AOMG artists releases cypher on Jay Park's show

(Thanks to sanashimi for helping out with the subs!)

Apparently Jay Park has a television show and I only knew because Simon D tweeted a link to the unreleased cypher clip concluding of members Loco, Gray, Ugly Duck, and the two co-CEOs. Surprised that Elo got swept under the rug but I suppose it was a decent cypher overall. Anyway, enjoy the subs!

Swings & Ugly Duck go at it again with respective responsive diss tracks 'Hwang Jung Min' & 'Format'

I'll edit this later as well as typos that may be in the translations. I'm running late but enjoy more diss tracks. 

Ugly Duck, you ugly fuck
You think you're cool? And you're the one saying I look like a pig? Hey, where's the mirror around here?
The Ssam D you so like? I saw him a few weeks ago and you remember too, right? And he said you look like me
Oink oink oink? Shut up, quack quack quack.
A lot of other kids have respect in their tracks but do you remember that day?
When I was having a hard time? And how you'd lend me money. That gave me a bit of strength
You were my fan 3 years ago but from now on, you're my bitch
I'm not going to beat you up because you're puny, but my right hand is fairly thick
I'm different from my seniors and I don't do that threatening shit
I'm eating a live duck and all I need are chopsticks
You want me to say actual names? Do you think I'm a pussy? Is that why you were only able to diss J'Kyun and Mad C?
The Son Seok Hee of hip hop and BB cream. If you diss an upright hyung, you atuomatically advance and tie, don't you?
I put bars in between my two slit eyes and I'll do what you want in dissing this 'big shot' of yours so strain your eyes open
First, fuck Jung Giseok (Simon D)
A retarded dog, this Judas fucker! You just stay where you are
You can't even stare at me straight in the eye and if you do, you get cut off like the end of a penis does
When Sens got kicked out, you joined both hands with Dynamic Duo
During the time he's asleep, you'd send in proofs of the contents
And then ㅋ you go on TV and smile while acting like the good guy ㅋ!?
A million dollar slave contract..is it his fault for rejecting the offer?
Ssam D you mother fucker, I knew it ever since you stole Jtong, you mother fucking bag of bones
Sun Jookyung, you didn't know about this, right? The one who apologized first was Ssam D and you were fooled
After siding with Dead'P, I did an interview in that I'm going to catch a big one unless they beg in apologizing first, then I'll let them off
The.Next.Day??ㅋ
Guess who I received a phone call oh-so-formally from? But you go on acting like you're a big shot saying I called you out to Just Jam?
Ay yo Jung Giseok, should I grab and rip your pussy right off? How could you eat Sun Jookyung, the one who always sucks on your pussy
Is that what you call loyalty?
This fucking duck tries to act manly but let me tell you something
There's only one reason as to why you dissed me and that's because I'm the enemy of an enemy that's your enemy
It's my mindset that doesn't trust anyone without an alliance
You only have one mixtape and you're saying that I'm getting ahead of myself again?
You have one mixtape. You have one mixtape. You say I'm not improving? What about you and your one mixtape then?
After I just sold Ssam D's organs, I shovel your front teeth, arm, leg, and your roach food and load
And I peel you off as I do it fast also
Why do you say I write? Because I'm damn good at it
Why am I lazy? Because that's how you get famous like Beenzino
Boogie on and on; you'll die if you ever show your scalp
I admit I suck at mixing but I can rip everything hundreds of times
I like King Swings but I rip it again with King Swings
Mad C says that you're a retard for dissing the weak
I'm the scab on top of the scab that's on top of a scab
I rip it and clean it again; my scab rams on your tongue
I force you to swallow and once it digests, then you shit, right?
If you place that shit on a platter, then Ssam D will eat it
You little fuckin' maggot. If you're trying to win against me, you need magic
You need the latest dictionary engraved in your head to be eloquent like Kim Koora, Jin Joong Kwon, and Sayuri
You fucking pig, we're brothers
Why don't you hop on over to the gay bar with Ssam D and Primary
I'm not done yet. Hold onto to the case and hang on
I took off his case, right? I'm sure that retard will cry
That fucking biaaaatch who always hid and was sensitive during the time I made a big deal
No way. Biaaaatch, okay.
You're the biggest slave and cunt of Amoeba lurkers
You probably don't know why I dissed Dead'P
It's better than fuckers who always suck up to him and ask, "Hyung, buy me a drink please"
Sun Jookyung, listen to me and put both hands on your shoulders
I love you too but gain more weight why don't you
Rhymer hyung, Rhymer hyung, I can't see to grasp myself
All the kids are right, I was a retard from the start
I'll leave if they tell me to and I'm not being sarcastic
But if they put charges on me, who's going to handle my debt?
Jtong Junghoon, I did everything you told me to do
If I screw up, then take me under your wing like a man
Fuck all you fuckin haters, you can suck my dick!
Also, fucking air, yeezees, I'm still a living king, believe me
Even if I get kicked off the floor of politics, I can still rap, fuck TV

