The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 48

< Verse 6. Fuck Tha Show Biz (The End) >

***

As soon as Hwang Ju-cheol, the editor-in-chief, arrived at the office, he was summoned by the president.

‘Ah, I’m busy.’

The expected sales volume of this month’s magazine was substantial, all thanks to the valuable interview obtained in Gwangju.

Show Biz decided to run the magazine’s music interview section temporarily under the concept of ‘Band VS Hip-Hop Face-Off,’ interviewing both a band and a hip-hop group in the same feature.

Upstairs, they had already discussed trying it for about three months, and if the response was good, they would continue for half a year.

Thanks to this, Editor-in-Chief Hwang Ju-cheol had been in a very good mood for the past few days.

However, that mood was shattered in an instant.

“Do I have to get cursed out by a high school student at my age because of you?”

The moment Hwang Ju-cheol heard the president’s opening salvo, he knew it was about the song Lee Sang-hyun had uploaded.

“I’m sorry.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

Hwang Ju-cheol lowered his head, inwardly seething.

‘Damn it, he approved the interview edits himself, and now he’s being petty.’

Editor Hwang had stumbled upon Lee Sang-hyun’s song the day before last. To be honest, it was good. Impressively so. Of course, he also felt a twinge of guilt. When you think about it, it was a diss track aimed at him.

But he reasoned that it couldn’t be helped.

‘Yeah, those high schoolers must have felt wronged too.’

Still, he hadn’t said anything untrue. He ‘edited’ it, but he hadn’t fabricated anything.

‘How was I supposed to know it would blow up like this?’

Some reporters, sniffing for filler articles, were even trying to post the 888 Crew’s issue on internet news. He had begged and pleaded with them to stop, driven by a final shred of conscience and a slightly guilty heart.

Hwang Ju-cheol was thoroughly dressed down by the president and then went to the company rooftop to smoke, lost in thought.

‘Society is a jungle, you bastards. The day will come when you’ll thank me.’

The initial uproar of the noise marketing would eventually fade, leaving only the marketing itself. And that benefit would, to some extent, trickle down to the 888 Crew.

However, Editor Hwang failed to foresee how long the ill-fated connection between Sang-hyun and Show Biz would endure, or what it would ultimately lead to.

***

Sang-hyun and Jun-hyung were exhausted from several days of working through the night.

The biggest challenge wasn’t the rapping itself, but the mixing and editing.

Sang-hyun possessed only a rudimentary understanding of mixing or composing, while Jun-hyung was learning as he went.

Consequently, even though the guide recording for the rap was finished the day after the 888 Crew meeting, it took two more days to finalize the song. Those two days were made possible by Jun-hyung and Ha-yeon’s tireless efforts. Ha-yeon, surprisingly, proved to be quite adept at using mixing software.

Jun-hyung and Ha-yeon worked diligently, never complaining about Sang-hyun’s numerous requests. He truly appreciated their dedication.

After completing the track, Sang-hyun, Jun-hyung, and Ha-yeon played it back on the monitoring speakers, admiring their creation.

“No one can ever say we can’t rap after this.”

Sang-hyun grinned at Jun-hyung’s words.

“If they say we can’t, they must not have ears.”

Sang-hyun was that confident.

After uploading the song to the club [online music community], the 888 Crew tried to ignore the public’s reaction.

They had said everything they wanted to say.

Some people would surely understand their grievances, while others would dismiss them as lies. They didn’t expect universal approval.

Therefore, constantly refreshing the page and checking the comments was unproductive.

Every time they logged into the club during the song’s creation, they were bombarded with critical posts, causing them considerable stress.

“Let’s stay out of the club for ten days. The situation will die down by then.”

Kim Hwan, a visual design major with a keen artistic sensibility, and Oh Min-ji and Shin Ha-yeon, who pretended to be tough but were inherently sensitive, were struggling more than they let on with the barrage of criticism directed at the 888 Crew.

“Damn, this song is fire!”

