Spotlight: Korean R&B and hiphop’s hidden gems
Jay Park. Dean. Jessi.
Chances are you’ve heard those names as a Kpop fan…even though Jay Park, Dean, and Jessi aren’t technically “pop artists”. But you’re not alone. Khiphop and R&B is on the rise internationally.
But just like the Kpop-verse, the realm of Korean hiphop and R&B is just as wide, with a multitude of immensely talented artists emerging almost every day. With the domestic popularity of shows like ‘Show Me The Money’ and ‘High School Rapper’, and the growing admiration for other Korean music genres besides pop, it may be difficult to navigate the entire universe of K-music, especially for those who just started exploring other K-genres.
Don’t worry. We’re here to help you narrow it down. Take this as a bit of a guide from your TKBL admins to combat that overwhelming feeling you get when you get another artist recommendation from your friends.
Here are five buried treasures of Korean hiphop and R&B waiting for you!
Written by: Aragoo [TKBL head]
#5 MOON (Moon Sujin)
MOON (Moon Sujin) debuted in 2018 under Million Market with the track ‘MILLION’, featuring former Illionaire crew member, Dok2. Since this release, she’s been collaborating with several Korean hiphop artists such as Sik-K for ‘Day n Nite’ and ‘Is it Love?’, THEBLACKLABEL’s Vince for ‘2Night’, and AOMG producer Gray for ‘Take Me There’ (which I think is her best work). MOON also worked with producing duo GXXD (Vangdale and Seyoung) and male rapper Blase for ‘춤사위’.
However, Kpop fans, especially EXO-Ls, might recognize her for featuring in the EXO-SC track, ‘1 Billion Views’.
Her most recent work is ‘저 달’ with NCT’s main vocal, Taeil (interestingly enough, they both have ‘Moon’ as their last names). MOON’s solo works include ‘Now’ and ‘Don’t Care’.
Her strongest suit is definitely her silky, colorful, and relaxed vocal tone (so you know you can count on her to sing you a night lullaby). A rising versatile vocalist with works ranging from smooth R&B to trap-rap, MOON is definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Check out her cover for Ariana Grande’s ‘Almost is Never Enough’ and BTS’ ‘Dynamite’ with a live band!
#4 Khakii
Khakii debuted under WAVY with ‘BASS’ last 2019, featuring WAVY founder himself, Offonoff’s Colde. He released the remix of his debut single, featuring Leellamarz and labelmate Ahn Byeonwoong shortly after.
A few months after, he released ‘LAZY’, and then a remix of the track, featuring rappers Paloalto, BRYN (Dickids crew), and sokodomo. By September of last year, he released ‘Midsommar’, collaborating with artist Leellamarz yet again. His latest work , ‘LOST’, which was just released last May, features (fellow list contender) Moon Sujin. He has also worked with CHAI (Crysal Yi/Lee Soo-jung) for the song ‘Boyfriend’, in which he also wrote the lyrics for (fun fact: Colde produced this track!).
Khakii joined the 9th installment of ‘Show Me The Money’, where he got an all pass for the 2nd qualifying round, and was under Team Code Kunst x Paloalto, impressing them during the selection cypher (1:32). He performed ‘원해 (Feat. Paloalto) (Prod.CODE KUNST)’ with Swings and Layone for the show’s 6th episode and competed against Lil Boi for the team diss battle (EP.7), but unfortunately got eliminated (he forgot his lyrics).
Khakii’s strongest points is definitely his distinctive rapping style and unique charisma. He’s slowly growing to become a more versatile rapper — showcasing his powerful raps in tracks like ‘BASS’ and ‘Midsommar’, while also showing off his skills in melodic rapping in more laid-back tracks like ‘Boyfriend’ and ‘LOST’.