Fuck TV man, what the fuck you know about that?
What the fuck you know about my life? What do you know about my life, you mother fuckers?
Yo, I don't like having to explain for myself so I'm not going to talk about each and every thing individually
But, I made it to the top 5 for the most noble people in the Korean hip hop scene
Seri, Hyndo, Taeji, VJ mother fucker. And who else? Moon Swings
And you say I don't improve? Damn. I don't improve? Damn.
What the fuck man. Who was the one who endured through all this in the first place?
You think you can do what I did? You think it looks easy, right? Then you try, mother fucker
Why don't you try cussing on SHow Me the Money while your mom watches, you cunts. Fuck
It's fucking Moon fucking Swings, man
This ain't no fucking joke.
I'm swimming in the sea of blood now. You understand what I'm saying?
Fuck this shit, turn it off

Should I give you another one, bitch?

Ay yo, I'll tell you about my situation now
I just dissed the top people of biggest companies in Korean hip hop
I could get kicked out from my company after releasing this
I'm releasing this behind our CEO Rhymer hyung's back, so there's no excuses, you fucker
Do you think I'm one to make excuses for myself, you retard?
You wanna know why you're dissing me? It's because you think I won't hit you
But let me tell you that I have guidelines for myself too, you fucker
You little fucker, who do you think you are trying to play me
When you see me, you always have this fear-stricken look on your face, you fucker
I'm going to piss on your face, you little fucker
Alright, let me tell you about my situation
I can get pressed charges for this and be kicked out of my company
If I don't get kicked out from my company, then I have to keep doing what I do
Why? It's because I have a contract to tend to and I'm thankful to the people who put their investments in me
This is my answer and that I just have to do well for myself
I have to think of my parents and I don't know why I have to do this shit
But it's all good man
A few days ago he said he hates me so I told him we should meet up
Why? Just tell me, why don't you like me? Hyung, you're not like how you used to fucking be
You look like a fucking retard
Okay man, I'll go back. Hyung, you don't like that company, I heard you don't like them. I heard you got backstabbed by them
Jtong, I did what you wanted me to. I'll say it fucking upfront but I fucking miss you, you fucker
This is love and hate
And to the rest of the fuckers trying to fight me, come and fight me
Alright man yo, I should have just done hip hop because I was born for hip hop
It's this. I'm going to do everything, whether it's fucking rock or fucking something else, I'm going to do it
But hip hop? It's my shit? Why? Because it's fucking meant for people who are aggressive in my opinion
Acting cool trying to hide scars
Anyway, Korean hip hop, to those who are good, fighting
Fighting to those who respect and diss me
Fighting to those who are going to come out soon
Also, TakeOne? I listened to yours. It gave me a lot of realization
I respect that shit. Thank you man
Hail Korean hip hop, hail Moon Swings, hail Just Music and Brand New, I don't know
Peace






How tearjerking

First off, say it again with both eyes open
If you thought I would've backed down for something like this, then I wouldn't have started it in the first place
Don't level me as Ssam D's hunting dog because this is my game
I went up on the ring myself and I'm more daring than anyone else
Sure, there's no other hyung that takes care of your dongsengs like you do
I enjoyed up until last week your release '500 Words' and I can't deny the influence you have
But I want to point out something and it's that you changedf for sure
You said it yourself that you weren't like this when you were a rookie
That's right fucker, you said you weren't like this then
Because I realized a lot, I do everything on my own now
I've been past the stage in hearing all the hyungs' cares
Seeing how each and every one of you changed your ways gave me great shock when I was younger
Keep slandering me as you've been doing
Buckwilds & Do'main
Although we have a lot of members, we don't stoop to your childish ways
Fake ass mother fucker, acting friendly once you're in front of people but talking shit behind their backs. I've seen it all
That's why they say being disciplined when you're young is crucial
Because I learned all of your wings, there's no sort of talking shit behind someone's back with me
All of you should come out and fight till there's dust
I'm sure there's a couple of fuckers that feel that this applies to them so come out
I never tried to control everyone because my goal is to reset
I honestly hated the fact that you guys would make excuses for yourself
So where did all the brothers from Illest Konfusion go?
The narrow-minded fuckers I was once proud of now need an upgrade, no, a format
I don't need anythinbg because I'm Buckwilds & Do'main

Swings releases 'King Swings,' Ugly Duck, TakeOne, and everyone with their moms diss Swings

Just a few hours ago, Swings released a free track titled 'King Swings' which was made out of motivation from hearing Kendrick Lamar's recent controversial verse in his featuring for Big Sean's 'Control.'

