah, that thing, right?

-What is it, you bastards?

As someone predicted, ‘that thing’ that would make *The X Factor* production team even more embarrassed was announced the next day.

The 51st Grammy Awards were scheduled to be held on February 8th, and *The X Factor*’s final stage was scheduled to take place on January 16th. There was a difference of about three weeks in terms of timing, which was a very clever choice by *The X Factor*.

Unlike Korean award ceremonies held at the end of the year, the Grammy Awards were held in February.

The nomination list is usually released in December, so singers aiming for a Grammy had no choice but to avoid releasing albums from November to February.

Albums released after the nomination announcement are also eligible for a Grammy the following year, but by then, many other strong albums have been released, so interest wanes and they are buried. Therefore, November to February could be said to be the biggest slump in the American record market.

*The X Factor*’s schedule, which started in October and ended in mid-January, took advantage of this gap in the record market cycle very well.

The profits earned by releasing the songs that received favorable reviews in the 4th audition, Lonely Road, as singles were also considerable.

However, a situation occurred that *The X Factor* had never imagined.

That was the announcement of the Grammy Awards’ ‘celebratory performers.’

With Golden Nu-Era included.

Even after FiveSix’s elimination, *The X Factor* was in a state of controversy over fairness and the level of the participants. With each episode, comments such as ‘If Lonely Road had been there, he would have been number 1’ were dominating the internet.

That’s why the judges also had a sense of quickly eliminating the rappers.

Once the rappers were all eliminated, it wouldn’t be possible to accurately compare them with songs of different genres.

However, with FiveSix’s performance scheduled for the Grammy Awards celebration performance, which was only 3 weeks away from the final stage, comparisons could not be avoided until the end.

And what if FiveSix’s performance was incomparably better than *The X Factor*’s final?

A situation would arise that could not be more embarrassing.

In fact, *The X Factor* was an infinite competition format where they had to prepare a stage every week, so it was bound to be inferior compared to the Grammy stage, which could be prepared for several months.

However, the public wouldn’t care about such things.

Therefore, *The X Factor* was praying with both hands that Sanghyun’s performance would be a disaster.

But news that made the prayer seem futile came one after another.

Eminem was included in the announcement of the second lineup of performers, which is announced when circumstances arise that prevent a performer from attending, or when performers are added.

-Eminem With 50Cent, FiveSix

With a stage with Sanghyun foreshadowed.

***

< Verse 42. 2009 > End

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