Chapter 1206: Soaring (6)

The two men stepped forward amid a rich jazz melody.

Talk to me, Father

Cold Brown began to rap.

Driving to work in my Bimmer

I caught my face in the rearview mirror

And I wondered

What the hell am I doing right now?

The story of a life everyone envied began to unfold.

Hip-hop over jazz.

Like a skilled acrobat performing on a tightrope, words and phrases seemed to dance over the jazz melody.

-Cold Brown.

Many words had been used to describe the rapper who had burst onto the hip-hop scene like a comet in the early 2000s.

The gentleman of hip-hop.

A new hope.

A genius poet.

His unique appearance and manner had drawn particular attention.

-Nice to meet you. I’m Cold Brown.

A soft, measured voice.

Unlike other rappers, who were often associated with gold chains and sloppy fashion, he dressed calmly and neatly.

While most rappers sang about their impoverished childhoods or surroundings stained by drugs, he turned stories about his own life into music.

-I can’t tell stories about the streets, because I’ve never lived in that kind of environment.

He had grown up in an affluent middle-class family, graduated from a prestigious music college, and walked a smooth road to success.

-But that doesn’t mean I can’t make hip-hop. I have a great many stories to tell.

His interviews early in his career sparked enormous controversy.

Established rappers naturally pushed back.

-This Coldy or whatever his name is has been running his mouth lately, but that bastard doesn’t deserve to call himself hip-hop. What does some guy who grew up in a house with a yard, doing whatever Mommy and Daddy told him, know about life?

-That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard.

-I’ll admit the kid has talent for making music. But hip-hop spirit? I don’t know about that.

-He looks like one of those obnoxious teacher’s pets you used to see at school.

Someone said,

-I’ll bet a hundred dollars that bastard crashes and burns in no time.

But they were the ones who crashed and burned.

While the rappers who had dissed Cold Brown became lost in drugs, entered rehab, released failed albums, and disappeared from the music industry, he continued steadily along his own path and climbed to the top.

It had not been easy.

For nearly ten years after his debut, he endured countless attacks and diss tracks from fellow rappers, while critics also refused to acknowledge him.

Cold Brown smiled and raised his microphone.

Yeah, I know

I know my life makes you jealous

Everyone showed respect as Cold Brown boasted about the wealth and fame he had achieved.

Cold has earned the right.

He had not risen to success from an unhappy childhood, as hip-hop stories so often went.

But someone who had overcome every hardship the music industry threw at him and reached the summit had a story of his own.

That was why the king of hip-hop smiled with confidence.

I’ve achieved everything but a Grammy

So please, don’t laugh too loudly

As everyone burst into laughter, the chorus rang out.

Go ahead and laugh

Everyone except you, Grammy

The audience and singers in the venue sang along with the line, "Except you, Grammy," and cheered.

Cold Brown continued rapping with a sly smile.

I imagined myself standing before the River Styx

The ferryman of the dead came close and asked

Who are you?

The reason he had earned the nickname "King of Hip-Hop" was simple.

-A born storyteller.

In hip-hop, which placed greater emphasis on lyrics than melody, the most important thing was the story.

Like a poet reciting verse, a rapper compressed what he wished to convey into concise words and rhythm.

And in that respect, the rapper dressed in white was unrivaled.

The story he told flowed effortlessly into everyone’s ears.

-Who am I?

An image formed in people’s minds.

A man who had spent his entire life walking toward the summit in pursuit of success stared at his reflection in the water.

Then he began removing the things he wore, one by one.

His dazzling jewelry.

His trophies.

Even the stage name Cold Brown.

At last, he returned to his real name, Phineas Jessup, and the audience erupted in cheers at his rap.

So, you see

I—

And at that exact moment.

Wooju, dressed in black, raised his microphone and cut in.

I think I know the answer now

The answer I wandered so long to find

You know it too

Cheers erupted throughout the venue at the voice that rippled with brilliant colors.

There were times when the sheer beauty of a song itself could move people.

Wow.

As the jazz quartet played the interlude, NewBlack’s leader moved to the rhythm and began to rap.

I wrestle with the same questions every day

Even in my sleep

Even while tossing and turning all night

Even while talking to insomnia

When it whispers like a friend

It was melodic rap, delivered almost like singing.

Unlike the high notes from earlier, it settled into a heavy low register, enough to make someone wonder at first, Is that really the same person’s voice?

Naturally, it was difficult to call his rapping exceptional compared to Cold Brown’s.

That was why there had been singers who viewed Answer critically when it first became successful.

-Honestly, Sun? I don’t know why he’s rapping there. He isn’t a rapper.

More precisely, they had questioned whether that handsome boy-band singer belonged in hip-hop at all.

