EPT![[image loading]](http://www.ladybrillemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Drunken-Tiger.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/wd6YB.jpg)
So after reading comments like this
On March 26 2011 12:35 UrASofty wrote:
dok2 is nice
dok2 is nice
I've decided to take to this to the forefront of discussions because I'm really tired of seeing people recommend complete shit music. Whenever the word hip hop appears, some1 always seems to mention trash, in and outside of this community.
Let's go back to 2007, the first kpop song I ever heard of was Irony by the Wonder Girls. Even though I strongly disliked the song, it lead me to SNSD and their song called girls generation which was their 2nd single and first complete album(imo this is when snsd was gold). It opened up the world of music to me in other languages and genres. It eventually led me to this MC named Tiger JK or more commonly known as Drunken Tiger, I've never heard of korean hip-hop and I always thought it was weird because I didn't really have the ear for it at the time, but that changed pretty quickly.
Lets get to some songs. One of the first hip-hop tracks I heard of was this track called Found You(죽지 않는 영혼)
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Right when it started I was amazed at how smooth the beat was, then I heard something familiar, there was a sample from 1 of Common's songs called The Light
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_-qRcHAhzk#t=0m34s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpT8ZiwF_EA#t=1m2s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpT8ZiwF_EA#t=1m2s
At this time I jumped out of my chair and yelled 'WTF DIS NIG KNOWS COMMON?'
Immediately on the spot I knew this guy was insanely talented and had the ear for what hip hop is suppose to feel/sound like. I even got goosebumps just from the chorus between the first 2 verses. You can feel his flow and patience within the song, and because it had such a unique jazzy sound, it never got boring. So I wondered.. who's this relatively unknown(outside of korea) korean guy sampling Common?(for those who don't know hip-hop or Common, he's arguably 1 of the best critically and commercially successful MCs out there)
I instantly went to google to try find out more about him and eventually gathered up his discography and have been a fan ever since~
내가 싫다 or I Hate Myself is also another great track from his album Sky Is The Limit, the chorus is sung from his wife Yoon Mi Rae who's also a Korean American rapper/singer/songwriter
NO KONGLISH HERE FOLKS
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His best albums are 1945 Liberation, and Sky Is The Limit. I highly recommend these 2 albums, PLEASE check them out.
Now let me show you some great Epik High tracks, who arguably have the best lyrical flow in the korean hip-hop game. Epik High has changed a little bit over the years, their new stuff is a little wack and not my cup of tea, but their old stuff remains classic.
Epik High Being Alone ft Clazziquai from their 2nd album in 2004 called 'High Society'
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this song has an amazing feel and probably 1 of my favorite beats from the group, it kind of sucks though because I have no idea who produced it but it's whatevs, Tukutz is still a genius.
The music video is also great.
Epik High - 연필깎이(Pencil Sharpener) from their 2008 album Pieces, Part One
Which IMO is their only good album post-Swan Songs, at least from a hip hop standpoint.
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I highly recommend the albums Map of the Human Soul(remember this is their first album, not the english/korean album they did called Map The Soul), Swan Songs, and Pieces Part One
Now let me rant on some turd that's named Outsider. I remember seeing a lot of Outsider comments in the KPT that humor me, but I'm just too lazy to dig any up at the moment.
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Every other 1 of his songs sounds exactly like this, when we finally get past the shitty chorus all you hear is ASWQPEIQEIPQWUOJKSDAASLP, he stops and starts at almost exactly at the same time, OVER and OVER again.
And most of the songs he's covering are just god awful, there's no hip hop feel and there is absolutely no lyrical flow that follows a beat. How does this shit even compete with other MCs like Tiger JK and Tablo/Mithra from Epik High? You guys have heard the tracks I posted, you tell me. Sometimes when I see pro-Outsider comments I just want to rip my ears off and trade with guy who said that to try to figure out what he gets from it because I just dont feel it at all. His humpty dumpty flow on top of some garbage song that should be used by a ballad singer should be fed to some1 who just likes to hear some1 talk very fast.
What's wrong is, most of the people that do like Outsider don't know of other great korean hip hop artists or albums, once I show them the light, they never go back to suckle on the mainstream teet. He's like the korean version of Twista, but worse. AND PLEASE do not get me started on dok2's situation, I don't know what the fuck Map The Soul was thinking.
Thanks for reading, if enough people like these types of songs I might make a compilation of the good stuffs. If you like jazz-hiphop check out my mixes here:
http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=167345
maybe next time i'll talk about idol rapping? AHA
