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We're about to have the Money Maker$, Snacky Chan, and MSG.
We'll be having them on next..
First, should we have the Money Maker$ on or should we have Chan first?
Aren't we having them on altogether?
Let's split them in two
First, shouldn't we have the boss up here first?
Ok Snacky Chan, usually he goes by just 'Chan' but he got famous in Korea as 'Snacky Chan.'
Chan and also uh.. MSG!
Let's get together now.. WHOOOOO!!
Wassup?
Nice to see you!
The mics are working right?
Good to see you hyung(older brother)
Ok now MSG is this person here and this is the guy I was in Uptown with, Chan Hyung..
Yes Wassup?
Can you give a short introduction of yourself?
I go by the name of Snacky Chan, Big Chan, or just Chan
Roy Kim
I'm the boss at Dynasty Muzik. Because I'm from America my Korean is really bad.
You got better.. You're not bad
No no
How about you?
Me, I go by the name of MSG, aka Crazy Muthafucka with Long Arms..
and..Crazy Muthafugga with Long Arms..haha ok I see! haha. Ok ok why that name?
So why do they call you that?
I used to go by the name of 'Gipalang'
I was using that name, but I met Chan one day at the studio
That was the first time we met and Chan asked Bron what my name was..
Bron said, 'Gipalang,' but Chan pronounced it 'Ginpal'
That's how my name went from Gipalang to Ginpal
The other half of my name came from when he saw me rapping
I was recording a really fast verse and Chan said, "That guy is out of his mind"
I didn't know my name was going to end up like this..
But Chan kept insisting this should be name so..
MSG, That's funny..What's your age?
I'm 22 years old. Rapper? I heard you sing too.
A little bit..
We're gonna hear you live later right?
I don't have my instrumentals with me but..
You won't hear me sing but probably rap
So then later you're gonna rap live with the Money Maker$?
The upcoming single for MM$ is SWAG and Home Field. I feature on Home Field
So first, Snacky Chan hyung, Can you introduce your label Dynasty Muzik.
Well first, Dynasty Muzik, I started it in the US
In 2004 I needed a way to release my albums.
It was hard to get signed so when it came time to release my albums
For me to release my own albums I had to start my own company
I couldn't call it 'Roy Kim Records,' so
we created the name 'Dynasty Muzik' and that's how it started.
After that, I came to Korea, joined Uptown
and failed hard
Hard..
Swings knows what I mean. Failed extremely hard.
Great, haha
Hey Hyung should we sing 'Black Knight'(Uptown Song) for old times sake?
Hoogheesah #1 Just bounce OHHH
Yeah Brownie how you doing? Mr.Jung Yun Joon Whoo hoo
I wonder how he's doing though
Just. living..
Oh you still keep in touch with him?
Who me? No no, Mr. Jung Yun Joon (Uptown Boss)
He's probably hustling somebody right now
Again? I don't know. Probably
I gave him 20 Gs as a present to get out of that sh*tty contract.
So are you saying that we should view him as thief?
Yeah you can say that. It went down like this..
The terms of my contract was different than the other members
Without me knowing. I caught him and he said whatever
I couldn't do anything about it. The profits weren't being split.
So we were doing a lot of concerts but weren't getting paid for it
We thought they were unpaid shows but found out that they were being paid and not telling us..
We were touring all over Korea and had a great time. We weren't paid for anything but sh*t at the least we got to eat some good food
We got to wear these nice white shiny suits too..
Those cheap $20.00 suits from Itaewon were great
So what acts are officially signed to your label Dynasty Muzik?
Right now its me, MSG, and the Money Maker$
3 acts
That's simple
I don't meet artists that I like often so..
So then you're signing people you don't like?
No no no
Don't mess with Chan hyung like that, you know he can't speak well
We normally played around like this
in the van..
So can you tell us how you the Money Maker$ and why you decided to sign them?
Oh that, we used to record at the same studio. While I was recording a mini-album with Maniac
The Money Maker$ were recording their first single there
That's the first time I heard their music and later I saw them perform the first time..
