Is It Really Rap?

Ameerah Stewart
7/22/14

Recently, I've been really into the Bangtan Boys, a Korean rap/hip hop boy band. But.. Those titles don't really make sense altogether, do they? Well, you're not the only one who thinks so. South Korea has been shaken up by these 7 teens and rappers from all over the peninsula have had something to say about their situation. 

The most known instance of opinion is underground rapper B-Free's for when he publicly dissed the main rappers of the group, Suga and Rap Monster, at a hip hop radio event. Things were implied such as they can't be real rappers and idols, they succumbed to the crutch of a company, they're sell outs, they're not hard anymore, they can't rap, blah blah blah blah.

And some people defended this guy by saying the "great guru spirits of rap history voodoo magic" said that one couldn't be a rapper and be in a company without creative license, or can't rap with others, or be girly, etc. 

BUT.

These rappers do have creative license. They rap about what they feel, they write most of the lyrics for their songs including vocals, and they write ALL of their raps unlike other certain Korean "rappers" *coughGDragonTOPTaecyeonLJoeCAPKeyMinhoMickyUKnowNumerousOtherscough*. Cough cough.

And no band-rappers? Whoa.. What about the 90s? Salt 'N Pepa, the roots, Public Enemy? If anything, these boys are doing the rap game in Korea a favor. Very few rappers there tend to be paired or joined with vocalists as a team like you used to be able to find in the oh so selfish USA. But, can a Korean even be a rapper anyways? Tell me what you think!