[PereUbu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KamijoIsMyHero /img/forum/go_quote.gif
there is a difference between western and modern, you do know that right? Japan is nothing like NA, why don't you go there and experience it yourself
 
I don't think its worth explain anything about hip-hop to you unless you do some listening yourself, although I will pose this question, would you rather go to a party with an unsociable host or one with a likeable personality?

Ahaha I'd love to do that,  money is a bit of a problem though
Anyway, no point in keeping on discussing this topic I guess.
You are definitely right when you say I'd have to listen to more hip-hop, but I still don't understand how English would affect the charisma of a rapper, as you said before, or the likeability of a host (?). You see, this is the point exactly, how can a FOREIGN language make you look better by itself, without even considering what is being said?
 
Quote:

@Pere
I can see where you are coming from, and would have agreed with you a few years back. But the English that are used in Korean hip hop these days are so proficient and meaningful that it just helps with the overall flow of the rhymes that's all. Plus since hip hop is a global phenomenon now, having English verses makes it a lot more accessible, don't you think. I certainly appreciate all the effort the artist puts in to make it flow so smoothly in 2 different languages, no???
 
I can understand your argument if the English that were used was just to sound "cool" and is a bunch of nonsense, this is very true in it's use for mainstream K-pop raps BTW. But that fool Beenzino's English in that Jazzyfact album is so fluent and full of "swag", as much as I hate to use that word, it sounds so freaking awesome and it transitions seamlessly with the Korean language. It's nothing like the "engrish" that are used in Kpop songs, etc. So I don't see your beef there, but I do see where you are coming from. Another interesting topic is "Asians" or other non-Americans/ specifically non-Blacks trying to be/ act "Black" / American cuz it is viewed as "cool."
 
To a certain extent there is validity to this "fronting" and being fakes argument, but that is where you have to judge for yourself if the "artist" is a true one or are they just an act used by the corporate interest to sell you some sh!tty products/ lifestyles. Like I said before if you are a big/ true hip hop head you will know "real" hip hop when you hear it no matter the language, it's basically a gut feeling.

I didn't mean to dismiss this album on particular because of the choice of using English, I was talking about the general phenomenon, and I can see that you agree with me on that. Of course, just like the use of a foreign language shouldn't make you look good by itself, it won't be enough to ruin a good piece of music.

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

Ahaha I'd love to do that,  money is a bit of a problem though
Anyway, no point in keeping on discussing this topic I guess.
You are definitely right when you say I'd have to listen to more hip-hop, but I still don't understand how English would affect the charisma of a rapper, as you said before, or the likeability of a host (?). You see, this is the point exactly, how can a FOREIGN language make you look better by itself, without even considering what is being said?
 
I didn't mean to dismiss this album on particular because of the choice of using English, I was talking about the general phenomenon, and I can see that you agree with me on that. Of course, just like the use of a foreign language shouldn't make you look good by itself, it won't be enough to ruin a good piece of music.

You see the thing is that most view Hip Hop/ rap as American music so if you are able to incorporate it along with your native language it makes it appear more "legit." It's not just the "cool"/ "legit" factors but there are lots of reasons why non-English speaking artist would incorporate English into their raps, one simple one could be that it just sounds more smooth with the rhymes. Nonetheless, there are a lot of great artists that only rap in their native language because they feel like there is no need to use English or maybe they are just not fluent enough to incorporate it.
 
Anywho, I think Promoe of Looptroop Rockers, a Swedish Hip Hop band is a great example of  the seamless mastery/ use of both English and Swedish. It makes for some pretty interesting Hip Hop/ rap because they are so versatile and uses a lot of different styles that has crazy amount of mainstream appeal. One of the best hip hop acts in Sweden for sure, just too bad they are going through their hipster/ trendy phase right now so all their current releases has been pretty sub par. :/
 

 

 

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

So this thread's back? Nice.
 
Just dumped a huge load of korean hip-hop in the Asian music thread, so I'll leave with this:
 

Hey TwinQY forgot to say welcome back! Now we can talk about Family Outing and I.C again. LMAO
 
Korean Hip Hop is where it's at.  I.F and Eluphant is legit!

 

[sfwalcer]

Crap just learned that Lupe's FNL2 Part II is cancelled!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 
Hope the new album is gonna be going toward the right direction.

 

[razevi3]

Personally, I have a hard time appreciating Korean rap as the very concept of rhyme doesn't officially exist in the language. Moreover, the very nature of its grammatical structure limits the complexities possible in English poetry.
 