Except for Park In-hwan, who didn’t dwell on it much.

In any case, they went into hiding, so to speak.

Sang-hyun immediately threw himself into practicing for the Jeonju World Wide Indie Music Festival, which was less than ten days away, with the L&S members.

When he apologetically informed Hyung Min-shik about his late decision to participate in the festival, the L&S members, including guest member Mi-joo, welcomed him with open arms.

Except for Cha In-hyun.

‘Why does the vocalist hyung [older brother/male friend] dislike me so much?’

One day, Sang-hyun arrived at the L&S practice room earlier than scheduled and overheard Cha In-hyun and Bang Min-shik arguing.

He was a little taken aback.

Because Cha In-hyun had vehemently opposed his joining, almost foaming at the mouth.

‘Hyung, the competition is less than ten days away! How can you suddenly accept a kid who decides to join now? Do you think we’re just messing around?’

Hearing Cha In-hyun’s raised voice, Sang-hyun immediately left the practice room. He understood that not everyone could like him. But it still stung that the vocalist of a band he admired so much seemed to hate him.

He considered dropping out of the festival, but then a surge of stubbornness washed over him. ‘Okay, I’ll work my ass off and become a solid foundation for L&S to rise, that’s what I’ll do.’

Sang-hyun finished practice and returned home.

He ate dinner with Sang-mi and went into the studio, but it was empty.

Jun-hyung was on a family trip, and Ha-yeon had gone to the countryside for work. Park In-hyuk was cramming for his summer semester final exams, and Oh Min-ji and Kim Hwan had gone to Yonsei University together for academic matters.

‘It’s quiet.’

At least one person had been working in the studio all night every day, but it had been unusually quiet these past few days.

‘Should I check the club?’

He was tempted by a fleeting surge of curiosity, but Sang-hyun managed to resist. He didn’t want to invite more criticism.

‘Sang-hyun, you’ve taken a lot of flak, right? Had your fill? Now you’re going to get showered with praise. Just you wait.’

Park In-hyuk had said that on the phone earlier, and judging by his tone, the song’s reception seemed pretty positive.

Sang-hyun aimlessly turned on the internet and checked his email. He often exchanged emails with Standard [a music producer]. After seeing the ‘Gotta Move’ video, Standard had even sent him beats and expressed his admiration.

‘I’m your big fan’ or something like that.

“Huh?”

As he checked his email, he noticed one marked as important.

It was from a company called ‘MediaAmple,’ which provided widgets for songs uploaded to Cyworld clubs [a popular Korean social networking site].

The widget function, in essence, allowed users to upload a song to the MediaAmple site and link it to a website using the song’s share button (technically, the playback player with the MediaAmple logo on the website was the widget).

-Hello, Great Musician!

A clunky sentence, clearly translated directly, fluttered on the screen. Fortunately, it was clarified by the English translation in parentheses.

Sang-hyun was surprised as he read the email from MediaAmple’s general affairs department.

The email was lengthy, adhering to the company’s format, but it boiled down to one line.

-Give us a call, we’ll pay you!

The number of plays for “Fuck Tha Show Biz” that Sang-hyun had uploaded was so high that it generated a significant amount of traffic, so MediaAmple was offering to pay a traffic advertising fee.

And if he agreed, they wanted to upgrade the widget to a high-speed processing channel and display advertising banners. Of course, Sang-hyun would receive a portion of the advertising revenue.

Of course, the money wouldn’t be substantial. But it wasn’t about the money. The important thing was that his song had been played enough to warrant traffic advertising.

“Ugh……!”

Sang-hyun couldn’t resist and logged into the 888 Crew club. He saw a flood of new posts, but the first thing he checked was the song.

Sang-hyun quickly spotted the number of plays displayed on the widget and screamed in astonishment.

