Kang Gary & Gaeko: “The popularity of hip hop, is thanks to the choice of the public and this generation”

Being veteran rappers who have been successful, do you have any fear?

Gary: Yesterday I received a beat and listened to it for 7~8 hours, until 11 pm my ears started ringing. Because I drank two cans of beer in the fridge, I felt tipsy. The lyrics wouldn’t come out, so I started to think I reached my limit.

Leessang (Gary, Gil) and Dynamic Duo (Choiza, Gaeko) are commonly acknowledged as “the twin horse carriages of hip hop scene”. The two teams are known for both their competitiveness and strong friendship.

Gary first debuted in 1999 with Honey Family, then formed Leessang in 2002 and has been active until now. Gaeko first debuted in 2000 with CB Mass and has been active as Dynamic Duo from 2004. Both of them are big brothers highly respected by junior rappers, who use the two group’s music as the nutrients to raise their dreams.

After CB Mass took part in the first album of Leessang in 2002, the tie between Gary and Gaeko was established. The two long-standing friends of 13 years recently met with each other at Soosong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

 “Ooii, Gaetu!!”

That’s how Gary said hello to Gaeko who arrived before him. “Gaetu” is simply a meaningless nickname he gave to Gaeko. The day before the interview, they also met each other at Haha and Byul’s son first-birthday party. They felt excited as this is the first time they do an interview together.

Gary has this nickname because his eyes look like a fierce dog’s, while Gaeko has this nickname because his nose looks like a dog’s. Both of them have similar stage names, and when wearing sunglasses they even somewhat look alike.

But the striking similarity between them is they both produce songs and their rap has the power of delivering and expressing.

They honestly discussed about the current trend of hip hop and the concerns about music of rappers.

Do you guys remember when you first met each other?

Gaeko: We first officially greeted each other when I took part in recording for Leessang’s 1^st album, but the first time I saw Gary hyung was when Honey Family visited the underground club where we were performing. They gave off the feeling of a Korean Wutang Clan. I also remembered one time, I was watching Honey Family’s performance at an event at a department store and Gil hyung dived into the crowd.

Gary (laughing): That performance was quite shocking so I remembered it, too. Gil jumped from the 2 meter high stage into the audience. I was worried someone might get hurt.

In recent years, hip hop rises as a popular genre of music. Songs of artists like Verbal Jint, Beenzino always take no.1 position on music charts, and it seems like these days all songs must have a rap part.

Gary: It paused for a while then soared up. Rappers become famous and gain many female fans. In the past, our performance only had 500 – 600 fans attending at most, but these days even at a venue with several thousand seats, the audience fills up.

Gaeko: There was a time when there’s no new star appearing in the hip hop scene, but these days many stars have their own identities. This generation and the public had chosen hip hop. Thanks to this, many artists with powerful styles appear and this became a trend.

In the past, there were numerous representative hip hop crews like The Movement, Buda Sound. Today there are remarkable record labels like Amoeba Culture, AOMG, Illionaire Records.

Gaeko: In the beginning period of Korean hip hop, rappers only made music within their crew, but today many crews have been formed between recording labels. There are more collaboration made by artists who are from different labels but are friends in music or have a business relationship. It appears that this is the result of the hip hop crew culture development.

What makes a rapper appealing?

Gary: I think there’s no right answer for this. There are rappers who are able to turn commonplace words into stylish lyrics, and also rappers who are stylish even in their fashion and personality. It seems today everything of a rapper is evaluated: from ability, fashion, sense of humor to personal characteristic. Regretfully, while in the past hip hop fans had empathy with rappers’ thoughts and idea, today many people become a rapper’s fans because they are influenced by the rapper’s character.

Gaeko: Like what Gary hyung said, the identity of a rapper is important. Today individuals who can express common lyrics distinctively or are good at word-playing will be more popular. Maybe it’s because hip hop fans are looking for the type of rap that evokes detailed feelings like Gary hyung’s.

Still, aren’t rhymes and flow important to a great MC? (Microphone Controller/Rapper)

Gaeko: How to create and express rap after listening to the beat is important overall. But each rapper has his own way of composing rap lyrics. Rappers who like books will have good command of language. Rappers who like paintings and movies will have the ability to stimulate imagination and make use of everyday language.

Gary: I’m the type that writes lyrics like a story. Of course writing lyrics in rhymes is interesting, but rather than that, I like to decide on the theme then separate it into 3 parts: introduction, body and conclusion. Because I write the lyrics first, I can’t focus too much on the flow. I tried to change my style of writing, but I couldn’t because it became a habit after many years. Personally I think the song “Rush” of Leessang expressed my experience and determination well.

Only in hip hop, 19+ rated lyrics are popular, but rappers aren’t in the least concern for deliberation.

Gary: It’s not that we don’t care about it, but we don’t worry too much. Because in real life, there aren’t beautiful love only (laugh) . Some songs are hard to change the lyrics, so we have to write explicitly to maintain the concept.

Lately a genre called “sentimental hip hop” appeared. This kind of rap song has a chorus with soft lyrics, popular melody, and they consecutively become a hit. This feels like hip hop is finding its way to adapt and survive.

