The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 91

< Verse 14. Be the Underground >

The song for today’s performance, “Lonely Road,” was born from that feeling of isolation. Sanghyun shuddered as he recalled the tension with Codenamed right before they went on.

If they’d had to perform “Strong Swing,” he felt he would have been no different from Codenamed, unable to perform with a clear conscience.

That’s why Sanghyun respected Junhyung. Beyond friendship, he was someone he could admire musically.

“What are you staring at?”

“You’re ugly.”

“Want to get smacked in front of twelve thousand people?”

Sanghyun laughed. The ten-second delay to sync with the broadcast ticked down. At Junhyung’s cue, the beat of “Lonely Road” finally began.

The original beat of “Lonely Road” sampled an orchestral harmony, layering a heavy bass and drumline to create a hip-hop texture.

However, arranged as a performance piece with L&S, the sampling felt less prominent, and the majestic quality intensified. This made the original beat sound like a live version, and the live version feel like a professionally recorded track.

Minsik, after careful consideration, played various sounds for Sanghyun, ultimately trusting Sanghyun’s instincts and changing one key element: the ‘909 drum’.

The 909 drum kit [a classic Roland drum machine sound] was mainly used for dance music and seemed at odds with the orchestra. However, Minsik boldly used 909 drum sounds in place of orchestral percussion like timpani. After heavily mixing the 909 drum kit, he added a new drumline to the orchestral harmony sample.

From Minsik’s perspective, as someone who appreciated traditional music, this was an unconventional choice. But he trusted Sanghyun’s ear. Sanghyun might have lacked theoretical knowledge of harmony or instruments, but his instincts were surprisingly sharp.

The result was a sound that would make anyone with formal training in composition, harmony, or orchestral arrangement scratch their head. A beat that even casual listeners wouldn’t immediately recognize as “complete.”

But the performance wasn’t just the beat. They had another instrument, one more perfect than any other in the world.

It was the voice.

Amidst the orchestral harmony, Miju’s keyboard and violin VST [Virtual Studio Technology, a software instrument] began to take the lead.

Lonely Road. A lonely road.

Miju’s keyboard and violin harmony, evoking a narrow and lonely path between precarious cliffs, had a strange power to captivate the audience.

But it didn’t excite or thrill them.

It was unavoidable. The orchestral sound, the pinnacle of orchestral music, was unfamiliar to many in the audience.

At that moment, Junhyung’s rap exploded between the violin and keyboard.

Came from the bottom, now my position is Lonely Road.
Standing on a narrow road, everyone follow me, Call me Lord.
Firing recklessly, my inspiration is already reloaded.
I must have come too early, when you call me, make sure to say Early Bird.

Junhyung’s rap filled the space between the 909 drumline and the string instruments. It wasn’t a fast rap, but the audience felt a tremendous sense of speed because he intentionally left no room to breathe.

The four bars of rap, delivered in one breath, mixed with the orchestral harmony, creating an arrogant feeling that matched the lyrics.

Hayun followed, seamlessly picking up where he left off.

The “Early Bird” at the end of Junhyung’s rap and the “Early Bird” at the beginning of Hayun’s rap connected perfectly, without missing a beat.

Early Bird,
A bird that wakes up early, flies high, and sees far
Looking around like Gulliver on a trip to Lilliput [reference to Gulliver’s Travels]
The feeling when rapping is like Sullivan tutoring [likely a reference to a famous tutor or educational method]
The only way to beat me is to Re-born

Hayun’s rapping style mirrored Junhyung’s. Moreover, Junhyung’s rhyme that started with “Lonely Road” was connected to “Re-born” while maintaining its structure.

Junhyung and Hayun had completely different flows, except for the shared rhyme structure. But because they shared that structure, there was a satisfying sense of unity. Hayun’s rap also delivered four bars at once, like Junhyung.

Some of the more perceptive audience members realized the 888 Crew’s intention: they were running a marathon, sprinting 42.195 kilometers [26.2 miles, the length of a marathon] while passing the baton.

It was at this point that the cheers of the audience, who had been completely focused, began to erupt.

Sanghyun took over Hayun’s “Re-born” and started running anew. The structure of the unfolding rhyme was the same. But Sanghyun wasn’t content to simply take over what came before.

The only way to Re-born,
The swaggering, the stumbling blocks
Sweeping away almost all the lies
Cut it off, in my right hand is Excalibur [King Arthur’s sword]
Came from the bottom, again my position is Lonely Road.

Instantly, the audience erupted in cheers.

-Ooooooh!

-Wow!

The reason was the multi-syllable rhyme that Sanghyun used.

Multi-syllable rhyme is a rap technique where rhymes are matched.

Usually, rappers match rhymes using words that are meaning-delivery systems, like “Gulliver” and “Sullivan.” But multi-syllable rhyme matches rhymes not with meaning-delivery bundles but with sound-delivery bundles.

Taking the necessary sounds from between phrases to match the rhyme.

Swagger – ing, walk – ing the street, stumb – ling blocks

Multi-syllable rhyme wasn’t easy to use, but when done well, it could create a rhyme bomb that elicited cheers from the listener.