That opinion had been common as recently as the previous spring.

But things were different now.

He has the right too.

To them, NewBlack had been an unfamiliar group.

Unlike Koreans who had watched NewBlack since their debut, Americans knew only the NewBlack that had entered the United States.

To be honest, NewBlack seemed to them like a group that had succeeded very easily.

Had they not risen quickly on the support of an enormous fandom?

Without knowing the story of how NewBlack had climbed to that position, they had naturally thought so, but…….

-Sun Myeongju has returned.

The film Sound of the Sun changed everything.

Before the group NewBlack had ever been formed, everyone now knew the story of the member considered its core.

The eyes of the audience watching Wooju rap onstage sparkled.

Wow…….

This feels strange.

The tiny baby from Sound of the Sun had grown up and was now standing on the Grammy stage.

How would Sun Myeongju and Lee Myeongeun feel if they could see him?

It was easy to imagine the protagonists from the film smiling as they watched their son onstage.

To the audience, the performance unfolding before them felt like a sequel to the true-story film Sound of the Sun.

Wooju smiled and raised his microphone.

Someone’s son

Someone’s grandson

Someone’s friend

Someone’s brother

Could I become a little stronger

Without the people who watch over me?

Admiration spread through the audience at the sight of that once-tiny baby now displaying such dazzling presence.

Like a sun shining on its own.

But Wooju’s lyrics were saying something different.

-I shine because of my people.

The talent inherited from his father and mother.

His grandmother’s love.

The support of the members who were like family and countless colleagues.

It sounded as though he was saying that the strength of all those people had allowed him to reach this place.

As the members watching smiled and nodded and the audience applauded,

So, you see

I—

Cold Brown’s vocals followed Wooju’s rap, drawing another wave of cheers.

Amid a melody in which jazz and hip-hop blended perfectly, the two men raised their hands and responded to the audience.

Around then, one singer murmured,

"You know something?"

"What?"

"There are only two people on that stage."

At those words, the other singers stared at the stage with widened eyes.

He’s right.

It was strange.

The lights were not sweeping around in a dazzling frenzy, nor were dancers performing synchronized choreography, yet the stage somehow felt completely full.

Those two have total command of the stage.

The two singers had filled it through nothing but their presence.

Most surprising of all was NewBlack’s leader.

Cold Brown had nearly twenty years of experience, but Wooju was a young singer who had debuted only a little over five years earlier.

Every one of them looked stunned that he could stand shoulder to shoulder with a legend of hip-hop.

In the eyes of other singers, NewBlack’s Wooju was still growing.

And yet he was already this good….

……He’s going to become even bigger.

They had a feeling they would witness something even more extraordinary from him in the near future.

In any case, to the singers and everyone watching the performance on television, the two had proven themselves through the stage.

Tomorrow morning I’ll wake and ask again

Can I become a better person?

The answer is

Although they were merely song lyrics, they somehow sounded different to the audience.

As though the two were asking what everyone thought of their Grammy victory.

Cold Brown and Wooju grinned and extended their microphones.

You already know the answer

Don’t you?

With those words, the two men reached out and dropped their microphones.

A mic drop.

Thump-

Amid the clear sound marking the end of the performance, the two singers burst into joyous laughter.

Laughter so delighted they seemed unable to contain it.

The microphones were clearly off, and cheers and applause drowned out the venue, yet somehow the audience could almost hear the laughter of the two men like an auditory illusion.

"Hyung, you were amazing!"

"Great job."

The moment I returned to the table, my minions greeted me with bright laughter.

Wiping away my sweat, I asked,

"Did I do well?"

"That was the best hip-hop performance I’ve seen this year."

I smiled proudly at Junghyun’s words, then tilted my head.

"But it’s only February."

"Heh heh."

I laughed at Junghyun as he chuckled and pretended not to hear me, then wiped away my sweat with a handkerchief.

The outfit did not breathe well, so it was very hot. More than anything, the audience’s reaction had been incredible.

Cold fanned his flushed cheeks with one hand and said,

"It felt like a concert. It’s been a long time since I heard a crowd at an awards show react that passionately."

"A long time?"

"Hip-hop has a hard time getting cheers on awards-show stages. I suppose people react a little less than they do at festivals or concerts."

It seemed the intense nature of rap made audiences less likely to respond enthusiastically.

As he said that, Cold Brown leaned over and whispered to me.

"By the way, Sunny, do you think it was okay that we dissed them?"

"The Grammys?"

"Yeah."

He spoke with an anxious expression.

"They wouldn’t refuse to give us an award because we dissed the Grammys, would they…? They can’t do that…… They wouldn’t, right? No. But petty bastards like them might… No, saying something like this could negatively affect the results."

"Cold."

