Show Me The Money Episode 4 : 2 Round

Wrapping up the first round of performances on Mnet’s hip-hop variety Show Me The Money last week. The fourth episode aired on July 13th and saw some changes in the crew setup before the second round was started with performances on the theme of love. In addition to myself  Sangha of strangeseasons and Ranya of K-Underground Sweden are both part of the commentary panel, and as of this week we’re welcoming Youngmi of Helloooo Motherland! who is a huge hip-hop fan.


 

Rookie Rappers @ Kangnam M Studio

Anna: This was nice! Not only to the new rappers get to learn from the pro rappers on the show, but they also get a chance to learn from other people in the business. This Y.K guy appears to have been working primarily with idols, but perhaps that’s just the names that the editors thought would be more interesting to show. As far as audition shows go, I’m liking this format a lot.

Sangha: Kwon Hyuk Woo receives the most lines and TakeOne is clearly not happy with that. He’s been showing an interesting attitude (the “hip-hop” attitude, perhaps?) throughout the show so far… not sure if I like it.

Ranya: It’s nice how this show keeps surprising me with it’s format! I went from thinking it was like I Am A Singer, to The Voice and then even Immortal Song, but now I’m accepting that Show Me The Money has their own little unique spin on everything, I guess.

Youngmi: First, I’d like to thank Anna and everyone at Korean Indie for inviting me to the Show Me the Money commentary series! I feel so honored I could cry! (Okay, I’ve done my apologies). I am very fond of this format too. As Ranya mentioned there are a lot of other shows that SMTM could follow but this format is smooth and easier to follow.

 

7 Rookie Rappers – “Show Me The Money”

Anna: Kwon Hyuk Woo and Kim Jung Hoon both seem to do a good job. Somehow Ko Young Bin’s part didn’t really fit in there, and I had expected more of Illtong too. Maybe he’s just got a special style of rapping I need to get used to? Cheeta forgot the lyrics. From what little we got to see it didn’t seem as she recovered as quickly as I’d thought considering the confidence she’s displayed earlier, but I suspect that’s something that’ll come with experience.

 

Mission Results

The rookie rappers all get to award each other chips to score their efforts. The one with the most scores will be the first to pick a start number.

Kwon Hyuk Woo 28
Cheeta 26
Kim Jung Hoon 25
TakeOne 24
Lee Jae Hoon 23
Ko Young Bin 14
Illtong 10

Anna: So it isn’t just me having issues with Illtong. How very embarrassing for him.

Sangha: He lacks confidence! Part of performing is appearing confident on stage and he lacks that.

Youngmi: I was surprised that Cheeta got such a high score since all they showed as her forgetting the lyrics. Maybe there was more to her performance but surprising nonetheless.

 

New Rapper Teams

Each team from the first round gets in a car in an area where every rookie rapper has his or her own stop. They learn that the rookie rapper may get out or the pro rappers may drop off their rookie rapper to dissolve their team.

Anna: I kinda like this twist, but I think it’d been more fun if it could’ve been done without the implicated dissing of the other part of the team. Something like making the rookie rappers change teams every round to get as much experience as possible. And it must be hard for a rookie rapper to walk out of one of the pro rappers, so again the show feels a bit more pro rapper than rookie rapper oriented.

Sangha: This came as a surprise. I was thinking that the ‘crews’ from the first round would last through the whole show, but I guess not. This will be interesting though, definitely adds more drama to the whole thing.

Ranya: I’m a little confused…so what exactly happens to the other rapper who didn’t get picked for the stage last time?

Youngmi: Dang doesn’t this make things a little bit more exciting? I like how this gives all the rappers the opportunity to work with different people. That just means that there will be variety in the performances each week.

 

Garion & Illtong

Garion get out to open the doors for Illtong.

Anna: He really wanted to stay with them, but given the opportunity this was kinda expected.

Sangha: seeing how Illtong came last in the earlier performance and his lukewarm contribution to Garion’s stage in the first round, this wasn’t a surprise…

Ranya: Ouch, Illtong kind of gives off the vibe that he feels like he doesn’t belong there, maybe once he sheds that, he’ll be able to give an impressive stage.

Youngmi: I think this was expected. Illtong came in last and it was only fair for Garion to try and work with someone else. Although I kind of feel bad for him to be dumped like that.

 

Miryo & Ko Young Bin

Ko Young Bin wants to stick with Miryo. She leaves him at his stop.

