#khiphop producer

[khiphopflipflop]

Gray (Lee Seonghwa)

[f-ngrl]

로꼬 (Loco) - 'VOLVO' Official Music Video [ENG/CHN]

[fr-msfrh]

RAUDI - Dance With Me (Feat. Keem Hyoeun, Choi LB) Official MV

One of my fav producer is backkkkkkk

Featuring our hyoeuniiii <333

Go watch girlies!!

[jwooyoung]

SLOM IG STORY WITH R.TEE

[khiphop-discussions]

미로

LiTrilla - Maze

[beautifulpersonpeach]

I like the sound and vibe of On the Street, and I respect and can appreciate J Cole’s writing, but I’m confused about why that was the message chosen for this collab. Army is bombarding comment sections by repeating that it’s a ‘see you later’ song because Hobi is enlisting, but other than the chorus, what about these lyrics conveys that message? Their verses feel like they belong to separate songs to me. I’m not trying to be disrespectful, facetious, condescending, or sarcastic here, I really am confused and would like to understand, and I would appreciate any insights you might be willing to share.

I did see one comment on YouTube that said: “I heard someone say they wanted a second verse from J Hope but then they realized he did give us a second verse… in his first language, dance. And he did it beautifully” and I think this is my favorite take so far. Thank you for your time (sorry if this ask is dumb).

*

Ask 2: Can you pls review On The Street BPP?

*

Ask 3: Oh Hobi T T... OH JUNG HOSEOK T T... Oh this song T T...,,, Ugh my heart! Our sunshine, thank you for this wonderful music, experience, and feelings. You got me to the finals. I hope you can watch after me today, too. lol I LOVE YOU JUNK HOSEOK. I hope you are happy. I hope your toughest struggle is something you can overcome. I hope your sweetest memories have people who truly love you to share with if you so wish. Hope the world to you J-HOPE!!!!

*

Ask 4: I don't want to be rude but "as the moon jumps over the cow"??? Wut?? Isn't J Cole supposed to be some good lyricist? I saw khh and kpop fans questioning this collab and this lyric in particular and I think they're right. BTS should stop giving khh a bad name because now people will hate kpop.

*

Ask 5: Hi BPP, a lot of people are offended over J.Cole’s verse on atheists being stupid for not believing in a higher people, which further proves to me that they take everything a person says to be something to be Personally offended over, not an honest expression of ones thoughts. And why I think a reason why so many arent listening to true hiphop, true rap, the same ones that the rap line no doubt listened to… It just symbolises to me that these same people are so used to the sanitized version of music that a lot of kpop produces too because jcole’s verse wasnt even that bad honestly… i don’t know, it just came across to me as the same reaction religious people will have when you tell them god doesn’t exist, and a lot of people wont take issue with that too. I know I don’t as someone who belives in a god same way I don’t care that jcole thinks atheists are stupid lool I don’t know im just seeing the hypocrisy and them being unable to let art be art, let music be music.

*

Ask 6: heyya bbp~!

first of all, congrats to our hobi for another great track!!! haven’t been able to stop looping it bcuz it’s that good!! not only is army loving it, i’ve also seen jcole fans saying good things too and some really checked out hobi’s discography and were impressed,,which is what i’d call a successful collab! out of curiosity i checked the khiphop reddit to read what theyre reactions are but no surprise they only praised jcole and wanted other khiphop artists to have done it instead of hobi hah! i’m surprised that they’re still as snooty towards k-idols turned rappers,,but at the same time snooty ppl be snooty lol. but i’m curious if korean khiphop fans are still turning away the rapline’s work? esp hobi since he’s really made an effort to flex his skills in jitb,,i only ever seen ifans’ opinions and they’re hardly the representative when it comes to khiphop hah!

ofc whatever they’re opinions are it doesn’t impact hobi and suga and rm’s work in the long run,,especially since they’ve earned enough respect from their idols to be able to work with them,,i’m just curious! thankss bpp!

