"Without Museok, it's not rap"
'Suni and the Seven Princesses' perform at Seo grandmother's funeral
'Sunny' director "Grandmother must have been pleased"
Grandmother rapper group 'Suni and the Seven Princesses' with Grandma Seo Mu-seok (center). [Source=Chilgok-gun]
At the funeral of a member of the so-called 'Halmae Rapper Group,' composed of grandmothers, a rap performance was held.
On the 28th, Newsis and News1 reported, "At the funeral of Grandma Seo Museok, a member of the group 'Suniwa Chilgongju,' held recently in Dalseo-gu, Daegu, the members performed a memorial show." According to the report, boasting an average age of 85, they continued the lyrics, "If Museok is missing, it's not rap," while styled in hip-hop fashion.
Earlier, Grandma Seo was diagnosed with stage 3 lymphoma blood cancer at a university hospital in Daegu in January and was told she had difficulty surviving more than three months. However, thinking that revealing her illness would prevent her from continuing group activities, she did not inform anyone except her family. Even as the cancer spread to her lungs, she visited the senior center every Tuesday and Thursday to practice diligently. Grandma Seo outlived the doctor's expected three months by far but passed away earlier this month at the age of 87 due to a rapid decline in her health.
The group members who attended Grandma Seo's funeral recreated a scene reminiscent of the famous moment from the movie 'Sunny.' In the 2011 film 'Sunny,' friends dance to the song 'Sunny' by Bonnie M at a funeral following the leader Chunhwa's last wish.
Director Kang Hyeong-cheol, who directed the film, said, "The protagonist of a funeral is the deceased, so they should be sent off in the way they liked best," adding, "I thought this was something that could happen in real life, not just in movies, and I believe the grandmother who was passionate about rap and her bereaved family were pleased." Kim Jae-uk, the mayor of Chilgok County, also honored the deceased's wishes by expressing his desire to produce a movie and musical about Suniwa Chilgongju. He stated, "We plan to develop cultural content to promote Chilgok and further highlight the sweat and passion of our elders."
Meanwhile, Suniwa Chilgongju is an eight-member rapper group formed last August by grandmothers living in Jicheon-myeon, Chilgok County, Gyeongbuk Province. They garnered intense domestic and international attention, even coining the new term 'K-Halmae' through major foreign media. They received appointment certificates from Kang Jeong-ae, Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, and served as members of the Veterans Honors Club. They also performed a joint stage with the world-renowned b-boy group 'MB Crew' at the final performance of the '2024 Hangul Week Opening Ceremony' held at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.
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