Not too long after that, Ugly Duck and TakeOne as well as a couple of other artists released their own diss tracks in response to Swings.

The reason why these two artists are more noted for their diss tracks than others is because these two are members of the crews Buckwilds and Do'main, the two crews that Swings directly called out in his track. Also, the certain "hyung" that Swings mentions in his track is referencing Jtong, who is also the leader and founder of the Buckwilds crew.

It's funny because Jtong and Swings were once together in a crew themselves which was Illest Konfusion up until Swings left. Illest Konfusion also housed other artists in their crew such as Simon Dominic (Simon D for short), E-Sens, and Beenzino.

From my assumption after having translated and analyzed the lyrics of all the tracks below, the disses tossed back and forth are more than just calling Swings out for being fat and Ugly Duck for still being considered a rookie.

As mentioned in Ugly Duck's lyrics of Swings not having a good relationship with Simon D, what we can assume is that there was a rift probably at the time when Swings left Illest Konfusion. Another assumption that can be made is that as mentioned in my article of E-Sens leaving Amoeba Culture, Swings got involved in the rift that could have happened between Simon D and E-Sens. Last but not least, Simon D is known for being close to the members of Buckwilds, especially Jtong (as Simon D was also the one who recommended Jtong to Amoeba Culture) so it's easy to see how the Buckwilds members would go against Swings.

Anyway, the track got around pretty fast in the span of a few hours and the responses from netizens are really divided. Scanning through the comments on Swings' video, a lot of people feel that Swings is not how he used to be in the past. Not going to lie, I think this as well as I still enjoy Swings' older works but after being on the show 'Show Me the Money' and being in a powerhouse underground label going mainstream, he's bound to take a shift in his music to cater a different audience.

With underground artists who came across the diss tracks, there was nothing but appraisal. Artists like Simon D, Huck P, and Suda tweeted about how everyone did well and some believed that this may have been the better diss tracks that shook up the Korean hip hop scene in a while.


The lyrics and links to the respective tracks are below so take a look at the lyrics and enjoy!

Swings - King Swings

Kendrick's really amazing as he woke me up all the way from Cali

I got Seoul; Now I'm burning from my homeland and everyone burn in my methane

I counted the money I had and I still seem like a kid

But I'm not jealous anymore because I'm like Hammington Sam

Like a real man, I went in my bare skin under the scorching sun

Of course, now my skin as well as heart is poisoned black

I sit in front of my desk and fill the pen with my doglike drama, the sincere worries my dad has for me, and diss all the retarded emcees

Nearly all of Korea is too busy creating a trashy image

They call themselves hip hop, yet they can't even get a girl's number

Skills are your seniors, bitch; your little dick grew a wee bit

You're not even a trainee, yet you can't even release one album 

Be satisfied that being ignored by me is an honor

With your awkward gestures and talk mimicking black people 

I had a fight with a reporter in trying to defend you guys

Your skills are short like the length of Clara's shorts

You're like Minkyung wearing see through as your insides show clearly

If you don't want to be suppressed like a wheel, then why don't you move aside in trying to live

You're just a loser looking at yourself in the mirror wanting to become a celebrity

You even look like you'd lose in a fight with your girlfriend

You say swag only in front of those younger than you 

When I arrive, everyone grows quiet like it's time for service

I'm the Jack Sparrow of this game and you're just a model pirate

I'm always the skilled king but now I even have popularity

I'm the giant of advancing; that's right, your car and you yourself are a Wrangler

I don't lose, retard so why do you guys keep trying to step forward

Even if you cheat, I still shoot the ball into the net 

I take out the fire burning in me at night as it incinerates and burns you

You burn like a car that just got into an accident, fry like a French

Ride or fuckin' die, there's no one real like me

That crown is mine and take it off like a stripper

Or bow down to me like you would to your father-in-law

You're just a moldy bread, so how do you think you'll change...just like that, why don't you choke that broom-like neck of yours

Just make yourself turn grape color and explode, please explode

You wet the floor brightly beneath with the two holes missing your eyeballs

I want to even kill your crew, fucking hunchback roach

I hire foreign workers to gang rape you...that's revenge

The people who raise their tone of voice when they're scared when their tones are usually low, I'll chop both arms off

What you'll wear is a basketball shirt and I'll dunk your head inside the water..

