Korea has been known for its famous KPOP idols and their songs that have become globally known since the Korean Wave (or Hallyu) which started in 1999. Like the original Wonder Girls, EXO, Shinhwa, and Super Junior, they have made KPOP more known to the world and many more KPOP idols have followed in their footsteps to make KPOP a worldwide sensation such as the ongoing world famous Korean boy group BTS. However, KPOP became mainstream and overshadowed the genre of hip-hop.

Hip-hop and its Western influence made its debut in Korea in the late 1980s. It was pretty late in Korea but it slowly integrated itself into Korea and that started with the first Korean rapper, Hyun Jin Young. Another would be Jay Park, the CEO and president of AOMG and H1GHR MUSIC record label. According to Indie Magazine, former 2PM member, Jay Park, made his way and contracted with Jay-Z’s label, Roc Nation to make everyone know that “this is a win for the town, this is a win for Korea, this is a win for Asian Americans”.

Jay Park not only was a member of an idol group, but he made his mark in history continuing to pursue rap and make rap known in Korea and also globally to show what style of rap they have in store. With his constant pursuit of making Korean rap better known, he has drafted many rappers of diversity and ethnicity into his labels to make rap more accepting as a mainstream trend.

Not only are idols coming out to make their own music and rap, the Korean entertainment industry is also continuously promoting hip-hop through the Korean rap show series, “Show Me the Money,” which was made to connect both mainstream and underground rappers to continue to increase diversity in the Korean music industry. Yonhap, the new agency that delivers Korean news digitally and physically, covered that the Korean show, “Show Me the Money,” had started to grow since season five in which the viewer rating rocketed to 1.8 percent when the previous season had reached 1.548 percent and season three having maxed out at 1.436 percent in viewer ratings. As season six happened in 2017, the viewer ratings had peaked to 2.2 percent but 2018’s “Show Me the Money” Season 777, had gotten 1.6 percent viewer rating.

It can be seen that Korean rap had grown larger and more known to the Korean industry and worldwide. Korean rap will continue to make its way mainstream in the Korean industry  as they continue to promote rap and hip-hop for everyone to enjoy.