Let's take a short trip down memory lane: Korean rap, which was introduced in the early 90s by a group called Seo Taiji and Boys, didn't rhyme at all until it was more widely adopted years later as people started to grasp its foundation. Nobody in Korea at the time knew that rap is an art of poetic rhymes, let alone the concept itself. In fact, Korean songs and poems did not rhyme at all; it's a foreign concept that recently got incorporated in K-Pop (thank rap for that). Back then, it was all about the style and appearance (i.e. no substance). Yeah, these aspects are integral to the hip hop culture, but in terms of rap as an art, it lacked everything that makes it as such. This is also the reason that I stopped listening to Korean music completely, especially because a lot of these Korean "rappers" and singers do not even compose their own lyrics.
 
At its basis, rap is absolutely all about the technicalities of its rhymes, creative delivery, and lyrical content. Initially, however, rap was just an MC speaking over a sampled beat at a party to get the people moving. From there, rap evolved to gain attention and raise awareness of the dangers inherent in inner city life in the late 70s and early 80s. The classic track, "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, is a perfect example of this, which allowed rap to be considered as a relevant art form. Later, artists such as Rakim introduced complex rhymes without sacrificing the content of his lyrics, and to this day, rap has kept evolving in its rhyming complexities, the poetics to say one thing in so many different ways while rhyming everything. The true spirit of rap, then, combines deep lyrics, complex rhymes, and creative delivery. To me, that's what makes rap a true art. The way you hear a verse and recognize it as rap only concerns the delivery, but what drives this delivery? It's how the lyrics are structured to ride the beat. Everything points back to the lyrics. Great rappers know how to incorporate fun delivery with deep, meaningful rhymes, and in this sense, a lot of Korean rap comes up short. It may be fun to listen to, but the rhymes themselves are very simple (relative to the American counterparts) with really weak contents. In this regard, understanding the language becomes detrimental to its effects.
 
Now, let's snap back to 2013. Although Korean rap improved a lot as an art form, it still cannot be put on an equal ground as western rap. It almost feels like comparing apples to oranges. Again, this is partly due to the limitations in the Korean language itself, but instead of embodying the creative nature inherent in hip hop (making something out of nothing), Korean rappers still only follow the established trend in rap. Hip hop, as KRS-One defines it, is an intelligent and relevant movement. Unless Korean rappers truly transcend the limitations inherent in the language with their rhymes, I neither can appreciate nor consider Korean rap as a component of the hip hop culture. Of course, there are some exceptions that I must nod my head to, such as Drunken Tiger and Epik High, but they're still not enough for me. If you like Korean rap, please don't let my criticisms affect your enjoyment, but understand that as an art, it still has a long way to go.
 
And this is all coming from a Korean.

 

[razevi3]

Quote:

Crap just learned that Lupe's FNL2 Part II is cancelled!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 
Hope the new album is gonna be going toward the right direction.

That's a sad news indeed Lupe is one of my favorites and I was excited for Part II. Part I was good, but fell short of my expectations (which is ridiculously high as expected for an artist of his caliber). Here's hoping that the next album isn't LupEnd.

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

Quote:

Personally, I have a hard time appreciating Korean rap as the very concept of rhyme doesn't officially exist in the language. Moreover, the very nature of its grammatical structure limits the complexities possible in English poetry.
 
Let's take a short trip down memory lane: Korean rap, which was introduced in the early 90s by a group called Seo Taiji and Boys, didn't rhyme at all until it was more widely adopted years later as people started to grasp its foundation. Nobody in Korea at the time knew that rap is an art of poetic rhymes, let alone the concept itself. In fact, Korean songs and poems did not rhyme at all; it's a foreign concept that recently got incorporated in K-Pop (thank rap for that). Back then, it was all about the style and appearance (i.e. no substance). Yeah, these aspects are integral to the hip hop culture, but in terms of rap as an art, it lacked everything that makes it as such. This is also the reason that I stopped listening to Korean music completely, especially because a lot of these Korean "rappers" and singers do not even compose their own lyrics.
 
