The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 71

< Verse 12. Gwangju UP! >

Encores are rare at rapper’s performances, especially for rappers who don’t have popular hits.

This is because, due to the nature of rap, there’s a limit to the feeling and vibe conveyed, no matter how much the beat changes or the members switch.

That fact remained true, even when the venue was packed with hip-hop fans.

So, naturally, the obvious move for 888 Crew would be to include ‘Fuck the Show Biz,’ their most famous song, in the setlist and use its power to encourage an encore.

‘But…’

Lee Sanghyun created a setlist of six songs, excluding ‘Fuck the Show Biz.’ Realistically, besides ‘Gwangju UP,’ the audience didn’t know any of their songs.

This was something impossible unless they had immense confidence in their music. Even with confidence, it was impossible without certainty.

And backing that up was the buzz surrounding ‘Fuck the Show Biz.’

Bae Ga could practically see the path Lee Sanghyun and 888 Crew, who had devoured August, would take.

***

Sanghyun started speaking as soon as he got on stage.

While creating a cool scene like ‘Gwangju UP’ was good, he didn’t want to drag it out since it was Stars Records’ time.

“Fuck the Show Biz?”

-Waaaaah!

-888! 888!

As Sanghyun’s voice echoed from the darkness, an enormous cheer erupted, surpassing the thunderous ‘Fuck the Show Biz’ call.

At Sanghyun’s gesture, the lights came on.

Sanghyun stood tall on the stage, wearing the usual 888 T-shirt. The only difference was that the T-shirt was visibly soaked with sweat.

After enjoying the cheers while looking around for a moment, Sanghyun said,

“As you know, our 888 Crew time is over, and now it’s Stars Records’ turn. But generous Bae Ga *hyung* [older brother or respected male figure] has given us some of his time. Shout-out Bae Ga!”

-Shout-out Bae Ga!

“Respect Stars Records!”

-Respect Stars Records!

The DJ added sound effects to match Sanghyun’s words.

“Wait a minute. Before I sing this song, there’s something I really want to say. Does anyone know the name Hwang Joochul?”

Some audience members, who hadn’t heard ‘Fuck the Show Biz’ yet, or hadn’t paid much attention to the lyrics even if they had, tilted their heads. But a much larger number of audience members shouted that they knew.

Sanghyun slowly started rapping *acapella* [without instrumental accompaniment].

I’m not a rap star. I never said anything

like putting down bands. Show Biz. Giving up professional ethics and
honesty, stimulating the G-spot with money
Hwang Joochul, who got an imaginary pregnancy from money, bitch sister

“I arrived at the venue a little late today. But Bae Ga *hyung* heard some very dirty talk before I got here.”

Sanghyun climbed onto the monitoring speaker and scanned the audience. But he couldn’t see the person he was looking for.

He only saw the audience’s puzzled expressions.

“Editor Hwang Joochul, are you watching? I know you’re here.”

At Sanghyun’s sudden words, the audience began to buzz.

***

As soon as Sanghyun arrived at the venue, he had to hear something absurd from Bae Ga. It was the ridiculous news that Stars Records had to interview Hwang Joochul.

He was momentarily taken aback, but after hearing the whole story from Bae Ga, he understood Bae Ga’s position.

“Hommie’s president asked you to do a Show Biz interview?”

“Yeah. Apparently, Editor Hwang said that if I did the interview, he’d heavily promote the club with indirect advertising. He even said he’d give us print ads if Empty had any openings.”

Bae Ga wore a constipated expression. But that wasn’t the end of it.

“And the president told me to get an interview with 888 Crew too.”

Bae Ga was in a very awkward situation due to the sudden turn of events.

Some people might say they could just find another venue, but that was realistically impossible.

Bae Ga had done a lot of promotion for accessibility while preparing for the Club Hommie performance. If the next performance was held elsewhere, it would be like throwing away all the ‘location-based advertising costs’ invested so far.

A place they’ve already been to versus a new place they have to find.

From the audience’s point of view, the former naturally had a lower barrier to entry.

‘There’s an even bigger problem than that.’

Bae Ga sighed. Yes, they could redo the promotion somehow. It would cost some money, but. But the bigger problem was that there wasn’t a suitable performance venue.

