2020 could feel like the loneliest year in a long time as we stay social distanced from one another with a future uncertain. This single is a reminder that we’re all on this journey together and that you don’t have to go through it on your own.
Release Date: September 4, 2020 Type: Single Presented by Transparent Arts Published by Genie Music
Music is a cornerstone of black culture. R&B is a descendant of the Negro spiritual. Hip hop is the voice of black and brown youth. Both genres come from great struggle. They’re voices for the disenfranchised, the exploited, the abused, and murdered. R&B and hip hop have become worldwide influences for all cultures and people. This, of course, includes the people of South Korea. Many singers, rappers, producers, songwriters, and composers gain inspiration from these genres and as a result profit from black culture and black fans.
We at HiphopKR know and appreciate these facts. In the end, these hallmarks of black culture are why HiphopKR exists. As such, we have a duty to absolutely stand by the people of this culture that we, as well as all South Korean R&B and hip-hop artists, gain so much from. Our black and brown friends all over the world have suffered endlessly throughout human history. With the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Dreasjon “Sean” Reed, and George Floyd all in the month of May, the unrest came to a head. Years of tension, fear, heartbreak, and anger has caused black and brown people to rise up and demand justice.
And we at HiphopKR stand with them.
Support from South Korean Artists
There has been an outpouring of support from the South Korean hip-hop and R&B communities. Jay Park and the artists and staff at both his AOMG and H1GHR MUSIC labels, Crush, Tiger JK, Dumbofundead, Rekstizzy, YEAR OF THE OX, Ann One, Syn, DAMYE, Jessi, DPR LIVE, and Sam Kim have all raised their voices. They’ve also provided resources for those from South Korea and of the South Korean diaspora who are allied with their black and brown peers in this fight.
Dumbfoundead has released a two song collaborative quarantine project titled “Inside/Outside” with Cambodian-American singer Satica, produced by Big Banana.
It’s once again en vouge to make lists of top rappers. This is a past time as old as pen and paper. People making lists of their favorite things, and in this case favorite MCs. However, I think the sudden resurgence of “Best MCs” lists in the past few months started after Jermaine Dupri‘s indictment of rappers, particularly female rappers, post-1995.