***

These six asks more or less cover the range of questions I've been getting, so I've collated selected asks here to answer all at once. :)

Hi Anon(s),

I'll try to keep this short.

Overall and Abridged Review: On The Street for me is a solid 10/10.

The Lyrics (as I understand them)

Anon in Ask 1, first I’d like to refer you to Hobi’s interview in Variety where he talks about the song (linked here) and I’ve posted an excerpt screenshot below.

*

Personally, rather than On The Street having a “see you later” message (probably inferred from Hobi waving goodbye to a kid in the opening scene), I see it more as a song marking a pivotal moment in both Hobi and Cole’s careers, as Hobi reflects on the paths he has walked to this point even as he continues on this street called life, and J. Cole wonders out loud if it’s time for a change, to grow beyond his identity as a rapper. It only feels like a “see you later” song in the sense that it will be a companion song, for me personally, while Hobi serves and until he returns from enlistment. I agree with the interpretation in the YouTube comment that Hobi is also storytelling/writing his second verse through dance while J. Cole is rapping, and that this is a beautiful way to see it too - but I’ll expound more on this below in Dance and the Message.

Anon in Ask 4, J. Cole is a brilliant lyricist and it’s funny you mentioned that line in particular because when I first heard it I nearly burst out laughing at how witty and brilliant it is. That line is an example of a classic Jermaine pun. I’ll explain: A lot of people grew up learning nursery rhymes, and one of the more popular ones I recall is Hey Diddle Diddle, which has the rhyme “the cow jumped over the moon”. This nursery rhyme is also the source of the English expression to be “over the moon” I.e. excited, elated, happy. J. Cole took that children’s rhyme and flipped it on it’s head to then mean the passage of time, “as the moon jumps over the cow”. He uses it to express time passing merrily for him as he contemplates his next career move. It’s also an absolutely brilliant way to rhyme with the previous bar that ends in “Golden Corral” (which is easily one of the sickest burns in his verse).

Anon in Ask 5, I agree with you almost fully. Outrage is the name of the game and has been the zeitgeist for at least 5 years now. Like what are you doing on the internet in 2023 if you’re not here annoyed, mocking something, being critical, and raging about something else? Even if that something is another autonomous human being expressing their opinion on God on their own song… Personally, when I come across HCP personalities online, I ignore them. If they interact with me I tell them they’ll somehow find a way to manage and cope, and we’ll all be alright in the end. In the case of this song, ignore them. They'll deal.

*

Dance and the Message (as I understand it)

Hobi's verse in this song is only 8 bars. J-hope practically gifts this song to J. Cole who spits 32 solid bars on this track. We all know J. Cole - a veteran in the rap game who has earned respect from everyone from Hov, Ye, Kendrick, down to avantgarde heavyweights like Jay Electronica - is one of Hobi's idols and so it's heartwarming to see the way Hobi expresses his respect for J. Cole, dancing underground while J. Cole raps on top of a building with nothing but the sky above him.

J-Hope dances the entirety of J. Cole's verse, just feeling himself, losing himself to the music while his idol spits fire. It's so fucking decadent. At the end of J. Cole's verse, Hobi walks out of the subway and climbs to the top to meet J. Cole as equals.

Hobi begins the song in an NYC alley that opens up into a main street where Hobi performs the song's main choreography on. This is the same location in J. Cole's Simba - the song that starts the Simba trilogy in J. Cole's discography, which was the first main track on J. Cole's debut mixtape The Come Up that established him as a force to be reckoned with on the American rap scene at only 22 years old. The setting alone is a callback and homage to J. Cole's beginnings, on which Hobi raps about his own path, wanting to repay those who have helped formed him into what he is, and the hope he has going forward.

Hobi has done something like this before, calling his first mixtape Hope World reminiscent of J. Cole's debut studio album called Cole World.

