Standart Music Group recruits Soul Dive and R-EST.

Announced about 2 days ago on Hiphopplaya, Standart Music Group (previously known as just Standart Music) released their new logo after the renewal of their website as well as the new members that are to join the label. After much hype (and much speculation from hip hop fans already knowing who the new members were), it was announced that Soul Dive (comprised of members Nuck, D.Theo, and Zito) and R-EST will be joining Standart Music Group.

Soul Dive was already known to have been the top candidate for joining the music label since the news of Nuck joining 불한당 (Hooligan) – a new, uprising crew led by fellow label-mates Minos, RHYME-A-, and Kebee – were in it also.

When Standart Music Group had initially launched with the news of Noise Mob, a duo unit formed by Minos and RHYME-A-, the label was under fire from fans calling them the "second Soul Company" due to the majority of artists under the label having been in Soul Company, and the accusations heightened when the news of former Soul Company producer G-Slow joining the label was announced.

But with Soul Dive and R-EST joining the label, one could see it as balancing the amount of former Soul Company artists and producers, a gateway to mainstream since Soul Dive has broke into mainstream ever since their 'debut' with the song "AOAOA," or a desperate reach for revenue considering Noise Mob, the only artists promoting at the moment, aren't living up to the expectations of hip hop fans.

What makes me even more curious is that Soul Dive was doing fine under J2 Entertainment, expanding into mainstream in releasing singles and collaborating with artists like Younha. So what made them join Standard Music Group? Could this also be a balance for them to guard their title of being underground while J2 Entertainment quietly backs them up as their mainstream supporter?

Regardless, as a fan of Nuck, I haven't been really impressed with the route he's been going in (aka his mainstream route) but if he's joining Standart Music Group, I expect that solo album he's hinted at to be better than dancing on Music Core with idol clothes and hair.

Meanwhile, Standart Music Group will be celebrating the renewal of their label and begin their official promotions as a label by hosting their first label concert, "Standart Music Concert - ST.ART," which will be held at the Sang Sang Madang in Hongdae on February 23rd. Pre-orders for tickets will go on sale on January 30th through Interpark and details of the concert will be released at a later time.


Source: Hiphopplaya

Dopesun & Logicx release Vintage Love (Good Night Mix)

Dopesun & Logicx release Vintage Love (Good Night Mix) through Hiphopplaya.

I haven't really checked out Dopesun's works but decided to listen to the collaboration between him and Logicx for "Vintage Love" and fell in love with it.

Turns out that just a few days ago, they released a good night mix version of it and although I don't think the good night mix compares with the original, it's still fitting with its night theme in having more of a lullaby sound to it.

For downloading, you can download it here http://bit.ly/S0gJkZ (courtesy of Hiphopplaya).

Original Version:

Good Night Mix:

And I realize that no one translated the lyrics to it so here are the lyrics. Enjoy!



[INTRO]
When the cold breeze blows, I'll hold you beside you

[VERSE 1 - Dopesun]
I was tired of meeting a new person
How is it that I dread a little in meeting someone new
It's because that the deeper I get, the wound will be deeper as well
I avoided you first because if I give you my heart, then I'll get hurt
And you, you're a lot different than I Am
You're always blue like the sea no matter how much the weather changes
You know, even if I don't have money, you always say let's be together
Let's wear the same clothes that even rulers can't measure
I don't know, I'm not really sure about this thing called love
To be honest, I'm not cool like others and I'm pretty short
But there's more times that I'm able to meet eye to eye with you
I honestly can't catch the stars from the night sky 
But I can promise that I won't leave you alone so fall asleep in trusting me
Think more about me than the delivery oppa
The gift I give to you is my heart so make your heart for me

[CHORUS - Dopesun x Logicx]
When the cold breeze blows, I'll hold you beside you
You're everything (I can't live) if living is without you
When the cold breeze blows, I'll hold you beside you
Ayayay if living is without you

[HOOK - Dopesun x Logicx]
Slowly yay yay yay yay little by little yay yay yay yay
To you yay yay yay yay
Don't be scared, I'm a grown man just for you and only you
Slowly yay yay yay yay little by little yay yay yay yay
To you yay yay yay yay
Don't be scared, I'm for you and only you, for you and only you

[VERSE 2 - Logicx]
It's been a while that my heart's been beating when it used to have no feeling
The first time you caught both of my eyes
Are you my light that lost temperature
Why didn't you even ask me before stealing my heart away
My attention is now focused on one place
In front of her, I stutter and am more conscious of your gaze
With my awkward talking, I appear sloppy once again
These burning feelings, they're able to melt the winter 
I'll approach you so that it won't be too late
This time, I won't say something else nor will I lie 
You're my everything and even this sounds too weak
I'll just show you, so empty your heart out till it's pure white
I'm a wanderer that only knows the road that's you
Don't look too far because I'm the insufficient 1 inch that you were looking for
Vintage love, to a guy like me
I'm just a guy that's comfortable like a pair of jeans and a white tee that you don't get sick of

[CHORUS - Dopesun x Logicx]
When the cold breeze blows, I'll hold you beside you
You're everything (I can't live) if living is without you
When the cold breeze blows, I'll hold you beside you
Ayayay if living is without you

[HOOK - Dopesun x Logicx]
Slowly yay yay yay yay little by little yay yay yay yay
To you yay yay yay yay
Don't be scared, I'm a grown man just for you and only you
Slowly yay yay yay yay little by little yay yay yay yay
To you yay yay yay yay
Don't be scared, I'm for you and only you, for you and only you

Thanks~


[HOOK - Dopesun x Logicx]
Slowly yay yay yay yay little by little yay yay yay yay
To you yay yay yay yay
Don't be scared, I'm a grown man just for you and only you
Slowly yay yay yay yay little by little yay yay yay yay
To you yay yay yay yay
Don't be scared, I'm for you and only you, for you and only you

[OUTRO]
Hoo~ Dopesun & Logicx, we back in the our 2nd winter
It's true. This is the way to love ya.

