Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Geeks releases 'Officially Missing You, Too' featuring Soyou of Sistar






Geeks releases 'Officially Missing You, Too' featuring Soyou of Sistar.

At 12PM in Korea today, the music video along with the digital single 'Officially Missing You, Too' was released. The single garnered lots of interest from all kinds of fans, KPOP fans rejoicing in being able to listen to Soyou outside of group promotions and general music fans taking an interest in Geeks. For hip hop fans, it was the other way around where they were surprised that Soyou would be collaborating with underground artists. 

The collaboration also got attention for word going around that Zico and P.O from Block B were making a cameo as well as celebrities like Jung Taeho (popularly known for playing the role of 'Madam Jung' in Gag Concert) with Brownie and Haha featuring in promotional videos for the single.

Although the collaboration itself seems like an unexpected combination, it worked out well. I got to listen to the song a few weeks before the release and although I don't like it as much as the original by Tamia and the Geeks version from their debut, it's still refreshing to listen to (and I like Soyou the best in Sistar).

The music video's really cheesy (I laughed a lot), but take a look at the MV and the lyrics below.





(Soyou)
The words I hesitated in telling you was goodbye
Now I'm left alone in this night without you
I'm still, I'm officially missing you

(Geeks)

Like the night I waited for you, the gap between us was long and dark
I hope this isn't the end
I wanna go back

I fixed everything you wanted now, but where did you go?
I'm left along and lonely
Why does the wind blowing today feel so cold?
Why do you appear to be fine? 
Although you're insensible, I just need you to smile at me as you did before

(Soyou)
Ooo can't nobody do it like you
Said every little thing you do
Hey baby say it
stays on my mind
And I
I'm officially missing you

(Geeks & Soyou)

You're the only one for me and I hurt because of you
I try to forget you but it's not working out so well
Trying to hate you is too hard, it's too difficult
And I'm upset that you don't notice me
I'm officially missing you
Officially missing you

(Geeks)
Yeah I'm officially missing you, too

The reason why I can't say anything is because the distance between us is too long
More than any other word, you're meaningful on another round
You keep distancing away and the awkward today is left exactly as it was yesterday in disappointing me
Because you're always the in my mind, I toss and turn every night and my heart is just growing tiresome
The streetlamp lights up the street and I empty my insides on the toiler
Uh~ No matter how much I empty my insides, I'm drunk and growing dizzy from our remaining memories
Girl, I still don't have a place to lean on so I wash everything away with this song

(Soyou)

I miss you like it's a habit
The photo of you smiling back at me, I cherish it as I smile and close my two eyes
Can we start over again, oh like that day
(Geeks & Soyou)
You're the only one for me and I hurt because of you
I try to forget you but it's not working out so well
Trying to hate you is like betraying you from my memories and I can't do it
I wonder if you know how I'm missing you like this


(Geeks & Soyou)
You're the only one for me and I hurt because of you
I try to forget you but it's not working out so well
Trying to hate you is too hard, it's too difficult
And I'm upset that you don't notice me
I'm officially missing you
Officially missing you


(Geeks & Soyou)
Can't nobody do it like you
(
The words I hesitated in telling you was goodbye)
Said every little thing you do
Hey baby say it
stays on my mind
And I
I'm officially missing you

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Primary releases single "Poison" featuring E-Sens


Primary releases single "Poison" featuring E-Sens.


After a teaser for the single released a few hours ago, the full MV and song was released through Amoeba Culture's Youtube channel as well as the various online music sites today at 12PM in Korea.

Although this is the pre-release for Primary's upcoming official album, I felt like this served more so as E-Sens's comeback into the hip hop scene. And what better way to come back with one of the hottest producers from the underground breaking into mainstream recently?

Not only that but you can tell by just listening to the track. Everyone knows that this isn't the greatest beat that Primary has made. You have to admit it if you've listened to his past works. This doesn't mean I'm dissing Primary, but I feel like there was a reason as to why.

It's as if he purposely just went for something soft and let E-Sens do the work with his lyrics. To me, it felt like they wanted E-Sens to speak for himself and honestly, I don't even believe he needed the beat. The man was spitting his flow effortlessly and it was almost like a poetry slam, just telling what he wanted. The beat was pretty much there to be a nice feature in adding suspense when E-Sens gets into the climax of the track as well as wrapping up the song with soothing vocals.

Going back to the lyrics, I can't say anything else other than it was beautiful. The way it was written, the analogies he makes, the emotions you can feel with the diction used...everything was perfect. I think this is also why I love E-Sens a lot, because he sounds like he doesn't even try and he's just telling his life story and that goes for most of his raps, showing how laid back he is and that he's kicking his two feet up in the air and saying to the world, "Fuck you, I'm E-Sens." 

Anyway, I'm not really a fan of Amoeba's music videos, but why does that matter when you have one of the greatest producers in the hip hop scene collaborating with one of Korean hip hop's greatest emcees? Take a look at the lyrics and listen to track, and you judge if my bias is acceptable in this case.





