The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 50

< Verse 7. Eight, Eight, Eight >

As Sanghyun smirked slyly, Junhyung chuckled and added,

“We need to make good music to get an encore. You know?”

“Can we make six songs in just over twenty days?”

“We have some already made, though.”

“I want to make even better songs…”

Minji and Hayeon actively agreed with Kim Hwan’s words. However, Junhyung shook his head firmly.

“Where does satisfaction exist for a musician? But wouldn’t it be better to perfectly practice a slightly less good song than to do a good song poorly? And the songs we’ve made are good enough.”

Oh Minji asked,

“But we don’t have any songs with all three of us, do we?”

“We need to add verses. You know the ‘Coffee Machine’ that Inhyuk and Hwan have finished? If one of us adds a verse to that, it becomes a song for the three of us. We can add verses to other songs in this way.”

Sanghyun had listened to ‘Coffee Machine’ and was impressed by the song’s concept.

The song compared musical inspiration to coffee beans, and the theme was that the work changes depending on the machine operation of grinding and extracting the beans. In other words, each person becomes a coffee machine, comparing their rap to coffee.

Park Inhyuk was like instant coffee with 3 sugars and 3 creams.

Influenced by Sanghyun, 888 Crew was a team developing in a slightly different direction from Korean hip-hop in 2005.

The years 2003-8 were a time when tremendous controversy and opinions poured out regarding ‘Korean rhyme.’ Some even said that proper rhymes couldn’t be written in Korean.

Numerous methodologies poured out, such as Verbal Jint’s multi-syllable rhyme, UMC/UW’s nuance rhyme, Hwana’s vowel rhyme, and P-Type’s structural (initial consonant, vowel, final consonant) rhyme.

Adding a bit more, though slightly later, there was also Swings’ rhyme, which pursued colloquial style using punchlines and inversions, and Dok2’s English/Korean mixed rhyme.

However, Sanghyun had heard works after all those methodologies were mixed, evolved, and finalized.

As a result, he created raps that focused on expressiveness rather than being old-fashioned.

‘Except for Junhyung, they don’t seem to know the impact their music will have. If they perform at Homi, they could receive great reviews.’

Having been exposed to Sanghyun’s music a lot, the 888 crew members were naturally developing their raps in a similar direction. And that was a method that surpassed 2005.

Sanghyun was looking forward to the public’s reaction to the crew members. He thought it would be even more interesting than the spotlight shining on him.

Isn’t this impact comparable to the emergence of Nirvana, who kicked away the decaying mainstream heavy rock and presented alternative rock music, or the emergence of Eminem, who referred to himself as White Trash in the black rap world?

‘Is that too much of an exaggeration?’

Sanghyun chuckled, imagining pleasant things. Then Hayeon narrowed her eyes.

“What’s with that look on his face? He looks like a pervert.”

“Hehe, yeah. Your *oppa* [older brother or male friend] is a pervert.”

“Eww.”

Hayeon lightly hit Sanghyun’s arm, whispering, and quickly moved away.

Then, Sangmi, who was lying on the studio bed reading comics, chuckled and imitated.

“Yeah, your *noona* [older sister or female friend] is a pervert.”

“Stop it!”

Sanghyun once again realized the power of words.

“…Shall we pick out a song list, excluding those idiots?”

“Okay, Noona.”

Under Oh Minji’s lead, song titles began to be written on a notepad. The selection criteria were that there should be a chorus and at least two verses completed.

They didn’t think there would be many, but as they wrote, they realized there were more songs than they thought.

“Hmm, this one just has a temporary chorus… shouldn’t we take it out?”

“Hmm, wouldn’t it be a shame to remove it since the verse is so well-written?”

“Really?”

“Yes. How about asking Miju or Minsik *oppa* to add an easy, powerful, and melodic hook? And if a good hook comes out, we’ll put it on the setlist.”

“Easy, powerful, and melodic hook? That’s simple, isn’t it? Hahahaha. Anyone could become a star composer. Hahahaha.”

“If you laugh any more, I might break your vocal cords so you can’t perform.”

