Uptown aims at getting old fame back

Orthodox hip-hop has never really been a popular genre in Korea.

Uptown, a.k.a UPT, was an exception. During the 1990s, the group earned lots of eager fans who savored their legitimate and powerful hip-hop tunes.

But unfortunately, a series of misfortunes involving the members, including crime and drugs, seriously tarnished the group`s image.

The original members eventually disbanded over the years and earlier this year, the group had a major generation shift and released its sixth album.

UPT now consists of three Korean-American rappers - Maniac, Chan and Swings, while the former leader of the group Chris Jung took on the role of producer.

Chan has been active in the U.S. hip-hop industry, collaborating with popular artists including Lloyd Banks and Japanese hip-hop duo M-flo, while Maniac and Swings are well-known rappers in the underground scene.

This group claims to have an identity distinct from its former incarnation.

"We are basically different people and different style from the old group," said Maniac, the 28-year-old rapper from Georgia, adding that the members do not feel like they are being influenced by the previous members` somewhat negative images. Instead of West Coast hip-hop - which is more about "partying," represented by artists like Usher and Lil Jon and is usually more popular in Korea - UPT said they aim to "stick to the roots of hip-hop," explained Chan, 29, from New Jersey.

"The former members mainly did the old school West Coast hip-hop. We are different. The three of us each come from different regions of the United States and have our own styles," said Swings, 23, the youngest member from Indiana.

The repackaged version of their sixth album, "De Free," which was released last month, has a new title song "Baby Baby," where two temporary female vocalists, Chrispy and Brownie, are featured. The tune combines fast-beat raps and catchy vocals and also has hints of disco.

It was the group`s plan to start off with a more toned-down version of their original vision and make grounds as a mainstream band in the industry. They thought by doing so, they can approach a bigger fan base while introducing more people to their music.

But the three have the ambition to show their unique colors in the near future.

"I want our music to be more `real,` where we say what we want to say, being true to ourselves. That`s what makes us special, stand out and be individual (among many)," said Swings.

Although the three members each possess their own style, working together, negotiating their ideas has so far never been a problem, they said.

"We usually decide on the beats together but do not touch each other after then because we respect each other`s styles," said Maniac.

Despite certain limitations - such as not being able to use sexual words or mention certain brands in lyrics - Uptown feel that they are satisfied with their career now as compared to their U.S. or underground days.

Since they have showed enough of what they can do in the underground level, they now need and want to see whether they can succeed in the major level, too, the members said.

The group desired to stick together and be the last members of what started as Uptown, while collaborating with a diverse list of artists in the future, they said.

"You never know who`s going to be the next for Uptown because the group`s so random," said Chan.

(youngaah@heraldm.com)



By Koh Young-aah