By: Claudia Siregar |
Other than boybands and girlbands and melancholic pop ballads, the Korean music industry is also filled with more-than-proficient rappers and producers specialising in hip hop. K-hiphop has become a fad amongst the youth, even going as far as influencing a major portion of idol groups’ music these days and propelling Korean rappers into the Western music industry (especially with 88rising’s “East-meets-West” philosophy). Among the top players in the industry are rappers Keith Ape, Dok2, GRAY, Tiger JK, Loco, Changmo, Jay Park, Yoon Mi-Rae, and alternative hiphop groups Epik High and DPR (Dream Perfect Regime). A few idol rappers have also been praised for their rapping and producing skills despite of idol rappers’ negative stereotype in the eyes of hiphop fans, such as CL (previously of 2NE1), G-Dragon and T.O.P of BIGBANG, Zico (previously of Block B), Song Mino of WINNER, Bobby of iKON, RM of BTS, and Jung Ilhoon and Lee Minhyuk of BTOB. For those who are interested in diving deeper into the world of K-hiphop, I have compiled a list of a few K-hiphop tracks worth listening to:
On & On by Dok 2 feat. Lee Hi
Holy God by Changmo
Fear by Mino feat. Taeyang
Late Night by Loco feat. Gray
Hello Bitches by CL
FANXY CHILD by Zico feat. Fanxy Child
Born Hater by Epik High feat. Bobby, B.I., Verbal Jint, MINO, & Beenzino
Know Me by DPR LIVE feat. Dean
Deuces by Rick bridges feat. Punchnello
She’s gone by Jung Ilhoon
Champagne by Yoon Mi-Rae feat. Junoflo
Psycho by Keith Ape feat. Robb Bank$
WON & ONLY by Simon Dominic feat. Jay Park
forever rain by RM
CASH by Woo
Most Hated by Jay Park feat. Dok2
No Makeup by Gaeko feat. HA:TFELT & Zion T.
LALALA by Bumkey feat. Loco & Suran
Breaking Bad by OLNL feat. Giriboy
Bullshit by G-Dragon
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