At its basis, rap is absolutely all about the technicalities of its rhymes, creative delivery, and lyrical content. Initially, however, rap was just an MC speaking over a sampled beat at a party to get the people moving. From there, rap evolved to gain attention and raise awareness of the dangers inherent in inner city life in the late 70s and early 80s. The classic track, "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, is a perfect example of this, which allowed rap to be considered as a relevant art form. Later, artists such as Rakim introduced complex rhymes without sacrificing the content of his lyrics, and to this day, rap has kept evolving in its rhyming complexities, the poetics to say one thing in so many different ways while rhyming everything. The true spirit of rap, then, combines deep lyrics, complex rhymes, and creative delivery. To me, that's what makes rap a true art. The way you hear a verse and recognize it as rap only concerns the delivery, but what drives this delivery? It's how the lyrics are structured to ride the beat. Everything points back to the lyrics. Great rappers know how to incorporate fun delivery with deep, meaningful rhymes, and in this sense, a lot of Korean rap comes up short. It may be fun to listen to, but the rhymes themselves are very simple (relative to the American counterparts) with really weak contents. In this regard, understanding the language becomes detrimental to its effects.
 
Now, let's snap back to 2013. Although Korean rap improved a lot as an art form, it still cannot be put on an equal ground as western rap. It almost feels like comparing apples to oranges. Again, this is partly due to the limitations in the Korean language itself, but instead of embodying the creative nature inherent in hip hop (making something out of nothing), Korean rappers still only follow the established trend in rap. Hip hop, as KRS-One defines it, is an intelligent and relevant movement. Unless Korean rappers truly transcend the limitations inherent in the language with their rhymes, I neither can appreciate nor consider Korean rap as a component of the hip hop culture. Of course, there are some exceptions that I must nod my head to, such as Drunken Tiger and Epik High, but they're still not enough for me. If you like Korean rap, please don't let my criticisms affect your enjoyment, but understand that as an art, it still has a long way to go.
 
And this is all coming from a Korean.

insightful, so they don't even bother with multies? what about wordplay? from my observations, apparently you guys have a lot of similar sounding words which can work as wordplay

 

[auricula]

Hello all, I just joined and like many of you I find it hard to find quality hip-hop nowadays and just thought I'd contribute to this thread a little. Here are some of the gems I've found. Hope you like it.
 
I'm going to do a plug for Rebels to the Grain because I think they're really underrated. Their first album I believe is free for download.

 
Here are some other favorites.

 

 

[razevi3]

Quote:

insightful, so they don't even bother with multies? what about wordplay? from my observations, apparently you guys have a lot of similar sounding words which can work as wordplay

Thanks for the comment.
 
They do spit multi-syllabic rhymes, but the difference is in the nature of its structure. Korean alphabet is a set of consonant and vowel letters which combines to form a character. Each of these characters is a syllable that forms words, so a word formed by 2 characters has 2 syllables, and so forth. It's a fairly efficient language, so each word is usually only 1-3 characters and there aren't that many synonyms and antonyms for everyday usage. 
 
Every Korean word has a corresponding Chinese character that defines it, so homonyms do exist (i.e., number 4 and death in Korean share the same spelling and pronunciation but different Chinese characters representing them). This would suggest ample opportunities for wordplays, but from what I've heard thus far, it seldom goes that deep. I think more so because this requires understanding another language, but since Koreans have to learn at least ~1,000 Chinese characters to be considered literate, I don't know why it isn't being used more. Homophones, however, are hard to spot due to the staccato-like pronunciation of the words, which emphasizes each syllable clearly. It's hard to mistake a word for another, poetic or not.
 
The one that bothers me the most, though, is that in Korean grammar, the conjugate verbs are all one syllable words, mostly used at the end of a sentence to complete it (-dah, -heh, -yoh, -goh, -doh, etc.), very similar to Japanese (-masu, -desu, -yo, etc.). Each of these serves a function; ending with -heh indicates a state "to be" (sahrang-heh means to love), -goh acts like the coordinating conjunction "and," etc. It's hard to explain, but rhyming in Korean is very easy relative to English as you can take advantage of these sentence structures; you just have to replace the word (usually one or two characters) that precedes one of these. So in an essence, these syllables pile up, feeding the illusion of true multi-syllabic rhymes when in reality, only a few characters are replaced from one rhyme scheme to another.
 
This is the reason I believe that leads to Korean rappers ending the sentence in English as that provides some variety to the structure, not to mention authenticity. I'm not saying that Korean rappers rhyme this way every single line of the verse, but it's a big part of the structure that can't be dismissed. There's so much room for ingenuity when considering the homonyms and other creative means, but the language itself is hard to manipulate compared to English (bending, chopping the syllables, etc.).
 
I wish I could explain it better, but hopefully the gist is there.