Anna: Good for her. Now let’s just hope any of the better rookies will become available for her so she doesn’t end up with Illtong.

Sangha: I’d be out of the car if I was her, too…

Ranya: Still don’t understand how some really good rappers are gone and the beatboxer got to stay on the show.

Youngmi: Why did she choose him in the first place? And he seems really sore about being dropped. Calm down bro.

 

Double K & TakeOne

Double K opts to keep TakeOne

Anna: A wise choice. Hopefully in the next performance Double K will give TakeOne some more opportunity to show his skills.

Sangha: I guess if you came in first place and earned the most money it’d be safe to stick together. Excited to see what they do for their performance.

Ranya: Definitely understandable.

Youngmi: Makes sense! I think they work really well together and I’m excited for their performance!

 

45RPM & Lee Jae Hoon

45RPM remain with Lee Jae Hoon

Anna: I couldn’t really focus on how well they did together last time, with the many shots of Lee Byung Ryong crying causing too much distraction. Could be good to get another chance to see them together.

Sangha: I feel like I haven’t seen much from Lee Jae Hoon when he was with 45RPM so I was hoping that he’d change crews. Not sure if they’ll impress me this time, but let’s hope they do.

Youngmi: I actually kind of forgot about Lee Jae Hoon until it was 45RPM’s turn to decide whether or not change crews. Maybe they can improve from last week’s performance.

 

Joosuc & Kim Jung Hoon

Joosuc stays with Kim Jung Hoon.

Anna: Poor Kim Jung Hoon. I think he said he wanted to try another team, but he’ll remain in Joosuc’s crew. Or did I misunderstand since he stayed anyway? I can see why he’d want out after almost getting eliminated last week. None of the rookie rappers really wanted to be with Joosuc to begin with.

Sangha: Ah my boy Kim Jung Hoon! He says that he wanted to stick with Joosuc because he wasn’t satisfied with his previous collaboration with Joosuc and he wants to make sure that he can do better in this crew before moving on. Such great attitude. Gotta love him.

Ranya: Maybe he can make Joosuc look better? Ah, I love this boy!

Youngmi: Yeah! Kim Jung Hoon is definitely my favorite on the show! However, I was a little bit disappointed he stayed with Joosuc.They almost got eliminated on last week’s show so I was expecting him to get out the car but talk about loyalty! Go get ‘em Kim Jung Hoon!

 

Verbal Jint & Cheeta

Cheeta leaves Verbal Jint’s car.

Anna: Aw, Verbal Jint! So cute when saying he wants them to stay together! He wasn’t her first choice, but I think they did well together. Maybe the low score scared her?

Sangha: Cheeta leaves Verbal Jint, commenting on how awkward they were with each other. Verbal Jint looks heartbroken! I liked this combination too, sad to see that it didn’t work out…

Ranya: As sad I was to see her leave Verbal, I agree that Cheeta doesn’t exactly mesh perfectly with him.

Youngmi: Talk about awkward. I can see Cheeta’s reasoning for leaving the car though it seemed really harsh at first. VJ was busy and didn’t really initiate friendship compared to the other pro rappers. She must’ve felt a bit lonely which is sad because I felt like this duo meshed well together. I can’t really see her with anyone else.

 

MC Sniper & Kwon Hyuk Woo

Miryo and Garion come up to Kwon Hyuk Woo’s stop while he’s still seated in the car with MC Sniper.

Anna: I assume this means they decided to stay together. They made a good team so I’m glad we get to see more of them together.

Sangha: My other homeboy Kwon Hyuk Woo! I’m glad that they’re sticking together as well, they have fantastic chemistry on stage and MC Sniper has been the most attentive & promising pro rapper on the show far.

Youngmi: Kwon Hyuk Woo and MC Sniper are just awesome together! What a relief!

 

Verbal Jint

Verbal Jint drops by Ko Young Bin’s stop and picks him up.

Anna: If anyone can accommodate Ko Young Bin it’s probably Verbal Jint. I think he may be the most versatile out of all the pro rappers.

Sangha: This will be interesting! I’m curious to see what Ko Young Bin will do for the next performance… Hopefully he will rap better next time around.

Youngmi: As a fan of VJ I know he has a lot more to bring to the table which makes me excited to see how he and Young Bin will work together. I still feel like Young Bin is one of the weakest rookie rappers on the show though.

 

Cheeta

Joosuc and Garion both drive up to Cheeta. She decides to wait another while.