Many memories piled with dust with time passed by
The poison filling up my body with time passing by
Lately it’s been growing worse in wanting to be more free and exactly half of me is dead
I can’t see it, but I believe it
For sure that I’ve felt it lead me before
I remember the beginning and empty out all the things that rotted me
I have to catch it, the things I lost
The long vacation up till now
The days when faith that was clenched tightly in my fist was all I said to have had and I’d ridicule everyone in being fearful and old
And now the opposite’s happened, they gave me fear
It was inevitable that I would eventually become like one of them
And it was then when reality told me to look straight
Although it wanted to run, it said that sitting was more comfortable
Every time it’d lie to both me and you

Thanks to the comfort like cigarettes, I was able to grasp my mentality a little
The hidden message behind becoming an adult is just hypnosis and it’s never becoming clearer
I’m just living in my comfort zone and it’s as if I’m a dog being tied away
I only learned these kinds of things
I was fearful for the watch of others as much as I feared gaining courage
I was tired of those states so I told them to go just away
Where my belief pulls me is this place, right here, my home, the place where I become complete
You can ridicule me all you want for you being nothing but an empty shell with your dreams tossed aside whenever an opportunity comes your way
You can hide your failure in pretending to care about me
You, who doesn’t want to get hurt is all, stay still
You say that its common sense and it’s a world where cowardliness is a cure
Instead of you, I give respect to everyone who has scars and celebrate to those who overcame it

I’ve fallen into a deep hole before
Pretending to live without any problems to my family and friends
The loath and arrogance of mine that mixed together
I didn’t even like the eyes that looked at me from my own reflection
The depletion of passion
The behaviors that I detested more than anyone
Now that it’s become my problem, I feel like dying
I can’t really feel other things
I’ve seen myself mess up but I can’t find it to kill myself
But back then, it didn’t seem like a waste if I threw away everything I had somewhere far away
I wore myself out from digging like a maniac in finding things that can comfort me
Peace never had a relation with me
I lingered in raising my voice to hide my insecurities and grew angry when talks of pride were brought up, making me dizzy
It was a time where I didn’t even know who was next to me
At the time, I didn’t believe in god but I couldn’t believe in my messed-up self so for quite a while, I couldn’t grasp life
Mornings never felt refreshing no matter how many hours I slept
The anxiety and pressure that crushed my youth
Foam, traps, and temptations that came instead of opportunities
All those factors faced from the front; the next time I’ll make sure to hold onto those I lost from the beginning

If I try to catch up hurriedly, I slowly begin to forget which one is me
If you have to stop, then stop now
Because we lose those important to us too often

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Andup releases MV for "As It is Right Now" (+lyric translations)




Andup releases MV for "As It is Right Now" featuring Brother Su from his EP "20."

Just by the preview shot for the music video, you can already tell that it's hinting at the familiar faces in the underground scene (if you don't know who the guy in the Bulls fitted is, that's Louie from Geeks).

The music video was directed by Jayfactory, who's kind of been getting their name out there for filming MVs with other artists in the hip hop scene and the MV was fairly cute. The effects of the scribbles was suitable with the theme of Andup's EP "20" talking about society and life in the shoes of a recently-aged 20 year old. But it was also a nice transition to go from his home to hanging out with his friends at the Grandline Party.

I really loved this track when his EP came out and I feel like the featuring done by Brother Su wasn't overdone, being present in the track to add a nice harmony and he did well in serving as a break in between the verses.

Anyway, I decided to translate the lyrics so check it out below (and name the faces you recognize in the MV)!





[VERSE 1]
Having fun felt like a sin
I felt like I was confined by the rope I couldn’t see, but now I’m fly
Although I don’t have features that aren’t better off than others,
Despite having to pay the price of joy tomorrow, I’m happy without any worries
This is something I feel in living life for a short amount of time, but there’s nothing left over
The youth of not having to wear a necktie
The only thing that can tie me down is the state of my wallet
Now, make money to play and spend it on what gives you joy
Get ready to enjoy a hell of a ride till the sun rises
The side you’ve hidden, the side you’ve suppressed, spend it now because like mileages, it’ll expire when time passes
The age where you can do everything besides the things you can’t
If you’re going to spend your time boringly now, when will you ever enjoy life?
If it’s money you’re short on, then I’ll spot you so don’t go home


[HOOK - Brother Su]
Right now as it is, the same look as yesterday exactly, I wish this can repeat all day every day
Leave the worries to tomorrow to sort out
Right now as it is, the same look as yesterday exactly, I wish this can repeat all day every day
Leave the troubles to tomorrow to sort out


[VERSE 2]
One might have troubles even at the age of five
But having to carry the burden on your shoulders at that age, you might have ended up crazy today
At this age right now, you probably have to encounter everything
If you wait too long, then the size of the mental breakdown will be bigger later
Let it all out and don’t suppress it and swallow it down
Also, don’t scratch at the spot that you were ripped away from
Livin’ good time; don’t mix in with the crowd surrounding you that’s full of talk and worries
The adults who always scare the younger ones even say that this is the best of times Get rid of all the habits of being insecure and being scared
In living a life holding onto an optimistic mindset, now release all the feelings of being sluggish
Time’s passing by too fast and it’s a waste to be locked up alone
You can’t do anything about the time that’s already passed by, so let it be
The new day you’re given each morning, today is another new one


[HOOK - Brother Su]
Right now as it is, the same look as yesterday exactly, I wish this can repeat all day every day
Leave the worries to tomorrow to sort out
Right now as it is, the same look as yesterday exactly, I wish this can repeat all day every day
Leave the troubles to tomorrow to sort out


[VERSE 3]
Be Free! The high light awaited for a few years
The spotlight necessary isn’t needed at this moment
Even without money, I can run out to the moonlit night to Hankang in Seoul, the (east) ocean for Busan
Since I’m a fresh body, I have a glass without any side dishes
If you can’t drink, I won’t force it, but at least clink your glass
My heart feels easy-going without feeling like I’m being driven away by something
And now I send a text message to my mom who’s rushing me (I love you, mom)


[HOOK - Brother Su]
Right now as it is, the same look as yesterday exactly, I wish this can repeat all day every day
Leave the worries to tomorrow to sort out
Right now as it is, the same look as yesterday exactly, I wish this can repeat all day every day
Leave the troubles to tomorrow to sort out




Source: Nate

Thursday, October 18, 2012

[REQUEST] Whatever happened to that "Awesome Bitch" Rimi?