 

[PereUbu]

Quote:

Thanks for the comment.
 
They do spit multi-syllabic rhymes, but the difference is in the nature of its structure. Korean alphabet is a set of consonant and vowel letters which combines to form a character. Each of these characters is a syllable that forms words, so a word formed by 2 characters has 2 syllables, and so forth. It's a fairly efficient language, so each word is usually only 1-3 characters and there aren't that many synonyms and antonyms for everyday usage. 
 
Every Korean word has a corresponding Chinese character that defines it, so homonyms do exist (i.e., number 4 and death in Korean share the same spelling and pronunciation but different Chinese characters representing them). This would suggest ample opportunities for wordplays, but from what I've heard thus far, it seldom goes that deep. I think more so because this requires understanding another language, but since Koreans have to learn at least ~1,000 Chinese characters to be considered literate, I don't know why it isn't being used more. Homophones, however, are hard to spot due to the staccato-like pronunciation of the words, which emphasizes each syllable clearly. It's hard to mistake a word for another, poetic or not.
 
The one that bothers me the most, though, is that in Korean grammar, the conjugate verbs are all one syllable words, mostly used at the end of a sentence to complete it (-dah, -heh, -yoh, -goh, -doh, etc.), very similar to Japanese (-masu, -desu, -yo, etc.). Each of these serves a function; ending with -heh indicates a state "to be" (sahrang-heh means to love), -goh acts like the coordinating conjunction "and," etc. It's hard to explain, but rhyming in Korean is very easy relative to English as you can take advantage of these sentence structures; you just have to replace the word (usually one or two characters) that precedes one of these. So in an essence, these syllables pile up, feeding the illusion of true multi-syllabic rhymes when in reality, only a few characters are replaced from one rhyme scheme to another.
 
This is the reason I believe that leads to Korean rappers ending the sentence in English as that provides some variety to the structure, not to mention authenticity. I'm not saying that Korean rappers rhyme this way every single line of the verse, but it's a big part of the structure that can't be dismissed. There's so much room for ingenuity when considering the homonyms and other creative means, but the language itself is hard to manipulate compared to English (bending, chopping the syllables, etc.).
 
I wish I could explain it better, but hopefully the gist is there.

This is really interesting indeed.
Since you speak English so fluently, do you happen to know other languages as well and appreciate their rap too?

 

[razevi3]

I'm only fluent in English and Korean, but I'm always down to check out rap in other languages. I've listened to Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, and now Swedish rap (from this thread) so far, haha. Some languages are definitely better suited for rap than others I must say, particularly those based on Latin alphabet because they can utilize all the rhetorical devices in linguistics.
 
Here's one of the best examples of alliteration (the recurrence of initial consonant sounds), Alphabet Aerobics by Blackalicious:
 

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

Personally, I have a hard time appreciating Korean rap as the very concept of rhyme doesn't officially exist in the language. Moreover, the very nature of its grammatical structure limits the complexities possible in English poetry.
 
Let's take a short trip down memory lane: Korean rap, which was introduced in the early 90s by a group called Seo Taiji and Boys, didn't rhyme at all until it was more widely adopted years later as people started to grasp its foundation. Nobody in Korea at the time knew that rap is an art of poetic rhymes, let alone the concept itself. In fact, Korean songs and poems did not rhyme at all; it's a foreign concept that recently got incorporated in K-Pop (thank rap for that). Back then, it was all about the style and appearance (i.e. no substance). Yeah, these aspects are integral to the hip hop culture, but in terms of rap as an art, it lacked everything that makes it as such. This is also the reason that I stopped listening to Korean music completely, especially because a lot of these Korean "rappers" and singers do not even compose their own lyrics.
 
At its basis, rap is absolutely all about the technicalities of its rhymes, creative delivery, and lyrical content. Initially, however, rap was just an MC speaking over a sampled beat at a party to get the people moving. From there, rap evolved to gain attention and raise awareness of the dangers inherent in inner city life in the late 70s and early 80s. The classic track, "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, is a perfect example of this, which allowed rap to be considered as a relevant art form. Later, artists such as Rakim introduced complex rhymes without sacrificing the content of his lyrics, and to this day, rap has kept evolving in its rhyming complexities, the poetics to say one thing in so many different ways while rhyming everything. The true spirit of rap, then, combines deep lyrics, complex rhymes, and creative delivery. To me, that's what makes rap a true art. The way you hear a verse and recognize it as rap only concerns the delivery, but what drives this delivery? It's how the lyrics are structured to ride the beat. Everything points back to the lyrics. Great rappers know how to incorporate fun delivery with deep, meaningful rhymes, and in this sense, a lot of Korean rap comes up short. It may be fun to listen to, but the rhymes themselves are very simple (relative to the American counterparts) with really weak contents. In this regard, understanding the language becomes detrimental to its effects.
 
