The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 307

< Verse 47. On & On >

The loudest cheers of the day erupted.

Indeed, it was the 888 Crew that appeared on stage.

Finally, the lights brightened, and Sanghyun and Junhyung’s palms met at the center of the stage.

Sanghyun hadn’t lied.

The Golden New Era Tour had come to an end.

But the 888 Show was just beginning.

“You all know what we’re about to play! You recognize this drumbeat!”

“I trust there’s no one here who doesn’t!”

“Everyone scream, unless your throat hurts!”

At that moment, the 888 Crew’s signature sound burst forth from 80,000 mouths in unison.

We Eight That Eight That Eight That Crew!

We Eight! We’re still on top even when we chill every day.

If you want to compare yourself to us, nine is nowhere near enough.

“Eight! Eight! Eight! Eight!”

Park Inhyuk started running wildly around the stage, displaying his unique exuberance, with the 888 Crew members backing him up, richly supporting the sound.

“What is this!”

Park Hyeyeon shouted from below the stage at the sight.

She belatedly realized she had been tricked.

It wasn’t just Park Hyeyeon. All the acquaintances in the audience who had been fooled by Junhyung’s prank were shouting in betrayal.

But they weren’t really angry.

If they were, their voices wouldn’t have quickly blended with the cheers of the audience.

I’m Chillin’, or Ballin’,

Or all-in on hip-hop,

Looking far, or a Benz Mercy [Mercedes-Benz],

A Rolex or a Rolls Royce

Has nothing to do with me!

Junhyung, the leader and vanguard of the 888 Crew, began his rap.

The tight rap, spat out in a cutting, low tone, began to give listeners a tremendous thrill.

Sanghyun’s doubling followed.

The synergy created by Junhyung and Sanghyun was known to everyone, even without needing to be expressed in words.

Sanghyun, who had developed in the United States for five years, and Junhyung, who had steadily expanded his territory in Korea, finally met.

The explosive power was enormous.

It was a short, eight-bar rap, but it powerfully struck people’s eardrums.

Then, someone bumped Junhyung with his shoulder and walked out, keeping the beat.

It was Park Inhyuk.

Simple rap, solidly

I can handle a rough beat

Calmly, within few words

Triple combination of rhyme, flow, groove

As Inhyuk’s strolling flow began to adorn the stage, the first to admire it were the rappers of H&R INC.

If the first rapper’s rap was explosive, the following rapper’s rap was unique.

“Oh, this is no joke?”

“The combination is amazing!”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Schoolboy Q and Jay Rock’s exclamations, who repeatedly shouted “Killin’.”

In particular, Standard was deeply moved.

This beat was one he had created for the 888 Crew, whom he had never even seen. To be precise, it was the result of them touching his inspiration.

Eight, Eight, Eight Remix.

The first trap music in Korean hip hop filled the venue, showing off the 888 Crew’s continued strength.

A tight rap with a heavy low tone.

A swaggering rap in a high tone.

A relaxed rap that maximized delivery while keeping the beat.

A sharp, offbeat rap with a female voice.

A melodic yet solid rap.

Junhyung, Inhyuk, Kim Hwan, Minji, and Hayeon’s raps were fired in order.

Because it was such a famous song, all the verses were sung in unison.

The choruses in between were truly a scene of celebration.

Audiences wearing 888 X 888 T-shirts shook their clothes wildly and shouted, and in response, the 888 Crew members also shook their logos.

Sanghyun also took off the T-shirt he was wearing on top and revealed the 888 Crew T-shirt he had hidden underneath.

This was the image he wanted to show his parents the most.

A happy figure enjoying the stage with countless people.

“Lee Sanghyun!”

“Let’s Get it!”

Before he knew it, the baton had been passed to Sanghyun.

Sanghyun stepped to the center of the stage to decorate the finale.

And spat out his rap.

Run This Town, Gwangju City is all mine!

The moment the lyrics of Run This Town, not the lyrics of Eight, Eight, Eight, came out, people screamed.

But Sanghyun stopped rapping and shook his head.

“No, no.”

Run This Town, Korean hip hop is all mine!

Sanghyun, who seemed like he was going to say that and spit out his rap excitedly, tilted his head again.

“No, no.”

Letting the beat flow, Sanghyun thought about something for a moment, finally nodded, and shouted.

“Minho hyung [older brother/male friend]! Drop it!”

Only then did people’s eyes turn to the DJ booth.

Woo Minho had already entered the DJ booth where Standard was standing.

-It’s Woo Minho!

Listening to the welcoming shouts of the people, Minho’s turntable began to spin splendidly.

After a moment of DJing, the beat returned to the beginning with a ‘jjikki jjikki’ sound [scratching sound].

Thus, Sanghyun’s rap began.

With insane volume and enunciation.

As if declaring to the whole world.

Run This Town, just everything is mine!

Just bring one rhyme, Swagger! Maker!

56 gets bigger! Copy my Origin

The stage- the lights- go well together

The initial Run This Town targeted Gwangju City, and the Run This Town of Hip Hop the Vibe targeted Korean hip hop.

But now it was more than that.

He was aiming for ‘just everything’.

