The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 287

< Verse 44. The End >

***

In early February 2010, the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony unfolded in grand style at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

2010 could easily be called the year of Black music.

Except for Taylor Swift and King Of Leon, most of the nominees and likely winners at the Grammys were Black music artists.

Even in the four main categories, the majority of strong contenders were Black musicians.

It was an unusual sight for the conservative Grammy Awards, which had long discriminated against Black musicians.

And amidst this scene, there was an especially peculiar presence.

A figure classified as a Black musician but not possessing dark skin. Not even white skin.

It was FiveSix.

Having swept through the beginning of 2009, FiveSix was practically guaranteed the award, and experts suggested he could even aim for two or three main awards.

Consequently, not only the United States but also Asian countries, including Korea, had a keen interest in this year’s Grammys.

However, the public, watching the Grammy Awards that began with Lady Gaga’s performance, couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Thirty minutes had already passed since the Grammy Awards started, yet FiveSix or any H&R INC members had not been caught on camera even once.

Up until this point, people assumed that the H&R INC members were not in the audience because they were preparing for their next performance.

But after performances by Beyoncé and Pink, and as the Michael Jackson tribute performance, commemorating his unfortunate death in 2009, began, the public’s confusion grew.

Eminem and FiveSix were scheduled to appear in the Michael Jackson tribute performance, which Usher and seven other singers were to participate in.

This was because these two musicians fit the frame of ‘resolving racial discrimination’ that Michael Jackson had opened up with his musicality.

However, when the performance actually started, only Eminem was on screen.

FiveSix was nowhere to be seen.

Neither Kendrick Lamar nor J. Cole appeared.

They did not show up when the winners were announced, nor when their congratulatory performance was about to begin.

Not until the Grammy Awards ended.

***

There is a common perception that Black people hate white people.

This is sometimes true, but sometimes it is false.

Some people may hate the category of white people because of the racial discrimination they receive from white people, but there are also many Black and white people who form friendships when they meet as individuals.

However, if you change ‘white people’ to ‘white police officers’ in this proposition, it mostly becomes true.

Black people, especially those in impoverished neighborhoods, despise and hate white police officers.

There have been numerous riots and protests by Black people due to excessive violent crackdowns by white police officers, and a deep-seated animosity towards the police can be found in the lyrics of many hip-hop musicians.

It’s no wonder that the song that made N.W.A stars was ‘Fuck Tha Police’.

From this perception of Black people, a game, or rather, a prank, arose: ‘Shooting a cop car’.

This game literally involved shooting at police cars. However, the reason it was called a game was that they fired ‘paintball guns’ instead of real guns. The more surprised the police were and the more accidents they caused, the more they were treated like heroes.

From the early 90s, this ‘game’ was treated as a direct act of terrorism against public authority and became a serious felony punishable by severe penalties in most states, but it did not greatly suppress the behavior.

There are still numerous videos on YouTube of people shooting paintball guns at police cars.

The movie 8Mile featured a scene where the protagonist and his friends shot paintball guns at a police car, resulting in a warning.

Of course, this behavior only occurred in slums or crime-ridden areas, not in complex urban areas, so it rarely led to very serious accidents.

However, violence, as always, tends to breed greater violence.

In Detroit, there were cases of shooting air rifles instead of paintball guns, and in Chicago, there were people who threatened citizens with what appeared to be real guns as a prank.

Today was no different.

“Hey, isn’t that FiveSix’s car?”

“What?”

As soon as Nick Jonas, a native of LA, heard his friend’s words, he turned his head towards the road.

On the road, FiveSix’s BMW convertible, famous for its advertisements, was stopped at a traffic light.

“That’s right. The monkey’s car [a derogatory term]. Is he going to the Grammy Awards?”

Nick Jonas asked his friend.

“Are you sure? It’s not like that car model is the only one in LA.”

“No, it’s him. I saw that number when I saw him in Pasadena.”

“Damn. Are you sure?”

“I’m telling you, it’s him.”

“Let’s go.”