Most clubs don’t have ‘live equipment.’

Even if they do, it’s usually for events. Unsuitable for performances.

In the end, there were no clubs equipped with live settings like Club Hommie, and the few places that had equipment had problems with accessibility or audience capacity.

This was why large-scale hip-hop performances dried up after Club MP closed.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have just done the interview myself and ended it.’

If he had accepted the interview when he met Hwang Joochul earlier, 888 Crew wouldn’t have been burdened. If I were 888 Crew, I wouldn’t want to do an interview with Show Biz like this.

Then Sanghyun asked.

“What happens if I refuse? Will it put you in a difficult position, *hyung*?”

“I guess so… I don’t know how Editor Hwang talked to the president, but Hommie’s president told me to coax you guys into doing the interview since you’re all like younger brothers anyway.”

“Will there be problems with renting the next venue?”

“Probably…”

Club Hommie’s president is a generous person.

He also has some acquaintance with Bae Ga’s father.

In fact, unless Hommie Vol becomes a proper ‘performance brand,’ performance rentals are ultimately a loss for Club Hommie. So this performance was made possible by the president’s goodwill and investment in the club’s brand.

From that president’s point of view, it was natural for him to feel bad if Bae Ga didn’t even grant him something as minor as an ‘interview.’

Of course, since today’s performance was successful, Vol.2 wouldn’t be canceled immediately. But what if the performance of the following Vol.2 and 3 was not good?

There was no guarantee for future performances.

“Sanghyun, I’m sorry. I really hate saying this, but for the sake of the Korean hip-hop scene, can’t you just do the interview once? You just have to do the interview. You can do it any way you want.”

Sanghyun answered Bae Ga’s question with an irrelevant question.

“Is Hommie’s president watching today’s performance?”

“Huh? I heard the president arrived a little while ago. He’s been very interested, so I think he’s probably watching.”

“I’m sorry, *hyung*, but there’s no interview.”

Bae Ga’s expression hardened. But when you think about it, 888 Crew is a team that performs without getting paid. They had no moral responsibility to help Club Hommie.

“Instead, I’ll make sure there are no problems.”

“Problems?”

“I mean I’ll make sure you don’t get into trouble, and I don’t have to do an interview.”

Just then, he heard the sound of ‘We, Eight that Eight that Eight that Crew!’ from the side. Sanghyun chuckled.

“I have to go, *hyung*. Junhyung has started filming another movie.”

“Okay.”

“Just trust me once. I’ll really make sure you don’t get into trouble.”

Bae Ga nodded with an ambiguous expression.

That’s what happened after 888 Crew arrived at Club Hommie.

***

Sanghyun spoke again to the buzzing audience.

“Today, Editor Hwang Joochul spoke to Club Hommie’s president and asked him to arrange an interview with 888 Crew. Bae Ga *hyung* received a request from Hommie’s president and pleaded with me, but I’m sorry. I can’t do that.”

Sanghyun bowed.

“I’m really sorry to Club Hommie’s president, who must be watching from somewhere. I know that Bae Ga *hyung* and the president have arranged this event with great affection for the Korean hip-hop scene.”

He didn’t really know if the president had affection for hip-hop. This was a device to make Club Hommie’s president focus on his words.

“Bae Ga *hyung* asked me to do the interview out of consideration for the president’s kindness. But, I’m really sorry to Bae Ga *hyung* and the president, but our family has been deeply hurt by the magazine called Show Biz.”

This was consideration for Bae Ga.

“The members of the band L&S, who are like my own brothers, the members of our 888 Crew, who are like family, and even my younger sister. We still haven’t received an apology for the hurt. Silence isn’t an apology, is it?”

As a result, Hwang Joochul’s malicious editing turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Like Sanghyun’s lyrics, 888 Crew even inherited noise marketing [controversy used for promotion].

But what if they hadn’t made ‘Fuck Tha Show Biz’?

What if their rap skills were lacking? What if they were unlucky?

What if 888 Crew hadn’t even started properly, and the band L&S had only gotten worse reviews?

In the end, the blessing in disguise was something they had earned.

