Cho PD took another dig at G-Dragon on his new album, Victory. In the song “Hangook hip-hop e baranda” (feat. Blockbuster), he raps “Cho PD bigger bang, GD’s favorite one cuz I got the slow flow and fast flow all in one package.”. (“Cho PD bigger bang, GD’s favorite one Cuz i got 느린 플로우 빠른 플로우 자유론 풀 패키지”)
The apparent “beef” started in March 2008, when Cho PD rapped the following verse on a track named “Drag” on his PDIS album:
“For a long time we big dogs we bigger bang than Big Bang, na mean? Is Cho PD turn it up louder / May Doni u ready to spit it on a new hit. OK OK take it! If I call someone out just like this, of course they can’t keep still. Everyone knows how I am when I get pissed off every now and then. I would run away if my flow was as slow as yours.”
(“For a long time we big dogs we bigger bang than big bang, na mean? Is 조PD turn it up louder 메이다니 u ready to spit it on a new hit. Ok ok take it! 만일 네가 이런 식으로 딴 자식에 곁눈질 하면 가만있을 수 없지. 가끔씩 나 한번 씩 열 받을 때 내 성질 알만하면 다 알지. 이 정도 느린 플로우라면 어느 정돌까 과연 도망가, 내가 너라면”)
To add insult to injury, the track featured ex-YG trainee May Doni.
G-Dragon answered him on “What” from YMGA’s Made in R.O.K album released in October 2008:
“Why does a popular artist like you have so many things to say? Whatever, just give me one mic and I’ll make eight words sick, I flip it yeah. If I were you, I’d cower away from this fast flow. So fuck off.”
(“대중가수는 무슨 말이 그리 많은데. whatever, mic 하나만 줘봐. 8마디 sick하게 I flip it ye. 이 정도 빠른 플로우라면 도망가, 내가 너라면 . 가라 눈 깔어”)
This time, however, Blockbuster (the rapper featured on Cho PD’s track) also jumped into the fray:
“Wearing clothes and dancing dances that follow the trend. Writing lyrics with no depth that mix Korean and English. Melodies that are familiar to every ear, leaving everyone on the web divided over whether or not it’s plagiarism. Even though you had a hell of a lot of training, the result is a mere bar. Even though you dominate the charts, all you get is a few coins. This is the reality of music industry. How about I start representing and settle this with fire.”
(“모두가 트렌드에 맞는 차림새를 하고 춤을 추네. 한, 영이 뒤섞인 깊이 없는 가사를 읊네. 다 귀에 낯익은 멜로디, 웹상에선 표절이다 아니다 각자 의견이 분분해. 빡센 연습기간의 대가는 한 소절. 차트를 석권해도 수중엔 달랑 동전 몇 닢밖에, 그게 요즘 가요계 현실. 내가 대표로 총대매고 불 타협 해보지”)
Only time will tell what G-Dragon will reply to this (if anything). What is certain, however, is that he won’t get yet another dig in answer from Cho PD, as the rapper announced his retirement from the music industry the following day (March 9th).
Original articles
allkpop article, from which the lyrics translations were taken (and edited by Josh).
allkpop article on Cho PD’s retirement
I LOVE What but didn’t know that there’s rapper beef in the lyrics. I figured you knew about it even ahead of this article since you had that tidbit included in Rhyme&Reason? (Love R&R, btw. I really appreciate all the work you’ve done. ^^)
Yeah, the beef’s been going on for a long time, so I was already aware of it. I love What, too. G-Dragon’s excellent delivery is enough to compensate for my automatic eye-roll at the whole “beef” thing. ;)
I’m glad you like R&R! :) Which reminds me that I should really work on more lyrics…
I actually find this whole “beef” thing really intriguing. I’m aware that these “underground” (and thus supposedly elite *eyeroll*) rappers have had a thing or two to say against YG’s hip-hop brand, but I don’t know what exactly started it. Care to share some more background info?
I’m glad you ask, because it’s an interesting bit of YG history. :)
So. It all started waaaay back in 1996 with DJ Shine, an ex-member of Drunken Tiger (one of the hip-hop groups who are part of The Movement, the “underground” groups who generally oppose YG). YG recruited DJ Shine when he first formed YG Entertainment (under another name back then) and told him he’d be in a hip-hop group. YG wanted him to be in Keep Six, which of course was very very pop, so he got pissed off and left. Which was justified, in my opinion.