Anna: Who is she waiting for, I wonder? And do the pro rappers have the option to throw out their rookie rapper if they find another rookie rapper available?

Sangha: I think she says at one point that she’s waiting for Miryo. That would be such a fun crew.

Ranya: Please oh please, let us see a Miryo/Cheeta stage! She has the spark and energy for it to be really interesting.

 

Illtong

Miryo picks up Illtong

Anna: Oh no.. But she did fairly well in spite of Ko Young Bin last time, so she may be able to survive this as well.

Ranya: Maybe she was drawn to the “gangster”-ness that she commented on a few episodes back. This will end badly, I can feel it.

Youngmi: I don’t think she knows that Illtong was placed 7th earlier. It’s awkward already.

 

Cheeta

She’s finally picked up by Garion.

Anna: Will this really be a better match than Cheeta and Verbal Jint? Both parties seemed to find this new team setup kinda awkward.

Sangha: Cheeta doesn’t seem happy. It’s gonna be awkward, I can already see it. Garion doesn’t seem comfortable with her, either.

Ranya: Poor Cheeta, hopefully this won’t sink to the bottom and maybe she’ll be able to switch again.

Youngmi: Poor Garion! Cheeta is obviously unhappy which puts them in such an uncomfortable position! She mentions how it’s too overwhelming to rap with Garion but then slyly slips in that no one really knows who they are which is going to make it extra difficult. I can’t see this ending well at all.

 

Start Order

This time the pro rappers get to pick start numbers in order of how well their current rookie rappers scored during the mission.

1. Miryo
2. Double K
3. Joosuc
4. MC Sniper
5. Garion
6. 45RPM
7. Verbal Jint

Anna: Why is Joosuc on crutches? I wonder why MC Sniper would reason that it’s better to start as number 4 or 5 when in I Am A Singer everybody wanted to go on as late as possible. It seems the other agree with him though, as the seventh spot is the second last to get filled.

 

Miryo

Preparations

Anna: I’m glad we’ll get to see some covers on this show. And I absolutely love “오늘 같은 밤이면”!  Miryo does not seem very happy with Illtong.

Ranya: Poor Miryo, she’s trying so hard to create some semblance of chemistry between them and Illtong seems just too uncomfortable with it.

Youngmi: I can tell right away that there is no chemistry between the two. It doesn’t help that the theme is “love” either. Miryo seems so nervous about being first that girl can barely concentrate! Illtong looks very confused on what to either. What a frustrating situation.

Performance – “오늘 같은 밤이면” (Park Jung Woon cover)

Anna: She messes up on stage herself even before Illtong joins? She must be really thrown off by both going first and performing with Illtong. She’s had Pe2ny while 8eight’s Lee Hyun provides vocals for the refrain. I was gonna type that Illtong sounded better than expected, but then he too mess up? This is not looking good for the two of them. Eventually they do get part of the crowd going and the money meter starts ticking, but I’m still missing a lot from this. The attempts at acting as if there was some sort of attraction between Miryo and Illtong feel very forced and not at all believable. And the arrangement wasn’t all that great either.

Sangha: And right off the bat, I’m on the edge of my seat! First stage and a huge mistake. Miryo messes up in the beginning and everything’s just so off for the rest of it… I almost feel bad for Lee Hyun because he’s trying so hard. I’m not the biggest fan of the arrangement, either. As one of the two co-ed crews on the show they really could’ve worked that to their advantage with the performance and their concept but they really didn’t utilize it well at all.

Ranya: Ouch ouch ouch. Miryo forgot the lyrics and tried her best to freestyle through it, but in the end she just stopped and had to start over. The second time around for her went  great actually! but the of course Illtong was so shocked by Miryo messing up, that he too messed up. This was just a trainwreck, I feel really sorry for her.

Youngmi: What the? Argh Miryo! The nerves definitely got to her here. A bit surprising and even the other pro rappers look dumbfounded with Joosuc saying she shouldn’t have stopped in the first place. They start over but then Illtong messes up? Not cool. It’s a miracle they finished okay at the end because they were barely in sync to begin with. I’d like to personally give a hand to the true pro today: Lee Hyun! You sing that hook!

Money: ₩ ?

Anna: At least we saw it go up to 450,000 during the performance so it can’t be as bad as some of the performances last week. This seems to be really hard on her. And on Illtong too.

Ranya: I never thought that she would burst into tears because of it. I liked the concept that she tried to bring out and if it had gone smoothly, it could have been great. Hopefully she won’t get eliminated and be able to redeem herself.