Gary: It’s hard to conclude that this trend is bad or good. When we composed Leessang’s 1^st album, we had a rebellious spirit so I didn’t wrote any love song. But in Leessang’s 2^nd album, both of us had girlfriends so 80% of the album was love stories. From then, because we chose a love song to be the title track, we became popular more quickly. It’s a good thing that today rappers are also doing well because they follow this style. Actually it’s extremely hard for a song to climb up in charts. You have to consider many factors like the public or the catch line. Rapping randomly with a given beat is way more comfortable. Different from Leessang’s songs, the rap concentration in Dynamic Duo’s is heavier. Dynamic Duo is a great example of being able to thrive with their own style. I like their song “Insomnia”, the lyrics made me immersed. Recently I’m also interested in trying new style.

Gaeko: Even living one day is hard enough. Maybe that’s why this generation doesn’t want songs, movies or dramas that are too serious. Your heart should be light enough to enjoy art. Actually people listen to music is to escape from the cruelty of this world, because an exciting or extremely sweet song can be easily taken in. That’s why I’m concern about how to improve while being able to maintain the balance.

It seems you have great concern regarding the trend of music.

Gary: We are rappers and producers at the same time, so rather than rap skill , we have to look at the overall flow of the album. I miss the East Coast hip hop (the old hip hop style with simple beat and repetitive loop) of Wu-Tang clan that I used to enter the music world like missing my first love. I also agonize over what kind of story I should put in my lyrics. I admire the confidence of those friends who rap directly as they want. But I’m different from the past. Thanks to variety shows I got recognized, earned some more money, but I’m also growing old. In the past, I only wrote about joys and sorrows of my life, but anyone can feel satisfied listening to them. But if I follow the boasting lyrics trend like today, I’m afraid it can make people feel annoyed. Except for my improving financial status and popularity, making music is just as mentally hard as when I composed my 1^st album.

Gaeko: I feel sympathy with what Gary hyung said. Being a producer, rather than playing with words or rapping within 16 bars, I’m more worried about the preparing process of the album. In reality, every day new songs come out like mushrooms after the rain. But rather than being a one-hit wonder, I want to create masterpieces. I’ve been making music for more than 10 years, so I sort of define what kind of theme or expression I like. But the music is becoming softer so it made me feel somewhat distant. The music that influenced me when I was young was hip hop songs that don’t have complicated structure, just simple beat and exciting rap. Luckily music is just like fashion, after each 20 years the old trend will come back. So I think today the minimal trend in music is becoming more and more popular.

There are times when you admire the other’s music.

Gaeko: Even when Gary hyung rap with those racy or blunt words, I can still feel sympathy with them. What he said “In the past I wrote about the hardship I overcame, but today that’s not the case anymore” was very true. I’m touched by his honesty in music.

Gary: Gaeko is the rapper who’re strong in many aspects: from pronunciation, power of delivery to the ability to establish song’s structure. Especially, he’s like an iron fist in a velvet glove. It doesn’t show from the outside, but his music contains both on-point seriousness and sense of humor. His rap tone is sharp. Now Dynamic Duo has become guaranteed great musician.

To Dynamic Duo, Leessang is? To Leessang, Dynamic Duo is?

Gaeko: Leessang is our good big brothers. Their ability in music was soon verified and there’s no need to argue about it. They always tell us frankly when they feel dissatisfied with something, so we feel safe and thankful toward them, they never change. We can be in healthy competition, but they also are reliable seniors who always watch over us.

Gary: Dynamic Duo is my good brothers (laugh). Their personalities aren’t difficult to get along with. We feel comfortable with each other at anytime, anywhere we meet. In music, Dynamic Duo is the most recognized team. To be honest, Leessang inclines to pop and makes soft music so if I talk about hip hop, it can be a bit vague, but Dynamic Duo is different. Many young rappers consider Dynamic Duo’s rap as textbooks. Dynamic Duo is the solid pillar of Korean hip hop.

Being veteran rappers who have been successful, do you have any fear?

Gary: Yesterday I received a beat and listened to it for 7~8 hours, until 11 pm my ears started ringing. Because I drank two cans of beer in the fridge, I felt tipsy. The lyrics wouldn’t come out, so I started to think I reached my limit. An athlete retires when he reaches his limit, but there is no proper standard for music. If I feel the limit of my ability and stop, it will be a sadness that exceeds the happiness that money brings. These days I’m reading the book: “Vincent Van Gogh, the letters of soul” vol.1. The art spirit of “Shut up and draw something” makes Van Gogh a weirdo, but that’s how great achievements are created. Still, I’m just a normal person. (laugh)

Gaeko: I watched the document movie “Searching for Sugar Man”. It’s about a musician with many greatest hits of his time had left behind money, fame and chose a different life instead. I think that’s awesome and wonderful, but living that way is hard. I wonder if I can live a life like that.

Even your stage names are similar, if you two do a collaboration it would be fun.

Gary & Gaeko:  We may do it at any time, but there’s no specific plan so let’s keep it a secret.

(Note: This is an old interview from July, 2014) 

[Translated by: mondaycouplefan_funny142]
       Please take out with full credit