Last week, I went to the K-Town Night Market in Los Angeles. K-town Night Market was an event in the heart of Koreatown. It was a two day festival that included delicious food, cool music, fashion, vendors, and more. The highlight of the first evening was the performance by rapper BewhY! Before that, however, there was a lot of other things to do as well.
I met a lot of couples wandering around eating these amazing potato skewers. Food trucks were on one side and vendors on another. I had this amazing Korean-Mexican fusion galbi burrito with kimchi. They had a bit of everything— beef skewers, ramen burgers, and an ice cream frozen by liquid nitrogen called Dragon’s Breath. The vapor flows out of the ice cream and when you put it in your mouth, it looks like smoke coming out of your mouth similar to a Dragon. There were vendors selling makeup and fashionable clothes— Supreme, Stussy, and that type of stuff. The event even had a VIP tent! I regret not being able to go into the VIP area. It was the one thing I should have done. Despite that, I had a lot of fun eating delicious food and talking to people there. Everyone was super nice, and one of the special things is that so many people were from different cultures and races— yet everyone had turned out to enjoy the taste and music of Korea! It is a fun, flavorful event that many families turn out to enjoy every year.
Multiple musicians and DJs were there to get the crowd worked up. A singer named Jasmine Clarke performed and showed off her beautiful voice. Korean-American punk band FYKE was there and brought an energetic sound. Justin Park, a singer-songwriter, also performed, as did others throughout the day. Even though I was there primarily there for the main event, these musicians are way more talented than I am and ever will be!
Then 9:30 rolled around, and BewhY came onstage. First, I want to say that I unfortunately couldn’t get a lot of videos of the performance. Luckily, I did find the entirety of the set on YouTube. It’s a lot closer to the stage than my videos anyways. I’ll link the video below the text because it’s a definite must-see performance. People are dancing and you see the crowd getting into it. All eyes were on BewhY. His bars are hot and flow seamlessly. Five minutes into the set, BewhY raps for like 20 seconds straight on one breath. It was hype.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h2y4S6WV-k
On that day, I saw one of, if not the best, rapper South Korea currently has. I wish I spoke Korean. I really want to know what BewhY is saying. Yes, I can look up the lyrics at a later time, but reading the lyrics isn’t the same as hearing the lyrics come out with the ferocity of BewhY. The experience is part of the appeal. A rapper is the core experience. I can’t rap “No Vaseline” and give the same experience as Ice Cube (or his son). When it comes to BewhY though, I now know why he won “Show Me the Money 5.”
Unfortunately, the set was short. I had work the next morning, so I couldn’t stay late even if I wanted to. It only lasted around half an hour. I left wanting to see more of BewhY. He’s addicting. His energy and charisma on stage is a narcotic. I want more BewhY. He reminds of Eminem in terms of rap style, though not as angry. BewhY is an aggressive rapper spitting fire into the mic, but implements EDM style beats into his songs, so they have a rave vibe to them. I noticed current Kpop music also implements EDM aspects into their music, like drops and hype moments. He had other songs too, but I can’t find the set list and I’m not super familiar with his music to know them by name. I know the first song is “Forever.” I know that much.
I want to see BewhY again, and I hope he comes to the United States more often so people can be treated to his music. I would love to see him at a huge American event like SXSW or Coachella. Epik High has performed at Coachella, and a lot of Korean indie bands have gone to SXSW like No Brain and Galaxy Express (stayed tuned for that feature). Even f(x) has performed there, and former SISTAR member Hyolyn was at this year’s SXSW. BewhY could headline a concert hall by himself. He is that good. He is fire. Keep an eye on him, guys! He is one artist you shouldn’t miss.
One day after the event in K-town, BewhY actually dropped a new track, “Scar.” I’ll link it below, so make sure to watch!
So, what do you guys think of BewhY? Is he the next best thing to come out of Korea? Although he is already popular there in Korea, he is still largely underappreciated by international fans. Will he take off as well as other acts? What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comment section below!
KyeongJun is a writer for WTK, where he gushes about his love for Korean rock music (You guys need to listen to Jaurim). When not writing, he’s at the gym listening to the newest K-Rock bands. You can catch KyeongJun @ElCrazy_Diamond on Twitter.
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