Thus, starting with the Eight Eight Eight Remix, the 888 Show began.

***

Sanghyun gasped and grabbed the microphone.

He was so tired because he had been rapping for a full four hours.

But being tired wasn’t a problem at all.

Because it was fun.

And that fun wasn’t the end.

Sanghyun, who had been catching his breath for a moment, opened his mouth.

“Before the show, many people asked me why I didn’t include the 888 Crew’s name in the lineup. Every time, I answered like this. Why should I include it?”

Sanghyun pointed to his back with his finger.

“It’s just, it’s just there. When I perform, of course, the 888 Crew is there, and when Junhyung performs, of course, the 888 Crew is there. It’s the same for other people. We’ve always been like that. To us, the 888 Crew isn’t just a team, it’s like an organism.”

“So stop writing about discord rumors. You reporters who are dying to sell this newspaper.”

The audience screamed at Sangmi’s comment, which cut off Sanghyun’s words.

At the sight, Sanghyun said.

“Still, you can’t say things like that to adults.”

“This guy is a boomer even though he’s been abroad.”

“Calling your own brother ‘this guy’.”

“Ah, whatever!”

Everyone burst into laughter at the sight of Sanghyun and Sangmi’s familiar, yet long-awaited appearance.

Sanghyun ruffled Sangmi’s hair wildly and opened his mouth again.

“As you know, the Golden New Era Tour is a tour made up of H&R INC’s musicians. So it was natural for the 888 Crew to be included in this performance.”

People’s eyes were focused on Sanghyun’s mouth.

“Because we are now not the 888 Crew, but the 888 Label. The third sub-label of H&R INC, the 888 Label.”

At Sanghyun’s bombshell statement, about 100 people began to tap their cell phones like crazy.

The reporters who came to cover today’s tour were sending messages to the editorial department.

In fact, this was a natural thing.

Hadel was a person with a warm heart, but he was also very cold-blooded in business matters.

There was no way he would have just put the 888 Crew on stage. All the profits gained through the Golden New Era Tour had to be returned to H&R INC.

So this stage was a gift to welcome the 888 Crew becoming the 888 Label and joining H&R INC. Of course, there was also a part for Sanghyun, but that was it.

So Sanghyun also prepared a gift.

Sanghyun smiled and suddenly shouted towards the back of the stage.

“J. Cole! Kendrick! Q! Jay Rock! Ab-Soul! Standard!”

While the H&R INC members who were suddenly called out were bewildered, Sanghyun’s words continued.

“And Hadel! Come up here!”

On a roll, Sanghyun called all the staff he could see onto the stage.

After hesitating for a moment, all the H&R INC officials came up onto the stage.

Thus, a large-scale group of over 80 people filled the stage.

“These are the people who have helped me a lot. I am grateful, and grateful again.”

The people shining brightly around Sanghyun were not only the 888 Crew.

These people were also there.

That’s why he wanted to share the final stage with everyone.

“Are you ready?”

“Ready for what? What are we doing?”

Sanghyun said to J. Cole’s question.

“H&R Compilation.”

“Ah? The compilation beat?”

Sanghyun had given a beat to the H&R INC musicians during the tour. He did this under the pretext of writing lyrics together and making a group song.

And at the same time, he had also given a beat to the 888 Crew.

So this was to be the first work of H&R INC including the 888 Crew.

At that moment, Sanghyun realized a serious problem.

Because everyone had come up onto the stage······.

“Who’s going to play the beat?”

There was no one to play the beat.

“You stupid kid.”

Standard shook his head and ran to the DJ booth.

Soon, the H&R Compilation began.

“This is the real last song!”

“Shout-Out HR!”

“888 Crew! No, 888 Label!”

“But who’s first!”

“I don’t know! Anyone go in! Junhyung!”

“Why me, it’s burdensome!”

Junhyung’s rap, who was unexpectedly in charge of starting the H&R Compilation at Sanghyun’s shout, began.

Because it was a sudden stage, there were no people who were properly prepared.

However, the musicians gathered here were rap stars who could do killer raps on any beat if they had memorized the lyrics.

Thus, a rap that mixed English and Korean began.

There was no order, and there was no doubling.

A stage began with nothing decided, as if they were doing a cypher [freestyle rap session] on the street. In fact, Sangmi, who was not scheduled to participate, jumped in and spat out a freestyle.

Nevertheless, everyone’s raps were amazing, and the audience was excited.

They were also excited among themselves.

J. Cole gave Junhyung a high-five after listening to his rap, and Jay Rock screamed like crazy at Minji’s rap.

Next to them, Inhyuk shook his shoulders wildly and danced strangely, and Kendrick, who saw it, laughed like a child and imitated Inhyuk’s dance.

But, Kendrick danced better.

“What, this guy!”

“What?”

“You dance well! You’re so fucking dance machine!”

“Oh, Yeah!”

Behind them, the staff of H&R INC were also playing around, and Hadel was also taking off his tie and showing off his dance moves from his younger days.

No, everyone gathered in this place was just playing around.

“MAKE SOME NOISE!”

“Scream!”

Thus, the performance announcing the end of the Golden New Era Tour was coming to an end.

***

< Verse 47. On & On > End

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