Fuck Tha Show Biz ▶ 111,498

***

Fuck Tha Show Biz, Fuck Tha Show Biz
Show Biz wanted a bigger reader’s Needs
The image of a young rapper who started his career
Dirty Skillz that tried to sell and suck up attention
But I inherited N.W.A [influential hip-hop group]
The beginning of dichotomy. Now I’m in two categories
Judging the world with a yardstick
Fuck Show Biz vs 888
My hatred is very justified
Fake interview, in other words, fiction
Hwang Ju-cheol, who edited with nasty greed
The interview created with malicious manipulation
Even if I look at it, Lee Sang-hyun is a fake ass gangster
I’m not a rap star. Similar to belittling the band
I never said that. Show Biz. Professional ethics and
Abandoning honesty, G-spot stimulated with money
Hwang Ju-cheol, bitch sister who had an imaginary pregnancy with money
show & prooooove Proving with rap
All you can show is a 2-hour interview
We’re honest, post the recording anywhere.
I secured the CCTV at the interview location, recording time.
The appearance of you pressing the recorder and the appearance of you finishing it are captured perfectly,
Voice editing tricks will never work.
I know how you feel about being in checkmate. Editor Hwang.
Movie “The Fall of Show Biz” Hwang Ju-cheol is the lead actor
Okay, I can understand, Show Biz is your job
What you needed was performance and visible results
But it’s not okay to make a scapegoat
Let’s get fucked together, Show Biz president who confirmed the manipulation, you son of a bitch
Homosexual code Fuck that, the audience knows everything.
I just put a rope around my neck. 3kg electric guitar
The female student who was crying is my real sister
You really pissed me off. Hwang Ju-cheol. You son of a bitch. You’re fucked
The Gwangju UP video will be uploaded soon,
If you feel regionalism after listening to that song, you have shit in your ears
Anyway, I said everything I wanted to say FUCK THE SHOW BIZ
No, I still have something to say FUCK THE SHOW BIZ
888, preparing to rightfully inherit the throne of Korean hip-hop
If you want, I’ll even inherit the shitty noise marketing
“What are you doing, my son!”
Stabbing Show Biz in the stomach, Succeeding you, father.

***

The 2005 Korean hip-hop scene was small, with a relatively small number of musicians. It was still intimate enough to be considered ‘their own little world.’

However, those within this world held strong opinions on music and possessed deep knowledge, and fans exhibited a high degree of loyalty and affection for the scene.

These dedicated fans were always eager for new music from their favorite artists. This was because the hip-hop scene in 2005 wasn’t saturated with countless albums being released daily.

Therefore, when an album was released, the hip-hop community would buzz with discussions about it for quite some time.

It was a time when a single album, a single song, or even a single verse could have a tremendous impact.

A prime example of this ripple effect was the emergence of rapper Simon Dominic.

Simon Dominic first gained recognition as a featured artist on rapper Addsp2ch’s album [Elements Combined], released on May 16, 2005.

He created a significant buzz upon his debut, thanks to his short verse on Addsp2ch’s song ‘A Legend.’

Simon Dominic offered a solution to the persistent issues plaguing Korean hip-hop at the time.

Namely, ‘rigid, word-centric rhymes,’ ‘artificial writing styles,’ and ‘overly literary language.’

He introduced colloquial rap, utilizing his distinctive Gyeongsangdo dialect [a regional dialect in Korea] accent. Furthermore, he employed initial rhyme and emphasized rhythm over strict adherence to vocabulary.

Consequently, despite its brevity, his rap delivered a powerful shock to listeners.

Posts asking ‘Who is Simon Dominic?’ appeared frequently in online communities. Simon Dominic ascended to become a super rookie based on a single verse.

In particular, the lyrics ‘In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen,’ which concluded his rap, were widely discussed for an extended period.

Following the buzz surrounding Addsp2ch’s album and Simon Dominic in May, the hip-hop community experienced a period of relative calm.

Perhaps it was because August was even hotter than May?

In August 2005, the ‘Fuck The Show Biz’ controversy ignited with even greater intensity within the hip-hop scene.

< Verse 6. Fuck Tha Show Biz (The End) > End

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