*

The Media and the Message (as I understand it)

One thing I absolutely adore about BTS's songs and music videos, is that they infuse them with the sort of depth that only comes from intimately knowing and respecting the subject matter, and they do so in such a subtle way that it's obvious they expect whoever is watching to actually know both the artist and the subject. They don't spoon-feed anything to the viewer, just present the art as is and if you've done your homework, that means you're their target audience and you're right in the middle of it with them. In the Variety interview I linked above, J-hope references his documentary (Anon who sent me the ask to review it, I've only seen clips and I'm yet to watch the full thing. When I do, I'll write about it 💜), where it shows Hobi meeting J. Cole and how he struggles but ultimately communicates his adoration and respect to Jermaine, and how Jermaine graciously receives it.

Take for instance how Hobi approached Chicken Noodle Soup originally by Bianca a.k.a. Young B who at the time she made that song and its iconic choreo, was only 16 years old. The song went viral but most of the royalties went to her uncle and she received almost nothing, she never got signed to a label, and was so badly burned by the industry that she only attempted making music again nearly 10 years after Chicken Noodle Soup. Hobi credits that song as one of the catalysts that sparked his love for hip hop and street dance. He reached out to Bianca and paid full rights (not just for a sample), to her (not her uncle), to use the song, and the music video is peppered with references to Harlem, NYC, where the song and dance originated. Showing that level of courtesy to smaller Black artists is rare in the US and virtually unheard of in Korea where the Korean hiphop (KHH) community is more notorious for wearing Black drag and appropriating a history of violence and a wealth of culture that they know absolutely nothing about, except that it looks cool.

When k-pop stans wax lyrical about how BTS is racist or does a Blaccent (this personally makes me chuckle because the people you often see saying this are white people who couldn't tell you the difference between an affected accent by a non-native speaker and a Blaccent if each slapped them on either side of their face), or that BTS doesn't have the respect of the Korean (or American) hip hop scene, et cetera, I chuckle and move on. Because as I've said, none of these people actually know what they're talking about.

The OGs of the KHH scene recognized the talent of BTS's rapline since debut, and have only expressed more respect for BTS as the years have gone by. I'm talking Tablo, the rest of Epik High, Tiger JK, etc. The Jay Parks of the world took some time to catch up, and if 'studio picture-gate' is any indication, they too have quickly come around to recognizing where they fit in the landscape relative to BTS. Rappers are generally egotistical people. They usually spend their time rapping about how they're the shit. What earns you respect is if you can actually back that shit up. And once you have that respect, you don't feel threatened by another rapper because you know anyone who gets to the top has had to earn it. It's what informs the mindset of "real recognize real". Namjoon, Yoongi, and Hoseok passed that hurdle, in my opinion, way back in 2016 with the release of Cypher Pt 4. Everything they've done since then is just jarra. And those at the very top, the Black rappers who imbibe the culture and history of rap music, have long recognized the rapline of BTS for what they are.

Personally, I love the song. The music, the whistling, the chord progression, the jazz and acoustic guitar instrumentation. Everything about it is perfect.

On The Street is an excellent example of what sets BTS apart from other idols and artists in Korea for me. This is a song conceived 100% in the mind of Jung Hoseok, and the seamlessness in execution, the maturity inherent in the respect paid to those whose music and culture they use as a medium, is present at every single point in the song. It's tastefully done, and 100% driven by the artist, and all I can do in the face of art like this, is respect it.

[vacantgodling]

what kind of music do you listen to? got any recommendations for an artist/band you think is underrated?

my music taste tends to be in the realm of: rock/alternative, kpop/khiphop/kr&b, jrock/jpop/vocaloid/utaite (just japanese music man 💀), and like that’s like folk adjacent. i’m not really good with genre but i’ll also kind of listen to whatever i think sounds good!

here are some faves ->

The GazettE in general is my favorite band of all time & they’re a visual kei band (a specific style of jrock). however i also love Dir En Grey (they provided the inspo for cage’s title), and Malice Mizer, also JILUKA is a new very underrated fave.

C-ute° was my absolute fave jpop girl group they Changed me. been rediscovering my adoration of them recently so i’ll mention them. they disbanded a few years ago and the distraught i felt :///

I like too many kpop groups to be concise (my playlist is deadass 60 hours long) but NCT & Ateez are my faves.

