Photo Courtesy of Cultr
Story By Makala Greene/Contributing Writer
Korean American rapper and CEO of H1GHR Music Jay Park dropped a 14-track album featuring artists from his new label on September 2. The album, “Red Tape,” is a hip-hop/rap album written in Korean and English. “Red Tape” gives off a sense of individuality with colorful lyrics that flow throughout the songs.
AOMG, Park’s first label, is strictly Korean artists, but with H1GHR Music, rapper Jay Park has signed both Korean and American artists in hopes of creating music for a new generation, by a new generation. He founded H1GHR Music with longtime friend and producer Cha Cha Malone.
The act of bouncing between artists from song to song gives this record a different feel then previous releases from the artists alone. If you are a fan of hip hop then this is definitely worth giving a chance.
The featured artists are Golden, Sik-K, BIG Naughty, TRADE L, Woodie Gochild, HAON, pH-1, Ourealgoat, Ted Park, Parlay Pass and Jay Park. These artists have recently put out singles such as “Gang Remix,” “Giddy Up” and “NOAH” under Park’s label.
A few artists on the album competed on a Korean music show called “Show Me the Money,” which follows Korean rappers who compete against one another. The contest is considered to house some of the best talent on the rap scene.
“Red Tape” is something fresh and new. We haven’t really seen an album release with this many up-and-coming artists since Lil Wayne made “Young Money.” It feels like the start to a revolution of music that we can look forward to hearing from H1GHR Music.
Some of the most prominent ideas found within the songs are individuality, freedom and rebellion, which caught my ear through the English and Korean lyrics. “The Purge” was accompanied by a music video released in anticipation of the album and Park mentioned the song was inspired by the popular movie series.
“Rebellion running through my veins,” a verse from “The Purge,” illustrates the passion behind the theme of destroying and finding yourself.
Other standout songs, such as “Dance Like Jay Park Remix” and “The Arrival,” show the diversity of these artists. Specifically, “Dance Like Jay Park” contains relatively calm lyrics, which are easy to just vibe to, while the go-hard mentality of “The Arrival” is truly astounding in how the artists establish that the label is here to stay. “We doing verse in different languages/getting money in different countries/the hustle never stops,” says Park at the end of the song.
“Red Tape” soars as a fiery, upbeat masterpiece that demonstrates what we have to look forward to from a promising new batch of artists. This compilation album is the first of two to be released, with “Blue Tape” set to come out September 16.
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