Brand New EP (5)

The heavyweight hip-hop musician Khalid Ham once said.

"With the Best Music Another One DJ Khalid!!!"

"With the Best Music!!"

(And so on.)

He doesn't rap, doesn't compose, doesn't even sing—but astonishingly, he's a musician. One of the most famous in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the world, no less.

In my first life, back when I was deep into hip-hop, I wondered.

Q. What the hell did this guy do to drop songs under his own name?

A. Connections.

...Excuse me?

I was so dumbfounded that I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dug a little deeper before I got it. Basically, this guy's like a licensed music broker. He scouts the top composers, rounds up the hottest artists, and connects them all. He has a knack for spotting what people want to hear and making it happen. And backing that up is the power of his network.

How far do these insiders plan to coast on their advantages?

So yeah, that was a route I gave up on early in my first life. Instead, I figured I'd hole up in my room, compose like a beast, and shock the world. If you're really that good, wouldn't everyone come flocking, full of awe, cash, and recognition?

Unfortunately, no. Or maybe I just didn't have quite that level of talent.

But things are different now. I have friends, you see.

Let's count them off one by one. First up, Kang Saero. We've been tight since middle school. She sings great. And she seems to like me.

'Seems to.'

It's not "seems"—she's seriously in love with me, which is honestly terrifying. Truth is, I've got zero confidence in dating, and just overthinking it sends me into a panic.

Ji Soeun. We met at the audition, swapped numbers, and got friendly.

'...Did we?'

Maybe it's more accurate to say she one-sidedly pushed until we were almost there. She texts me every single day. And she seems to like me. Not "seems"—she's ready to drop everything and chase me around, which is straight-up scary.

Please, just be a good little idol, okay?

Then there's Neon Blue's leader, Yu Jeuni. Baek Yul sunbae, Han Soye sunbae. Lately, I've been chatting a ton with Hanbam too.

That's it. Six people. Ticking them off on my fingers, yeah, it spills past one hand. Notably, all but two are girls.

'Is it really just my looks?'

That's the part that crushes my soul. Still, it's not like I'm getting it all for free.

'I've put in some effort.'

Contacts from my distributor, Green Dream Music, since we're collabing. Sound engineer Park Jincheol. Oh, and I snagged JK Ent CEO Kang Jungi's number at the audition. Haven't hit him up yet.

Hard-earned connections from pounding the pavement. Huge progress, sure—but still not enough.

'I need something more proactive.'

Plus, I'm planning a one-man label. In a setup where I'm writing, lyrics-ing, and handling distribution solo, locking down allies is straight-up survival.

You can't win on business logic alone. Gotta get close to people.

'But how do you actually make friends?'

My social skills from my past life are still stuck in loner territory. Not that I lack theory—I've devoured the bestselling human relations bible, How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Just zero real-world practice. So yeah, I come off hesitant and calculating.

'Asking for personal favors is tough too.'

Come to think of it, it's only been under two years since my second life kicked off. Might need more time.

For now, nurture what I've got.

'Gotta take good care of my current network.'

I flopped onto my bed and fired up my smartphone. Maybe practice reaching out first—but the screen was already flooded with unread messages.

First up, KakaoTalk from Kang Saero.

What's with all these photos? Screenshots of internet reactions, every one. Must be bored on break. Spending the whole day searching my name, real-time capturing comments from communities and ReCeiv.

Roughly like this.

And tons more holding their breath. 'Cause no official track yet.

The current ReCeiv upload: A 2-minute-ish clip titled [Brand New EP (DEMO)].

Doesn't even capture the full length, so the back half's still veiled. Just the core hook, Hanbam's verse 1, and a snippet of the lingering bridge. Intentional strategy. Teaser vibes.

Next, Discord messages. No way—Ji Soeun's piled up a ton.

Super busy so texts slowed, but seems she's got some breathing room lately. She really digs games.

Last, a pile of Stargram DMs. I barely open the app. Notifications off 'cause annoying. Maybe force myself.

Our Mu-jika club prez. Even Han Soye sunbae reached out first. Warm encouragement rolling in unearned. Well, chart #3 composer now.

The one I could message first? Just videos and Baek Yul sunbae.

Not Chuseok, not charted, but check-in done. Feels too easy. No tougher networking challenges?

Then I spotted a name at the bottom of my contacts.

[JK Ent CEO Kang Jungi]

The guy who first spotted my composer potential at the audition and handed me his card. Also Ji Soeun's agency head.

"……."

Sorry for turning Ji Soeun into this. Chasing guys since trainee days—girl's gonna be in trouble.

'Sigh.'

Apologized in my head and punted the call. Maybe after her safe debut. Not yet.

How long does proper music evaluation take? In pop culture, a few weeks wraps it up. Later reevals happen, but the real judge is the masses' ears. Has to sound good to most. That's the rough consensus.

September rolled in, heat easing, school looming. Plenty of time for Brand New EP opinions to solidify.

But they're still sharply divided. Especially in hip-hop communities.

Genre guardians ripping it apart. Melodic lines. Autotune. Smushed pronunciation in spots. Commercial ear-candy love songs. Consensus: not hip-hop.

Even opinion-shaping rapper 110.12 chimed in with alts.

But grizzled active rappers thought differently. Various takes and interests, but summed up:

'Wait, we're doing this too?'

Show Me starting in days: singing-rap format. Beats prepped, features lined up, PDs and writers on board.

'Let's intro this genre, trend, sound to the masses.'

Planned board. Not winging it. Push familiar hard rap on one side, melodic hip-hop flows from overseas on the other. Transitional setup ready.

'Melodic. Autotune. Still has artistic merit.'

Similar vibe albums prepping. Emotional, soft, ear-pleasing tracks—no rap, matching the hate points exactly.

'So we're dropping like this next.'

Then Kim Seryeon's track agro-pulled first.

If this sticks, they're screwed. Cutthroat K-hip-hop. Weaklings don't survive. So despite SNS ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠risks mid-promo, they struck first.

Famous rappers shouting support. Suddenly, Kim Seryeon's autotune "pop" track felt profound.

Community vibe shifting bit by bit.