West Coast Meets Far East with Modernsky Lab's Korean American Rap Showcase, Nov 18-20

Forget Gangnam Style. These Korean American MC's are representing a form of hip-hop that'd leave Psy trembling in his fancy dancing shoes.

If you have doubts then check them out for yourself: Bloo, Owen Ovadoz, Loopy, and Nafla will be at Modernsky Lab from November 18 to 20. A rundown of all four MC's, along with Youtube links to their videos, can be seen here.

The clip for Nafla's "Wu," is particularly impressive. The California based rapper of Korean lineage spits over a tight jazzy piano loop, switching from English to Korean with ease while boasting: "1, 2 step to that, 1,2 microphone check / I raise the bar of Korean hip-hop scene / My looks kill ain't it; My crew got my back."

Owen Ovadoz's clip for "Hustla’z Life," meanwhile, is less polished than Nafla's, with a mellower instrumental but shares the same bilingual lyricism and abundant braggadocio. The writeup notes that Ovadoz is not only making a name for himself in Los Angeles, where he is based, but also in Seoul, booking a number of shows in the Korean capital. That shouldn't too surprising, however, given the Asian nation's recent hip-hop explosion that prompted Noisey to declare that "2015 Was Korean Rap's Breakthrough Year," before describing a number of the country's hottest MC's (none of whom will be at the Modern Sky gig, which unfortunately skews lopsidedly to Stateside based Korean rappers).

That article also delves into Korea's increasingly popular reality TV rap world, the inherent sexism in that realm, and the blooming feminism showcased on the cheekily titled Unpretty Rapstar. "Female contestants are notoriously ill-treated on the main show, with their storylines focused primarily on looks rather than skill," Noisey says of most reality music programs, adding that Unpretty Rapstar gave female MC's a better platform and helped some of them them score several chart topping hits.

While we'd love to see some of these female Korean MC's showcase their skills in Beijing soon, we're equally excited to see Bloo, Owen Ovadoz, Loopy, and Nafla take to Modernsky Lab's stage and educate us about their mix of West Coast and Far East hip-hop.

For more information about the shows, click here and see the poster below.

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Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
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Photos courtesy of the promoters