Requested by an Anon.

---

So when I saw the request through the comment an anonymous person left me, I thought the Rimi diss controversy was fairly recent (because I realized she deactivated her Twitter since we were following each other), but after doing my research, it turns out that it happened quite a while ago, and the history of the diss tracks dated way further back.



It happened around May of 2009 when a guy named Unik One came out with the diss track "Goodbye Rimi." Normally, majority of diss tracks check off the criteria of listing how an artist sucks, their rap sucks, their crew sucks, their label sucks, their music sucks, their life sucks, and just everything about them sucks. However for Unik One's diss track, he himself also went off of that checklist saying her rapping and rhymes suck, but he went into a more personal level with the diss track as he briefly mentions how she had changed once she joined OVC (Overclass for short) and how she ignored the rappers she once knew before she joined them. Something smelled fishy.

After finding her written up explanation of the whole ordeal, it looked like the two were friends in the earlier years, around 2005-2006 I'd say. She knew people under his label as well as his older brother who goes by the name of "Sik Boy" and Sik Boy as well as Rimi were supposed to feature for each others' mixtapes. However, well...shit happened.

The actual shit happened around 2008 when Rimi had released her first mixtape and joined OVC at the same time. Since Sik Boy was kind of in a rush with putting out his mixtape, it looked like there was pressure for her to compose lyrics faster but in her defense, she just didn't feel it at the time since it was supposed to be some sort of romantic track but she just couldn't put out the emotions considering she also was under stress with her own mixtape release. She kind of put it off and eventually blocked both Sik Boy and Unik One on NateOn messenger. In her defense, she wrote in her explanation note that her personality isn't the type that's good with confrontation and avoids the problem, the problem here being that she clearly was not doing her part of the contribution. Also in her defense, she had a track that Sik Boy was supposed to take part in but she had taken it out of the track list so there wasn't much they were working on together. I don't know, this seems like middle school play of taking each other off of their Myspace top 8. Anyway, the ridiculousness of this whole issue ends with Rimi apologizing about it and admitting that it wasn't the best method of solving the issue. Sik Boy accepted her apology and so you'd think, everything's good, right? Wrong.

We forgot about Unik One! I hope he doesn't write a diss track about me because I forgot about him, wherever he is in the wonders of the nuguland :( Anyway, he didn't listen to Rimi's apology, continuing to argue that she changed when she joined OVC and how she neglected the people she knew before she "rose to stardom" you can say. Then all of a sudden, Sik Boy also began talking smack about Rimi behind her back with Unik One, along with YP (a friend of Rimi's who took part in her mixtape, whom she also blocked on NateOn messenger at the same time as Unik One and Sik Boy, and accepted her apology) growing distant from her saying she's a traitor. Drama-rama.

Anyway, the middle school child play wasn't the only issue. Possibly the biggest issue in the diss track from Unik One itself was the fact that he was kind of (okay, he was) a sexist. He starts off verse two of "Goodbye Rimi" with “The Prada you liked enough to spread your legs, I’ll give that to you. Instead, take your smelly bra.” The diss track doesn't serve as enough to prove that he was sexist but what can you do when you're kind of a nobody dissing about a somebody? Talk actual shit. Rimi admits that she enjoys having a sex life and that people shouldn't look down on her for it because everyone has their own form of exploring their sexual pleasures (sorry this is sounding like 7th grade sex-ed), but it doesn't mean that others need to know what she does and that they don't need to fabricate it either. The solid truth of Rimi just enjoying sex became massively fabricated in the underground scene into people seeing her as a slut, a whore, and a cunt you can say. She was slut-shamed, not that it isn't hard enough for women to survive in a predominantly male hip hop scene, it was just a huge mess. So Rimi decided to take action.

She sued them. She sued them for defamation. A lot of people were disappointed by her actions saying that she couldn't handle the situation like a true musician would. But that's the thing, she did. After "Goodbye Rimi" made waves around Hiphopplaya, Rimi countered back with her diss track "Well Off Rimi" and it looked like Unik One had a lot of time on his hands because he made another diss track called "You Just Need to Apologize." I can understand her position when she mentioned that if she constantly put out diss tracks, the situation would go nowhere and it would just be a waste of time and effort on her end because this guy wasn't willing to give her the time of day for her to apologize about it nor was he willing to accept it. A lot of people saw it as a publicity stunt for him because having no name in the underground scene while she really was the "awesome bitch" then, it was a chance for him to ride off of her fame, even if it meant that he got negative feedback on his end for it. 

Anyway, she sued both Unik One and Sik Boy, explained the whole situation about the underground scene, how she was defamed and slut shamed, and exactly the details of the ongoing argument to the police, who in return took the case off of her hands for them to solve. She also had to clear that up in her explanation note because a lot of people assumed that she went to the police and just sued them without explaining the whole ordeal.