Now, let's snap back to 2013. Although Korean rap improved a lot as an art form, it still cannot be put on an equal ground as western rap. It almost feels like comparing apples to oranges. Again, this is partly due to the limitations in the Korean language itself, but instead of embodying the creative nature inherent in hip hop (making something out of nothing), Korean rappers still only follow the established trend in rap. Hip hop, as KRS-One defines it, is an intelligent and relevant movement. Unless Korean rappers truly transcend the limitations inherent in the language with their rhymes, I neither can appreciate nor consider Korean rap as a component of the hip hop culture. Of course, there are some exceptions that I must nod my head to, such as Drunken Tiger and Epik High, but they're still not enough for me. If you like Korean rap, please don't let my criticisms affect your enjoyment, but understand that as an art, it still has a long way to go.
 
And this is all coming from a Korean.

 

 
Quote:

This is the reason I believe that leads to Korean rappers ending the sentence in English as that provides some variety to the structure, not to mention authenticity. I'm not saying that Korean rappers rhyme this way every single line of the verse, but it's a big part of the structure that can't be dismissed. There's so much room for ingenuity when considering the homonyms and other creative means, but the language itself is hard to manipulate compared to English (bending, chopping the syllables, etc.).
 
I wish I could explain it better, but hopefully the gist is there.

I just want to know how many years you have stopped listening to Korean rap/ hiphop??? Cuz the underground scene seems to be pretty different from what you described above, especially the part that "rappers" and singers don't write their own music. 
 
haha maybe it is best that i don't know a word of Korean then, since if i understood the language as you do it might ruin the music for me. But i dunno, Korean to me seems to rhyme and flow a lot more smooth than other Asian languages, hence the reason i prefer it over others. Plus at the end of the day if the music sounds great to your ears that's all that matters. Hey this brings the discussion to the interesting point of "musicality." For me Korean hip hip/ rap is really smooth and catchy, not like your mainstream pop music type of catchiness but more of an "organic" musicality type. For me Korean hip hop/ rap might even be more "musical" than what the American scene has to offer these days. Korean hip hop producers are crazy versatile/ talented and can definitely hang with most renowned PDs in the world.
 
C'mon despite the shortfalls of the Korean language for rhymes, etc it is pretty damn good already. Isn't it a bit too harsh to say that it should not even considered as "hip hop culture"???
 
Drunken Tiger and Epik High is alright but there are much better groups/ rappers in Korea's underground scene today. I really think you should get yourself updated if DT and EH are the only groups you would consider as decent. They are pretty meh to me, especially with Epik Highs most recent releases being utter crap.
 
edited.

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

Quote:

 
I just want to know how many years you have stopped listening to Korean rap/ hiphop??? Cuz the underground scene seems to be pretty different from what you described above, especially the part that "rappers" and singers don't write their own music. 
 
haha maybe it is best that i don't know a word of Korean then, since if i understood the language as you do it might ruin the music for me. But i dunno, Korean to me seems to rhyme and flow a lot more smooth than other Asian languages, hence the reason i prefer it over others. Plus at the end of the day if the music sounds great to your ears that's all that matters. Hey this brings the discussion to the interesting point of "musicality." For me Korean hip hip/ rap is really smooth and catchy, not like your mainstream pop music type of catchiness but more of an "organic" musicality type. For me Korean hip hop/ rap might even be more "musical" than what the American scene has to offer these days. Korean hip hop producers are crazy versatile/ talented and can definitely hang with most renowned PDs in the world.
 
C'mon despite the shortfalls of the Korean language for rhymes, etc it is pretty damn good already. Isn't it a bit too harsh to say that it should not even considered as "hip hop culture"???
 
