The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 54

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“Hey! Sanghyun!”

Sanghyun was dragged by the excited Junhyung to the computer in the pension [a type of Korean guesthouse].

“Look! The video from today is up on the bulletin board.”

“Where? Let me see.”

Hayeon, hearing Junhyung’s fuss, put down her Go-Stop [a Korean card game] cards and leaned in. Minji and Sangmi, who had been winning, grumbled. As Hayeon approached, a pleasant scent of soap and lotion filled the air.

“Wow, the reaction is good?”

“This guy is being treated like a super rookie these days.”

As Junhyung said, the video of L&S taken with a camcorder, specifically the part where Sanghyun was rapping, had over 20 comments.

He felt good because there were more positive comments than negative ones. However, Sanghyun still felt awkward and cringed whenever he looked at the comments.

– It seems like the interview where they disregarded band music was fabricated. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so friendly with the band. They even did the interview together; if that were the case, the band wouldn’t want to perform together.

– Can you even evaluate it with just this short clip? And most rappers can do this much, right?

– Agreed. What’s the point of saying whether a 20-second rap is good or bad? We have to wait for the album or mixtape to come out.

– It’s short, but the flow subtly changes each time an instrument session is added. He breaks the beat when the drum session comes in and pulls back when the keyboard comes in? Can’t you feel that?

– Your bullshit is top-notch.

– L&S made it to the round of 14, so will they rap tomorrow too? Looking at the lyrics in the middle, there’s a part where they show rap metal.

– But isn’t Lee Sanghyun part of the 888 Crew? Why is he rapping with a band?

– The Show Biz interview said he was a guest rapper for L&S even before the 888 Crew was formed. L&S and 888 seem really close.

– Who is this person? Is his rap name Lee Sanghyun?

– That’s his real name. Doesn’t seem to have a rap name.

Hayeon, who was engrossed in reading the comments, asked,

“Come to think of it, you said you were going to decide on a rap name?”

“Oh, right. Vega said I need to put it on the Hommie website as soon as possible.”

Except for Sanghyun, all the 888 Crew members had rap names. Usually, aspiring rappers come up with a rap name even before they start rapping in earnest.

Junhyung’s rap name was J.Bro, and Hayeon named herself Lucy. But Sanghyun didn’t have a rap name.

Rap names often come from nicknames, and sometimes they are carefully created after thinking about the hidden meaning.

Sanghyun had been pondering the name for a long time because it was music he would be doing for the rest of his life, and a rap name that would follow him forever.

“I decided on it a while ago.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Five Six.”

56.

“Five Six? What does that mean?”

Sanghyun shook his head at Hayeon’s question. It was a secret. It had a hidden meaning that he couldn’t tell anyone.

For Sanghyun, 2005 was a very significant year. Even now, it was unbelievable, but it was the year he experienced the ‘regression’ to the past in reality.

He got the chance to open a new page in his life as an 18-year-old again, but there was definitely Lee Sanghyun, who was 38 years old, at the base.

2005, the starting point of his music career.

2005, when the 18-year-old self and the 38-year-old self were combined.

So Sanghyun came up with the simple rap name of 56 by adding 18 and 38.

‘How can I explain this meaning?’

Sanghyun had no choice but to remain silent.

“Is ‘Oh-Ryuk’ [Korean pronunciation of 56] your rap name, oppa [term used by younger women to address older brothers or male friends]? That sucks?”

“Not Oh-Ryuk, Five Six!”

“It’s the same thing.”

Sanghyun was slightly hurt by Sangmi’s words, but he shrugged.

“Rap names aren’t that important. Being good is all that matters.”

That’s true. Kendrick Lamar, who is widely known in Korea for his song ‘Control,’ used his real name as his rap name.

Also, the rapper ‘Nuckeupshan,’ who has a seemingly difficult name, was a rapper who could mobilize a large number of audiences with the three letters of Nuckeupshan on the concert poster.

“Well, what you’re saying isn’t wrong, but it’s not cool.”

“It is cool! Don’t you know Simple is Best?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Junhyung nodded without any soul, and Hayeon, Sangmi, and Minji fell back into the world of Go-Stop. Sanghyun shouted, “Damn it!” and flopped down on the sofa.

‘Ah, I thought it was cool.’

Is it really that bad?

After lying on the sofa for a while and seriously contemplating his rap name, Sanghyun suddenly turned his head and smiled happily.

It was because of the scene unfolding in the pension’s living room.

Sangmi, Hayeon, and Minji were gathered like three sisters playing Go-Stop, and Junhyung was looking at the hip-hop site bulletin board while fiddling with the computer but got bored and was giving advice on Go-Stop.

‘I’m glad.’

When he refused L&S’s offer to the Jeonju Indie Music Festival, he never imagined that he would soon have such a family-like presence.

In fact, he was worried about Sangmi’s agoraphobia even after deciding to participate, but with Hayeon, Minji, and Junhyung by her side, he wasn’t worried at all.

‘Come to think of it, is this our first crew trip? Since we’re at a pension?’

The pension was offered to the families of the contestants at half price by the LOC Group affiliate. The contestants stay in accommodations prepared separately by LOC, but Sanghyun came over to the pension because he was with Sangmi and the 888 Crew members.

Miju was originally going to come too, but her parents suddenly came to Jeonju, and she was with them.

– Knock knock.

Then there was a knock on the door.

“They must be here!”

Junhyung jumped up and opened the door. Kim Hwan, whom the 888 Crew members had been eagerly waiting for, was standing in front of the pension with chicken.

And next to Kim Hwan stood a man carrying a lot of equipment.

“Hello. Come in.”