Finally, the case comes to a close when Unik One and Sik Boy are being investigated for the case and they truly realize the deep mess this became which could have ended with the simple acceptance of her apology for what happened in the past. They somehow got a hold of a member in her crew Cookiz and asked for her number so that they can apologize to her for what happened but she said that she had rejected their apology. She didn't want them knowing her number, but she also didn't want to accept the apology any longer because the damage was done.


It's been roughly three years since the incident and it looks like it's well rested, but it's kind of one those cases where if a new case rises that's similar to this one, Rimi vs. Unik One is the first case to look over, kind of like how the Supreme Court system works. Since then, Rimi came back with her solo album this year and received fairly mixed reviews over it.

The mix of reviews were half-half. Half was positive in the sense that they liked her singing and rapping, and that it was a new approach. The other half was disappointed that she wasn't that same "awesome bitch" she was before, that she's turned soft and it can be alluded to the incident of her against Unik One of it being the reason why.



I honestly don't know what happened now since this happened a few years ago while on the other hand, she deleted her Twitter about two months ago. Maybe she's going through a phase again where it's hard for her to commit to music (because she mentioned that during the 2005-2008 era, she went through a lot of family troubles and personal problems which resulted her to take time off of music to study abroad) but if anyone's really curious, I can ask Grandline Entertainment directly. Sorry this was such a late post, sorry there aren't much direct translations, and sorry this was so long. Hope it was informant enough but if you need more information like direct translations of the diss tracks, feel free to e-mail me! I'm going to leave in the source a link to the diss tracks you guys can listen to and the actual explanation post Rimi wrote on Hiphopplaya. If you guys have other requests, feel free to leave it in the comments or e-mail (e-mail is best though!).



Source: SXI1 @ NAVER (DISS TRACKS); HIPHOPPLAYA (EXPLANATION)

G-Slow joins Standart Music & releases "Yallah" featuring Noise Mob



G-Slow signs with music label Standart Music.



After having released recent beat tape “Elsewhere,” G-Slow kind of went under the radar again after thanking everyone for all the downloads off of his Soundcloud account, occasionally popping up on Twitter to RT his friends and their whereabouts, specifically the artists of Standart (RHYME-A- & Minos mainly). I should have known.

I should have known that if G-Slow were to sign somewhere, of course it’d be Standart. I guess it was natural of him to transition to the label since it was established by none other than Soul Company artists themselves. And looking at the paths that most of the artists (and DJs) in Soul Company went down, it’s hard to imagine G-Slow under a music label like Grandline Entertainment (housing Crucial Star and DJ Dopsh), Illionaire (The Quiett), or Jungle Entertainment (Loptimist, to which I still question every single day). If anything, I feel like G-Slow wasn’t doing so bad producing on his own as a sort of “freelance” producer in putting out his beat tape on his own or contributing as a producer for his friends (to name a recent few, Jerry.k’s “Love Stories” EP and RHYME-A-‘s recent single “Jealousy Says”).  

But more than him needing a music label, I feel like the situation is reversed in this case. I feel like it was Standart who needed G-Slow more than he needed them. Why?

Because Standart hasn’t been doing the best in the market you can say. When the label first kicked off, they got a lot of shit for it from the public as the three artists (Minos, Kebee, and RHYME-A-) were viewed as trying to make the “second Soul Company.” Not only that but their so-called “in-house producer” Electrue is rumored to be a cover-up for people to get off of Standart’s case that the label is trying to be the second rising Soul Company. In addition to that belief is the rumor that people believe Electrue is actually Kebee in disguise. Not only that but you can probably say that Noise Mob (unit promotion for Minos & RHYME-A-) necessarily hasn’t been doing well either in comparison to the others promoting and/or performing as a unit (i.e. Geeks, GetBackers, etc.). And with Kebee enlisted in the military, it looked like Standart needed a stable producer till Kebee discharged for him to fully participate in Standart.

Maybe I talked too much about the negatives. There has been some positive light for Standart too, Eluphant coming back with their album “Apollo” and RHYME-A- breaking hits with his recent digital singles for both the respective original and acoustic versions for “Jealousy Says,” “Smile,” and “When I Feel Alone.”

Going back on topic with G-Slow, it looks like Noise Mob contributed to the celebration of G-Slow joining Standart by rapping over the track “Yallah” from G-Slow’s beat tape. The beat itself is sick as hell and just…bless Minos and RHYME-A-. Take a look at the lyrics below and listen to the track, you’ll definitely love it. It makes me wish Noise Mob put out hard tracks like this as they did in the bonus track “Noise Mob” for Minos’s album “Minos in Nuol.”



*T/N: I tried translating the holy lyrics of Minos and RHYME-A- and I'm sure however I translate it won't ever justify the quality of their rhymes, wittiness, and just everything in general so I apologize beforehand. 

