The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 305

더 랩스타-305화(305/309)

< Verse 47. On & On >

Officially started in 1979 by the Sugarhill Gang, rap has become a popular culture with a history of over 30 years.

Over those 30 years, countless rappers have emerged, gained popularity, and disappeared. Many deserved the title of superstar.

However, among so many rappers, none achieved global popularity.

Eminem came closest, but even he couldn’t completely bridge the cultural gap. Rap in Eastern cultures was a subculture, and Eminem’s rap was too faithful to the unfamiliar position of ‘white trash.’

The same was true for other rappers, not just Eminem.

Rap is an art form where you tell your own story, so if the culture itself is different, it’s not easy to convey your emotions 100% to the public.

That’s why no one has ever dominated the world with rap.

But now, that was changing.

Because there was a rapper who was born and raised in Eastern culture and evolved in Western culture.

And that rapper chewed up the birthplace of hip-hop and embarked on a world tour.

The world’s first hip-hop world tour.

The Golden Nu-Era Tour.

The world’s first rap superstar.

FiveSix.

The final performance of the Golden Nu-Era Tour, which contained these meanings, began with the appearance of a singer familiar to the Korean public.

The audience who came to the concert cheered loudly at the familiar face.

-Wowww!

-Kim Woong-gak!!

-Choi Tae-il!

Standing tall on the stage with their respective instruments under the lights were faces familiar to Sang-hyun.

It was the veteran band Indie Kid.

When Sang-hyun first met Indie Kid, they were already veterans. They weren’t hugely popular with the public, but they consistently made their music and had the title of ‘musicians’ musician.’

This was still the case 6 years later.

They were still making their music and were respected by musicians.

The only difference was that after joining a company and working with Sang-hyun on ‘After Today,’ they tried to capture mainstream popularity.

Thanks to this, Indie Kid were now stars who enjoyed great popularity musically and were musicians who could be sufficiently invited to the Golden Nu-Era Tour.

-Doo doo doo doo!

Amid the cheers of the crowd, drummer Kim Woong-gak vigorously started the performance by drumming.

There were no comments.

They were just satisfying the public with music.

Sang-hyun watched Indie Kid’s performance from behind the stage, as they poured out hit songs.

It had been a while since he had seen Indie Kid, but they were the same as ever.

No, it seemed like they had developed even more as time passed.

After the opening had been going on for a while, Standard approached and exclaimed in admiration.

“Wow, they’re good. Especially the drums and bass are amazing. The team I saw in your hometown was L&S, right? Their bassist was really great, but this one is just as good.”

“Of course. These two teams are considered the top players among Korean band players.”

“I heard L&S are like family? Then are you close to this band too?”

“Close, you say?”

Indie Kid and 888 Crew’s first meeting wasn’t good.

Due to the manipulated interview by Show Business Editor Hwang Joo-cheol, Indie Kid and 888 Crew had an awkward relationship without even seeing each other’s faces.

But 888 Crew was too attractive a team to end like that, and Indie Kid were veterans who could be respected.

The two teams quickly came to recognize and like each other.

Come to think of it, Sang-hyun’s first appearance on a music show was with Indie Kid for ‘After Today.’

Of course, Sang-hyun was also human, so he couldn’t take care of everyone.

So when he was in the United States, he didn’t contact Indie Kid often. He only called them once in a while during holidays.

But even so, he still respected Indie Kid, and he was confident that Indie Kid would also respect him.

That’s why Sang-hyun smiled and answered Standard’s question.

“We’re close; that’s why we have this stage.”

Around that time, the staff could be seen gesturing towards Sang-hyun.

Sang-hyun nodded and headed somewhere.

The place he was heading to was the stage.

The stage where Indie Kid’s vocalist Choi Tae-il was singing the first verse of ‘After Today.’

After today-

With the two words goodbye-

Leaving behind the castle of time we built together

We’ll be leaving-

Choi Tae-il, who was passionately singing ‘After Today’ with his eyes closed, felt the audience heating up.

He could tell even without looking.

Because there was only one reason why noisy sounds started to be heard and the temperature of the audience rose rapidly.

The moment the faint silhouette seen from behind the stage began to take proper shape, the sharp screams of female audience members erupted.

-Kyaaaaaaaak!!

-Kyaaaaaaaa!

In between, Sang-hyun’s murmuring began with the chorus.

After today-

With the two words goodbye-

Leaving behind the castle of time we built together

We’ll be leaving-

As the song sung by Choi Tae-il and Sang-hyun’s quiet mumbling began to create a strange harmony, another sound penetrated between the songs.

-After today, with the two words goodbye

-Leaving behind the castle of time we built together

-We’ll be leaving

It was the voices of the audience.

The sight of tens of thousands of spectators singing in one voice was a chilling sight no matter how many times you saw it.

Meanwhile, Sang-hyun, who had approached the center of the stage, stood next to Choi Tae-il.

Choi Tae-il and Sang-hyun’s eyes met.

Choi Tae-il thought he had already reminisced with Sang-hyun during rehearsals. Sang-hyun was the same as ever, and it seemed like nothing had changed.

But that was Choi Tae-il’s delusion.