Your oxygen supply is low so your lungs tell me, "My oxygen passed its curfew"

Are the words that the character from a novel spits real?

Because you got hit during your school years, do you spite me?

Again this year is the delicious seaweed soup my mom makes for me -

If you want to eat soup, then hop on your four-wheeled bicycle and move out of the way

This is my business and there's no positions for work

With a killer flow, I'm the right person to be in this position

Who are you trying to scare? I'm the MC eater 

This is my territory so try to come over and I'll give you a bruise on your cheek

I changed the motherfuckin' game
Your shit is motherfuckin' lame
Your pronunciation sucks and your Korean is lesser than mine
Hurry and apply for Kumon; learn with me starting from ABCs
Motherfucker you a fuckin' poser
Feature on the Playboy poser
When you walk, you walk carelessly but nowadays I'm healthy
When I meet with female college students, the discussion topic is always grades
You found a job early but I obtained skills first
Mr. Hip Hop, I declare that I'm going to run with Jang Moon Bok
No one can hear the meeting place for dummies
Don't worry, dad and mom are fine
I'm going to change the "boos" I hear with my ears to "yeah"
Instead of "fat," I'm going to become "grand"
When I make it real big, you'll see on my car on the highway with Busker Busker, Eloquent King, you get what I'm saying, right?
Whenever I won in arcades, I got hit by my hyungs
Now with age, your chin? It's going to disappear
But sometimes I'm not that bad, I'm a nice guy
My hair moves here and there like the wi-fi from a coffee shop
People say I look like Santa; Merry Christmas, jingle bells
U missed me man? It's alright because look, the king is back
If you're a rapper, then you have to rap first because that's first
You're doing the opposite in taking off your panties
With pants on, you ask me, "Swings, how does that happen?"
I don't know either but my attitude doesn't change on broadcast either so if you saw it, then acknowledge that nobody's real like me
You saw it, the corner of my mouth going up like Nike
Buckwilds and Do'main have too many members like Wu Tang
I'm still a new thing if I made my lyrics into a book, it'd be thicker and the weight of the paper would be heavier than all of yours combined
I don't hate you, I just don't like your certain hyung
Sure, I'm sorry so now follow me through rap
Except the fucking rookies because y'all are just fucking rookies
When I was a rookie, I wasn't like you guys so step it up
The politicians in the generation before me aren't that small in numbers
I don't respect you as you're just moldy rice to me
My mentality is Tupac and my mouth is a fuckin' boombox
Who's going to give me a shoulder note; the leader is the third emperor
Illionaire is my goal and of course I acknowledge Gonzo
But I'll redevelop everything as this hip hop scene is like my Songdo
Do I do this for the scene?
Fuck that, I do it for me
I did it for this scene but what did it ever do for me?
What is rivalry? I have to higher my standards
I have a lot to reflect on but it's not over this
Kang Minho, E-Sens; you left your company now
As a friend and a fan, I'll tell you that don't become a memory but a legend
VJ, we waitin' for ya, San-E we takin' OVER
We'll turn them all into dust and use them when we're ready to eat like baking soda
I'll cancel what I said about dissing the scene since I have both love and hatred for it
But, when I do become king, please accept the fact that victory is mine

