The formula for a kpop group is nil without the rapper. The charisma of the rapper gives a group an extra push towards westernized music. Rap represents musical progression that parallels western music, which is the goal of the Hallyu Wave- to rank among or at least compete with the Western music market.
[The history of Rap is an extensive one that is embedded with black culture and history. Mainstream Rap in the U.S.A spans three decades. So this is a QUICK synopsis rap music…but I HIGHLY suggest that you read up on its history. It’s pretty awesome anyways.]
The history of rap can be traced back to the West African professional singers and storytellers known as Griots; that is to say Rap is not a modern trend, but rather is progressive tradition. It is important to understand that rap music is mainly an African American genre; that is it was made for and by African Americans. Rap is a musical art form of rhythmically spoken words comprised of content, flow, and delivery usually performed in time to a beat. So for the brief synopsis, let’s cover three decades, beginning in the 1970s, when rap music began to acquire a national audience.
“Rap music was recognized as such in the late 1970s, when New York DJs began to take liberties with the dance music available, using the tools at their disposal to play with the music. The role of the DJ shifted with this trend, as DJs began to interject more than just song and artist names, but actually began to contribute to the music being played by saying things they thought needed to be heard, using instruments and their own voices to add to the music. As the DJs gained popularity, people started coming out to dance clubs not just to dance or hear specific music, but to hear the DJs themselves. Certain DJs recognized this opportunity and began to make up poetry that they then set to music, adding their two cents to the songs being played. This was the seed from which rap music was grown.
In the 1980s, rap music became the most popular vehicle for African American and Latino poetry set to music, spoken instead of sung, accompanied by beat boxing, break dancing and interpretative dance. Characterized by rhyming lyrics, alliteration and emphatic delivery coordinated with definitive beat patterns, rap music was easy to distinguish from other music genres. The appeal of rap music crossed over cultural and socio-economic divides; musical artists took on the challenge of poetic rap music.
In the early 1990s, rap music evolved into music with a strong, definitive message when gangsta rap took over the rap music stage.” [X]
Gangsta rap evolved and developed as a response to the racist and classist realities African American’s faced. The early ‘90s housed the Rodney King riots, which affected the Korean community as well as the Black and Latino communities in South Central LA. Looting, assault, arson, and murder occurred during these riots, with KoreaTown in the mist of the political turmoil between African Americans, Latinos, and white America. This caused heavy tension between the marginalized communities. The riots initiated a wave of political activism among Korean Americans that split the K-Am. community into two activist groups: The liberals who advocated joining with other minorities in Los Angeles to fight against racial oppression, and the conservatives who emphasized the political differences between Koreans and other minorities, and favored the economic and social policies of the Republican Party. Rap musicians were vocal about it all. From Ice-Cube’s ‘Black Korea’, to Tiger JK’s quest to ease the tension between Black and Korean communities, rap was more than just words to a beat- it was a political voice and platform for those who are not heard.
South Korea became infatuated with B-Boying in the early 1990’s, and because B-Boying was created as a part of the hip-hop culture, the music that accompanied it was also a big cultural import for South Korea. Rap music specifically became a cultural phenomenon that began in the mid-90’s in Busan, Seoul, and Daegu. The first rap album in South Korea was Kim Jin Pyo’s first album in 1997. In the early 2000’s an underground rap culture began to form in South Korea. Since then, through the progression of communication and largely in part to the internet, South Korea has been able to import and take away more of hip hop culture. But they experience Rap culture as exploited and mass produced by the white media- which in turn is stripped of any real understanding of the struggle, aspirations, and messages from the black community. Rap music is way more than the caricatures we and South Korea see in the mass media.
Yet, South Korea now with KPOP dispels any social relevance rap has and uses it purely for profit without understanding the history. History that, since the ‘90s, they are a part of too. Just like White America, KPOP is following suit in negating the experience and history of Rap Music with the African American community- using it for profit or (whether intentionally or not) perpetuating racially insensitive caricatures of Black America.
As Tablo from Epik High put it: “The form [of Korean Hip Hop], at least, has definitely been mastered now — the beats, the rhymes, the performances, the look — it’s indistinguishable from the United States scene. The social relevance, however, has a long way to go. The message is slowly catching up to the medium.”