“…Wouldn’t you have to break my neck first to break my vocal cords?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it.”

Kim Hwan shut his mouth.

The setlist they picked after bickering for a while had a total of 9 songs.

They played the 9 songs through the monitor speakers and had a passionate discussion.

Then Sanghyun clapped his hands to get their attention.

“Thinking about it, I think it would be better to select only five songs.”

“Why?”

“Shouldn’t we make a group song?”

“Whoa, a group song?”

“Yes. All six of us will be on it. Sixteen bars are too long, so let’s go with eight bars each, and after two verses, there will be a sing-along hook.”

Everyone nodded at Sanghyun’s words.

A group song, a highly anticipated track on compilations by crews or record labels.

The same beat, the same theme.

But each with a different rapping and lyrical style.

A song that’s fun to listen to while comparing, and usually used to decorate the finale of a performance.

“The intention is good, but will we have time if we think about choosing a beat and deciding on a theme? Writing verse lyrics is also a problem, but the biggest problem is creating the hook, which is the most important part of a group song.”

It was a reasonable question from Kim Hwan, but Sanghyun smiled and went to the computer.

“I asked someone I know to get the beat, and I’ve already made the hook. Listen to it.”

Of course, the person he knew was DJ Standard.

Sanghyun clicked on a file named ‘Sanghyun’ on the desktop. The studio computer was shared, so there were files with each person’s name on them, and each file had its own password.

Sanghyun felt a strange tension and excitement as he played the group song.

‘Will this style of song even be accepted in Korea right now?’

In a Korean scene where Boom Bap [a subgenre of hip hop music] is mainstream, and other than Boom Bap, there’s only hardcore mumble rap?

‘This genre’ was a style that originated in Atlanta, in the southern United States. Originally, it was slang for a drug dealing location, and the rappers who represented the genre included Gucci Mane and T.I.

Originally a subgenre of South-Side hip-hop, it began to move independently from hip-hop around the mid-2010s.

A genre that first hit the mainstream and was played a lot as club music in the mid-2000s, before gaining widespread popularity.

Producer Lex Luger completed the mainstream standard in the late 2000s and created a ‘flood’ of this genre with a big hit, and that flood continued for nearly 10 years, undergoing changes.

In Korea, it started to gain momentum around 2011, and after that, it became abnormally popular with the popularity of Illionaire Records, led by Dok2.

The title of the group song Sanghyun made was ‘Eight, Eight, Eight,’ representing the 888 Crew.

When the beat ended, the four members, except for Junhyung, who had already heard it once, all had different expressions on their faces.

“I think it’s really good? Whoa, it’s exciting.”

Park Inhyuk nodded his head and liked it. He especially liked the hook that Sanghyun had recorded.

However, the expressions of the other three were different.

First of all, Hayeon, who values melody, expressed her opposition.

“I want to oppose it. This is weird. The beat seems unfinished, and the BPM (beat speed) is slow, but the hi-hat divides the beat too much.”

Oh Minji roughly agreed with Hayeon’s words.

“I’m not against it, but I can’t get a feel for how to rap to this beat. The hook is exciting. It seems suitable for a party.”

Kim Hwan expressed a neutral position. It wasn’t bad, but he thought there might be a better beat.

‘What should I do?’

Sanghyun hesitated for a moment but earnestly asked the crew members to try it just once.

Since Sanghyun had never touched on each other’s musical tastes even once, everyone was slightly surprised by his earnest request and nodded.

Perhaps this was Sanghyun’s greed.

To try Trap music [a subgenre of hip hop music] for the first time in Korea.

***

Miju went shopping with her friend Hyesoo in Chungjang-ro for the first time in a while.

She had been extremely busy with the Sejong Instrument Store part-time job, the L&S8 performance, the abuses of the show business, and now preparing for the Jeonju Music Festival, which was only 4 days away.

But it was also very enjoyable.

“What’s with acting so expensive all of a sudden?”

“Hey, was I playing around? I was busy. I’ll buy you something delicious.”