 





[VERSE 1 – MINOS]
Without a pulse (Mac) on my iPhone, the screen is written with the words “My galaxy, I go” and I write “Jobs” kind of things
The apple I’m biting onto, it’s the fruit of art and I leave a poem (seed) which is A+; my semen is thick (jeah-)
My white earphones that are shiny – a bundle
Tired of the monotonous color that’s bundling nowadays, STANDART eventually conceived G-Slow
“Happy *uckin’ B-day!!!” I ate my seaweed soup
If my skilled that are tempered are written, then everything becomes a rhyme
An inborn force in writing; struggle every night & day
"Oh, God!!!" They won't let it be on the test
Even starting with my last name is “Choi,” (the best) and my name means HOV, matrix
What can I do? What can I say? Here is Xenadu and I’m Hemmingway
Even if I leave my weapons, I’m Fitzgerald.Gatsby-Heavy weight
This grand loneliness, don’t even touch “Dokdo”
Noise Mob holds up the flag and the only route is to move forward for this mob
Choi Min Ho, the raps that he spit for fun are now making him into a working ant
The act of engraving the stories I easily put aside on top of the notebook. La renaissance (x2)


[HOOK]
Who’s going to stop me. Who gon stop me now
Who’s going to stop me. Who gon stop me now
Who’s going to stop me. Who gon stop me now
Who’s going to stop us. Just back off and leave.

YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH
YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH
YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH
Now's the time it's goin' down



[VERSE 2 - RHYME-A-]
The golden tower of language that was built again after being broken down
We S.T.A.N.D.A.R.T now we're on the top
A place that I can’t reach no matter how much I stretch out my hands
A place where if you’re not one of the chosen ones, you can’t enter
Watching down up from the highest peak
In trying to imitate me, you get hurt and you’re trapped inside a rut called limitations
With that said, you plummet to the bottom
Fools who are like dead skin cells falling apart and crumbling
The fake swag created with alchemy 

No matter how much you powder metal scraps with gold, even as to tempering it, it'll still be just a metal
Your leftover pride is just a bluff; I see it all
Whether it's a dog or a cow, it's sick and you can suck my dick. You just look sick
This beat is making me stronger
Trust me and hold on tight to me. To those who can't seem to communicate:
You wanna be me?
Look carefully

While you’re in the probability to fail, I’m off to multiply to infinity
Does it hurt? Are you suffocating? Then take a rest
I’m off to brew some poison to put into your mic to cut off your oxygen
You can’t even catch up to the half of what’s half of me
Even if you just look, the sky is too high up
Even when I rap nonsense, this high and mighty flow is here to slit your throat
Suckers protect your neck
With G-Slow alone, he put me on top of your entire crew
While you’re panting to raise your voice higher, with just a few rhymes I take off the respirator you’re holding onto


[HOOK]
Who’s going to stop me. Who gon stop me now
Who’s going to stop me. Who gon stop me now
Who’s going to stop me. Who gon stop me now
Who’s going to stop us. Just back off and leave.

YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH
YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH
YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH, YALLAH
Now's the time it's goin' down

Who’s going to stop me. Who gon stop me now
Who’s going to stop me. Who gon stop me now
Who’s going to stop me. Who gon stop me now
Who’s going to stop us. Just back off and leave. 



[OUTRO (Minos & RHYME-A-)]
G-Slow got ma back
Standart got ma back
A fashion victim that awkwardly messes everything up

Tooniverse is what kids watch
We're man on the earth
But ma verse goes to the universe
We Standart M.I.N.O.S m*uckers
We Standart RHYME-A- m'*uckers
We Standart G-Slow m*uckers
High frequency vol.2 m'*uckers


 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Primary to release album "Primary" featuring 23 artists




Composer/producer Primary finally to end his “Primary and the Messengers” series with an official album featuring 23 artists.

The “Primary and the Messengers” series first started off with a single album comprised of three tracks: “Zoo” (featuring Supreme Team, Yankie, & Mellow), “Happy Ending” (featuring Jinshil of Mad Soul Child and Garie of Leessang), and “Word” (featuring Garion). Then Primary went on a hiatus for about a year and popped back up with part 2 of the series which includes the tracks “Meet” (featuring Zion.T) and “Far” (featuring Beenzino). What was said to be releases every month weren’t very consistent since he released part 3 three weeks later, the track “See Through” (featuring Gaeko of Dynamic Duo and Zion.T) which garnered a lot of interest and love from the public as well as “Love” (featuring Bumkey & Paloalto). Then news kind of cut off and he went back into hiding, popping back up every blue moon with his smackdown against Rhythmer and rumors of him producing for an idol group (which is still a mystery to this day).

But it looks like the news about the album and upcoming music will have been worth the wait because Amoeba Culture released a press release just recently while unveiling a killer lineup for the album. Artists Dynamic Duo (given), Double K, Dok2, Jinbo, Bumkey, Junggigo, Dead’P, Paloalto, Beenzino, Yankie, Garion, Simon D, Zion.T, Rhythm Power, Jay Park, MBLAQ’s G.O, and others were named to be taking part in the album, making it a total of 23 artists and 18 teams.

There hasn’t been other details released and it still looks like it’s in the production stage, considering he’s been tweeting about mixing some tracks (which I’m assuming is for his own album) and Beenzino dropping by the recording studio at Amoeba Culture not too long ago. I’m not even sure if this will be out by the end of the year but guaranteed, this will probably be the album of the year whenever it’s released.

Not only that, but Primary has been working with mainstream artists as well, K.Will to name a recent one. With a company like Amoeba Culture to back him up with publicity and breaking into the market already in working with mainstream artists, this isn’t just a gateway for Primary to make it big but the artists contributing in his album to do well also. Although some of the artists on the lineup are already big stars themselves, for others it’ll definitely shine a light on them. I think more than anything, I’m really excited to see how diverse of a sound this album will be by looking at the lineup because comparing some of the artists side-by-side, they definitely have a different sound. I'll keep posted on this whenever news releases.



