RAP STAR

Chapter 104 [verse 16. Ripple Effect]

Ripple Effect

(Excerpt)

...The changes that 888 Crew will bring seem immense.

So, are musicians who conquer the mainstream with underground music considered underground or mainstream? Of course, it's not as clear-cut as that. Some may say they're underground because they originated there, while others may argue they're mainstream because they've conquered it.

The word 'underground' in hip-hop culture carries a strange connotation. Underground is originally an adjective meaning 'beneath the surface.' However, in the arts, it signifies engaging in avant-garde artistic endeavors from the grassroots rather than chasing the flashy taste (capital) of the mainstream. Hip-hop culture, in particular, takes great pride in this underground culture.

While garage art may seem similar to underground culture at first glance, the meaning differs when examined closely. Garage refers to art (usually music) created in a garage, as the original meaning of the word suggests. Garage Rock is a particularly famous genre.

To elaborate on garage culture, it denotes a genre imbued with the DIY (Do it Yourself) spirit, meaning that one can create great music without having the ideal environment or skills. So, even if a culture rises to the mainstream, as long as it maintains the DIY spirit, it remains garage culture.

However, underground culture is somewhat different.

Under Ground Over Ground = Main Stream

Just by looking at the tone of the words 'Under' and 'Over' contrasted with 'Main,' you can understand. Though it wasn't the original meaning, in contemporary music, underground has grown to be the opposite concept of overground.

In hip-hop culture, underground musicians tell stories with themes and approaches that mainstream musicians cannot touch. It's about rejecting assimilation into the mainstream. The stories they tell can be critiques of the establishment, political satire, or even sexual narratives between men and women.

However, here arises a very ironic occurrence. It's the fact that the underground, which serves as the best way and goal to prove their musicality, is to escape the underground. They still pursue musical activities in an underground manner, but the audience enjoying it extends beyond the underground fanbase to the mainstream. This is considered the most ideal way for underground musicians to prove their musicality. Because if their music, produced in an underground manner, captivates even the mainstream fanbase, then no one can raise objections to its musicality. To put it metaphorically, it's like Nirvana elevating the alternative genre to the mainstream.

Isn't it truly ironic? While upholding the underground spirit and making music underground, the ultimate goal is the mainstream.

The underground fanbase refers to this phenomenon as "the underground absorbing the mainstream fans." However, since culture always absorbs the smaller into the larger, it could also be expressed as "the mainstream swallowing underground musicians."

Of course, this debate has been exhaustedly discussed since the success and decline of hard rock from the late 1960s to the 1980s, which dominated the world. Therefore, there's no need to revisit the denouement of this futile debate.

So why has the author once again brought up this trite and tedious topic? It's because, at this juncture where hip-hop is rising to mainstream culture, starting with 888 Crew, it's an important story that can only be addressed "at this point."

Returning to square one, if a musician conquers the mainstream with underground music, are they underground or mainstream?

The answer has already been decided. In rock culture, it's called the rock spirit, while in hip-hop culture, it's called "Be The Underground," the issue of whether one can insist on purity.