However, due to the nature of Korean, the rhyme matched by cutting off phrases had the disadvantage of making it difficult to convey the original meaning of the lyrics. Therefore, Sanghyun wouldn’t have used multi-syllable rhyme if “Lonely Road” was his solo song.

He sacrificed clarity for a more dramatic effect in the marathon leading from Junhyung to Hayun.

From that moment on, electronic sounds began to subtly mix with the majestic violin and keyboard narrative. The audience didn’t notice, but the tempo was gradually increasing.

As the twelve bars of majestic rap ended, Hayun’s chorus began.

On the dusty road,
I can’t feel the traces
Of someone to stand shoulder to shoulder with,
There’s no one above me, so I sing for myself

The chorus was designed to maximize the feeling of a choir, fitting the orchestral harmony. Hayun’s vocals were recorded and given a Choir Vocal effect, layered in the background. At the same time, the members of L&S added a rich harmony.

From the Lonely Road-

The audience somehow felt that the drum sound had become stronger.

The bass, which had been playing ghost notes [subtle, almost inaudible notes], began to come to the fore, and the violin sound receded. The keyboard had already switched to an electronic keyboard.

A gradually escalating feeling.

A heart pounding to the drum sound.

The audience expected something to happen that would satisfy their ears the moment the chorus ended.

From the Lonely Road-

And the moment the chorus ended…

A sigh erupted from the audience.

Unfortunately, the performance that had shown tremendous immersion was cut off. The camera director and staff who hadn’t seen the rehearsal were embarrassed. The sound team, who had seen the rehearsal, also forgot the scenario and were embarrassed because they were too immersed in the performance.

A sudden silence on the stage.

The audience’s regretful exclamations.

The staff’s urgent voices heard through the in-ear monitors.

In between, Sanghyun’s sharp rap burst out.

My heart still has a dream alive and breathing
Sometimes I dance on stage
My charging to become a better adult
The output of the energy being released

Sanghyun’s rap echoed through the three main speakers. The camera hurriedly zoomed in on Sanghyun.

A person absorbed in something shines naturally and gains the power to attract the attention of others.

Just like Sanghyun was doing now.

Most people won’t understand me
But now my choice is a Hustle life living only with rap
By not compromising with appropriate reality
I spend all night today revising and writing lyrics

Sanghyun heightened the beat, and at the moment when it reached its peak and something seemed about to appear, he cut it off and started acapella [without instrumental accompaniment].

This was a double-edged sword.

It could instantly focus tremendous attention, but the flow was disrupted. If that flow couldn’t be filled with acapella rap, a device composed only of rap, the performance’s momentum would dissipate.

But Sanghyun did it because he wanted to, and he was confident.

A strong feeling that all the audience was focused on him.

When you write it, you naturally look back
Behind the road with my footprints
Engrave two letters, Five and Six
Got a god of things, kiss the blessing of God

Perhaps Sanghyun was the person who best suited acapella among the methods of delivering rap, with the vocal delivery that had both embarrassed Oh Yeonju and fascinated Professor Kim Wooncheol.

Boy be ambitious, I’m out of my boyhood now.
My ambition is too big, I’ve shed my lazy shell.
Whether they bless me or curse me, the choice is theirs
From the Lonely Road. Now back onto the beat

Onto the beat… onto… onto.

Sanghyun’s voice spread like an echo.

The rap poured out acapella was thrilling. The audience was about to shout at the cool performance, but a sound blocked their mouths.

-Doo-doo-doom kwang!

The drum sound erupted like a volcano.

Hwang Insoo’s drums, which had only been playing ghost notes [a subtle drumming technique] of the recorded 909 drum kit, were spitting fire.

The mix-up that grew during the performance wasn’t only used within the 888 Crew. Through the 888 Crew, their freedom, shift in ideas, and novel attempts were strongly influencing the members of L&S as well.

The performance that started at the same time as the drums was different from the beat just before the acapella. If the beat before the acapella was a sound centered on orchestral harmony, the beat from now on was centered on electronic sound.

The majesty disappeared, and roughness took its place.

The solemnity disappeared, and freedom appeared.

The classic disappeared, and sophistication appeared.

The narrative feeling of the orchestra was instantly changed to the intensity of the electronic sound.

-Waaaaaaa!

-888 Crew!

The audience screamed like crazy at the intended dramatic reversal. Now, the 888 Crew’s performance had become a stage completely for 888, rather than a congratulatory performance for the 준 playoffs [likely refers to a semi-final playoff round].

Sanghyun’s acapella rap was another intended device.

Bang Minsik’s idea of mixing electronic sounds into the majestic orchestral harmony and finally exploding was great, but the timing was ambiguous.

The instruments changing little by little wasn’t explosive, and changing all at once wasn’t smooth.

So Sanghyun cut off the beat through acapella. After seizing the flow with rap in a static state, the electronic sound explodes!

‘Collaboration of Electric and Orchestra’ by Yngwie Malmsteen [a famous guitarist], where opinions were divided on whether it was a revolution of classical music or a revolution of electric music.

That attempt, which was shown by the world’s best electric guitarist and master of speed, was being newly reorganized and expressed at the Mudeung Stadium.

But if there is one thing different, it is that the music they make is hip-hop.

< Verse 14. Be the Underground > End

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