[ASKKPOP] Featured Hip Hop Releases of January
Some of you asked for more hiphop, so guess what? I am back with more hip hop! I will be discussing several releases by Korean hip hop artists in the past month (most of them in January). Thearticle featuring Okasianseemedto have exposed the genre a little bit to people who had not listened to Korean hip hopat all, which is great because I believe my mission on this planet is to spreadthe K-Hip Hop love. I will keep this article relatively short and givesome honorable mentions to rappers—under and over—who released some dope stuff. Now, keep in mind that this list may be a bit—actually,really—biased since I have my selectfavorites in the hip hop scene.
When one talks aboutKorean hip hop, there are two names that are bound to wind their way into theconversation somehow. You may already know the names I am about to drop; I am speakingof none other than the hip hop moguls,Tiger JKandYoon Mirae(Tasha), also reverentlyreferred to as the hip hop power couple in Korea and beyond. When the twocollaborate, the end result always exceeds one's expectations as was the casewith "Get It In" and "Sweet Dream." Recently, the two rappers featured on atrack called "Turn It Up," composed and written by hip hop producerCHOPS. Thesong is similar to "Sweet Dream" in the sense that it is a fast-paced 'club'song, with its chief quirk being a funky, rapidly thumping beat.
Another noteworthy releasewas byIllionaire Gang—A.K.A.Dok2(pronounced dokee),The Quiett, andBeenzino—withtheir hard-hitting single "We Here 2." This song is a sequel to "We Here," which came out way back in 2011. The Quiett and Dok2 are the main drivingforces behindIllionaire Records;the two are credited for founding and running the companyas the CEOs. Beenzino had no part in the creation of Illionaire but he joinedthe label a mere five months after its start-up, birthing the Illionaire Gang. The progress the three have made since 2011, when the companywas just a fledgling, is remarkable. 'We Here Pt. 2' is a track that payshomage to all three artists' achievements (plus lessons learned from failures) withthe promise to realize even biggerdreams.
Next up are two artistsfromHi-Lite Records, namelyEvoandB-Free. B-Free was recently on the public'sradar—particularly with K-Pop fans—for bashing on members ofBTSduring aninterview. He was under fire for a while due to his generally disdainful andhaughty attitude towards idol groups. However, he didn't let the negativepublicity deter his hustle and dropped a hot track, "Get It." The beat wasproduced byCoke Jazz, who I believe is under the Hi-Lite label, as well. "GetIt" also features under rappersKorlioandClasicc(yes, that's how you spellhis name). Fellow label mate Evo returned with an equally sick track in themonth of January named "Come Play." The song featuresB-Freeand female vocalistSatbyeol,who has collaborated with many a hip hop artists in the past.
Other honorable mentionswill be bestowed to rappersGiriboy,Hwaji,i11evn, andQim Isle. Both Giriboyand Hwaji released full albums in January. Actually, it is moreaccurate to say that Giriboy's album—called 'Sensual Album'—is an EP asthere are nine songs (that are not instrumentals) while Hwaji's album—called 'Eat'—contains a total ofthirteen tracks (all non-instrumentals). Hwaji's album is available to the public gratis so I say geton it. i11evnreturnedwith a single,'Let's Return' featuringFame-J, another artist under his label,FactoryboiProduction. Qim Isle is the last artist I will remark on. He is stillrelatively unknown in the hip hop scene but has featured on various artists' tracks, including one onThe Cohort's album 'OrcaTape.' Now he is back with his own song, "Girls Like," which is no lessdope than the other songs mentioned in this article.
There are, of course, a few other artists I could not mention in this article for the sake of brevity. So if I left out anyone you feel I definitely should have mentioned, leave a comment below. If you haven't already checked out the rappers in here, I urge you to do so. They deserve some recognition so keep on spreading that Korean hip hop love!