Some of you asked for more hip hop, so guess what? I am back with more hip hop! I will be discussing several releases by Korean hip hop artists in the past month (most of them in January). The article featuring Okasian seemed to have exposed the genre a little bit to people who had not listened to Korean hip hop at all, which is great because I believe my mission on this planet is to spread the K-Hip Hop love. I will keep this article relatively short and give some honorable mentions to rappers—under and over—who released some dope stuff. Now, keep in mind that this list may be a bit—actually, really—biased since I have my select favorites in the hip hop scene.

When one talks about Korean hip hop, there are two names that are bound to wind their way into the conversation somehow. You may already know the names I am about to drop; I am speaking of none other than the hip hop moguls, Tiger JK and Yoon Mirae (Tasha), also reverently referred to as the hip hop power couple in Korea and beyond. When the two collaborate, the end result always exceeds one's expectations as was the case with "Get It In" and "Sweet Dream." Recently, the two rappers featured on a track called "Turn It Up," composed and written by hip hop producer CHOPS. The song is similar to "Sweet Dream" in the sense that it is a fast-paced 'club' song, with its chief quirk being a funky, rapidly thumping beat.

Another noteworthy release was by Illionaire Gang—A.K.A. Dok2 (pronounced dokee), The Quiett, and Beenzino—with their hard-hitting single "We Here 2." This song is a sequel to "We Here," which came out way back in 2011. The Quiett and Dok2 are the main driving forces behind Illionaire Records; the two are credited for founding and running the company as the CEOs. Beenzino had no part in the creation of Illionaire but he joined the label a mere five months after its start-up, birthing the Illionaire Gang. The progress the three have made since 2011, when the company was just a fledgling, is remarkable. 'We Here Pt. 2' is a track that pays homage to all three artists' achievements (plus lessons learned from failures) with the promise to realize even bigger dreams.

Next up are two artists from Hi-Lite Records, namely Evo and B-Free. B-Free was recently on the public's radar—particularly with K-Pop fans—for bashing on members of BTS during an interview. He was under fire for a while due to his generally disdainful and haughty attitude towards idol groups. However, he didn't let the negative publicity deter his hustle and dropped a hot track, "Get It." The beat was produced by Coke Jazz, who I believe is under the Hi-Lite label, as well. "Get It" also features under rappers Korlio and Clasicc (yes, that's how you spell his name). Fellow label mate Evo returned with an equally sick track in the month of January named "Come Play." The song features B-Free and female vocalist Satbyeol, who has collaborated with many a hip hop artists in the past. 

Other honorable mentions will be bestowed to rappers Giriboy, Hwaji, i11evn, and Qim Isle. Both Giriboy and Hwaji released full albums in January. Actually, it is more accurate to say that Giriboy's album—called 'Sensual Album'—is an EP as there are nine songs (that are not instrumentals) while Hwaji's album—called 'Eat'—contains a total of thirteen tracks (all non-instrumentals). Hwaji's album is available to the public gratis so I say get on it. i11evn returned with a single, 'Let's Return' featuring Fame-J, another artist under his label, Factoryboi Production. Qim Isle is the last artist I will remark on. He is still relatively unknown in the hip hop scene but has featured on various artists' tracks, including one on The Cohort's album 'Orca Tape.' Now he is back with his own song, "Girls Like," which is no less dope than the other songs mentioned in this article.

There are, of course, a few other artists I could not mention in this article for the sake of brevity. So if I left out anyone you feel I definitely should have mentioned, leave a comment below. If you haven't already checked out the rappers in here, I urge you to do so. They deserve some recognition so keep on spreading that Korean hip hop love!