The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 76

The 2005 professional baseball post-season schedule was set from October 1st to 19th. There were only two weeks left.

Usually, by mid-September, the post-season rankings were somewhat predictable, but this year was particularly unpredictable.

Except for the dominant first-place team, the Daegu Lions, teams from 2nd to 6th place were engaged in fierce competition, separated by only slight differences.

The most intense battle was for 4th and 5th place.

That narrow margin between 4th and 5th place determined whether or not they would advance to the fall baseball season.

The Gwangju Tigers were ranked 5th, and their traditional rival team, the Ulsan Pyros, were ranked 4th. The gap between the two teams was only one game.

Therefore, the three-game series between ‘Ulsan Pyros vs. Gwangju Tigers,’ which started on September 16th, attracted tremendous attention from baseball fans. This game was dubbed the Han Gwang-soo Derby or the Fall Baseball Decider.

Commentators also discussed the various issues surrounding today’s game before it started.

“Looking back, Han Gwang-soo was injured soon after the transfer, causing an unexpected controversy about whether he was a waste of money, right?”

“That’s right. Since Han Gwang-soo had never been on the injured list for more than a week since his debut, fans were very worried. As a joke, there was even talk of him being a spy dispatched to weaken the finances of the rival team, Gwangju Tigers.”

“Was there really such talk?”

“I’m sorry. I just made that up.”

Commentator Yoo Shin-hak’s joke made caster [sports announcer] Jeon Yong-joon laugh in disbelief. In the baseball community, where commentary clips were shared in real-time, playful criticisms of Yoo Shin-hak’s joke poured out.

Yoo Shin-hak, a former national team coach, was a commentator with a large fan base.

-His lies are so natural. Yoo Shin-hak for the National Assembly!

-Lie first, quick apology.

-You-il Shin-hak Yoo Shin-hak! [Pun using Yoo Shin-hak’s name to mean ‘lying is Shin-hak’s specialty’]

“But looking at the results so far, the controversy over being a waste of money seems to have disappeared. 13 hits in 32 at-bats, 2 home runs. That’s a great record, right?”

“Although the number of at-bats is still insufficient, it can be judged that he is successfully integrating into the team, as he has barely exceeded the 40% mark. The disappointing thing is the small number of home runs, but the slugging percentage has rather increased.”

“There were three really close hits that went straight to the fence, right?”

“That’s right. It can be seen as a phenomenon caused by the fact that the outfield wall of Gwangju Tigers’ home stadium is higher than that of Ulsan Pyros’ home stadium.”

“Um… Commentator Yoo Shin-hak. The height difference between the outfield walls of the two stadiums is only 15cm, but can that affect home runs?”

“Of course, it can. Even a 1cm difference can affect the trajectory of the upper swing from the moment the player recognizes that the outfield wall is high. I’m really sorry. Actually, it doesn’t matter much.”

Caster Jeon Yong-joon burst into laughter once again.

While Yoo Shin-hak and Jeon Yong-joon were chatting, the Gwangju Tigers players began to warm up. As it was their home stadium, the enthusiastic support of the Gwangju Tigers fans began.

Short snippets of the players’ cheering songs were played, followed by the cheering song of the 4th batter, Han Gwang-soo.

Gwang-soo Up! Gwang-soo Up!

Light Gwang! Hit Soo! Gwang-soo Up!

“The cheering song is fun. It seems to have been created for Han Gwang-soo, who has the most outstanding bat speed in Korea. Actually, there is no Chinese character ‘Soo’ that means ‘can hit’, right?”

“That’s right. ‘Strike Ta’ is correct. Han Gwang-soo’s original cheering song was also popular, but this cheering song seems to be popular as well. It’s very easy to sing along to.”

Jeon Yong-joon responded to Yoo Shin-hak’s words.

“The original cheering song is sung more and more as the player gets better, right? So, it becomes more popular as they get better. I heard that Han Gwang-soo’s trademark cheering song remained with the Ulsan Pyros.”

“Yes, that’s right. Usually, the club pays a usage fee for the original song and goes through arrangement, so the club has secondary rights. Sometimes, when a key player transfers to a rival team, they don’t sell the cheering song. It’s annoying, right?”

“Ha, haha. Han Gwang-soo was Ulsan Pyros’ unrivaled superstar. Isn’t it possible that the club, which didn’t want Han Gwang-soo to leave, is holding on to the cheering song out of regret?”

Caster Jeon Yong-joon was smoothly wrapping things up, but Yoo Shin-hak abruptly kicked it away.

“No. Didn’t the Gwangju club keep the cheering song when Lee Wang-hyo transferred from the Tigers to the Ulsan Pyros a few years ago? It’s revenge. Revenge.”

“Ah… I guess you could think of it that way. Haha.”

“Still, as they say, new wine in new bottles, the cheering song created when he transferred to the Gwangju Tigers seems attractive as well.”

“Oh, come to think of it, I heard that a musician who is a fan of the Gwangju Tigers and Han Gwang-soo dedicated this song for free. The original song title is… Ah, here it is. Gwangju UP.”

Caster Jeon Yong-joon wanted to stop talking about the cheering song dispute between the clubs and changed the subject. Fortunately, Yoo Shin-hak followed this time.

“Huh? So, is it originally Gwangju Up, not Gwangsoo Up? Gwangju Tigers have the worst team cheering song among the clubs… Wouldn’t it be better to use it as the team cheering song instead?”

