Hip-hop night to give artists a new platform

Expat-run entertainment outfit ICONZ Media is hosting a new monthly hip-hop night in Itaewon to give a new platform to emerging hip-hop artists in Seoul.

The show is planned for the third Friday of every month.

ICONZ already puts on Freestyle Fridays on the first Friday of every month, but the focus of this event is a bit different, according DJ iDub, who hosts Hip Hop Allstars.

“With Freestyle Fridays we have the artists come in that just come up with their own lyrics as they go in a freestyle contest. Usually at the end of the night we have a champion,” he said.

He explained this event was more about straight performances of material that the performers had recorded.

“We bring in artists from the local area and we want to introduce those artists to the people here,” he said.

“We are trying to boost them a little bit and give them a little bit of promotion as well as an opportunity to perform in front of an audience that has never heard them before.

“They have recorded their own music before or they’re in the process,” he explained. “They are making original music that they have written themselves.”

The main feature of the night will be a written battle between two performers ― Black Moss, who is from South Africa, and Syco, a rapper from Canada who competed in the King of the Dot battle league there.

King of the Dot is a freestyle league and iDub said there were freestyle leagues and tournaments in Korea too, but that a written battle like this was unusual here.

Other performances will be from Korean rapper Kay G, U.S. artist Prophet and hip-hop outfit Black Tree.

“Black Tree is a Korean group,” says iDub. “Their music is really good and they are really helping bring up the Korean underground.”

The host said that there was a deliberate mix of foreign and Korean artists to try to reach as wide an audience as possible.

“We want to appeal to everybody, both foreign and local nationals,” he said.

Hip Hop Allstars is on Friday at Club Flow in Itaewon. Doors open 7 p.m. and the main performances start at 9 p.m.

Admission is free before 9 p.m. and 5,000 won thereafter.

To get to Flow, leave Itaewon Station Exit 3 and walk to the first main junction. Turn left up the hill and Flow is on the left.

By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)