#3 Swervy
Swervy began to make a name for herself when she joined the 8th season of ‘Show Me The Money’, though she did partake in the 7th installment. She first released her single ‘Hybrid’ in April 2017 and debuted the next year with the EP ‘Bunny Bullet’ (this album really shows her style) under Team Yaya. She is currently signed with Hi-Lite Records.
Swervy has a distinct flow, a smooth voice, and very much of the E-girl fashion. Both her solo tracks and collabs follow the trendy trap-rap style (her songs and her MVs are very trippy). She has two collaborations with fellow Hi-Lite rapper Reddy, ‘Art Gang Money’ and ‘Tag’, and has worked BIG Naughty for ‘털어’ (alongside other rappers like Veinfyl, Layone, and D.Ark!) and the Hi-Lite team (Paloalto, Huckleberry P, Jowonu/H2ADIN) for ‘한라산 Hi-Lite Sign’(prod. Yosi)’. She also has a track with Hash Swan, ‘High Beam’.
Last 2020, Swervy put out ‘Undercover Angel’, her first LP, which features tracks with Paloalto (‘why’), JUSTHIS (‘Trapped in the Drum’), and Captain Rock (‘Blue’). All songs were produced by SUI. Along with the big-name features, ‘Alibi’, ‘Did It Like I Did’ (and the remix), and ‘Mama Lisa’ are absolutely beautiful. The album, which has its fair shares of breezy tracks and strong rap, is a must-listen for Khiphop fans.
Her latest release is ‘HEARTCORE’ with Reddy, Yosi, and SUI. She also performed in DF Killing Verse!
#2 PLT Crew (Planetarium Records)
Yes, PLT is the only crew here. Nope, it’s not because they’re the only good crews in Korean hiphop (trust me, I could make a whole novel about all the Khiphop crews I love) — but honestly, their music is just insanely good that it would be a sin not to put them here.
I knew about three years ago, and the first song I listened from them was ‘Hocus Pocus’ — I immediately got hooked. Since then, I’ve been following the group…and trying to rap Villain’s verse in ‘Igoholic’ (another one of their best group tracks!)
PLT consists of Planetarium Records’ artists June, Gaho, and Jung Jinwoo (the vocals), rappers Moti and Villain (sadly, Villain has left the crew as of writing). I’m unsure if Kei.G is officially part of PLT — he appears in ‘Planetarium Case #2’, though in the album covers, he’s nowhere to be found (but he is a part of Planetarium Records and is just as amazing).
It would be wild if I go through each PLT member’s discography (though they deserve it because they’re all amazing in their own ways), so let’s just focus on PLT’s right now, because it is absolutely worth your time. As of writng, PLT only has two EPs, ‘Planetarium Case #1’ and ‘Planetarium Case 2’, both of which were released in 2018. The tracklists of both contain a share of solos and group works, bouncing back between different genres such as rap, R&B, ballad, and pop.
Now it’s time to talk best tracks.
In ‘Planetarium Case #1’, the best song easily goes to Gaho and Villain’s ‘Shine on you’ — it is absolutely powerful and captivating. ‘Blah’, a smooth dance pop track, is another top contender, along with ‘Gravity’ (Jung Jinwoo), and ‘Glue’. For ‘Planetarium Case #2’, ‘Wish’ by Moti, ‘Lonely’ (June ft. Jinwoo), ‘Memory’ (Gaho), and ‘Black Gold’ by Kei.G and Moti take the cake.
These two albums literally are the deal. I can’t imagine how much stronger they’d get if they decide to make a full-group comeback this 2021 (are you guys reading this?). Both are absolutely strong and versatile, though #1 is definitely a lot more of my type. It just has that kick I’m looking for in an album.
The latest group track they have is ‘Beautiful’ by June, featuring all the PLT members, with the exception of Villain. Individually, they are all very active, still posting covers and songs in the Planetarium Records YouTube channel.
If you guys have the time, you can definitely check out the solo songs of PLT members — I personally love Jung Jinwoo’s ‘She’s Got Everything’ (one of my favorite Kpop songs of all time) and ‘One-Way’ (both from his ‘Rotate’ album’) and Villain’s ‘Manitto’.
