Longest-running hip-hop competition show kicks off 8th season

Jul 26, 2019

Longest-running hip-hop competition show kicks off 8th season

 

A new season of South Korea's longest-running hip-hop competition show, "Show Me the Money," launched its 10-episode run Friday.

 

Launched in 2012, the famous weekly rap competition show by cable channel Mnet has survived the test of time and trend to extend its run to the eighth season, whose first episode is set to hit the small screen Friday night.

 

The high-profile show has previously brought a number of rappers to fame, including Loco, BewhY and Mino, who is currently a member of K-pop boy band WINNER.

 

Longest-running hip-hop competition show kicks off 8th season

This photo of the two panels of judges on the eighth season of "Show Me the Money" 

 

"The secret of this long run, I think, is the trendiness and sophistication of the participants, who are hip and unique. ... Hip-hop is becoming increasingly diverse (in South Korea), and unpredictability stemming from the changing backdrop may also be the secret," the show's chief producer Choi Hyo-jin said in a press conference.

 

In a bid to renew the show's charm, the eighth season comes with a new competition system under which two panels of four professional rappers will recruit novice rappers representing their teams and compete against each other as a team.

 

Swings, a rapper and an owner of a hip-hop label, will lead the team 10 Crew, while another established rapper, Verbal Jint, will represent the other team, the BGM-V Crew.

 

Recalling his long-term involvement in the show, Swings defined the latest rap trend as "nihilistic."

 

"Some people may be aware of the difference of style in rap between mine and the latest ones ... which represent the mindset of people these days," Swings said. "We are witnessing the demolition of values and order because of many reasons, including the domination of the internet or some important people who renege on their public promises."

 

Such changes are being reflected in the trend of rap in the form of irrelevant lyrics and their inconsistency, as well as the intentional inarticulateness of rap, he noted.

 

Verbal Jint stressed that the new season comes with the most variety of competing rappers and the standard of evaluation was on how truly each competitor expresses their own unique lifestyle.

 

"My attention was most of all on whether competitors are just acting some part or putting their true lives into their lyrics," he said.

 

BewhY, a member of BGM-V Crew, also noted, "At a time when the standard of evaluating the quality of rap is changing, the new season, I think, will provide new ways of evaluating the music genre."

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