Crush is my favorite kr&b artist but i also adore Zion T. in the realm of khiphop Zico is so obvious it’s not funny but like deadass go listen to BeWhy

I’m absolutely obsessed with Ado her range is INSANE and her music is a big inspo for train master chidori actually. on this thread, hachi is my favorite vocaloid producer bc of classic hits like “donut hole”, “matryoshka”, and “rinne”. also obvs wowaka (rip)

pretty much listed my non american faves cuz i listen to them more than anything lol

[dejwritesarchived]

Omgdid you see the interview where XG talked about how they specifically studied a lot of black artists during their training ? Rarely do I see kpop idols actually acknowledge how kpop is majorly influenced by black music it was actually pretty cool

no, i didn’t. i think it’s so important for kpop/khiphop/etc to acknowledge the inspiration and connects of black music and black artist to their music. that’s why i said i wish many black people work in the music in industry in south korea (from music writing, producing, pr, marketing, journalism, fashion, etc) because i feel like we wouldn’t constantly have the jay parks of k industry if people in this music companies don’t have black voices pointing out and saying “why do she have cornrows in her head” or “why is he saying finna in his rap and it don’t correlate to his previous lyric to the point that the lyric don’t make sense” 😭 a lot of the kpop disasters would be avoided if they had some black in the room saying naahhhh this ain’t it 😭

[swallowedthestars]

thoughts on khiphop as a genre?

khiphop is more defined by the indie-esque music system than the genre itself. a lot of artists who start in khiphop like making music in general rather than being committed to staying within a genre so its super common to see an artist go through the tight rap to pop song pipeline. this stuff performs way better with the public than classic hiphop anyways (re: b'eo counting stars, ash island melody, imjmwdp flex) re: its way easier to make money off of

i think ive ranted about this before but while there are gems within the genre, its always going to be held back in some ways by how derivative it is, which causes (imo) the following common issues:

its easy to pick up which artists an artist is inspired by (common ones include mac miller, xxx, kanye, kendrick, asap, etc), and while thats not inherently evil its not like people are often outdoing their inspirations. for every great khiphop song you can probably pull an american hiphop song doing the same thing but better. american hip hop has just been around longer and had more time to develop which i think contributes to this. artists can evolve though, i think kid milli used to sound like an asap clone but now he has a more distinct color.

i see a number of gang/drug/hood/trapper references in peoples lyrics. it comes off as corny at best, racist at worst (with occasional exceptions. eg. there are some rappers who are very pro weed legalization who rap about weed).

khh artists often have an inability to be normal about black people. its common for a korean person to go to the US, see a black person, comes back with a story about how it changed their life and inspired them to put out shitty music (queen wasabi is the prime example of this). its also common for khiphop artists to way over-romanticize black suffering or think because they're "hiphop" that they can do shit like say the n word (eg. loopy). even justhis has pulled a "yellow skin/black soul" line in his music before

The other factor that makes a lot of artists kind of cringey to me (but is definitely not limited to khh) is artists with rich families flexing their wealth and doing the whole "I made it even tho I had haters because my family is insanely wealthy" type of song and dance. A lot of korean rappers start by taking rap classes, which are even offered at some universities now (superbee started this way, killagramz is now a rap professor. lmao). flex culture is rlly disingenuous seeming when its coming from people who did not start out poor.

ok so aside from that here's what I like:

my #1 favorite thing about khiphop is the producers. producers rarely limit themselves to a single genre or sound and this allows for really experimental and cool beats. code kunst/giriboy/boycold/etc are the true stars of the genre. in general I think korean production favors a lot of transitions rather than repeating motifs like in western production which is also fun. a number of producers like Flip_00 have had a lot of success getting work in and out of korea

korean has its own unique flow to it and allows for wordplay/rhyming that would be harder to do in english

korean music taste inspires a lot of fun songs. koreans love for ballads inspires a lot of really good krnb. you can find khh songs with trot influences. I also think the popularity of fun indie Bolbbalgan4-esque songs inspires a lot of really light and dreamy beats and songs. korean music as a whole tends to do sad/emotional music well and khh isn't an exception

[boosqoowoo]

beenzino - coca cola red (english lyrics translation)

The featuring artist on this track, Oygli, is a rookie rapper who just emerged in the khiphop scene. Beenzino mentioned that when he was in Sweden, he discovered Oygli's songs by chance on Spotify and was listening to his songs in the shower. He loved Oygli so much he sent this song to him for him to feature immediately.