After I saw that, that's when I came to a 100% decision to sign them
I thought to myself, these guys are good..
My power is still lacking in Korea, so I shopped them to a few labels
Everybody said 'No thanks' but I believed in them so much I decided to sign them myself
Yall believe in each other
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Yes we do
At first I met him with the other guys(Money Maker$)
As time passed I was exposed to his talent. What impresses me the most is his ability to make melodies/songs with ease
I see..
Also his live performance is crazy so..that's I signed him
Where are you from Ginpal?
Me I'm from Miyari but now I live in Sillim-***
but I'm from Miyari area
You keep saying MIyari is there a reason?
Because Miyari is famous
Miyari, yeah that is a famous place haha
To be exact I'm from Gireum, but people don't recognize that town as much Miyari
Why is Miyari famous?
THe red light districts
Wow you guys have no shame
I wanna ask him another question
So what kind of music do you like?
Me umm. After the Money Maker$ single drops, I'll be releasing my mixtape
On that mixtape my style of music is kinda like melody rap
I wrote and sang all my choruses. It's a little mainstream?
Not so much mainstream but..
Yeah its a bit mainstream..
Not corny mainstream though
So Ginpal you're 22 years old, you're a young MC, can you tell us more about your beginnings an an MC?
Where were you active etc?
I used to be known as a freestyler
With Freestyle Town crew or?
Two years ago, in the beginning, I used to freestyle with JJK and the Rap Attach Crew
thats how I got known at first, after doing some events here and there
Then for the first time I competed in a freestyle day battle
I got a little known from that
Because I remember hearing of your name before..
Yeah I was active doing that for a bit
It wasn't really my goal to be a good battle rhymer, it was more out of anger that I did it
Why were you mad?
Everybody was like..underestimating me
I remember when I went out to battle at Freestyle Day people around me kept telling me I wasn't good enough
That got me pissed so and that's how it happened
So before that when did you start rapping?
Rap wasn't a part of my life for a long time
I was freestyling with Rap Attack, battling in Freestyle Day, and then I met J-flow of the Money Maker$
Then I met Chan so it kind of naturally happened
So what artists did you hear that influenced you towards hip hop
Oh I actually first got my start in hip hop by beat boxing
In high school I met a rapper and slowly started
Thats cool
What artists from Korea have you been impressed by?
Uh Deepflow and Swings's music has..
Don't flatter us now..
Not us, we appreciate that but anyone else?
Uh, the first Korean rapper that I really liked was Drunken Tiger
My friend always wanted to sing Drunken Tiger songs at the Karaoke rooms
I memorized the raps but at that time i was more interested in Beat Boxing
I don't know it was just a real natural transition. By beat boxing I got interested in rap
I realized there was an underground rap scene. I really didn't know many artists though..
I understand
Then you have many skills, you've beatboxed, rapped, and also sing.
But out of all them what do you think you're the best at?
I'm a rapper or I'm a singer? Some people just put it all together and say I'm just a musician
More than rapper..Chan always says to me the reason why he signed me was because I was good at making melodies
He said thats what impressed him
How about role models? Do you have someone?
If I have to say it would probably be most similar to Drake
A little like Drake huh..
I'm curious
When does your mixtape come out?
It's almost done. I want to put the best tracks on it so I'm cutting them down
For today I just prepared a recorded song but I don't know if you'll be able to play it
Ok we'll see. Now I'd like to ask Chan a question..
Chan hyung before coming to Korea you stacked up a lot of experience in the US underground scene
A lot of hip hop heads know that when Chan first came to Korea it was a big deal
That was 2007 right? Everybody was talking about how Snacky Chan came to Korea.
I remember seeing you at Coccoon which was called Catchlight back in the day
and I remember seeing your show
So can you tell us about some differences about the music business in Korea and the US?
There are so many differences, it would take a whole day to count them
But to me the basics are the same
People's wants and desires are pretty much the same so in that way there's no difference
I'm reading this..