Gaho’s OSTs and June’s ‘Autumn Leaves’ with Cheeze are all incredible as well, and if you’re a rap fan, better check out Moti’s work, especially ‘DIE’, his latest work with Mckdaddy!
#1 Junny
Inarguably one of the best underrated treasures in the spectrum of Korean hiphop, Junny is one to watch out for. Hailing from Vancouver, the talented 25-year-old is under MAUVE company, debuting solo in 2017 with the EP ‘Monochrome’ (which, by the way, is an absolute masterpiece — please check it out!)
He’s part of the R&B team Marilyn Monderland together with Holynn, Yelloasis, producers Brixx and Holeymoley!, and Wogs, who serves as MM’s artistic director and designer (note: a separate article for this maybe in the coming months because I swear I love them.)
But what’s more interesting is that he doesn’t only have a spectacular voice, he’s also an amazing producer and songwriter! Kpop fans, particularly SM stans, may be familiar with Junny’s name. Junny has written for many SM artists such as U-Know (‘Loco’), Suho (‘Made In You’), Kai (‘Mmmh’), and NCT (‘From Home’ by NCT U, ‘Action Figure’ by WayV, ‘ANL’ and ‘Be There For You’ by NCT Dream). He has also written for other famous artists like IU, Park Jihoon, Kangta, JAY B, and Luhan, among others. Kdrama fans may also know him for singing ‘I will’ and ‘edge (ft. Meego, ron)’, the OSTs for the 2020 Korean series, ‘It’s Okay To Be Sensitive’.
But back to his solo works: as someone who’s been following Junny for a while now, I have a few favorite tracks — ‘Natural (prod. Lexxmatiq & Calvin Cook)’, ‘Dither (ft. East K)’, and ‘Rise and Fall (ft. yelloasis)’. But honestly, his voice is butter and his songs are 10/10, I promise one thing only— it’s gonna get you hooked. Other Junny masterpieces include ‘I Wanna Fall In Love(prod. Calvin Cook)’ and ‘Feel That (prod. Holymoley!)’.
In March 2019, ‘Vidid, Pt.1’ his first mini-album, he collaborated with his fellow Marilyn Monderland teammates, and released ‘For The Weekend’ with Hi-Lite rapper Paloalto. A couple of months after, in August of the same year, he released ‘Vivid, Pt.2’ and had ‘Trust’ with punchnello, produced by Holeymoley!, as the mini-album’s title track. He definitely draws inspiration from modern, western R&B and hiphop (a lot of sexy and sultry sounds), so if that’s your stuff, he’s your man.
Interested? Junny has a YouTube channel where he posts mesmerizing covers and entertaining vids: check it out here!
ON THE FUTURE OF KOREAN R&B and HIPHOP
It’s no doubt that Korean R&B and hiphop is a beautiful, vast universe with a lot of talent to offer. Every year, multiple artists share their craft to the world through various platforms such as YouTube and SoundCloud, making it easier for them to find and connect with their audience, and eventually, gain success, whether in the underground scene or in the mainstream. Shows like ‘Show Me The Money’, ‘Unpretty Rapstar’, ‘Breakers’ and ‘High School Rapper’ also help launch the careers of several underrated or unknown singers and rappers, many of them releasing songs that eventually become chart-toppers and global hits. Undoubtedly, social media and TV has made it possible for them to collaborate and sign with the industry’s big names.
Moon, Khakii, Swervy, PLT, and Junny are just a few of the artists in the K R&B and hiphop realm that we discovered through the power of SMS and television, and we know we’ll discover more gems like them as the world becomes more tech-savvy. We hope that these artists help you discover a new world of music and expand your musical horizons. They are all on the paths of growing even bigger in the music industry, and the TKBL wishes them nothing but the best in all of their endeavors.
Edited: October 11, 2021
