The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 284

< Verse 44. The End >

-Who is the most beloved musician in New York?

As the public reveled in the joy of the Happy New Year, a voice began to resonate.

While the audience, without realizing it, pondered their favorite musicians, the recorded voice continued through the speakers.

-Who is the musician who made New York the hottest city?

-Who is the musician representing New York?

-Who are we asking to elevate the New York scene to the next level?

Throughout its storied history, New York has embraced countless musicians.

In the pop era, there was Frank Sinatra, and during the golden age of hip-hop, there was Notorious B.I.G.

But now, on this first day of 2010, the musician representing New York wasn’t them.

It was…

-Hoooooooova!

It was Jay-Z, appearing and shouting his second stage name, Hova, a reference to Jehovah.

-Doo-doo-doo-doo doom!

Simultaneously with Jay-Z’s entrance, a drum loop that made the listeners’ hearts pound erupted.

-Kyaaaaaa!

-It’s Jay-Z!

-Empire State of Mind!

Times Square began to shake, and from the moment Jay-Z raised his right hand, everyone’s hands shot up into the sky.

“New York City! Stand up!”

Without a doubt, the most commercially successful rapper of 2009 was FiveSix, Sanghyun.

*Touch The Sky* achieved tremendous sales, holding the number one spot on the Billboard album chart for four consecutive weeks, a record that may never be broken.

However, in New York, the title of best rapper wouldn’t automatically go to Sanghyun.

It wasn’t just about a single track, or even the overall quality of an album.

Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” was the final piece of the puzzle that Sanghyun hadn’t conquered, having topped the Billboard singles chart for five weeks.

*The Blueprint 3* [Jay-Z’s album title], the album the King of New York released in response to public criticism that he was becoming too commercial, was enough to showcase his musical prowess.

And now, Jay-Z was once again beginning to demonstrate his power to the public.

Yeah, I’m out that Brooklyn.

(Yeah, I’m from Brooklyn)

Now, I’m Down in Tribeca.

(Now I’m in Tribeca)

Jay-Z’s concise yet raw rap flowed into Times Square.

Jay-Z’s strength lay in his ability to rap at a high level while maintaining an approachable style.

Because his rapping feels effortless, he sometimes receives the unwelcome label of a commercial rapper, but his skills are undeniably top-tier.

Sanghyun, backstage, could feel it too.

Sitting close to the court

The Knicks and Nets don’t even give me high fives

I can knock over the referee when I’m mad

Looking at my attitude, you know where I’m from

“From-!”

With Jay-Z’s shout, the audience’s ‘New York-‘ erupted.

With that, Alicia Keys, the featured artist on “Empire State of Mind,” appeared.

concrete jungle where dreams are made of-

(Concrete jungle where dreams are made of)

There’s nothin’ you can’t do

(There’s nothing you can’t do here)

Now you’re in New York

(Now you’re in New York)

These streets will make you feel brand new

(These streets will make you feel brand new)

Big lights will inspire you

(Big lights will inspire you)

Let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York

(Let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York)

The sight of tens of thousands of people shouting “New York” together sent chills down the spines of both New Yorkers and visitors alike.

As Alicia Keys’ chorus came to an end, Jay-Z shouted.

“Who represents New York? Who represents New York!”

In response to the question ‘Who represent N.Y.?’, people chanted ‘Jay-Z’ or ‘Hova’.

At that moment, Jay-Z opened his mouth again.

“That’s right! I love New York. But the game must be fair. Who represents the West Coast? Who represents the West Coast? Who represents LA!”

-Bang!

Before people could even answer, a firework of tremendous brightness exploded.

And someone appeared.

There are thousands of stars and tens of thousands of musicians in the United States, so quite a few musicians could perform at the countdown event.

But among them, there would definitely be only one person with yellow skin and black hair.

-FiveSix!

-Five!!

It was Sanghyun.

Sanghyun started rapping as soon as he appeared.

City of Angels,

Or City of Danger

I have a major dream

I came here

Sanghyun’s lyrics, filling “Empire State of Mind” with Jay-Z, were from “LA UP.”

Originally, Sanghyun was going to change the lyrics “LA” to “N.Y.”

It was for the same reason that when singing “Gwangju Up” in Seoul, it would be changed to “Seoul Up.”

However, Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s company that first proposed this stage, requested that they keep the lyrics as “LA.”

Just as people applauded when Jay-Z and Nas, who had been in a diss battle for years over the title of King of New York, reconciled, and just as the two’s collaboration track, which was arbitrarily created after the deaths of Tupac and Biggie, gained popularity, this was to showcase a scene of harmony between regions within hip hop.

LA is my second home,

The whole country is my stage

Shot from Korea in 11 hours

Gun Scope Laser

But Sanghyun actually knew why Roc Nation made such a proposal.

It was because they wanted to show the whole country Jay-Z winning against ‘the hottest rapper in America’ with the support of New York citizens.

Jay-Z was enjoying tremendous popularity with a series of successful super singles such as “Empire State Of Mind,” “Run This Town,” and “D.O.A,” but his album was receiving lower reviews compared to Sanghyun’s album.

Jay-Z was a smart man.

He called himself ‘Black Warren Buffett’ and made various moves befitting that title.

The story of him acquiring a cheap foreign champagne company at a low price and transforming the champagne into a luxury brand in the United States by periodically featuring it in music videos and lyrics is well-known.

That’s why Roc Nation, led by Jay-Z, was well-versed in various marketing methods.

Of course, Jay-Z’s actions weren’t inherently bad. It was an effort within the music industry for a musician to try to show his best side and create opportunities.

However, Sanghyun could have rejected Roc Nation’s request.

It was a request that was disadvantageous to him, and Sanghyun could also have tried to show his best side to the citizens of New York.

But the reason Sanghyun didn’t reject Roc Nation’s request was because he wanted to accept Jay-Z’s challenge that he had thrown down in 2006.

It was to enjoy the pleasure of becoming Jay-Z’s competitor.

It was because he wanted to beat Jay-Z in Jay-Z’s home ground.

The pleasant imaginations he had when he came to America.

The desire to stand on the same stage with idols such as Eminem and Jay-Z.

However, it was undeniable that there was a strong ambition behind that desire to ‘beat them’.

Now, Sanghyun’s life started with music and ended with music.

Yeah, Scope.

Someone will laugh at my aim.

Calling me a yellow Smurf

I’ll imitate Gargamel.

Sanghyun’s rap poured out, and Jay-Z’s doubling perfectly complemented it.

There are some musicians who don’t do doubling properly because they want to stand out more than their opponent.

But Jay-Z wasn’t like that.

Jay-Z also wanted to beat ‘Perfect FiveSix’. Just like Sanghyun.

‘If we’re both perfect, I’ll win.’

Sanghyun poured out his rap with such confidence.

And as Sanghyun’s rap continued, the cheers of the people grew louder and louder. They were screaming as if today was the last day.

And when the cheers reached an unbelievable level, Jay-Z finally burst into a hearty laugh.

Call me a yellow monkey,

But this is a planet and I’m Caesar

Scope ‘La-ser’ on the mic,

This is a typo, I’m ‘LA-Sir’.

It was the first time Jay-Z was on the same stage as Sanghyun.

He had watched the stage at the Grammy Awards or the BET Hip Hop Awards, but he had never been on the same stage, with the same beat, and with the same setup.

And today he could see.

That the feeling of watching FiveSix’s stage and rapping together was completely different.

In fact, during the stage production meeting, when the idea came up to give FiveSix the position representing LA, Jay-Z thought that it might be disadvantageous to FiveSix.

And he thought that if FiveSix had any thoughts, he wouldn’t openly shout out LA in the middle of New York.

However, a few days later, after receiving a message from FiveSix’s side that they had accepted, he thought that FiveSix or Hadel Raines weren’t as smart as he thought.

But it wasn’t like that.

FiveSix had entered the ring while giving up home advantage.

Just like the greatest champions of all time.

‘Against me.’

And surprisingly, it wasn’t arrogance.

Jay-Z listened to Sanghyun’s rap and understood and acknowledged it.

He doesn’t know how many years he will be making music in the future, and he doesn’t know how many years FiveSix will be making music.

He doesn’t know how much longer their era will overlap.

But what is clear is that FiveSix was a musician who existed on a higher plane than him.

‘Crazy. Everyone wouldn’t believe it if I said I thought this?’

Jay-Z had only thought that someone was above him twice.