With the help of the 888 Crew members who helped produce ‘Fuck Tha Show Biz,’ and the power of the L&S members who proved themselves through Jeonju World DJ Festival.

‘So I haven’t properly repaid Hwang Joochul yet.’

He was rather grateful. To personally come to Club Hommie to hear insults to his face.

“You want an interview with me? Okay, everything I have to say is right here. So wash your ears and listen carefully. Turn on that shitty recorder again, open that shitty laptop again, and write down everything I’m about to say.”

A strange silence flowed over the stage.

Sanghyun stretched out his middle finger and shouted.

“FUCK THA SHOW BIZ-!”

-Waaaaaaaaah!!

-Fuck the Show Biz-!

As if the silence was a lie, insane cheers erupted. The audience was immersed in the feeling of watching a musical.

And the protagonist of the musical was, of course, Lee Sanghyun of 888 Crew.

“That crazy bastard!”

“What about us!”

“You’re ending the stage after going to solve the encore?”

Bae Ga and the Stars Records members laughed in vain as they heard the enormous cheers.

The beat began to flow.

Fuck the show biz, fuck the show biz
What the show biz wanted was the reader’s bigger needs
Selling the image of a young rapper who just started his career
Dirty skills to sell and suck up attention
But I inherited N.W.A [influential rap group]
The beginning of dichotomy. Now I judge the world with two categories
Shitty show biz vs 888
My hatred is-

“Very justified!”

“Very justified!”

“Very justified-!”

An absurd sing-along followed.

During Gwangju UP, they only sang along to the ‘rhyme’ parts that were emphasized in the rhythm and easy to memorize. Plus the easy-to-sing chorus.

This was the sight you could see when performing a rap hit song.

But Fuck the Show Biz was different.

As if proving the over 200,000 plays, nearly half of the audience was singing along to all the lyrics of Fuck the Show Biz.

Sanghyun simply lowered the microphone towards the audience. And he stretched out the middle fingers of both hands, pointing them towards Editor Hwang, who was somewhere.

FUCK YOU.

Even so, Fuck the Show Biz continued.

I’m not a rap star. I never said anything

like putting down bands. Show Biz. Giving up professional ethics and
honesty, stimulating the G-spot with money
Hwang Joochul, who got an imaginary pregnancy from money, bitch sister
show & prooooove proving with rap
All you can show is a 2-hour interview
We’re confident, post the transcript somewhere.
Secured CCTV at the interview location, recording time.

Sanghyun grabbed the microphone again and started rapping. The audience’s voices sounded like full doubling (the act of overlapping to emphasize the point of the rap).

He could feel the anger that had gradually built up while rapping dissolving. Even the anger that had been hardened very stiffly.

Sanghyun had worked in society and knew how the corporate world worked. That’s why he could understand Hwang Joochul. If he hadn’t touched Sangmi.

-A girl shedding tears, moved by the performance

Sanghyun was deeply hurt after seeing the community’s reaction before releasing the response song, Fuck the Show Biz.

-Why is that bitch crying?

-It’s probably staged.

-Isn’t it hard to cry for a setup? It looks like she’s really crying?

-Then she’s just a crazy fangirl. Why are you crying over something like that?

-Do her parents know she’s doing that?

-If my daughter was doing that, she’d get her head shaved and be locked up at home.

Sangmi didn’t say much, but Sanghyun was sure that Sangmi had seen the community’s reaction. He was so angry when he thought about the hurt Sangmi must have felt.

He chose music to be happy.

He could never allow Sangmi to be cursed at as the price for pursuing his happiness.

Fortunately, the Show Biz situation was resolved faster than expected. But even after releasing the song, he didn’t feel like he had directly repaid Hwang Joochul.

‘He must be listening somewhere.’

Sanghyun gave up on delivering the lyrics, rhythm, and rhyme check and screamed as if he was screaming.

Anyway, I said everything I wanted to say FUCK THE SHOW BIZ
No, I still have something to say FUCK YOU editor
Sanghyun’s last bit of reason was calling him ‘editor’ because he was worried about insult or defamation.

888, legitimately preparing to 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___!

< Verse 12. Gwangju UP! > End

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