"Addict" by Sik-K (Produced by Girlnexxtdoor), Tuesday, January 18, 2022

In 2017, Seattle-born Korean rapper Jay Park started his own label, H1ghr, signing several up-in-coming acts in Korean Hip Hop. In the past, Korean rappers either released music independently or signed to the mostly K-pop idol labels, receiving considerably less promotion than the top-selling acts. However, in recent years, Korean Hip Hop has exploded because of reality shows like Show Me the Money and High School Rapper. In 2015, a young Kwon Min-suk, better known as Sik-K, participated in the fourth season of Show Me the Money, under the guidance of Jay Park. The next year, in 2016, Sik-K released his debut record Flip on H1ghr.

WE DO PARENTHESIS WITH WEIRD EXCUSES. Late '10s Korean hip hop is really well produced, and it tends to follow American hip hop trends. I'm not particularly knowledgable about Hip Hop, but I've found it fascinating ever since the advent of melodic rapping, thanks partially to autotune. Slate's Hit Parade episode about Destiny's Child's "Say My Name" parts 1 and 2 gives a comprehensive look at this evolution in hip hop. But ever since I heard "Ringa Linga" by Taeyang back in 2014, the ambiguity of genre seems to matter less and less. The era of hip hop now is highly processed, auto-tuned, and often influenced by punk and emo. And yes, Korean music has its dues to pay to Drake, Kid Cudi, [Kan]Ye, Beyonce, T.I., as well as Machine Gun Kelly, Yungblud, and Post Malone, my exposure to modern hip hop is mostly from Korean artists when I was addicted to going to the gym. I heard some very catchy songs, and I heard some very annoying songs that later became catchy. But most of all, I had a very hard time classifying what genre it was. One song was K-pop. The next was gangster rap. There was reggae-tone. There were songs mostly sung through autotune. There was the hip-hop hit: rap with a singing chorus, sometimes by a famous K-pop singer. There were songs that were more R&B than rap and more rap than R&B.  

THERE ARE TWO MORE BEAUTIFUL WOMEN THAN YOU. I wrote about "Addict" last year, focusing on the drug references in this song, and how controversial drugs and addiction is in Korea. Today, however, this song is telling me a different story. As is the case when I have enough time to prepare a well-researched post, look for anything I can about the artist on YouTube or listen to a podcast as I go about the rest of my day. Today, I was entertained by the podcast TV and Movie Mistress, as the hosts listened and reacted to Sik-K's music. When talking about the track "Too Many" one of the hosts called Sik-K "a fuckboy" similar to Trey Songz "when he's rapping or singing it sounds like he's fucking at the same time."  "Too Many" is a song in which Sik-K calls out his girl for having too many numbers in her phone, when she should just have his, a song. Coincidentally this song was popular when "2 Phones" was popular in the U.S. On the penultimate track on the same album, H.A.L.F. (Have.A.Little.Fun) "Somebody Else," Sik-K is trying to excuse his behavior that "these models," "these bottles," and "these haters" "make [him] somebody else." In today's song, Sik-K is again terrible at talking to the ladies: "There are two more beautiful women than you" at the club, yet he can't get her off his mind. It's pretty awful dating tips, but a pretty fun melody.