Youngmi: She seemed really stressed over her partner and the burden of going first. I feel bad for her but I know she can bounce back!

 

Double K

Preparations

Anna: Talks of merging hiphop and trot? This could prove very interesting! Had I just seen Double K and TakeOne together without knowing who’s who I would’ve thought TakeOne was the pro rapper.

Sangha: I briefly saw Achtung’s vocalist there! He must be sessioning, haha.

Ranya: When Epik High did trot, it was fun, because they didn’t really take themselves too seriously. I loved Epik High’s “Trot”, but I’m not sure how this will work out.

Youngmi: Okay, let’s just get this out there before I get in trouble: I *heart* Double K. Being very familiar with the Movement crew he’s one of my main reasons for watching the show. This is a very alarming song choice though I’m confident Double K can make it a fun performance.

Performance – “남자는 배 여자는 항구” (Shim Soo Bong cover)

Anna: I like how they’re putting on a play inspired by the lyrics of the song, as it helps me understand the lyrics better. Yoo Sung Eun from Voice Korea provides vocals. TakeOne didn’t seem as strong as last time, but when he and Double K do it all together everything seems to flow really well. Altogether it was a good performance, but I didn’t like this as much as their performance from last week.

Sangha: Double K and Yoo Sung Eun are good and TakeOne is pretty good too, but I can’t say that I’m a fan of his lyrics. Actually, I’m not a huge fan of this song to begin with so I might be biased when I say that I didn’t particularly like this performance. This stage could have been better, I think. The dancers behind Yoo Sung Eun were completely unnecessary.

Ranya: The arrangement worked better than I expected! As a (closeted) fan of trot, I didn’t really think it was all that trot-y and like the others I didn’t like this as much as I did last week’s stage, but they worked great together and with the vocalist! I could have done without the dramatic acting.

Youngmi: You can tell there was a lot more effort put into this performance with the acting and the dancers. I’m always impressed with Double K but I prefer last week’s “Seoul” over this performance wise. However, I love this old school concept a lot. Double K’s lyrics really changes the whole meaning of the original song which is so cool. Yoon Sung Eun, TakeOne and Double K surprisingly work well together but I thought TakeOne was weak when he was rapping on his own.

Money: ₩ 1,800,000

Anna: The audience appears to agree with me. It’s still a lot of money though. And even though it’s not as much as they got last week it’s still more than anybody else got then.

 

Joosuc

Preparations

Anna: They’ve got Rhymer behind the scenes. And they’re going for a Nell cover? Nice!!

Sangha: Nell!!! My favourite band ever! I wonder how they’ll arrange it? It won’t be easy… and Joosuc hurt himself playing basketball. He’s also giving the most important part of the song to Kim Jung Hoon, which Rhymer doesn’t seem so happy with. Wise move on Joosuc’s part though, I think he realized that the crowd really loves Kim Jung Hoon.

Youngmi: There’s a lot riding here with Joosuc almost being eliminated last week and him being injured this week. I really love this song and am SO glad to see a familiar face in Ashgray’s No Min Hyuk! Joosuc gave a lot of bars to Jung Hoon, I hope he takes advantage of it!

Performance – “기억을 걷는 시간” (Nell cover)

Anna: Sounds like they’ve done a pretty nice job with the rap adaptation. Couldn’t see it at first, but that’s AshGray’s No Min Hyuk playing the guitar! Had hoped they’d let him sing too, but Jang Jae In of Superstar K2 fame is there to do that and so far that’s the weakest part of this arrangement to me. Kim Jung Hoon and Joosuc match each other better than last time, but there’s just too much noise both aurally and visually for me to be able to appreciate it fully. What a pity. It started out so promising and low-key and then it turned into this.

Sangha: Not sure if going acoustic was the right choice for this performance. Good to see No Min Hyuk (and Achtung’s vocal is in the back, sessioning!), but a full string ensemble sound would have suited the arrangement better. The piano and the acoustic guitar don’t quite cut it. Joosuc is okay, Kim Jung Hoon is really good, but the whole stage is just underwhelming.

Ranya: I was initially so distracted by Joosuc’s whole…everything, less is more, sweetie. Kim Jung Hoon saved this for me, I was digging everything but I felt that the vocals just didn’t match.

Money: ₩ 1,100,000

Anna: A slightly better score than they managed last week and justly so.

