With recent collaborations between American and K-pop artists in the spotlight, here are some unexpected Korean and International hip hop artists’ collaborations you may not be aware of.
Los Angeles- based hip-hop/ EDM group Far East Movement recently made waves due to their collaborations with various K-pop artists in their lateast album, Identity. For the album, they worked with Jay Park and Yoon Mirae, SISTAR’s Hyorin, Girls‘ Generation’s Tiffany, and EXO’s Chanyeol. This news made headlines because it’s not common for K-pop artists to collaborate with American musicians. However, it may surprise many to know that in the past, many American musicians have collaborated with Korean hip hop and R&B artists!
In comparison to K-pop, which is quite well- known and acknowledged around the world, Korean hip hop along with Korean R&B was mainly underground and is not so well-known at this time. However, it is slowly gaining more attention in mainstream Korea as well as internationally. These collaborations between Korean and American hip hop musicians prove that Korean hip hop, much like K-pop, is definitely on its way to becoming more established around the world.
Among the many amazing collaborations between Korean and American hip hop and R&B artists out there, check out the ones posted below!
DEAN and Eric Bellinger- I’m Not Sorry
Korean R&B artist DEAN was well-known in the Korean music scene even before he made debut as a singer, because he first debuted in Korea as a composer and composed several songs for many groups including EXO and VIXX. However, he made his first debut as a singer not in Korea, but in the US. His 2nd release in the US was a collaboration with highly successful singer-songwriter Eric Bellinger for the track, “I’m Not Sorry.”
BewhY and Talib Kweli- International Wave
Winner of TV show, Show Me the Money 5, rapper BewhY made “international waves” with his collaboration alongside Talib Kweli, who is a well-respected hip hop artist based in Brooklyn, New York. The two rappers seamlessly combined Korean and English language in this amazing hip hop track.
G-Dragon and Missy Elliot- Nilliria
Big Bang‘s G-Dragon gained a lot of attention for his performance at KCON 2013 for featuring legendary female rapper, Missy Elliot in his track “Nilliria”, which combines samples from a Korean traditional folk song with modern hip hop beats.
Jay Park (feat. Simon D, Gray, Loco, and Trinidad James)- Success Crazed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKCeyQ6XxnY
Jay Park and his fellow AOMG label mates collaborated with Atlanta-based rapper, Trinidad James for a song off of his 2nd album, Evolution titled “Success Crazed.”
Tablo & JOEY BADA$$- Hood (Produced by Code Kunst)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ajOCsGu6rY
Epik High’s Tablo and Brooklyn rapper Joey Bada$$ combined their lyrical genius in this all-English track produced by South Korean music producer Code Kunst titled, “Hood.”