Beenzino recorded this song in Sweden during his song camp, with Farhot, a German producer.

*chorus*

yeah 내 beat maker 는 from Afghanistan (yeah-yeah)

yeah my beat maker is from Afghanistan (yeah-yeah)*

*this song was produced by Sharafat Parwani, a musician from Afghanistan

fuck a language

우린 그냥 vibing 해 (yeah-yeah)

fuck a language, we are just vibing (yeah-yeah)

서울에서 번 돈은 코펜하겐에 (yeah-yeah)

the money i earned in Seoul goes to Copenhagen (yeah-yeah)

위스키 마셔서 난 Coca Cola Red

Coca Cola Red because i drank whiskey*

*Whiskey and Coke is a highball combination that is widely popular amongst Koreans recently

*chorus repeat*

내 beat maker 는 from Afghanistan (yeah-yeah)

Fuck a language

우린 그냥 vibing 해 (yeah-yeah)

서울에서 번 돈은 코펜하겐에 (yeah-yeah)

위스키 마셔서 난 Coca Cola Red (red, red, red, red)

화면 밝기 to the max

screen brightness to the max

나 유럽이라고 잡히는 거 모두 카메라에 담어

i put everything i captured in Europe on camera

스테파니가 물어 what you filming for? (filming for)

Stefanie asks 'what you filming for?'* (filming for)

*Stefanie Michova is Beenzino's wife

내 삶은 이 새끼들에게 show window

my life is a show window to these fuckers

따라하지마 그러다 다친달까?

don't imitate me, what if you get hurt?

그냥 카메라 앞에서 사람 좋은 척이나 해

just act like a nice person in front of the camera

씨발 콤플렉스 투성이라도 난 날 사랑해

fuck even if i'm full of complexes i still love myself

i'm super chill all the time

motherfucker, you know

*chorus repeat*

내 beat maker는 from Afghanistan (yeah-yeah)

fuck a language 우린 그냥 vibing 해 (yeah-yeah)

서울에서 번 돈은 코펜하겐에 (yeah-yeah)

위스키 마셔서 난 Coca Cola Red

내 beat maker는 from Afghanistan (yeah-yeah)

fuck a language 우린 그냥 vibing 해 (yeah-yeah)

서울에서 번 돈은 코펜하겐에 (yeah-yeah)

위스키 마셔서 난 Coca Cola Red (red, red, red)

brand new 가죽 jacket 어쩌다 산 게 왜 이렇게 brand new

i bought a brand new leather jacket by chance, but why is it brand new?*

*as in, the protagonist doesn't buy brand new clothes normally, so they are reflecting like "wait wtf why is this jacket brand new"

못 가려 window shopper 누가 돈을 그렇게 쓰랬누?

you can't hide, window shopper. who told you to spend this much money?

fit 이란 건 쉬워*

things like fit is easy*

*what he is trying to say is it's easy to find clothes that fit, but it is hard to actually pull clothes off

내 기럭지 너무 시원해

my height is so cool

멋이란 건 그래, 우리 자기는 날 또 원해

this is what being charming is about, my babe wants me again

난 빨개 벗고 있어

im completely undressed

서울에서 뒤로 했어

i did it twice backwards in Seoul*

*sex position backwards: doggy style

거울에서 두 번 했어

i did it twice in the mirror

서운해서 누워있어

i'm lying down because i'm feeling remorseful

너무해서 안 틀어 TV는 성급해서

i didn't turn on the TV because it was too much and i'm impatient

난 그냥 멋있는 게 좋아

i just like being chill like this

i call you motherfucker 별로여서 싫어

because you're so-so i dislike you

*chorus repeats*

내 beat maker는 from Afghanistan (yeah-yeah)

fuck a language 우린 그냥 vibing해 (yeah-yeah)