Sangha: Hopefully they’ll move on…

Youngmi: I wasn’t as impressed with this performance other than Kim Jung Hoon. He really is something special. I thought Jang Jae In’s vocals didn’t fit very well with the whole song and it kind of distracted me.

 

MC Sniper

Preparations

Anna: MC Sniper and Kwon Hyuk Woo seem to work so well together.

Sangha: Yeah! They’re really working well together. And Kwon Hyuk Woo is just so adorable…

Youngmi: Is this why Kwon Hyuk Woo’s rapper name is MC Loco? lol!

Performance – “사랑했잖아” (Lyn cover)

Anna: Another very melodic arrangement from MC Sniper. Perhaps my notion that he was more pop than hiphop oriented wasn’t all that wrong after all? Nevertheless I like it. Voice Korea winner Son Seung Yeon contributes with a good vocal performance. MC Sniper knows what he’s doing.

Sangha: A more upbeat stage than the last round! I like it! I love how MC Sniper is going full-out with his speed raps, while Kwon Hyuk Woo has a more relaxed flow this time. Son Seung Yeon also rocks it, and the three of them have great chemistry. Fantastic performance from all of them, I’m impressed once again.

Ranya: My favourite stage tonight! MC Sniper is showing great speed and flow in his raps, even the screaming made me want to throw my hands up in the air! And what a team! Hyuk Woo works splendidly together with Sniper, wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be in the top three.

Youngmi: Can’t really go wrong with MC Sniper and he has such good chemistry with ‘MC Loco’ it’s such a joy to see! I really liked last week’s “Gloomy Sunday” and this song was impressive as well. At first I didn’t really like the song choice as much as I like Lyn but it worked out surprisingly well.

Money: ₩ ?

Anna: We’re not allowed to see the score yet, but it came up to at least 700,000 while they were still performing. MC Sniper is smiling.

Sangha: They ask MC Sniper about the score in the waiting room and he confidently says that it’s over 2,000,000. Not surprised, that was an amazing stage.

 

Garion

Preparations

Anna: Practicing with a full band makes this seem very promising. But where is Cheeta? I want to still like her, but with this episode I’m finding it harder to do so. When she does get there it seems Garion are no longer interested in letting her be part of preparations.

Sangha: How unprofessional of her to show up late AND drunk… Not impressed at all.

Ranya: How very professional of her, I understand that she might not be the happiest with this new arrangement, but acting like this is making her look bad.

Youngmi: Okay girl you don’t show up in front of professionals drunk! How embarrassing! Ugh, Garion and Cheeta just seem like strangers being forced to work together.

Performance – “Annie” (Yoon Jong Shin cover)

Anna: So the band was Lee Chul Hoon’s Jazzhop? Never heard of them before, but could be fun. This is actually really good! I’m not always very receptive to jazz, but apparently jazzhop works well with me. I had hoped to see a bit more of Cheeta, but she handles her parts well. The rap was good, the arrangement was good. And they were even freestyle rapping a lot of it? I’m surprised we didn’t get to see the money meter tick faster.

Sangha: I was so impressed by MC Meta and his rap for the whole performance and afterwards he tells us that he freestyled all of his part! How on earth! I’m loving the jazz, and Chae Young’s tone suits the song really well. Cheeta’s part isn’t big and she manages to pull it off. Again, they didn’t utilize the co-ed element to its fullest potential and I’m not too impressed with that, but overall one of the better performances so far. Obviously Garion’s still not too close with Cheeta, notice how MC Meta concludes with “Chae Young and Garion” and leaves out Cheeta’s name?

Ranya: Real Jazz is all about improvisation and I loved how they tried to keep that feel with freestyle rapping! The only thing that was awkward was the little break after Cheeta’s rap, she looked equally awkward just standing there, but that’s what you get Cheeta.

Youngmi: One thing I really appreciate about Garion is their class. MC Meta is just too much with his freestyle rap. This performance was confident and so smooth. However, once Cheeta entered the picture it got really out of place. I think she did well on her own but when they came together it was really disappointing. They didn’t even talk to each other after the performance! I’m pretty sure Garion will not work with Cheeta again.

Money: ₩ 550,000

Anna: 550,000? This has got to be a joke!

Sangha: Nonsense. This is absolutely outrageous. They deserved so much more, especially with the freestyling, you really couldn’t have done better. Hopefully they will get a better final score, because they really deserve it.

Ranya: They did not deserve this at all! This stage was really good! Maybe the crowd wasn’t as into jazz…

Youngmi: What the?! Was definitely not expecting that at all!

 

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