Source: Hiphopplaya

Soriheda to release his 2nd official album "Soriheda 2" in November




According to a press release from Hiphopplaya today, Soriheda announced that he’ll be releasing his 2nd official album “Soriheda 2.”

Soriheda has always gone for the vintage and retro sound, in which he showed in his first album “Soriheda” but it seems like in the upcoming album, the sounds will be a lot deeper and clearer.

A representative from Soriheda’s end said, “The album is a combination of the thoughts, imaginations, and languages derived from the different environments and lives of the vast theme “us.” The different material quality and various shaped pieces all form inside this cast and inside, a new picture is created. The album is in its last stage of production and it’ll be set to release in November.”

His last album release was a concept album called “A Spring Night on the River” which was uploaded for free this past April while his first official album was released in February of 2011. Despite coming back with a new official album after 21 months, he’s been fairly busy with being in charge of mixing and mastering for other artists such as B-Free, Andup, etc.

It’s rare of producers to release albums nowadays and I’m definitely excited for this one since I really enjoyed his first album, especially the track “Confused” featuring Delicat. Also, am I the only one who thought of Brown Eyed Soul from the album cover?



Source: Hiphopplaya

Monday, October 8, 2012

[Hiphopplaya] The New Wave #5: Okasian, TakeOne, Ugly Duck

Why yes, I am going out of order for "The New Wave" translations. In other words, fuck the system.

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Hip Hop
Okasian: I started liking hip hop since high school and when I entered college, I wrote rap lyrics for fun and somehow I ended up recording as well, realizing how fun it was later on. What started as a hobby for fun became something I spent more time in writing rap lyrics for, and so it made its way naturally.



Nickname
Okasian: The nickname is OK combined with Asian. If you read it, it sounds like the word “occasion.” It can mean that in any occasion, I’m OK with it and am able to be accepting of everything in working harder.



Crew
Okasian: Cohort. The members of the crew are Okasian, Reddy, O$CAR, JayAllDay, $WIDEA, Cokejazz, and Kangkook. The name of the crew was made by O$CAR & Kangkook, and the amount of members increased with meeting more people and getting to know them.  There isn’t some bombastic motive we have as a crew, but we’re just friends who like the same things and hang around together. Unlike other crews however, we’re not all musicians. We’re really just a crew, clique, gang. We’re currently designing our own clothing so we’re thinking about starting up a business for the future that’s not too far ahead of us from now.



Title track
Okasian: “You’re the One,” “All In,” and “Goodnight.”



Behavior
Okasian: I think the human Kim Jiyong behaves in the manner of chasing after being happy at the moments when it’s possible. That’s also why I pursue in music. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a job, as it can be girls or money but as a musician, my actions are to make good music. Good music varies by the person but for me, I like music that’s fun and honest, something that can make others dance and think.



Respect
Okasian: To be honest, in the meaning of respect, I don’t necessarily respect a lot of people so if I do respect someone, it’s by a lot and for others, I have respect for them.



From now on
Okasian: I’m working on putting out an EP album by the end of this year and it’s titled “Boarding Procedures.”



Lastly
Okasian: All the people in Hi-Lite and Cohort are awesome people so we guarantee that the time spent in putting your attentions on us won’t go to waste. Also, if there’s a chance, I hope that everyone will live in having as much fun as they can. Everyone! 










Hip Hop
Takeone: The reason why I began liking hip hop was because of MC Sniper. Whenever I went to karaoke with my family members when I was in elementary school, I was really tired of them either singing ballads or trot all the time. I never had a huge interest in music overall up until I listened to the song “Korean” by MC Sniper on a TV commercial one day. I was honestly really shocked then after listening to it. I had listened to Eminem and Jay-Z before and maybe it was because they were foreigners that I couldn’t correlate it as rap but after listening to “Korean,” I felt what rap really was and that this was Korean hip hop. I think the song was more meaningful since I listened to it right on the day I was leaving to study abroad. And that led to me listening to all of MC Sniper’s albums, allowing me to know about Baechigi, Drunken Tiger, Dynamic Duo, Epik High, Movement, and Soul Company. I think from then onwards, I listened to whatever I saw in Korean hip hop. When I started rapping however, it was in middle school. My mom said that if I got 100 points on my midterm, she’d buy me whatever I wanted. I studied for nights on end and I ended up scoring a 95. For my efforts on studying hard, I ended up getting a PSP. Little did I know that the device was able to playback videos so I started looking around for hip hop videos on the internet to put into my PSP, coincidentally coming across the café site Jungle Radio. I was downloading music videos from there and the video I really felt a trigger from was Miller (Way)’s freestyle rap battle in which I believe Sool J had won. After watching this video, this was the first time I realized that any average person can rap. Afterwards, I went to the freeboard and for the first time, I was seeing uploaded music by other people. I thought they were all official artists at first because they seemed awesome, but I later found out that it was all self-recorded songs. I wanted to try it for myself so I went out to buy a microphone and recorded my written lyrics. I never dreamed big of what I wanted to do but after my first recording session, I found out my goals and dreams.  