Once was when he felt it with Eminem while featuring on “Renegade,” and once was when he felt it with Biggie, who was a friend and teacher.

However, the former was an emotion he only felt in one track because the rap styles were completely different, and the latter was because Biggie met an unfortunate death.

But this time it didn’t seem like that.

‘Touch The Sky. He named it well.’

Finally, Sanghyun’s verse ended and Alicia Keys’ chorus began.

-Kyaaaaaa!

-FiveSix!

However, people were still calling Sanghyun’s name the loudest.

That’s how the “Empire State Of Mind” stage was coming to an end.

***

Jay-Z and Sanghyun originally prepared a total of 3 songs.

“Empire State Of Mind.”

“Lonely Road Part 2.”

“Swagger Like Us.”

Since all three songs featured female vocals, to be exact, it was a stage for three people including Alicia Keys.

However, as a result, two songs were performed as a joint performance, and the last song was Sanghyun’s solo performance.

This was done at Sanghyun’s strong request.

‘Hadel. I’m sorry, but please do it.’

‘Don’t worry.’

Sanghyun knew that Hadel Raines was working hard and making many unfavorable promises to fulfill his unreasonable request.

To Roc Nation, to the City of New York, and to EMI Music, the production company of the countdown event.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t give up.

Now that he has come to the most shining place in the world.

The lights on the stage went out all at once the moment Jay-Z and Sanghyun’s “Lonely Road Part 2” ended.

Hasty people thought that the countdown event was finally over, and some people wondered if the stage had ended without any ending remarks.

At that moment, a slightly soft piano sound and FiveSix’s voice were heard from the darkness.

“When the new year dawns, the streets will be filled with joy. We wish our family, lovers, and friends good luck in the new year and hope that our work will go well this year.”

The lights on the stage were still not turned on.

However, the moment Sanghyun’s low voice spread throughout Times Square, many people’s attention was focused on the stage.

There was no need to stand on tiptoes to see the stage, and there was no need to strain to shout.

The stage was dark and FiveSix’s face was not visible.

They just had to hold the hand of the person next to them or think of someone’s face.

“I think Times Square is the brightest place in the world right now. I think it might be the loudest place too. So, aren’t they watching us here now?”

The piano sound got a little louder.

At the same time, a light appeared on the stage that could barely accommodate one person.

A light drawing a small circle.

People thought that FiveSix would be under that light, but in fact, there was no one under that light.

Only longing was placed under that light.

“A song for someone who will love you forever.”

That’s how Sanghyun’s “I Swear” began.

I swear, I will not forget you.

I swear, my life will shine brightly.

The piano sound was not loud.

Sanghyun’s voice was not loud either.

However, those sounds were conveyed very clearly to the ears of those who had stopped walking.

Touch The Sky, I can touch the sky

Because you are reaching out from there

When my music rings, people scream

I wonder if you heard that sound

People thought of someone’s face that they wanted to be standing in the small, bright circle of light that appeared on the stage.

I now drive your dream car

I even filmed an advertisement recently

I’ll fill my surroundings with flashlights

Become the brightest person on earth, so you can see me well.

Sanghyun quietly shed tears while singing in the dark.

At that moment, an amazing thing happened.

The lights on the buildings around Times Square began to turn on one by one.

And the light started from the first floor and gradually spread upwards.

Finally, when the lights were turned on in all the buildings around the square, the whole street was filled with bright light.

It really felt like it had become the brightest place in the world.

It was Hadel’s gift to Sanghyun.

Maybe you are too bright to be seen by my eyes.

Or maybe it’s too big to feel

Or maybe you already live inside me

Maybe all the happiness in the world is thanks to you

The sound of the song, which started with someone’s murmur, spread throughout the street the moment Sanghyun’s first verse ended.

Sanghyun listened to the song and thought that he had really done well to make music.

And he thought that if he achieved just one more thing, he would achieve everything he had wished for while making music.

It was the Grammy Award.

I swear, I will not forget you.

I swear, my life will shine brightly.

I swear, there will always be a microphone in my hands

I swear, this song will reach you

‘I will keep all the promises in this song and come see you.’

He would surely be holding a trophy in his hand as he headed to Korea soon.

Times Square opening 2010.

A stage that will be forever mentioned along with the countdown event.

Sanghyun’s song was endlessly echoing there.

< Verse 44. The End >