Drunken Tiger and Epik High is alright but there are much better groups/ rappers in Korea's underground scene today. I really think you should get yourself updated if DT and EH are the only groups you would consider as decent. They are pretty meh to me, especially with Epik Highs most recent releases being utter crap.
 
edited.

that's the thing though, just cuz something hip-hop inspired sounds good, doesn't mean it is lyrically up to par, from what he says, korean MC's are having problems with wordplay which is such a basic part of lyricism, I wonder if they can do metaphors well
 
anyway I doubt the current MCs are not part of our hip-hop culture, they are already in it as rappers and from countless vids on youtube, their B-Boys are quite sick, not  sure how good their DJs are and if they even have graffiti artists, I have yet to see graffiti murals from all the pics of korean streets in shows and what not

 

[TwinQY]

Quote:

I just want to know how many years you have stopped listening to Korean rap/ hiphop??? Cuz the underground scene seems to be pretty different from what you described above, especially the part that "rappers" and singers don't write their own music. 
 
haha maybe it is best that i don't know a word of Korean then, since if i understood the language as you do it might ruin the music for me. But i dunno, Korean to me seems to rhyme and flow a lot more smooth than other Asian languages, hence the reason i prefer it over others. Plus at the end of the day if the music sounds great to your ears that's all that matters. Hey this brings the discussion to the interesting point of "musicality." For me Korean hip hip/ rap is really smooth and catchy, not like your mainstream pop music type of catchiness but more of an "organic" musicality type. For me Korean hip hop/ rap might even be more "musical" than what the American scene has to offer these days. Korean hip hop producers are crazy versatile/ talented and can definitely hang with most renowned PDs in the world.
 
C'mon despite the shortfalls of the Korean language for rhymes, etc it is pretty damn good already. Isn't it a bit too harsh to say that it should not even considered as "hip hop culture"???
 
Drunken Tiger and Epik High is alright but there are much better groups/ rappers in Korea's underground scene today. I really think you should get yourself updated if DT and EH are the only groups you would consider as decent. They are pretty meh to me, especially with Epik Highs most recent releases being utter crap.
 
edited.

^^ +10000. There are much better examples than Epik High and Tiger. 
 
Maybe move back to the main topic at hand though? Anyone know some good hip-hop with lots of layered instrumentals? Preferably Euro stuff if you know any.

 

[razevi3]

I haven't followed Korean rap religiously as I do American rap but I have kept in touch with it. I even watched some of the freestyle battle series a short while back, and none of them impressed me much. I simply cannot take it that seriously in Korean. It just doesn't work for me knowing the nuances of the language. What makes me appreciate rap just doesn't shine as bright in Korean. A lot of times, I get goosebumps listening to Korean rap (not the good ones), almost embarrassing. I know I'm being really harsh, but am willing to give it as much chance as I can. They are my people, after all. I checked out Jazzyfacts tracks posted earlier, and although they may sound good (the production, etc.), the lyrics don't cut it for me (I looked it up and read it).
 
The musicality in hip hop can be broken down into three of its main four elements: MC, break dancing, and DJ. I understand that some people appreciate the DJ (mix, scratch, sample, i.e., the beats) component of hip hop more than the rap itself (which should be understood purely on its lyrical and technical aspects of its rhymes and their delivery). I appreciate the latter way more as rap can exist without any DJ elements just fine (freestyles in cyphers, a cappella, even just analyzing it as written poetry, etc.). The musicality of rap is highlighted when treating each syllable as if it were a note on a sheet music. It can be melodic, too, if need be, but that still falls under the technicalities of its delivery.
 
Notice how I kept Korean rap and Korean hip hop as two distinct concepts. Some of the best B-Boys are from Korea which I can vouch for as one of the defining components of Korean hip hop. However, when it comes to Korean rap, I personally think it's one of the weakest elements of Korean hip hop. Yeah, I was too harsh to say I don't consider it as even belonging in hip hop, but it barely does for me. Some languages just tend to sound better in rap, but that in itself isn't enough to be considered a good rap to me.
 
In the end, to each his own. Let's just enjoy our music.
 
Quote:

that's the thing though, just cuz something hip-hop inspired sounds good, doesn't mean it is lyrically up to par, from what he says, korean MC's are having problems with wordplay which is such a basic part of lyricism, I wonder if they can do metaphors well
 
anyway I doubt the current MCs are not part of our hip-hop culture, they are already in it as rappers and from countless vids on youtube, their B-Boys are quite sick, not  sure how good their DJs are and if they even have graffiti artists, I have yet to see graffiti murals from all the pics of korean streets in shows and what not

Thank you, that's exactly my point. Musicality of rap doesn't matter that much to me without good lyrics and rhymes to back it up. I do like the productions though, which is a completely separate thing, but the beats, although important, aren't what makes me truly appreciate a hip hop track.