Nick Jonas urged his friend to get into his car.

In the meantime, FiveSix’s car had already started, but if he was indeed going to the Staples Center, they could catch up.

“What are you going to do?”

“Do you have the gun?”

“Are you crazy? Do you want to go to jail?”

Nick Jonas’s friend shouted in surprise.

“If you ruin someone’s life, you have to pay the price.”

“Stop this madness and stop the car!”

“Damn it, who said I’m going to shoot a real gun? I’m just going to scare him. Do you have the paintball gun?”

“Ah… you scared me. I thought this bastard was really crazy.”

“Where is it? The paintball gun?”

“In the back seat.”

“Bring it here.”

At that moment, FiveSix’s convertible was visible in the distance.

“Someone’s life is ruined, but that bastard is comfortably going to the Grammy Awards? Hey, there aren’t any escort vehicles, right?”

At Jonas’s question, his friend looked around.

However, there were no cars with bodyguards in them. Only the cars coming from the opposite lane were honking their horns after spotting FiveSix’s car.

“There aren’t any… Ugh, damn it. I don’t know.”

“When the signal stops, grab the steering wheel. If you go straight here, it’s Blumont Road. There aren’t many cars.”

Nick Jonas moved to the passenger seat and filled the paintball gun.

Meanwhile, the BMW convertible and Nick Jonas’s car exited the city center and drove along the Long Beach Freeway, adjacent to the Los Angeles River.

Sanghyun didn’t know Nick Jonas. But Nick Jonas sincerely believed that his life was ruined because of FiveSix.

Because his stage name was ‘Bell Force’.

“Is that bastard speeding?”

“Overtake him. Quickly.”

“Hey, the speed is too fast right now.”

“Damn it, hurry up!”

Finally, Nick Jonas’s car overtook FiveSix’s car, and Nick Jonas lowered the window and took out the paintball gun.

However, perhaps because he was facing the sun, FiveSix didn’t seem to notice him.

-Honk honk!

Nick Jonas honked the horn with his left hand.

‘Damn bastard. He must be terrified, right?’

He wanted to see FiveSix’s expression, but because he was at an angle, his face was not clearly visible due to the front frame of the car.

-Bang bang!

The paintball gun, modified to sound like a real gunshot, made a loud noise and spat fire.

-Screech!

FiveSix, startled, slammed on the brakes and turned the steering wheel in the opposite direction.

Up to this point, it was just one of many pranks.

Although he had been actively threatening, FiveSix probably realized by now that it wasn’t a real gun.

But it wasn’t.

Nick Jonas had not realized how threatening his threat was, and he had not realized how fast the two cars were traveling, unlike the usual pranks.

And he didn’t think that FiveSix was not from the United States and had never experienced such a thing.

“You crazy bastard!”

At the same time as his friend’s shout, FiveSix’s car completely crossed the center line and lost its balance.

“Sh, shit!”

A truck was speeding in the opposite lane.

In a short period of less than 2 seconds, Nick Jonas was frightened, regretted his actions, and planned to escape.

Meanwhile, the truck’s horn blared, and FiveSix’s car skidded with a ‘screeching’ sound.

And,

-Crash!

The truck slammed into the side of the BMW convertible.

***

Hardel Raines, the head of H&R INC, endured the urge to rush out and guarded the Grammy Awards ceremony.

His heart was pounding and his breathing was rapid, but he knew there was nothing he could do right now. He also knew that all he could do was accept the award on someone else’s behalf.

So, he asked Eminem to take over the Michael Jackson tribute performance part that Sanghyun was originally supposed to do and sat down, feigning composure.

Because when he first jumped into the music industry, following his uncle, the manager of the band Blue Cheer [an American rock band formed in the late 1960s], there was a saying he had engraved in his heart.

‘Don’t be overjoyed or disheartened by the affairs of your affiliated musicians. Especially if that musician is a superstar. A star’s life is like a roller coaster, and if there is no safety bar, they will eventually fall. That’s why you need a safety bar that never wavers.’

