Wow. It has been a crazy ass season. This season was really good and a lot of dope rappers actually competed. First off, congrats to Hangzoo of Team Zico/Dean. I expected Hangzoo to make it pretty far. All of the dudes on Rhythm Power are AMAZING. They showed it off this season, although one messed up in the auditions (it was such a bummer) and Boi B sadly didn’t make it far because there was just so many good contenders this season.
I normally wait for the season to be over to check out the winner and then check out who made it to the finals. This season I had a friend who I have known for about seven years, who I met through music of course, try out. He actually tried out last year and was invited to try out again this season. So I was on Show Me the Money’s trail about a month or two before it actually aired.
The first rapper I want to acknowledge is Dane Amar. Dude is nice as hell and I wish he would get more recognition for his music. I have been following Dane Amar for several years now, since back when his stage name was ‘Embytian’. Although Show Me the Money is a South Korean rap survival show, he’s actually Laotian American. The past couple years more and more non-Koreans have been trying out so I thought it was cool he went on there. His rap was aired for about five seconds in the first episode and it was the best part. Jay Park even thought he was too dope to be the first one. He was sadly eliminated in the 60 second challenge in the second round. Although he didn’t make it far, what matters is that he was aired and that he was able to make more friends through music. He was recently invited to KCON LA 2017 to be on the rap panel. He’s constantly releasing music so be sure to check out his SoundCloud. He also produces his own music too, all the more reason to check this dude out!
Another artist I absolutely loved this season is Asol. She’s probably my favorite female rapper right now, which is why I’m kind of disappointed that they’re not airing Unpretty Rapstar this year. I have to..scratch that, NEED to see more of Asol. Kasper and Truedy came out this season as well. I don’t even know why Kasper went on and Truedy isn’t even as good as she used to be, just my opinion. But back to Asol, she’s a cute and tiny little girl. She’s 20 years old (21 in Korean age) but she brings the fire. I didn’t expect her to be so good. Apparently she has released a few things in the underground scene but I only just now came across her because of Show Me the Money. I can’t wait to see more of her. Hopefully I get to interview her in the months to come, but I can only wish.
Another female rapper I really liked was HeeSun Lee. She is just such a down to earth person. Her flow is nice, her rhymes are nice and her personality is nice. She is a rap mom and she loves it. She’s been in the rap scene for a while now but only just decided to go on Show Me the Money to get in touch with her roots. I wish she made it further but sadly there was too much good competition this season.
A rapper I thought that would at least make it to the top 10 and I was right: Maniac. I have been hearing about this dude forever. He was a part of the old school hip hop crews: Uptown, New Dynasty and Jiggy Fellaz. Maniac never lost his fire and it continues to grow every day. He’s so busy right now but he was nice enough to do an interview with us. I can’t wait until he releases more music.
One of my favorite rappers that I can’t forget to mention is Olltii. I have been following him since season three in 2014. Since then, he’s released a mixtape and featured in several songs. Olltii is so witty and quick with his words he could even be crowned the Freestyle King. I honestly thought he would make it in the top 10 this year but there were just so many good new rappers this season and Olltii is already more popular than half of them. Olltii is really young, 21 to be exact (23 in Korean age), but he’s dope as hell. Even more than half the rappers that are older than him. He’s a part of this hip hop crew called ADV which includes JJKing who also competed, Lugoh and a few more people. I actually checked them out and they’re just as dope.
Another rapper I’d like to mention is Tyno who is slowly crawling into my top 10. Although he’s ridiculously good looking, he’s actually ridiculously dope. He was not aired until the third episode but thanks to my friend that I mentioned earlier and Sherlock Holmes (aka me) I found this guy before he was aired. He’s from the United Kingdom (and yes he’s packaged with a sexy English accent) which explains the grime in his music. Unfortunately he was eliminated in the third round in the 1v1 challenge with Ness. He definitely has the talent to compete with the top ten but I guess we will see if he decides to just release music or if he actually goes on Show Me the Money season 7. Either way he’s going to get big one day.
Another guy with a dreamy accent Mike Choe 최낙준. He’s a Korean rapper from Australia and his looks are definitely up there with his rap skills. MNET really made me mad when they did not air him like..at all. He is actually really dope and has the talent to compete with everyone who made it on a team. He actually made it far for someone who hardly got aired. He was finally eliminated in the cypher challenge when teams were being chosen. I’m definitely looking forward to him as well.
Okay, let’s rewind back to Ness real quick. He actually made it really far in the season and I couldn’t be more happy. Although he didn’t get to do a solo performance I was pretty satisfied that he made it far. He’s dope as hell. I was kind of upset because MNET didn’t air him much since the “handsome rappers” episode with Tyno, but oh well. Of course, Young B is way more experienced than him so it was only natural that Ness was finally eliminated but he is definitely creeping up my top 10 as well.
Last but not least I just need to state how dope Dae is. He made it to the third round and was eliminated by Olltii sadly. Dae has so much potential and he’s already showed it through the music he has posted already. He’s got that eung (응) sound and it is nice as hell. I can’t wait to see wait to see what he has in store for his Dae-Wons’. (yes I just came up with that.)
There’s so many more rappers that competed this season that I also loved such as Punchnello, Killagramz, Ryno, Sleepy, Penomeco (Who’s in Fanxy Child and I’m absolutely obsessed with them right now), Woodie Go Child, Junoflo (who was a winning contender and in my top three), Nucksal, Young B, Woochan, Double K (who I’ve been following since forever and was surprised he came back on the show), Hash Swan and many more. This season was really great besides #LetsGetIt trending. Can we stop that already?
All the photos are from the artists’ social media.
Check out the interviews we have done with some of Show Me the Money 6 contestants:
Dane Amar - https://mansaeentertainment.tumblr.com/post/163433532321/mansae-entertainment-interviews-dane-amar-show
Dae - https://mansaeentertainment.tumblr.com/post/163448821161/mansae-entertainment-interviews-dae-show-me-the
Tyno - https://mansaeentertainment.tumblr.com/post/163685535726/mansae-entertainment-interviews-tyno-show-me-the
Heesun Lee - https://mansaeentertainment.tumblr.com/post/164010587166/mansae-entertainment-interviews-heesun-lee
Maniac - https://mansaeentertainment.tumblr.com/post/164510566316/mansae-interviews-maniac