Tiger JK, Yoon Mirae, & Bizzy to form project group MFBTY

Tiger JK, Yoon Mirae, & Bizzy to form project group MFBTY.


Yesterday in Korea, a press release was released through Hiphopplaya announcing the news of the upcoming project group from Jungle Entertainment consisting of artists Tiger JK, Yoon Mirae, and Bizzy, and they also threw in a teaser to their title track "Sweet Dream."

According to Hiphopplaya, the group's name MFBTY stands for "My Fan Better Than Yours" (disappointing Engrish coming from artists who are fluent in English) and they'll be making their official debut through the '2013 K-POP Night Out at MIDEM 2013' on the upcoming 27th. However, their new song and the MV for it will be released prior to the showcase on the upcoming 21st.

In the press release on Hiphopplaya, Jungle Entertainment said, "MFBTY will be an adventurous hip hop group that will continuously forgo unexpected transformations in music, performance, visual, and other factors overall. You'll be able to see a musical synergy that needs no words coming from these three artists combined."

Here's the teaser if you haven't seen it:

All in all, it's not so much of an interesting combination because these three always stick together, but I definitely think that this will be a better breakthrough into mainstream versus failed-M.I.B.


Source: Hiphopplaya

Phantom returns with new album "Phantom Theory"

Three-member group Phantom returns with their new album "Phantom Theory."


I loved their previous album "Phantom City." The songs on the album were an easy listen and they made a good balance on what works for all three members and their styles. However, this album was pretty disappointing in comparison to their first.

Starting off with "Hide & Chic," I still feel like Kiggen (member of Phantom and also one of the primary producers of Phantom's songs) needs to get over the Far East Movement phase in his life by not adding autotune and making it go up & down in every note on the music scale. He's already received criticisms before about "Hole In Your Face" sounding a little like Rocketeer before, so let's cross fingers that he won't do it in the future (a girl can hope). The beat in the beginning definitely catches your ear and then it becomes a real hot mess after that. It was honestly the wrong people working with the wrong beat in my opinion. I also feel that this is their song to promote Microdot, younger brother of Sanchez, who could possibly sign under Brand New Music after some recognition.

In the case of "Dutch Pay," it's the opposite of the prior song in which the beat was a wrong fit. The lyrics is a fun read, coming from a guy's perspective of wanting to split pay between him and a girl versus the guy always paying on his own. Phantom always has clever lyrics which is what got them noticed before through their "19 Song," a catchy compilation of lyrics from songs that were deemed 19+ by MOGEF. I guess I thought this would be more fitting with a gentle beat like "Seaweed Soup Song" so this song was more so of a pass for me.

I love Sanchez's vocals here in "The Things I Can Do." He holds a very rare kind of vocals because you hardly hear male vocals sing in high pitch, let alone this high of a pitch (Junggigo often hits high notes at peaks of his songs and Bumkey, fellow artist under Brand New Music, sings in high pitch but still a few keys below Sanchez). A random fact, but I started liking Phantom because of Hanhae but I feel like his rapping wasn't really applied very well here (no comment on Kiggen's rapping because I never have comments on it), so that was a little disappointing. You can pretty much listen to this as Sanchez's solo song.

Everything was going well in "Fingernail" until I heard someone who sounds like Dok2 and then I grew confused. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be Kiggen making his voice sound like Dok2 or if this Dok2 soundalike is the "HJ" person featuring in the track, but regardless this is probably my favorite from the album so far. Guitar riff always wins me over and it was nicely played when Phantom all toned down for the song, not making things dramatic and messy.

Oh no, I wanted to believe the Dok2 soundalike from "Fingernail" was the hopeful HJ person but it's back here in "I'll Talk Plainly" so I'm 99.9% positive it's Kiggen...moving on (because Dok2 is never worth the subject), the beat is too chaotic and spazzy for my liking, but Hanhae's rap suits the beat (he's sampled similar chaotic, loud beats for some of the mixtapes in his tracks before) so that part worked out. As I'm live-reviewing this while I listen to it, I'm on the verge of turning this off because if goes back to Kiggen and he suddenly shifted from Dok2 to G-Dragon (my two most favorite people ever). The song has hit rock-bottom where everything and everything went from a decently obnoxious song to a low class "One of a Kind" remix.

Last but not least, their title track "Like Cho Yong Pil." Here's a link to the song without all of the cringe-worthy acting for a straight-through listen. The organization of the song and the buildup of it reminds me of their debut song "Burning" but a much softer version of it. The song also has no affiliation with senior artist Cho Yong Pil with the exception of their one line saying "I'm never going to change and continue singing like Cho Yong Pil" and talks about their love story. A decent listen for a title track that Brand New Music can abuse with press releases about how they respect Cho Yong Pil and gather interest from an older generation than just teens and people in their 20s. Hitting two birds with one stone, but not hitting my birdie of approval.


Not their best but you can't expect much from a three-member group in which one of the members loves Far East Movement and samples it in everything he produces (even during his Hybrefine days). It's a good thing Brand New Music is smart in using a softer-key song for them to promote and I will wait another few months for them to release something hopefully better than what I just spent an hour writing about here.