Throwback

This is my 4th visit to Korea. My first visit was when I was 6 years old, so I don't remember all that much. My second visit was right after finishing 8th grade, so it was a pretty big summer for me. I was telling a friend about what it was like the other day, and I realized that Korea played a big part in my discovery of hip hop. Besides spending a lot time with kids who loved Wu-Tang, Biggie, and Warren G at summer camp, I also dipped my toe into the small pool that was the Korean hip hop scene.


The group that stands out most in my memory is Jinusean. While I also bought the DJ DOC cd that year, Jinusean had a really laid back sound that I enjoyed. The above song is definitely my favorite, and now that I've watched it several times, I'm impressed with the production value. If you don't care for the melodrama in the beginning, it gets going after 1.5 minutes. I did a little more searching and I found that Jinusean had done a collaboration with Mobb Deep.


When I first saw it I figured it was a blend, but Mobb Deep definitely includes JS in their hook. Amazing. As my friend Jon mentioned to me earlier, YG family represents.

So what's the state of Korean hip hop today? I'm not sure because I haven't done much searching. I flipped on Korean MTV one night and I saw this tragedy of a song.


100 won for the person who can tell me who Crown J rips off. The rhymes are weak, and I'm pretty sure I could whip up a video like this on my digital camera (if any of you want me to direct you rap video, I get back to the states in May). To tell you the truth, I do respect the guy for portraying a pretty realistic image of himself. I bet when he's in Atlanta, he does do a lot of hanging out with dudes, shopping for fitted caps, and sitting alone at the bus stop. GANGSTA.