Ri Hyuk covered his mouth and whispered,

"The winner has already been decided and written inside the envelope. Do you think they’d watch the performance, cross out the name, and replace it?"

"You’re right, Ri Hyuk. Phew…."

Perhaps because the General Field winners were about to be announced, Cold Brown continued wetting his throat with an anxious look.

Hayley, who was nearby, bumped him with her shoulder.

"Don’t drink too much, Coldy. If you keep guzzling water like a hippopotamus, you’ll need to pee later."

"Is that advice from experience?"

"Yep. Unless you want to be late at the exact moment you win Album of the Year like I was. And calm down. If you’re an adult, act like one. You’re making these baby birds nervous. You should act mature like me."

As she spoke, Hayley was rolling a jawbreaker around in her mouth.

Our eyes met.

What? Why? What?

Nothing.

I turned back toward the stage.

[Next is the Song of the Year category.]

A veteran musician came out as the presenter, and everyone rose for a standing ovation.

As the famous producer from the 1980s delivered a few remarks, silence settled over our table.

-Song of the Year.

It was one of the four most important categories at the Grammys.

Unlike Best New Artist or Album of the Year, which were intuitive for Koreans, Song of the Year could be confusing.

That was because both Record of the Year and Song of the Year existed.

Put simply, Song of the Year was an award given solely to the songwriters and lyricists.

-You people wrote a great song!

That was why, if the singer had not written or composed the song, they could not go onstage to receive the award.

Record of the Year, on the other hand, evaluated the overall production.

-The singer brought the song to life! Their vocal skills improve every day! Ten points!

-The engineers put tremendous effort into the sound! Ten points!

-The producer made an excellent track. Ten points!

-Ten points for the arrangement!

If Song of the Year was an individual competition for composers and lyricists, Record of the Year was a team competition.

It rewarded the recording as a whole.

Naturally, it was difficult to say one was more prestigious than the other. Both were considered enormous honors.

[Then I will announce the winner.]

As the veteran musician opened the envelope, all of us swallowed.

First came Song of the Year.

-We estimate your chances of winning at approximately eighty percent.

I recalled what my agent, D’Angelo Costa, had told me before we came here.

-The Grammys are truly impossible to predict. With the Academy Awards, you can make reasonable guesses from the Golden Globes and other ceremonies. The bookmakers are generally accurate too. But… the Grammys are unpredictable.

There had been times when the year’s biggest hit single was not even nominated, sparking accusations of racial discrimination, and times when an artist received a large number of nominations but won nothing.

Remembering how unpredictable the awards were, I clenched my hand.

[And the artist receiving the Grammy is…….]

The veteran musician read the name inside the envelope.

[Regina.]

Cheers erupted from the table right beside ours.

Regina, wearing a gold dress, embraced her colleagues, and everyone around her sprang to their feet and applauded.

"Congratulations!"

"Congratulations!"

Hayley, her best friend, hugged her and patted her on the butt, while we also stood and applauded.

The singer who had chosen the Latin word for queen as her stage name gracefully walked up the steps while holding the hem of her gown.

Her eyes were already filling with tears as she accepted the trophy.

[Thank you so much. At this time just last year, I was going through an incredibly difficult period. I…….]

As the singer-songwriter spoke about the pain of her breakup the previous year and how she had overcome it through composing, a quiet silence filled our table.

Everyone smiled and applauded, but their pupils trembled slightly.

We had heard that we were the overwhelming favorites for Song of the Year.

Uh…….

My younger members and I exchanged looks.

Now we really have no idea.

This is completely unpredictable.

People had predicted that we might win both categories, yet we had already lost one.

Now it was impossible to guess what would happen with Record of the Year.

While everyone concealed their anxiety and nervousness behind smiles and applause, I saw Cold’s hand trembling around his water glass.

[Next is the Best New Artist category.]

After the recently rising band Kiss & Kill went up and finished their acceptance speech, the next presenter appeared.

[Next is the Record of the Year category.]

The actor presenting the award gave a brief speech about the music industry and Record of the Year, then smiled.

[Let’s meet the nominees!]

The songs began playing one after another.

[Hayley Blue, "Whether You Like It or Not."]

Hayley Blue’s synth-pop track filled with retro sounds played.

[Regina, "Sentence."]

Then came the song by Regina, who had just won Song of the Year.

The other nominated tracks played, and finally the familiar sound of Answer rang out.

[Cold Brown and Wooju, "Answer."]

The VCR ended, and the broadcast returned to the venue.

The middle-aged actress presenting the award smiled and quietly tore open the envelope.

[Oh.]

After checking the winner’s name, her eyebrows moved in an unreadable expression.

Then she opened her mouth.

[And the Grammy goes to….]