Anyway, DJ Shine went on to join Drunken Tiger. The first dig at YG was made in 2001, on Drunken Tiger’s third album, with the line “You’re just tapping the Suck like Yang Hyun”. Hyun Suk replied to that on Perry’s solo album, released in the same year.
Every couple of years since then, someone from The Movement will say something dumb on a track, YG artists reply (or don’t), it makes the news/entertainment blogs, rinse and repeat. If I remember correctly, I think the most serious/offensive rap was on an unreleased track by Masta Wu, and people were saying that there was some friction between him and a Movement guy, but they’ve both said that the song was a joke and that the rumors were exaggerated.
So yeah, that’s where it came from, as far as I know. Nowadays YG is just a convenient target to represent The Movement’s disdain for commercial hip-hop, but it’s rooted in something more personal. YG artists don’t seem to be taking it very seriously, in any case, and it’s debatable whether The Movement guys really do. You’ll notice that the “beef” didn’t stop Epik High from performing Big Bang’s songs with them on major TV networks, for example.
Answering this makes me wonder if it’d be worth it to write little articles about interesting parts of YG’s history and post them on the blog. I keep forgetting just how many people are new to the fandom because of Big Bang and 2NE1. :)
Wow, that’s rather extensive! Thank you! Now see, this – your knowledge of YG history – is the reason why I thought you were a YG insider. :D
A personal resentment, eh? If I were DJ Shine, I’d be pissed off, too. Why promise one thing and deliver another, YG? Tsk tsk. But then to hold a grudge for that long just sounds like a whole lot of butthurt to me.
I have a theory though. So maybe it did start as something serious and personal. However, it got resolved eventually but they kept up with the disses. It’s all for show to, you know, get people talking, etc. The Movement and YG actually seem pretty tight. Or civil at least. Because more than the fact that Epik High performed with Big Bang, Tablo is married to Kang HyeJung, a YG talent. GD and TOP also shared a stage with Dynamic Duo. Or maybe the truce happened just within the past couple of years?
Back to Cho PD.. He’s not even part of The Movement, correct? Which is why this seems like nothing more than just plain attention whoring.
Oh please do write about random generally unknown details about YG’s history. I (and I’m sure your site lurkers) would love to read them! :)
If I were DJ Shine, I’d be pissed off, too. Why promise one thing and deliver another, YG?
Mostly because he lacked good hip-hop producers at the time, I think. Hyun Suk did what he could with Sean, Jinu and a couple of other guys who pretty much disappeared afterwards, but they had limited experience, and that was before they recruited Perry and D.O to write and produce songs for them.
YG Ent has always been pretty pop-oriented, anyway. I’m not going to defend Keep Six’s album, because it does kind of suck ;), but I understand what YG was going for. Plenty of other groups in Korea around that time were of the pop-songs-and-ballads-with-a-couple-of-raps-in-them variety.
For anyone else who might be reading this, I have to note that the DJ Shine anecdote has been repeated on Wikipedia and various forums, but the source for the information is one dodgy English article posted on a forum years ago. It cited no news articles or any sources for the information, and even after hours of research, I wasn’t able to find a reference to DJ Shine having been recruited by/trained with YG Entertainment on the Korean side of the web. Take it with a large grain of salt.
In any case, you’re right to say that The Movement and YG don’t seem to be serious about the whole beef thing. It would be hypocritical for Epik High to be, anyway, considering their mainstream success and countless TV appearances (as opposed to other Movement groups who make a point of performing in clubs and staying away from major networks).
… You know, I was sure that Cho PD was somehow associated with The Movement, but it looks like you’re right. He seems to share their mindset about underground vs. mainstream hip-hop, but um, I guess that makes a lot of what I said in my previous comment irrelevant, haha. Sorry, I guess I just love to ramble on like a senile old man. XD;
LOL, no, everything you said is relevant to my interest, so don’t be sorry. ;)
Oh, I forgot to add that Tiger JK and Tasha also seem rather fond of GD if I were to assume from fan-taken videos at the MAMAs.
I just found out something quite surprising. So apparently, according to this, Cho PD has collaborated with Masta Wu and DM before. Seems like my beef theory is applicable to him as well. Doesn’t change my opinion of him though.