Caster Jeon Yong-joon was startled and gestured to stop Yoo Shin-hak. Then, Yoo Shin-hak shrugged and said.

“Did I say anything wrong?”

Another burst of laughter erupted in the real-time baseball community.

-The confidence of a common national team coach-turned-commentator.

-Anyway, all the club officials, coaches, and players are either Yoo Shin-hak’s juniors or classmates. Except for the Daegu Lions coach.

-What is the Gwangju Tigers team cheering song? Is it bad?

-Isn’t it Honam Line in the rain? Beyond the shaking batting line on the southbound train?

-That’s just a popular song, and strictly speaking, it’s not the official team cheering song.

-No, but did I see a typo? Beyond the shaking batting line? Don’t you know that the current Tigers have the highest batting average in scoring position?

-Highest batting average in scoring position. They just can’t get into scoring position.

-But the Gwangju Up song is rap, so it can’t be used as a team cheering song. Well, it would be revolutionary to have a cheering song as rap. There are a few players in Detroit whose cheering songs are rap.

-Huh? Isn’t Gwangju Up Han Gwang-soo’s cheering song? Why is it rap? I heard it at the baseball stadium?

-It’s because it’s arranged a bit slower than the original song. And the part used as the cheering song is the chorus, so it sounds like a fast song.

-The person above is right. If you go to the Gwangju Tigers website, there is a music video for the Gwangsoo Up song.

-Wow. Does the Gwangju club care a lot about Han Gwang-soo? A cheering song with a music video? So, is Han Gwang-soo the main character in the music video?

-No, I mean there is a music video for the original song ‘Gwangju Up,’ which is Han Gwang-soo’s cheering song, you idiot.

While the community was going back and forth, preparations were completed, and the game began.

Han Gwang-soo, who played as the 4th batter, struck out in his first at-bat.

The Ulsan Pyros fans were excited and mocked Han Gwang-soo.

-He seems to have swung too fast.

-That’s because he’s faster than light.

-Gwang-soo Down! Gwang-soo Down! Light Gwang Hit Soo! Gwang-soo Down!

-Good lyrics!

***

Sang-hyun was really busy. Honestly, he was so busy that he wondered if a high school student could be this busy.

But he enjoyed it very much because everything he was pursuing was fueled by ambition.

After the Club Homie performance, the first thing Sang-hyun did was register the 888 Crew logo. Sang-hyun didn’t know much about the fashion industry. So, through Manager Oh Yeon-joo’s introduction, he completed most of the registrations that could be done for a fashion brand, such as trademark registration and trade name registration.

He also applied for a patent for a design that engraves alphabets and numbers such as RAP and 062 [area code for Gwangju] on the ‘888 X 888’ symbol. However, the design patent application took some time, and there was no guarantee that the patent would be granted.

“Hey, what are you going to do with this registration?”

“What do you mean? Of course, to sell products.”

“Who would buy this? Well, I guess there would be people who buy it. But wouldn’t the sales figures be insignificant?”

Jun-hyung asked a reasonable question. Of course, Sang-hyun didn’t know how much these products would sell either. They might sell a lot, or they might not be very successful.

But the interesting thing is that the 888 Domestic brand sales index is a kind of ‘indicator.’ It’s an indicator of how much the 888 Crew has been exposed to the public.

So, they can measure the brand value of the 888 Crew that they are building and nurturing through the brand.

Another thing Jun-hyung doesn’t know is the rise of street fashion.

There are still quite a few people who think of hip-hop fashion as wearing baggy pants, dragging them around, sticking out one side of the belt, and putting a cheesy highlight in the front of their hair.

So, can Jun-hyung even imagine?

The days when almost all teenagers and 20s have one New Era and Snapback each?

The days when fake Supreme and fake YMCMB [Young Money Cash Money Billionaires] snapbacks dominate college campuses?

It’s not for nothing that Jay-Z launched the brand ‘Roc-A-Wear.’ Also, it’s not for nothing that Lil Wayne keeps shouting ‘Young Money Cash Money’ and wearing YMCMB snapbacks.

SWAG. Rappers have to be cool.

When hip-hop becomes popular, fashion products that rappers use to express their style and swagger naturally gain power. In a sense, hip-hop values its unique ‘style’ more than rap.

Finally, what Sang-hyun expects is the status of the 888 Crew. Sang-hyun didn’t just want 062 to be created in the ‘888 X 888’ logo design.

The 888 Crew was already in the process of collaborating with several Busan crews. And in the music video they will be filming together, the Busan musicians will be wearing ‘051 [area code for Busan] X RAP’ T-shirts. The 888 Crew will naturally be wearing ‘062 X RAP’ T-shirts.

In the end, the 888 Crew will be the owner of the collaboration song. Because whether it’s 051 X RAP or 062 X RAP, the shell is 888 X 888.

In addition, Sang-hyun was not planning to sell the design of the clothes that are shared in commemoration of the collaboration with the musicians separately. So, only the musicians who collaborated with the 888 Crew can wear those special clothes.

If you think about it, it’s nothing, but if it accumulates, it becomes a kind of classification. Those who are with the 888 Crew, those who are not. It has nothing to do with skill, but anyway, the 888 Crew becomes the standard of the category and subtly stands in the center of Korean hip-hop.

‘Well, not everything will go as planned.’

Things that have not yet been implemented are just plans. Rosy plans. But Sang-hyun felt like he was smelling roses for some reason.

End

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