Nickname
Takeone: My rapper nickname was originally Babo. It didn’t have much meaning to it since my gamer ID was always “baboz*” so it naturally became Babo when I’d upload my self-recorded tracks as well. But when I came to Korea and met other people pursuing in music, I began to get a grasp of how to make music and the details that come out of creating an album…after having knowledge of the system, I found out that what I was doing was on the same level as doing it for a hobby. In wanting to be serious about music, I ended up changing my rapper nickname. I also thought it’d be funny if I put out future albums under the name Babo as well. Anyway, I could only think of my real name, which is Kim Taekyun, and there were already others with the same name, like the comedian or the baseball player. The only thing I could think of is Taekwen. In my passport, my name is written as Tae Kwen Kim so it was hard for friends abroad to call me by my name and they’d always end up pronouncing it as “Takewon, Takewon,” which led me to change it up a little and thus Takeone was born. There’s no big meaning behind it but if I had to choose one, it would be that most film directing have cuts and start off with “Take 1” or “Take 2” for each scene. Just like that, the meaning of Takeone is a start, attempt, and going through the process. There’s the saying of “the start is always the hardest and the beginning is half of everything.” You can relate it to my actions.



Crew
Takeone: I’m under a lot of crews. If I list them all out, they are Chatterbox Group, BBK, Cookiz, BuckWilds, and Do’Main. One of the first people I worked with musically was Giriboy at the time when he lived in Nowon and with the other hyungs who did music with him, they formed the crew Chatterbox Group. I didn’t live in Nowon at the time but after working on music together and getting to know one another, I became a part of their crew. There are people in the crew now who either quit music or haven't kept in contact as well as haven't been promoting but I never related the term "crew" for promotional purposes. I always thought it meant to be a group of people who are close so I still consistently give them shout outs. As for BBK, these people called Kim Combi were making raps through Voiceware and I realized that these people were people I knew through music and having been bored and mischievous at the time, I ended up working together with them. That's how I ended up joining BBK but rather than starting something seriously, I think I joined them because it was fun. As of right now, Kim Combi quit Voiceware so I don't think anything will be released under BBK.


As for Cookiz, I was still rapping under the name Babo via the internet and Rimi nuna along with Gamja hyung had come across my track called “New York” through DC Tribe where it spread. Since then, we worked together and when I came back to Korea, I was introduced to Warmman hyung and joined the crew called Cookiz. At the time, they had the motive of recruiting rookies and creating a YoungMoney feel when forming the crew but as I had mentioned before, I didn’t like music promotions as a crew so I even dropped out of working on the compilation album also. Warmman hyung ended up setting up a music label afterwards and Cookiz started to drift apart but we’re still Cookiz to this day. For Buckwilds, Jtong hyung just liked me and told me, “Be a part of Buckwilds.” For Do’Main, it’s a crew made with friends who’ve been doing music with me since the beginning. When I started living abroad, Andup at the time was very against it so I didn’t join but did so when I came back to Korea. Do’Main is also rooted more as a group of friends while doing music rather than promoting. If we get along, we naturally become Do’Main. A lot of people are iffy about me being a part of so many crews but to rebuke against their words, crews to me are no different than my classmates from elementary school, middle school, and high school. Even if we don’t know each other that well, we’re all friendly and there are also those who like me just the same. I don’t know why this fact is so embarrassing to others to be honest.



Title track
Takeone: I think my representing track is “The Tae Kwen” from my mixtape that I released this year titled “Takeone For the Team.” Although it’s been a while since time passed by, the emotions, situation, location, and reflection over myself at the time of producing the track represents me very well. It’s a song I still perform often and I like the instrumental in general. I also like music with this kind of feel to it.



Behavior
Takeone: There’s popular phrases in hip hop music and those are “Show and prove” and “Keep it real.” I think the most critical criteria for these two phrases is behavior. Whether it’s lyrics, words, or actions, I think that in life and as a rapper, those who act opposite of those words seem to lose their coolness. For example, I’ve seen so many instances where people who have no production work of their own and can’t even rap that well put out multiple albums and speak about quite famous rappers as if they’re just average and can’t seem to compare to themselves. They probably don’t even think that way…but the actions I mentioned just now are not only different from the definition of “Show and prove,” but it’s different for “Keep it real” as well. I think it has to do with the fact that you haven’t proven yourself and aren’t confident in who you are, so it makes you seem less cool. But from what I’ve seen in rappers who have that mindset down, I’ve never seen them act that way. They’re cool. I think the actions I need to carry out from now and onward are these set of actions.




Respect 
Takeone: For me, respect is also one type of action. I don’t believe that idolizing another artist is respect. What I think of respect is that it counts people, music, genre, lyrics, words, and actions altogether. Respect itself doesn’t discriminate and is open; the action of being able to lower one’s self is respect. I think a few people clash the ideas of idolizing with respect for rappers but for me, I respect the Korean hip hop artists who have the same mentality of respect as me. Of course, props are a given to their achievements.



Role model

Takeone: First off, I don’t have an exact role model for a rapper. Rather than thinking about who I should rap like, I think I gain inspirations from famous international rappers I tend to listen to, Jay-Z, Nas, The Game, T.I, Kanye, and Eminem to name a few. They seem to be like my role models considering I don’t have a lot of underground rappers for my foreign hip hop playlist, but never did I ever think that I wanted to become like them. What I mean by this is that I want to become famous and make money with the music I want to do.



