Rap Monster – Do You
So I’m the only one upset this isn’t a Spoon interpolation?
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[7.43]
Madeleine Lee: I love listening to Rap Monster. I love his obvious joy in and command of language. It’s more than just wordplay — he’s not the only Korean rapper who can make a pun, but where another language-proficient rapper like Olltii can sound as dense as a textbook in his verses, Rap Monster recognizes that words are also sounds, and that this dimension of them can have just as much impact. He knocks his syllables against the “Aerosol Can” beat, which similarly delights in sound, cycling through flows and voices with ease, never sounding out of breath even when he slows down. The text of “Do You” is yet another treatise on authenticity, as one writes nowadays if one is in an idol group but also wants to be taken seriously as a rapper. But where Rap Monster’s past verses on this topic have been blustery and too defensive (“We On”), or agonized diary entries about the spectrum/spectre of authenticity (his version of Drake’s “Too Much”), “Do You” is relaxed in sound and in philosophy. “I’m doing my thing, so you do yours” is effective as a dismissal in a song where he really is just doing his thing, and well.
[8]
Alfred Soto: The bubblelicious production reminded me of Le1f’s “Wut,” but the multitracked vocal and clean, well-lighted mix are his own achievements. Now he has to figure out what he wants to say.
[6]
Micha Cavaseno: “Ima Read” through a Korean filter bristling with energy and blurting into Joey Lawrence goofiness. It bangs in a nervous hyperventilation sort of way.
[8]
Patrick St. Michel: The understated beat is fantastic and it opens up by calling out self-help books. Nice. I’m giving this a bonus point because it apparently calls A$AP Rocky and Kanye “geezers” which is funny and ballsy.
[7]
Brad Shoup: Only once does he lose the plot: when he sticks “best-seller” at the end of a line and screws up the rhyme scheme. Otherwise, he’s got the cadence of a turn-of-the-century American feature, just stretched out over an entire song. That sounds grating, but he breaks things up with the first commandment: “do you.” Oh, and the whole thing’s done over a Books-alike track: melodic percussion and crisp musique concrète.
[6]
Edward Okulicz: It took a look at a translation for me to realise that the title is an imperative, not a question, but that’s my fault, not Rap Monster’s. The sound effects of the shaking and spraying of a can seem to fit well with the mood of the song — it’s a statement of intent as large and bold as a huge tag on a wall. Rap Monster himself is imposing and impressive over this beyond-minimal beat, though it feels like he’s less clever and nimble when he drops briefly into English. Might be that when he does this I count cliches as crutches the track doesn’t need, whereas his native tongue just sounds relentless and commanding. Would love to hear this dropped in a club with the lights nearly off.
[8]
Thomas Inskeep: I do not expect a K-Pop star to make, of all things, a hip-hop single this menacing. I should’ve known better, though, because K-Pop groups are known for being plenty harder than their US or UK counterparts. The track feels overall like an early Pharrell cut (circa N.E.R.D., or thanks to its spray-paint-can sample, Snoop’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot”), only darker: Rap Monster spends a bunch of the chorus asking “what the fuck you want?!” The way he effortlessly flips back and forth from Korean to English and back reminds me of peak-era reggaeton stars like Daddy Yankee. Goddamn, this is tough, and sensationally good, and out to prove a point it proves easily. One of 2015’s best singles.
[9]
what about a miguel interpolation
I agree with Thomas’s statement that Korean rappers seem to go harder than their American counterparts (in no small part due to the fact that korean is harsher on the ear than english) and I’m thankful that rap monster’s genuine talent is showing here. I’m still on the fence about Korean hip hop because it’s such a niche scene and all the rappers worth their salt are “underground” rappers that only pop up for surprisingly mainstream reality shows like show me the money and unpretty rapstar (which I might add is the best reality show i’ve seen this year). i’m glad that rap monster was around for a while before he joined an idol group because idol rappers far too often cross the line into try hard cultural appropriation territory.
tl;dr – “Tough Cookie” is an abomination and this song is flawless.
I mean, you are wrong but its cool lol.
To clarify, I feel like a lot of Korean Rap, specifically the ones that TSJ covers, or the rappers, be they from a pop background or otherwise have a specific interest in flow that might not come across as much in American rap. They definitely love playing with speed in technique and finding the pocket in a specific way.
But ultimately a lot of this is because Korean Rappers are taking an approach that’s often common in a comparitive way to white interlopers where you have to emphasize the technique as the skillset of the rapper in a very flash and show-offy way. Eminem is a perfect indicator of this.
Now I love technique as much as any rap nerd, but there’s different angles to technique. Does your flow compliment the beat or do you force your way in? Do you take a melodic approach? Do you rap fast or slow, where do you place the words or syllables? What kind of voice are you utilizing while you’re doing all this? And lets not even forget about the words, which can be a whole other world.
As much as people like Rap Monster, Amber, and other people who I’m forgetting to name because I’m just spaced out on a caffeine crash, all have very great qualities as rappers that allows me to appreciate them despite their field being relatively distant from my comfort zones as an American Rap Fan, I don’t want it getting announced that they do something in a way that’s significantly harder because honestly… its more FLASH in the style that’s developed in pop-rap after “Look At Me Now” than anything. Is it invalid? No, not at all, but its more ‘dexterous’ than anything. A great quality, but hardly the most ideal quality.
^ Thanks for the gentle let down there :D
Your points are all quite valid, although I must respectfully disagree when we lump Amber in with anybody because while she is a fantastic performer, in my opinion she’s done quite little to establish herself as a quality rapper outside of doing a good job at bringing life to the words SM puts in front of her. But that’s neither here nor there, I suppose. At the end of the day Rap Monster is an idol first, rapper second, so the flashiness is a given but I think there’s real talent in there.
I mean, what you’ve described is literally the career of Lil’ Kim and people enjoy her music; Amber’s ability to pen is regardless to her abilities as a rapper. I think she handles flow and placement excellently, and while she isn’t doing as many tight chops its not to say she isn’t as good as Rap Monster. As you said though, not the real issue.
And I’m not saying RM isn’t talented as a rapper either, you HAVE to be talented to be so flashy and make it sound good (*cough* Iggy’s speed rapping *cough*). But of course the question is, if Korean Rap is going to continue to develop and be respectable as its own field, is it going to learn how to not lean on obvious qualifiers of ‘skill’ to validate itself?