“Ah, hello.”

The man with a nervous expression piled his heavy luggage to one side.

“Hey, hyung [term used by younger men to address older brothers or male friends], you only bought four chickens? How many people are there…”

“Four chickens are enough for seven people. How many should I have bought? It’s heavy.”

Kim Hwan grumbled at Junhyung’s nagging.

“Hyung. How much Minji noona [term used by younger men to address older sisters or female friends] eats… Ack!”

While Junhyung was crying after being pinched in the side by Minji, the man who had put down all his equipment stood somewhat politely in front of Sanghyun. Sanghyun smiled and shook his hand.

“Hello. I heard about you from Hwan hyung. You’re Wooh Minho, right?”

“Yes…”

“My name is…”

“I know! Lee Sanghyun! I’m a big fan!”

“…”

The pension was silent for a moment at Wooh Minho’s sudden confession. At that moment, Sanghyun, who had heard that Lee Sanghyun was his ideal type, broke out in a cold sweat. However, Wooh Minho was still standing somewhat politely with a flushed face, not realizing the members’ misunderstanding.

“Is that ‘like’ in a genetic way…?”

“Huh? Ah, no!”

Wooh Minho waved his hands and showed a picture of his girlfriend. Sanghyun exaggeratedly sighed in relief even though he knew that wasn’t the case.

The atmosphere improved a lot. The 888 Crew members and Wooh Minho had a moment of greeting.

Wooh Minho.

A member of the graffiti crew Get a Grip, who had been active around Hongdae [a district in Seoul known for its arts scene] with Kim Hwan in 2004.

However, Wooh Minho focused more on creating video clips with music of the dynamic 모습 [Korean word meaning ‘appearance’ or ‘figure’] of the crew members doing graffiti rather than direct graffiti.

‘Music video.’

Thanks to Fuck the Show Biz, Sanghyun had received a certain amount of advertising revenue from Media Amp. The idea that flashed through his mind at that time was YouTube, which would be officially released this year.

After searching, it was scheduled for around October 2005.

‘YouTube will have tremendous power.’

To be exact, YouTube was not commercialized at first because video uploads and viewer loading (viewing waiting time) took too long.

Then, it showed potential by introducing a technology that could quickly process high-quality videos, and it was acquired by Google. After that, it was released in versions for various countries around the world.

‘No, is it the opposite? Was the technology introduced after being acquired by Google?’

And as you know, it has become a site used by billions of people around the world.

Psy’s Gangnam Style recorded more than 2 billion views, and he became a star all over the United States with just one music video.

Of course, advertising revenue is also generated in proportion to the number of views. It varies depending on the posting method and the exchange rate, but usually, a revenue of 1 won [Korean currency, approximately $0.00075 USD] is generated per view.

But what Sanghyun was aiming for was not advertising revenue.

You can make money in other ways. What he was aiming for was Open Door.

A branded YouTube channel has tremendous power. What if the 888 Crew created a channel called ‘Korean HipHop’ and could monopolize it from 2005?

Beyond simply expanding the base of music activities, you can do many things. It can become a 접점 [Korean word meaning ‘point of contact’ or ‘interface’] of ‘Korea-World’ and become a link with overseas musicians, and the power of the 888 Crew also becomes enormous.

To do that, the most important thing is a music video director. You can learn music programs through music greed, but it is better to leave videos to the hands of experts.

Sanghyun asked Kim Hwan, who majored in visual design, to recruit an MV director, and that’s how he met Wooh Minho.

“Can we start filming tomorrow?”

“Of course. But we need to get the mic line and catch the angle, so we need some cooperation from the organizers. Has that part been done yet?”

“No. We’re ignorant of that.”

“If you give me the organizer’s contact information, I’ll talk to them. Should we do it in the name of the 888 Crew? Or L&S?”

“Let’s do it as L&S first, and when the story progresses, it’s better to say that the subject is the 888 Crew.”

“Okay.”

As it turned out, Wooh Minho had felt a great attraction to the 888 Crew after accidentally listening to ‘Fuck the Show Biz.’ Then, he received a call from Kim Hwan, who had been active in the same crew, and immediately accepted.

“We need to talk about the pay. First of all, we will of course pay for the production cost. The production cost includes the rental fee for Wooh Minho’s own equipment. Of course, this production cost is not included in the pay.”

Sanghyun hated words like talent donation and passion pay. Fair effort and hard work should be presented with fair costs.

“I don’t really know the appropriate price for this kind of work… How much do you usually get for a video clip?”

Wooh Minho hesitated at Sanghyun’s question and then opened his mouth.

“I would be grateful if you gave me the production cost, but can I replace the pay with something else?”

“Yes. Tell me.”

“That… I’m also in the 888 Crew…”

“Yes?”

“I can do other artworks or graffiti… logo design… I’m not very good at it, but still 적당히 [Korean word meaning ‘moderately’ or ‘decently’]…”

“Yes?”

“Of course, the 888 Crew is a music crew, so I have to do music, but I also have DJ experience, and I can do some composing…”

Sanghyun didn’t understand Wooh Minho’s words, which were severely blurred at the end. When Sanghyun was silent, Wooh Minho, who was sweating, closed his eyes tightly and shouted.

“I, I like you! I want to do it together!”

“…Oh my!”

Thud.

Hayeon dropped the chicken leg she was eating.

After many twists and turns, Wooh Minho joined the 888 Crew as an ‘MV director and DJ’ during the music festival. He said that his home is Daejeon and his activity area is Seoul, but he would often come down to Gwangju.

That’s how the first day of the competition passed, and the 14th, when the round of 14 was waiting, dawned.

***

End

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