Bribery? Yea there's bribery in both countries
You gotta take the TV programmers out to room salons
Like lobbying them?
Haha room salons!
In the States they might not go to room salons, for example they have payola which is paying the DJ under the table
Thats the same. Also, connections are important everywhere you go
But the way you make those connections are a bit different
Is it the same in Korea and the US?
The way I see it it's almost impossible to meet a really famous celebrity
In Korea it's easier to meet people
Once you meet them you have some drinks and that's how you get close to people
For famous people in the States you have to talk money first
More business not friendly..
Yeah, after you have a business relationship then you can have a friendship
Someone just sent in a question, 'Do they not have room salons in the US?'
THey don't really have room salons, they pick up girls on the street
Right they pick up girls in their cars
Don't they just do it in their cars?
If you see that movie 'Hustle & Flow' that's what happens right?
That's a little ghetto though
Some people take them home, hookers..
How do you guys know so well?
So are there any other differences?
Well just because there are not a lot of Asians yet in the US, we have limited power
Hyung, Korean MCs get together, call each other out and drink soju together
"Hey, come out. We're gonna eat BBQ and drink."
That's how we get down. Sometimes we hit the club but mostly we drink at a bar
How do American rappers hang out?
They smoke weed.
Great..That reminds me about one story..
One time we were at a radio station doing our promotions for Uptown
We were at some radio station and this was during the time one of our ex-presidents just committed suicide
This was 2009. So the host asks CHan, "So whats your age?"
So Chan says, "about 30 something," not revealing his true age.
So the DJ says, "So when you're 40 years old what will you do?"
so Chan says, "uh, commit suicide"
The whole country was in mourning during that time so the DJ got in trouble and we got our *** chewed out
That was while we were touring
Chan was just being funny but..in America they laugh about that stuff but in Korea you know how it is
That's what I tried to explain to our boss
I won't call you 'thief' this time, I'll call you 'boss'
He was past 40 years old, something like in his mid-40's
So we're in the car, he's riding shotgun and we're in the back
He's yelling at us saying "Why did you say that? Why did you talk about suicide?" Etc..
So then he stops a second, thinks, and says, "Wait a minute, so, since I'm in my 40's, does that mean I should commit suicide???!"
Seriously.. Seriously?
For two hours he was *** and whoever was there he was cussing them out
Usually our boss went around hating one member at a time. For two months he'll hate me, for two months Chan, etc etc
It was really difficult
Yeah it was very difficult working with him
Well, hey, that 'weed' thing was funny though
Sounds like something ROK Radio would talk about
I'm just being honest
Yeah we're just being honest!
So the MCs in the US don't really sit down like we normally do in Korea right?
Without any reason?
If it's a city then people will gather on the street, play dice, gamble, etc.
So do you have any projects coming out? Albums, singles, etc.?
Me? I'm preparing an EP right now
Is it coming out in Korea?
I'm rapping in english but it'll come out in Korea and worldwide through iTunes
For Dynasty Muzik do you have certain goals?
Like for us, we wanna be big, etc.
Yes, of course, we have goals
Do you wanna stay underground or go mainstream?
Right now I'd rather be underground because the music I like is honest
It has curses in it, we can say what we want and not get censored
Because its raw
Our music can't go mainstream because of its content so
For me, my mainstream experience was unpleasant so. First we wanna succeed in the underground
From there, think about spreading our music to the world because as you know Korean music is popular right now
Yeah, we wanna get big
So are you counting on the Money Maker$ to make it big?
What does that mean?
It's like they're my first son
So then this guy is your third child I guess because Money Maker$ has two guys
So Hyung, if the Money Maker$ and MSG are both hanging on to a building and you can only save one, who would you save?
Who would you save?
If I save based on personality, I'd save MSG first
Those guys are too stubborn
They're(Money Maker$) are too stubborn but they're like your firstborn
He's a really good guy
Snacky Chan would save MSG first everybody
So now, let's bring out Snacky Chan's first sons on Dynasty Muzik, the Money Maker$
We don't have enough chairs so you two are gonna have to move