From now on

Takeone: My goal is definitely to achieve them from now on. If I go into detail about my official works, I don’t think I’ll be working on a mixtape for a while so I’m preparing for an official work, in which my goal for now is an official album. It’s something I have to discuss with the company so it could be a mini album or an EP, as nothing is set in stone. Anyway, as I did so with my mixtape release, my goal is to not put out embarrassing works to myself in the future.



Lastly

Takeone: I feel like my interview was hella long…sorry. Don’t trust the media as it is. And fuck the system…sea pearl.












Hip hop

Ugly Duck: I don’t think I started by saying, “I’m going to do hip hop!!” When I was younger, it was easier to access hip hop through broadcasts so I think it was given for me to sing along to it like any other song. When I started digging deeper while listening, I thought, “Wow! There’s a different culture like this one” and that’s when I started falling into it. I first started writing lyrics when I entered high school…even then, it was just something I was “trying.” I randomly went to the place that they did cyphers at and tried freestyles also, which naturally led me to recording and posting them online as well as performing in front others…also, this may be really unfitting with my image, but I played for the school band and learned how to play the clarinet. Thanks to that, whether it’s breathing or vocalizing, it helped me improve a lot in rapping. Time passed by instantly and soon enough, I already graduated high school? People think once in a while, “What did I do well?” I thought it was rap so I started officially with a determined mentality.



Nickname

Ugly Duck: It has a lot of meanings. If you translate it literally, well, it means an ugly duck. Of course, it relates somewhat to my appearance as well. Despite the word “ugly” connoting something negative, I wanted to twist that into giving off the ambience of “I’m still better than you even if I’m ugly.” This is also why I wrote down the lyrics, “I don’t care about being a swan. I like being like this.” But the biggest reason behind this name is that I wanted to rap “ugly.” There’s the phrase, “Ugly truth” and if you reverse it, it becomes “Truth is ugly” meaning I’m the truth! I guess I just felt compelled to the word “ugly” and thought of it as cool. Of course, I still think it’s cool to this day. I like it because it feels like hip hop. I started going by this…well, I had another penname before this one but at the time, I didn’t really have the determination to dive into rapping but once I did, I went by this (Ugly Duck) name.



Crew

Ugly Duck: Right now, I’m under Do’Main and Buckwilds. For Do’Main, it’s a crew with friends who I first met when I started rapping. Everyone is unique and good…when we meet up, it’s fun. Without any explanation, it’s just the best. For Buckwilds, many people know it as Jtong’s crew and it was a crew formed in Busan. I’m from Gwangju though…but when I was in my third year of high school, I followed my friend Gganmo to a Busan performance and that’s when I first met our captain Jtong. At the time, Jtong hyung told me, “You join Buckwilds too!” but I was scared and said I wouldn’t….after I turned 20, I showed him my rap to listen to via an online messenger and he asked me again, “Do you want to be a part of Buckwilds? Or no?” But that’s when I had seen him often and gotten to know him so without any hesitation, I told him “Sure.” But to be honest, both crews to me are the same. The duration of how long I’ve known the people are nearly the same…well, pretty much the same really. “Jtong recruited the members of Do’Main.” Anyway, I like it. I don’t think there’s a crew out there like them. We just gathered up the weird ones!



Title track

Ugly Duck: The work I put out under my name to the world are just a few featurings and a few mixtapes, but…hrm. I think it’d have to be “Ugly Boy,” the track I perform the most, the track I like the most, and it was in my mixtape which was remixed from the original single track “Bad Boys” from “Basick x B-Free,” produced by Vasco. I knew I had to do something but I didn’t know a producer so I thought, “Why not rap on top of an instrumental from Korean hip hop?” which is how I began preparing for my mixtape. So I started gathering up instrumentals of Korean hip hop songs that were released and out of them all, I think this one truly portrayed my rap the “ugliest.”



Behavior

Ugly Duck: Going outside of hip hop, I think one needs to have a mindset of always learning and studying to improve in anything they do. Despite the word being “study,” it’s not the study that we associate to what society knows it by. By studying, I mean in getting to know something…it still has the basis of what studying is but rather than learning the concepts, it’s the concept that we realize after feeling it and thinking about it on our own. Whether it's music or games, if you don't know the fruit of labor, then you don't know shit. You'll probably just be sitting there staring off into space unable to do anything. And the Korean hip hop artists we know who crossed this path didn't choose it by college or was hired like other jobs may consider; it's completely different. I think we need to carry ourselves with responsibility and this applies for me as well.



Respect 

Ugly Duck: I think the term “respect” needs to be embedded in an artist's mind. It's not that hard to respect one another. But that doesn't mean that if you can't understand it, that you should pretend you do. In a situation like that where you're pretending to understand it, then you're no different from a scammer. No respect.



Role model

Ugly Duck: Goals...role model...I don't really have a designated one. I know this sounds very vague, but I just want to be better than I am right now and that's applied in all aspects of what I do. There's a lot of awesome people out there and I have so much to learn from them. To me, they're all my role models and my goals to become like them. If I think about stuff like this, there's no end to it...I just want to become a completed person...ah, I don't know...this is too difficult. 



From now on

Ugly Duck: Whether my title will be a LP, EP, or a mixtape, nothing is set in stone but I will come out with something official within this year no matter what. Because I don't have a company I'm housed under, it changes a lot by my greed as well...but knowing my will to do so, I'm sure it'll happen and that ugly tracks will be released.



Lastly

Ugly Duck: I'll do well. 





Source: Hiphopplaya