There's one thing better than sex and that's succeeding






Ugly Duck - Ctrl + Alt + Del *2


Instead of feeling a sense of rivalry, my feelings of disappointment grow bigger
You're better off reminiscing on the days when I was your fan 3 years ago
You're no different than the fuckers you used to talked hella shit about
You can't open Just Jam shows without anyone famous on the lineup
You thought you were pretty tight if you labeled your works as "not mixed," huh?
You really have no sincerity, do you. Just stop making music overall
"Please understand me as I didn't do mixing for it~ This is the real RAW SHIT!~"
I can't even hear what you're saying, yet you try to rationalize
Let me make you another nickname: "Mr. Rush"
Do what you were best at, which were throwing fists and being a mobster
You think that just because your voice is loud that everything will go well for you
Stop making those pig screeching sounds and get on the rhythm
You never try to research but yet you blabber a lot
What did you say to me when I was looking up music? That I'm an otaku?
Then what are you doing making a living off of the same people who do what I do
Illionaire, Hi-Lite, VV:D, Buckwilds, & Do'main
You can't even open up Just Jam without us
Who do you think you are overlooking someone else's table of food as the world's greatest pig?
Why don't you go eat your feed with your grand left hand
And if you're trying to reference someone, do it straightforward and right,
That "Jtong! Hella hates me, Swings!" instead of "Now I'm King! Swings! So don't hate me as your hyung!"
Also, you would use Rhymer hyung as an excuse to say this and that
You're the CEO of JM who contracted with Rhymer that contracted with Loen
Where did your upgrade go?? Your class fell headlong
Whatever you do, you always say Rhymer hyung, Rhymer hyung as your excuse
Fuck, when did you have so much reasoning for yourself you pig, pig, pig
Did you seriously want to make issues, you copy cat, you crazy ass
You're a psychopath, a crazy ass, a crazy ass who's desperate for attention
There's a line to be drawn, you crazy ass feeding off of your pride in yourself
You act cool but we all know it's a gimmick and that you're just Swings the retard
You had a rift with Ssam D (Simon D) for a while and now what?
You apologize suddenly and request for him to guest in Just Jam the next day
I understand your motives but aren't you slightly even embarrassed?
I love you but I have to say what I need to say
Just because you were on broadcast for a while, it seems that you get a lot of functions calling in for you to perform for?
You seem to enjoy the fact that people recognize you now, huh?
Look at you hang around retards like Mad.C and J'Kyun
I hope your friendship lasts forever till your graves
You got qualified here, qualified there
Hey, you got qualified there too
Why don't you spend that time picking up your pride from the scripted Show Me the Money
A legend is shitting and from today on, you'll remain as just a good memory to me

TakeOne - Recontrol

Why does everyone copy Lil Wayne
It seems like even after a few years passing by, people are still sounding like Drake and Asap Rocky
Do do do do! Everyone seems to be difficult with Kendrick Lamar now since they can't rap like him
Here, before we copy Korea, we're already caught up
Why do you keep holding onto your dick in front of your female followers
It's illmatic if everyone likes fast-paced things
If you debate the core of what differentiates an official album and a mixtape, of course their quality is the same, maybe in terms of income they're not
No one recognizes musical competence, even if your popularity goes up
Don't overestimate with the influence you have because look at Beenzino. Seeing him, we know that it can disappear any day when you kiss your girlfriend
It makes no sense. Do we have to keep our eyes out because of females?
It's ironic how you mention Verbal Jint and San-E because didn't they change too?
'You Look Well' on the charts is what everyone knows about
This isn't a diss but a problem we all have
Hip hop is our preparation and our homework for when it becomes popularized
Everyone uses popular female vocalists for their singles
"They call themselves hip hop when they can't even get any game"
You're the one who uses the money from the number one music chart agency in the first place
It'll be remembered in the heads of hip hop fans that this rapper that's you is a commercial rapper
The results of Swings hyung's music is terrible just like his influence
The reason why is because he chose the wrong target to call out in the first place
I DON'T SELL WEED MOTHER FUCKER, I SMOKE IT
There's thick smokey (makeup) lined up beneath the eyes of a rapper who acts like a celebrity
The way you talk on SNS changed once you went on 'Show Me the Money'
You claim to be the punchline king; then when it comes to your enemies, set them right with a punch
Out of those, the targets may be J'Kyun, Mad C, Din Din. Zizo, and Swings
Who knows, it could be Jindo Dog, Loco, Illtong, or even me
But out of those people, go ahead and ask around who's changed
Of whom acts cute on their Facebook
This is the Korean version of Kendrick Lamar's 'Control'
If you're going to keep your eyes out, then why do you even copy in the first place
Also, that's right, I'm a part of Buckwilds and Do'main
We're just friends but we don't pursue music with a business approach
If you have a problem with the numbers of our crew members, then go diss Bulhandang
Before you call yourself an oldie, choose who your target is
Also, I wish R-EST hyung would stop it with the tweets
No matter how much you try to break someone down, no one acknowledges you, which is why no one calls you out to performances in Gwangju

Money doesn't promote someone superior to others among rappers
"Are you considered successful just because you put out a lot of music?" is the question I want to ask
Before you make sarcastic remarks about how we're lazy, think about making an impact in history of hip hop; think of success as something you achieve in the next step up
Now that, that's the right way to create rivalry
If you fight with money and popularity, then you're rivaling idols
If you're going to talk down to us about not putting out albums, go beat up Black Nut first
Your enemies aren't that far from you - they're always right beside you
Don't diss people who are easy targets but have courage
For example, Jerry.k hyung is awesome for his 'Declaration of Current Affairs'
We're not in a rush because we're waiting for the time when we're ready
I'm ready so be ready, 'GREEN IDEOLOGY'

Yasu - Hello, Senior

Nafla - Wings

[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.

--

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