Perhaps the reason Hardel Raines started cold-blooded promotions that didn’t consider musicians was because of this saying.

But at that moment, two other people’s words came to mind.

One was Jay-Z, whom he had met at a party the day before yesterday, and the other one was…

“Hardel. What’s wrong? Why didn’t Sanghyun come? And why aren’t Kendrick and J. Cole here either?”

At that moment, Melody approached Hardel and asked. Next to Melody was Hime, wearing a puzzled expression.

Looking around, the cameras were off, and it was commercial time.

Melody and Hime were not the only ones asking about the Golden New Era members. Starting with them, KRS-One, Eminem, Jay-Z, L.A. Reid, Simon Cowell, and others approached.

This was because it was not a trivial matter for a musician who was expected to win an award, received national attention, and was scheduled for a congratulatory performance to be absent.

Moreover, it wasn’t just Sanghyun who was absent, but all the H&R INC members were absent.

Hardel slowly opened his mouth towards them, recalling his conversation with Jay-Z at the party a while ago.

‘I’m not sure if it’s a slump. Usually, if it’s a slump, you feel tormented and frustrated, right? I’m not like that.’

‘There are cases like that.’

‘What kind of cases?’

‘When you’ve decided to quit music.’

‘I don’t think that’s it. What would I live on if I quit music?’

At that time, Hardel intervened in the conversation between Jay-Z and Sanghyun.

‘What are you guys talking about, enemies?’

After that, the topic of conversation changed, and Hardel and Jay-Z reminisced about old memories.

Sanghyun left in the meantime, and Hardel talked with Jay-Z about Death Row Records [a record company founded in 1991] and Notorious B.I.G [an American rapper who was murdered in 1997].

‘Hardel. You were listening to the story I shared with FiveSix, right? About the slump.’

‘I was listening.’

‘There’s another case where you don’t care even if you’re in a slump, even though FiveSix said it wasn’t.’

‘What…?’

‘It’s unconscious. A situation where you unconsciously know that you can no longer make music.’

Jay-Z remembered the last moment he met Biggie.

At that time, Biggie was a few days away from releasing his second album, .

‘Biggie told me this at the time. Strangely, I can’t come up with lyrics these days. I’m not sure if I’ll ever make killer raps like my first or second album again. But what’s even stranger is that I don’t care.’

And a few days later, Biggie met his death in LA, California, Tupac’s hometown.

The driver of the Chevrolet pulled out a gun and indiscriminately shot Biggie as he parked next to a black Chevrolet.

‘Sometimes people think that Biggie’s album name was decided after his death, but that’s not true. and [Biggie’s first album] are so meaningful that it’s chilling.’

‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘Because when I see FiveSix these days, he seems like someone who is spitting everything out. It seems like he needs someone to present him with a vision after the Grammy Awards.’

Hardel Raines was greeted by a group of reporters as he left the Staples Center after the Grammy Awards.

They had the same skin color as FiveSix.

They seemed to be reporters from Korea.

“Why didn’t FiveSix attend the Grammy Awards? Is it a sign of dissatisfaction for not receiving an award last year?”

Hardel thought the reporter’s question was pathetic.

If that were the case, he wouldn’t have been on the Grammy congratulatory performance lineup, and he would have rejected the Michael Jackson tribute performance offer.

Hardel was about to ignore the reporters and pass by when he suddenly had an idea and asked.

“Is this live?”

“Yes?”

“I mean, is what I’m saying now being broadcast live in Korea?”

“It’s not live, but it will be delivered to Korea within 10 minutes. If it’s an important article that requires immediate attention, it will be reported in Korea right away.”

Hardel recalled the 888 Crew [likely a reference to a specific group or fanbase], whom he had never seen in person but had heard so much about from Sanghyun that it felt like he had seen them.

It seemed right that the news should be delivered to them as well.

Hardel Raines told the Korean media the facts he knew, recalling the words left by another person, an eternal rock star.

‘Please remember. It’s better to burn out in a moment than to fade away slowly.’

***

< Verse 44. The End >

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