The man named ‘Lee Sang-hyun’ who ran over and greeted him as soon as he saw him hadn’t changed from 5 years ago, but the musician ‘FiveSix’ on stage was not.

Sang-hyun seemed very large.

He hadn’t even started rapping properly yet, but it already felt like it was over.

No, there was something that couldn’t be explained with this expression.

Choi Tae-il thought that the reason he couldn’t explain it in words was because he hadn’t seen the end yet.

The end of the music he was making.

‘I judged this guy at Jeonju World DJ Festival [a Korean music festival] back then, right?’

Moreover, he had even eliminated him once.

He suddenly found it interesting.

And he suddenly became greedy.

A desire to prove that he had also worked hard, just as Sang-hyun had grown over the past 5 years.

Choi Tae-il began to sing as if he was vomiting everything out.

But it wasn’t excessive.

‘After Today’ was a song that contained his experience of preparing for an inevitable breakup with his girlfriend, and the emotion of strength didn’t suit this song.

He was just putting more sincerity into it.

The harmony of Sang-hyun, Choi Tae-il, and the audience continued.

A moment later, the moment Choi Tae-il’s voice disappeared, Sang-hyun’s rap began.

Sorry, I was too hasty

The time has come to stop

Around February when I was nineteen and still cold

I fell for you and that’s still valid

Sang-hyun’s greatest strength as a musician.

Extreme delivery.

The talent to convey what he wants to express 100% without loss, whether it’s emotion, lyrics, or vibe.

It was a talent he had from the beginning, but Sang-hyun honed it even more. Talent combined with constant effort could only shine brilliantly.

The mouths of people who were seeing Sang-hyun’s live performance for the first time in a long time, or for the first time ever, dropped open.

‘Is this possible?’

More than 90% of the reason why people who dislike rap don’t listen to it is probably ‘because they can’t hear what they’re saying.’

But if all the rappers in the world were like Lee Sang-hyun, this reason would have disappeared.

So much so that it felt like the expression ‘reading the letters engraved in the air’ was more appropriate than the expression ‘listening’.

The silence that appeared when H&R INC’s sound technology team’s painstaking efforts were added to Sang-hyun’s already perfect delivery.

The voices of the audience members who had been following the song one by one began to disappear.

The reason was simple.

It was because they didn’t want to ruin Lee Sang-hyun’s amazing delivery.

Amid the 80,000 spectators who had become quiet, Sang-hyun continued to draw a picture.

A picture that everyone could see clearly.

I wanted to trap you in a frame called me,

but I was quite wrong.

It was good, thinking of you

Now I give up, the conclusion of you and me that I came to with difficulty

It seemed like Choi Tae-il and his girlfriend were being drawn in people’s eyes.

But there was one interesting point.

In the past, when Sang-hyun sang ‘After Today,’ people used to say that Sang-hyun seemed to be pouring out his emotions as if he had become Choi Tae-il.

This was because they felt such deep immersion and strong emotions.

But not now.

The Sang-hyun rapping today didn’t feel like he was immersed in Choi Tae-il, but like someone watching and conveying Choi Tae-il and her story from the side.

It was as if someone close to them, who knew their story and felt sorry for them, was speaking for their sadness.

It was a very amazing thing.

The fact that subjectivity could be alive while conveying emotions as they were was a really great ability.

In this case, there was no situation in the world that Sang-hyun couldn’t express. Because he could perfectly convey even stories he hadn’t experienced himself.

This change occurred after Sang-hyun was eliminated from X-Factor [a televised singing competition].

Sang-hyun gained his own originality by singing Lonely Road on X-Factor.

Thanks to this, Sang-hyun’s rap never lost ‘Lee Sang-hyun’ unless he intentionally intended to.

Of course, I say, it’s not your fault at all

It’s just that 1 times

0 and 100 times 0 are the same 0

No matter how many emotions I have, I’m 0 in you

The punchlines that made people admire exploded and the rap began to run towards the end.

At that moment, Sang-hyun was thinking of one woman.

Sang-hyun realized her feelings just before leaving for the United States, but when he thought about it, her affection seemed to have been much earlier.

Like the current lyrics, he hadn’t properly caught the 100 emotions she gave him. Perhaps he hadn’t even properly caught his own emotions.

He had definitely felt an impulse in the United States.

An impulse to see her, talk to her, and make memories together.

And he had become convinced while talking to Melody.

But the day to express that conviction was inevitably postponed far into the future.

This was because Standard had an accident a few days later. He couldn’t leave the United States leaving behind a friend who had taken the terror that was directed at him and was not regaining consciousness.

And now was the time.

Perhaps she was tired of waiting too long.

No, that would be the case.

5 years was a very long time.

So he was sorry, and now it was time for him to convey 100 emotions in reverse.

After today, when everything is settled.

At that moment, the rap ended and Choi Tae-il’s chorus began.

In that way, the voices of two musicians thinking of different women began to mix once again.

After today-

With the two words goodbye-

Leaving behind the castle of time we built together

We’ll be leaving-

In that way, Indie Kid and Sang-hyun’s ‘After Today’ was decorating the end of the opening performance.

***

< Verse 47. On & On > End

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