History of hip-hop in Korea is an interesting one. There were
elements of spoken word and storytelling in the traditional Korean music like pansori, so the concept of Hip-hop and
rap was perhaps not too novel. However, in a nation that highly regards order
and modesty, the attitude engraved in hip-hop brought about a new phenomenon in
the music scene, much like that of Run DMC had in America. Pioneers like Seo
Taiji first introduced the dark, ominous, 808-drum heavy Hip-hop beat to Korea,
followed by the likes of Deux who pioneers New Jack Swing in Korea, and Drunken
Tiger, a duo that truly brought out the art of rap to the surface. This whole
boom of hip-hop in Korea in the 90s gave birth to the breakdancing boom, the
baggy jeans fashion, and the first real underground club scene to the youth.
Even boy groups like H.O.T. had members that rapped and did poppin’ dance. Due
to the strict censorship laws, the lyrical content in Korean Hip-hop and rap
was not as liberal as that of America, but much has changed since. Today, there
is a deep-rooted Hip-hop scene in Korea, from the underground to over-ground,
deejays to b-girls, and beat-boxers to graffiti artists.

Just as K-pop found its way to many corners of the world,
Korean Hip-hop has too gone international. Drunken
Tiger has collaborated with Rakim, Rakka, and Roscoe Umali, Dok2 rapped on DJ
Mustard’s beat, Crown J collaborated with Young Dro, and Dynamic Duo rapped on
DJ Premier’s beat. Then something happened to Korean Hip-hop, much like what
happened to K-pop and Psy’s “Gangnam Style.” Recently, a Korean underground
Hip-hop song went globally viral. It was a collaboration track with 3 Korean
rappers and 2 Japanese rappers titled “It G Ma.” The song became a hot topic,
for it seemed to parody an American underground hip-hop sensation, “U Guessed
It” by OG Maco. The issue became heated when OG Maco himself tweeted that he
truly disliked “It G Ma,” calling it “Blackface,” a denigrating caricature of
African American culture. This, in turn, started a heated debate on social
media with the topics of appropriation versus stealing, legitimacy versus
lampoon. This showed that many Americans felt entitled to Hip-hop (the same
debate goes for Iggy Azalea and Macklemore) and felt discomfort with cultural
appropriation, especially when it was returned back to America. Since, OG Maco
has met up with the rappers of “It G Ma” and took a friendly picture at SXSW,
showing initiative to promote harmony than hate. This sensitive issue is one to
be handled delicately when considering connecting Asian-appropriated Western
music back to the West.

Keith Ape - 잊지마 (It G Ma) ft. JayAllday, loota, Okasian, Kohh