[Yeit Suda] Hip-hop That Is No Longer Hip

Controversy Throughout Show Me The Money 11 Competition
Growing Calls for Self-Reflection on the Market's Abnormal Growth

On the 30th of last month, rapper Lee Young-ji won first place in Mnet's Show Me the Money 11. Photo by TVING

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Controversy surrounding Mnet's Show Me the Money 11, which has consistently sparked considerable attention and driven viewership ratings each season, is intensifying. Since its establishment in 1995, Mnet has solidified its reputation as a leading network in the survival program genre by successfully launching numerous such shows. Show Me the Money is Mnet's undisputed flagship program following Superstar K. Rapper Lee Youngji, who won Season 11 on December 30, is a former winner of Mnet's audition program High School Rapper Season 3 aired in 2019, making her Mnet's favored prot?g? and star. Lee Youngji's victory marked not only the first female rapper's win but also signaled a shift in the landscape of Korean hip-hop.

However, the process was far from smooth. Initially, during the program's guerrilla beat cypher mission, she was selected as a candidate for elimination but narrowly survived thanks to an unprecedented opportunity. In the team cypher mission, issues arose regarding the beat selection rules, and the criteria for selecting the final winner changed from a combination of on-site voting and text voting to online voting combined with text voting, leading to criticism that "Lee Youngji was destined to win anyway." Some even cynically blamed the show’s favoritism for the downfall of Korean hip-hop. The narrative of the first female winner thus remained tainted by controversy and the program's failure to thrive, becoming a faded necklace rather than a shining accolade.

Over the 11 years the program has aired, Show Me the Money has expanded the scope of hip-hop while implanting its unique culture into the mainstream and proving hip-hop's musical marketability. Hip-hop’s niche slang and culture?such as "dis" (short for disrespect, meaning to criticize or insult a specific target through rap), "flex" (showing off one’s wealth or valuables), and "swag" (referring to one’s unique style or coolness)?have permeated everyday life, driving the popularization of hip-hop.

At the center of those who benefited most from the hip-hop popularization wave led by Show Me the Money is rapper Dok2, who appeared as a judge. He became a symbol of a successful rapper and a representative figure of flex culture, boasting limited-edition watches worth hundreds of millions of won, a Rolls-Royce car, and living in a hotel penthouse costing over 7 million won per night, all showcased on the program.

However, the flex did not last long. On the 15th of last month, Dok2 was named among 6,940 high-amount and habitual tax delinquents publicly disclosed by the National Tax Service. It was revealed that he had unpaid taxes totaling 332 million won across five cases, including comprehensive income tax. On the 30th of last month, he was also included in the list of high-amount and habitual delinquents for the four major social insurance premiums by the National Health Insurance Service, with an additional disclosure of 10 million won in unpaid health insurance premiums. Previously, in 2019, Dok2 was sued by a U.S. jewelry company for non-payment; after sending a photo showing his bank account balance of 6 won to evade responsibility, he lost the lawsuit and was forced to pay 45 million won through court mediation.

Since the debut of Show Me the Money, Korean hip-hop has passed through an era symbolized by money and success for over a decade. Teenagers admired rappers, and many rappers repeatedly achieved success by gaining substantial wealth through television appearances. Soon, the market became entrenched in a structure dependent on competition programs, circulating music tracks and stars. Aspiring rappers prepared for broadcast appearances by taking so-called "rap lessons" from active rappers for as short as three months or as long as over a year. Some proudly introduced their rap mentors, while others became targets of attacks based on their rap lesson history. Although hip-hop is often associated with resistance and freedom, its origins lie in the autobiographical storytelling of African Americans who experienced racial segregation policies and discrimination, with its roots tracing back to the 1970s when American club DJs devised break beats using two turntables, incorporating call-and-response chants or lyrics to energize the crowd.

Originality gradually faded among Korean rappers armed with private education aimed at success, and the program, wielding dominant market power, used monopolistic tactics to favor pre-selected stars, ultimately receiving a dismal report card. Swings, a representative star produced by Show Me the Money, sharply criticized on a YouTube program, saying, "Hey, you bastards, you think you became stars because of Show Me? You're six-month celebrities. If you don't release an album, you're not hip-hop, you idiots!" Ultimately, the controversy surrounding Show Me the Money 11 converges into a voice of self-reflection on a market ecosystem that has lost diversity and grown abnormally. After all, was it really Show Me the Money that ruined the world? Somehow, hip-hop is no longer cool.

Editor's Note Yeitsuda (藝It Suda) is an abbreviation for "talk about art," a column covering issues and trends across the arts, including music, visual arts, and performances.