서울에서 번 돈은 코펜하겐에 (yeah-yeah)

위스키 마셔서 난 Coca Cola Red

내 beat maker는 from Afghanistan (yeah-yeah)

fuck a language 우린 그냥 vibing 해 (yeah-yeah)

서울에서 번 돈은 코펜하겐에 (yeah-yeah)

위스키 마셔서 난 Coca Cola Red (red, red, red, red)

온 세상이 하얘 난 썰매를 끄네

the whole world is white*, im pulling the sled

*snow

열심히란 컨셉도 머리에서 끄네

the concept of working hard has also been pulled out of my head

아파트 닭장에서 유럽으로 유배

exiled to Europe from an chicken coop apartment*

*닭장아파트, which literally means chicken coop apartment, is a term referring to really small apartments, where the floor area ratio can go up to 500% (aka squeezing as many apartments into one building to increase supply of housing). normally used to refer to dormitories

we go five star to hostel

다 노크해

knock on all

what you doing?

알프스는 어때?

how's the Alps?*

*Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range in the world, located in Europe across 8 countries

여기서 보면 걱정은 컵케이크

if you look at it here, your worries are just cupcakes

fuck the fake snow

나는 원래 서울랜드에서 왔지

im originally came from Seoul Land*

*Seoul Land is an amusement park in Seoul, where you can sled during their winter attractions

난 다신 너랑 말 못해 motherfucker

i cant talk to you anymore motherfucker

what you talking about?

*chorus repeats*

내 beat maker는 from Afghanistan (yeah-yeah)

Fuck a language 우린 그냥 vibing해 (yeah-yeah)

서울에서 번 돈은 코펜하겐에 (yeah-yeah)

위스키 마셔서 난 Coca Cola Red

내 beat maker는 from Afghanistan (yeah-yeah)

Fuck a language 우린 그냥 vibing 해 (yeah-yeah)

서울에서 번 돈은 코펜하겐에 (yeah-yeah)

위스키 마셔서 난 Coca Cola Red (red, red, red, red)

[undergrndstuff]

toil icons

like if you save/use please.

[khiphopflipflop]

JUNNY (주니)

[fr-msfrh]

Holyday | HOLY Album

Tracklist:

01. Spotight (feat. 넉살)

02. Tag (feat.맥대디, oygli, 한국사람)

03. Bluffin (feat. ron, Khundi Panda)

04. Wavin (feat. 팔로알토)

05. ANTI (feat. 염따, QM, 펀치넬로)

06. Guilty Pleasure (feat. ODEE, SINCE)

07. Rum and Drum (feat. J.Yung, YOUNG SKI)

08. HOW U FEEL? (feat. 우원재)

09. Last Call(feat. 잠비노, 딥플로우)

10. Divine Test

mixed. @brasco911 mastered. @nahzamsue

art direct / design. @rowdee3886

3d sculpture / visualizer. @surin.kim

Producer Holyday released his 1st LP HOLY under VMC. Eventho they announced to no longer operate as an official record label, this proves their artist do continue to release music as a crew still.

Holyday has been in VMC since 2019. Just to name a few, he has works like Odee’s Scumbag album, Don Mill’s OKGO2 (i rmb this track as a spinoff to Beenzino’s I’m Back released after completion of National Service) , VMC summer single Trouble Summer & Nucksal’s Brother feat. Don Mills & Los

IG : @/holy4life

Released on 23.01.23

Stream via Spotify | Youtube

[khiphop-discussions]

Beenzino - Monet

This song with a Kid Milli featuring? 🔥

It’s already fine the way it is though

[minimalkhh]

Zion. T + Slom x Elle Kr. December Issue ‘21