South Korean Rap/Pop Music - Anyone else into this ?

I just noticed Big Bang and this new band B.A.P are doing really well. Esp B.A.P for being its debut this year. Their first single Warrior has like 5 million views on youtube.

I'm personally the most into Korean underground rap though. There are some totally dope Korean MC's out there. This one's a good example.





Besides that I love 1tym, which is a Korean hip hop group who brought rap to Korea. They pretty much trained the members of Big Bang under their label YGentertainment/YG Family. And I guess Big Bang progressed the hip hop they started with to K-pop.

Here are a few good examples of 1tym (their latest sound, before they disbanded)






And ofcourse, Big Bang:





And B.A.P:



I obviously know about groups like Epik High etc, but I personally don't dig them. I like Tablo from Epik High as a solo rapper/MC though, just not the group. And also, Bang Yong Guk from B.A.P is also an awesome solo rapper, this is a good example:



Anyone else into Korean rap/pop or music in general ? They got some kick ass entertainers coming outta there.

this is my best Korean rap song

^I admit that was kinda funny, but that's a diss towards the North Korean dictatorship, title clearly says SOUTH Korean ; )

So it doesn't count ! (btw, it's from black eyed peas, which is american rnb, not rap, and not hip hop)

Edit for the ppl who are serious:

Here's a pretty good solo track with Tablo (ft. Taeyang from Big Bang). It's hard to tell that this is the same guy who's spitting all in English in the "Respect 16's" track that I posted at the top.

So, a wannabe Korean gangster brought Rap to Korea?? Welcome to "Colors"!!!

(its a movie)

When will the Military drop Crack in the Korean ghetto.

I was stationed in Korea for a while until 1996-97. This trend had just started about then. Most of the "good" ones were really Korean-Americans from LA or other US cities who grew up in the US and moved back for whatever reason.
The only truly Korean rap group I liked was some crazy chick... Can't remember her or the band's name but she was kinda punk/rap more than really rap. Saw them play in Seoul, near Hongick University, if I remember correctly. Me and a couple buddies hung out with them afterward and I even drove them on my motorcycle (one by one) to the next bar in Shin-Chon, near Yonsei U. B52, yeah, that was the name of the bar.
Great place. You should go if you get the chance ever and if it even still exists. The owner used to let me crash there if I had some free time off so I wouldn't have to drive or deal with public transport while drunk. The only bad part was I'd be stuck there eating ramen until the bartender girl would come back the next day.... Good times.

reply to post by hoochymama


I suppose you watched the first 1tym video "Do you know me". Watch any of their other music videos and you'll start to notice that they're half-serious in that video. It's a straight off copy of American Gangster rap, they did that intentionally. That's the thing.

He's not a wannabe gangster. He actually grew up in a very poor family in the US, then moved back to Korea to form his own group. (the guy who's sitting in the red low-rider. the guy with the hat and tank top is also originally form US).

Here's some of their earlier music (from 2000 I believe), so you can compare



Anyway, haters gonna hate. Their swagger level is high as fvck, that's all I have to say.

reply to post by 35Foxtrot



Sounds awesome ! I would kill to get a chance to live/stay a while in Korea. I'm seriously considering learning Korean (I wanna learn Japanese and Dutch as well, so I'm currently stuck between choosing:S)

I'll definitely check that bar out if I ever end up in Seoul

You haven't listed these songs yet so I'll add them. I'm not really a pop or rap fan but I think they're brilliant and on my list of all time faves. TOP has a lovely gravelly voice.

Red Roc featuring TOP

TOP Turn It Up

This isn't rap but it's beautiful. The song featured in the movie The Classic. I looked him up and found out this poor guy killed himself. RIP Kim Kwang-seok.