Miju’s friend, whom she hadn’t seen in a while, grumbled that she had changed these days. Well, she had changed. Starting with her meeting with Sanghyun, she had been diligently playing the keyboard and piano, which she had been in a slump with for a while.

Watching Sanghyun and the 888 crew members from the side, it was easy to get infected by their amazing passion.

‘Is that what hip-hop is originally like?’

When Miju went to Sanghyun’s studio, she could almost always see the 888 members working and staying up all night.

Although Miju had quite a bit of band experience, she had never done a literal ‘all-night work session’ even once.

Composing, playing, and rehearsing are painful.

Of course, she enjoys that pain, so she makes it her job, but it’s still hard. However, the 888 crew members enjoyed the process of making songs, exchanging verses, and giving feedback like a game.

And Sanghyun is at the center of it.

‘That guy must have a hundred snakes inside him [meaning he’s full of clever ideas].’

Sanghyun often showed ideas that didn’t seem like they came from a high school sophomore.

“You’re thinking about music again, aren’t you?”

“Huh? No, I’m not!”

“No, you totally are. Is it that fun?”

“Yeah. You saw the performance last time, too.”

Miju’s friend nodded.

“It was fun. But honestly, not many people in Gwangju have seen a performance like that. It feels more like experiencing a special culture. I also uploaded it to Cyworld [early Korean social media platform] to show off.”

“Tsk, show-off.”

“Hey, come to my homepage and see the reactions. I’m telling you, it’s good. First of all, the performers take pictures well… the visuals are great.”

“Hmm? Really?”

“The drummer *oppa* is totally manly, and the vocal *oppa* is really handsome. The high schoolers are totally dazzling.”

“They’re cool people.”

Hyesoo made a sly expression at Miju’s answer.

“You like one of those band *oppas*, don’t you?”

“Why are you suddenly talking nonsense?”

“Otherwise, why would a guest keyboardist always live with them? If I ask what you’re doing, it’s the practice room. If I ask what you’re doing, it’s the studio. If I ask what you’re doing, you’re eating with the members. You can’t do that if you don’t have other intentions.”

“It’s because it’s fun.”

Hyesoo narrowed her eyes as if she was interrogating her, then shrugged her shoulders.

“Okay, let’s say that’s the case. Anyway, you’re performing in Jeonju for three days?”

“At least two days, and three days if I advance to the final round.”

“Then you’ll need to bring at least six outfits, right? You also have a camera? It’s an external performance, right?”

“What six outfits? I can wear the pants again. I’ll just buy a few tops.”

“Girl, you’re crazy! And what pants? You have to wear a skirt.”

“Skirts are enough with the ones I wear for competitions.”

“Shut up and follow me. This *unnie* [older sister or female friend] will take responsibility for your style today. So the band *oppas* will fall for you and you’ll win.”

Miju giggled at her friend’s joke.

The two of them shopped for a long time and then went to a family restaurant because they were hungry. While satisfying her hunger, her friend suddenly opened her mouth while looking out the window from the second floor.

“Oh? It’s Sangmi.”

“Huh?”

Miju also looked out the window and saw Sangmi passing by.

“What? How do you know Sangmi?”

“Huh? I greeted her at the concert last time? My younger sister is best friends with Sangmi.”

“Seriously?”

“There’s no seriously or not. How do you know her?”

“One of the high school rappers you said was dazzling is Sangmi’s *oppa*.”

“Seriously?”

Hyesoo was lost in thought for a moment, then clapped her hands.

“Ah, I know who you’re talking about when you say Sangmi’s *oppa*. The one with short hair and tall?”

“They’re about the same height? They both have short hair, too.”

“Shut up. I know who it is.”

Sangmi was carrying a lot of things and hurrying to cross the crosswalk. As Sangmi disappeared from view, Hyesoo, who was drinking cider, suddenly said.

“Still, I’m glad she looks okay.”

“What looks okay?”

“I’m just saying, I’m glad Sangmi seems to have cheered up a bit.”

Her friend made a puzzled expression at Miju’s reaction.

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Sangmi’s parents passed away this year. It hasn’t been long.”

< Verse 7. Eight, Eight, Eight > End

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