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ABSTRACT
Contemporary Korean hip-hop has made its way into the mainstream of youth culture, and Korea’s hip-hop scene has emerged as a significant social space in which the voices of the young generation resonate vividly. When compared with the rest of their cohort, emblematized as the so-called ‘Give-up Generation’, the optimism of rappers provides a fascinating subject for exploration. In order to answer the question of why young Korean rappers profess their dreams in the age of no-hope, we interviewed six underground rappers, delving particularly into the following two themes. First is the inquiry into the rappers’ logic of hip-hop practices, under the conceptual rubric of ‘remaking authenticity’. We found that by inventing their own figurative ghettos and symbolically becoming black, they actively reinvent Korean hip-hop authenticity. Second is the inquiry into the principle of their practices. Our findings show that the fundamental motor force which drives them consists of their aspiration for a better future. The dreams of these rappers derive from three distinct sources. The first source is the illusio (Bourdieu) of the Korean hip-hop field; the second source is the musical form of hip-hop itself; the final source is the communities of dreamers to which the rappers belong.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Authenticity is demonstrated in the form of subcultural capital, including the objects, practices, and beliefs (Thornton Citation1995), through which external boundary making and internal solidarity is constituted (Haenfler Citation2013).
2 The localization of hip-hop in respect to emulating American hip-hop authenticity has been researched worldwide (Condry Citation2006, Citation2007; Solomon Citation2005).
3 This phenomenon is not limited to the Korean hip-hop scene, and examples of it can be found in American popular music as well, in singing competition shows such as American Idol (see Fairchild Citation2007; Meizel Citation2009).
4 Of course, there are objections to this position; Paul Gilroy criticizes hip-hop as being a mere ‘attractively packaged pseudo-rebellion’ (Gilroy Citation2000, 179); Michael P. Jeffries argues that in spite of the fact that hip-hop was the cultural product of the marginalized peoples at its initial stage, there is no essentially revolutionary or progressive characters in hip-hop music (Jeffries Citation2011, 15).
5 In fact, Teth has not participated in any official competitions. However, judging from the reputation of his albums and various performances on stage, his professionalism was deemed appropriate for inclusion in our study.
6 Concerts and performances attended by the authors are as follows: for Changstarr, hip-hop club ‘Mhood’ in Hongdae on 5 January 2018; for Jay-Mes, ‘Mhood’ on the 7 February 2017; for Maansoo, special series ‘O-Clock’ introducing newcomers at the hip-hop club ‘Ugly Junction’ on 21 October 2017.
7 This research was approved by the Seoul National University Institutional Review Board of Ethics (Approval number: IRB No. 1612/003-008), and was conducted in accordance with the IRB standards of research ethics.
8 To specify the dates of the interviews: 19 January and 14 February with Changstarr, 16 January and 5 April with Jay-Mes, 7 February and 14 March with Maansoo, 9 May and 16 May with Choi Sam, 29 August and 25 September with Skilleto, 18 August and 25 August with Teth.
9 This is how we reference interviews. We present the interviewee’s name and the round of interviews from which the quotation is drawn.
10 ‘I truly thought to myself that I should die right when I turned twenty. But because I had dealt with my mother’s funeral, I knew what a financial burden they can be. So, I decided to earn as much as I could before I turned twenty and started working part-time jobs’ (Choi Sam-1).
11 Jjangkkae is a slur used in Korea to refer to people of Chinese descent.
12 When quoting songs, we italicize verses which are performed in English.