- Seung Jo
Just like how hip hop scene was in America, Korean hip hop couldn't improve without hip hop crews and labels where groups of hip hop artists could gather and collaborate.
Top three crew/labels - The Movement, Sniper Sound / Buddha Baby, Soul Company
Notable mentions - Soul Connection, Jiggy Fellaz, YG Family, Overclass, Amoeba Culture
Notable mentions (newer/modern crews/labels) - Illionaire Records, AOMG, JUST MUSIC, Buckwilds / Domain, Grand Line, Vismajor
Top three crew/labels - The Movement, Sniper Sound / Buddha Baby, Soul Company
Notable mentions - Soul Connection, Jiggy Fellaz, YG Family, Overclass, Amoeba Culture
Notable mentions (newer/modern crews/labels) - Illionaire Records, AOMG, JUST MUSIC, Buckwilds / Domain, Grand Line, Vismajor
The Movement is a hip hop crew formed by Drunken Tiger. During Drunken Tiger's second album, they had a song called 'The Movement' that featured a lot of popular hip hop artists, which was when they decided to form a 'friendly group'. Because The Movement's members had all of the most popular mainstream rappers as well as respected underground rappers, they are often seen as the driving force of Korean hip hop. Also from 2000 to up until 2006, there had been international members who were actively spreading The Movement in foreign soil. There were rumors going around in 2013 that the crew disbanded, but nothing was said by the members.
Members - Drunken Tiger, Dynamic Duo, T, Sean2Slow, Epik High, Double K, Dok2, Deegie, Buga Kingz, TBNY, Leessang, YDG, G1, and Bizzy.
First Movement collaboration song in Drunken Tiger's 2nd album. | This is the last official Movement song (semi-official since it's more of a street style instead of a formal song) |
sniper sound / buddha baby
After MC Sniper has gained popularity in both mainstream and the underground scene, he decided to form a crew called 'Buddha Baby' in 2000. Then in 2004, he created a hip hop label called 'Sniper Sound', which overlapped with the members from Buddha Baby. Compared to any other crews/labels, Sniper Sound constantly brought out singles / albums that featured all, or most, of its members. To this date, they released the most 'group songs'. However as years passed, key members started leaving the label and now only MC Sniper and MC BK are the big names left in the label.
Members - MC Sniper, MC BK, Outsider, Baechigi, KTC.O.B., Illinit, Mr. Room9, L.E.O., KEIKEI, DOZ, Kinetic Flow, Shirosky, DrunkenRap, KyuRi (now leader of T.ara)
One of the most popular hip hop song in Korea of all times. Being over 7 mins long, there are over 10 rappers featured in the song. | Second BIG project by Sniper Sound. One Nation was actually sung/rapped live on the most popular music TV channel in Korea. Check out One Nation on Youtube for a recorded or M/V version. |
soul company
Soul Company was label formed by underground hip hop artists Kebee and The Quiett in 2004. They often give credit to Garion, because many of the members had gone through Garion's training. Members of Soul Company were active almost exclusively in the underground scene, which gave the label the title of being the best underground label. In 2011, Kebee (the CEO) decided to disband Soul Company, because there were too many members with distinctive musical styles for a label. By the time Soul Company disbanded, they had produced 24 artists and over 80 albums. Many of the members ended up being successful afterwards.
Before they disbanded, they held a huge farewell concert called 'Sam, Sot Da' (Those of you who want to check it out, copy and paste (소울컴퍼니 마지막 콘서트 샘 솟다) on Youtube.
Members - Kebee, The Quiett, Jerry K, Fana, Mad Clown, Minos, Loptimist, Loquence, Makesense, RHYME-A-, Syntax-Error, Cruicial Star, G-Slow, Pento, Kal Nal, DJ Dopsh, DJ Silent, DJ Wegun, etc.
One of the most popular Soul Company song featuring many of label's core members. | 'Still a Team' that Soul Company released when bad rumors were hovering around the label. This song was sung live as the ending song to their last concert. (The feels) |