Background

Mommy Son first appeared in 2018 during the audition rounds of Show Me The Money 777. Clad in a pink balaclava, he was knocked out of the competition almost immediately after making a mistake in the second round, a fate that commonly befalls most first-time contestants on the show. Mommy Son was anything but, however. The man under the mask had, in fact, already appeared on the show before, both as a producer and a rapper. Betrayed by his distinctive voice, there was little doubt that Mommy Son was actually the veteran rapper Mad Clown.

Mad Clown’s relevance in Korean hip hop had begun to dwindle in 2018, but the Mommy Son character proved to be a stroke of brilliance to bring him back to the public eye. The cleverly timed release of the Shonen Jump single shortly after his television appearance implied that Mommy Son might be more than a novelty. It was no coincidence that he had failed in the second round – once the cameras were rolling – and Shonen Jump‘s lyrics imply that it had all been pre-prepared. In any case, it worked. Mommy Son was invited back to the show to perform Shonen Jump live in the final episode, and the music video is close to reaching 40 million views at the time of writing. The success of Mommy Son even inspired a copycat in the form of Cox Billy, alter ego of fellow veteran rapper J’kyun, who appeared in Show Me The Money 8 with decidedly less success.

My Sadness is the first full length album by Mommy Son, and the title may give the impression that this is a novelty record. You’d be forgiven for thinking that, given that Mommy Son has, until this point, been a novelty character with a limited discography. It is important, as listeners, to treat the album as the debut work of a new artist. Mad Clown has deliberately decided to release eight songs – a significant body of work – under the Mommy Son name and part of the puzzle is to consider how Mad Clown separates the two artists.

Star Song (별의노래) (feat. Eugene Kim)

The LP opens with Star Song, the title track, which features violinist Eugene Park (유진박). The complexity of the track is immediately apparent. In addition to Park’s violin, the voices of soprano Kim Bobae (김보배), countertenor Lee Jinho (이진호), and tenors Ohk Jaewon (옥재원) and Baek Jongdoo (백종두) play a big role in shaping the overall sound. The track has also had far more attention paid to it compared to the rest of the album from a production standpoint. It was mastered by Chris Gehringer of Sterling Sound, and, as the only track with a music video, it is clear that Star Song is intended to be a hit.

Star Song is ‘classic’ Mommy Son, juxtaposing real feelings with humourous lyrics and an upbeat instrumental. The real highlight of the song is the hook, with Kim Bobae’s stunning vocals providing the canvas for a run-of-the-mill EDM saxophone sample reminiscent of that in Alex Gaudino’s Destination Calabria, and it is this hook that confirms Star Song‘s role as the earworm designed to get listeners to pay attention and hopefully stick around for the rest of the album. A harpsichord makes its entrance in the second verse, which builds, not to a second hook, but to a bridge performed by the tenors. Eugene Park’s ‘crying’ violin follows, in the form of a 15 second solo, and the listener is rewarded with a satisfying return to the hook to finish. Star Song is well crafted and sets the standard, but not the tone, for the rest of the LP.

Fuck The World (사랑은) (feat. Wonstein)

Any expectations the listener may have are quickly dashed as Star Song fades out and Fuck The World begins. It’s the crooning voice of up-and-coming indy singer Wonstein over a stripped-back electric guitar that greets the ears, soon joined by Mommy Son who delivers on the unspoken promise made by the title. For the first time, Mommy Son seems genuine. Lyrically, Fuck The World pulls no punches and the simple beat allows the vocals to take centre stage. The words are raw and heartfelt, and it is here that the album begins to take an interesting turn.

Dancing In San Francisco (feat. Chanjuicy)

Dancing In San Francisco retains some of the feeling from Fuck The World, but slowly reintroduces some complexity in the form of a trap drum pattern and an 808 bass. A repeating sample consisting of a distorted vocal and guitar combination is used in place of a chord progression, but it stops just short of becoming tedious. Chanjuicy, another up-and-coming artist, provides the vocal for the hook and matches the tone of the song well. The song exudes feelings of nostalgia and an understated sense of melancholy, and it ended up being the one that I most enjoyed. Had it been sung in English it wouldn’t be out of place on a Kings of Convenience album.

Like U More (난 너 좋아해) (feat. Wonstein)

After a brief, two-song intermission during which Mommy Son was replaced by an imposter, the real Mommy Son returns for Like U More and is once again joined by Wonstein. The happy beat and quirky lyrics are back again too, this time talking about a girl he had liked in the fourth grade. Wonstein takes the second verse, adding some variation to the song and helping to reinforce the idea that this is an album about sadness.

Thank You Thank You (땡큐땡큐) (feat. Jang Ki Ha, YDG, MUSHVENOM)

Thank You Thank You is a testament to the respect that Mommy Son commands in the industry. The combination of Jang Ki Ha (one of the biggest names in the Korean indy scene), YDG (one of the most senior, still-active rappers in Korea), and MUSHVENOM (a revelation from this year’s season of Show Me The Money) is unique. Jang Ki Ha rarely collaborates with anyone, suggesting that Mommy Son’s credibility exceeds that of a simple novelty act.

Mommy Son still has a significant verse and the hook, but the main focus of the song is on YDG and MUSHVENOM. Their unique approaches to rapping provide a refreshing break from the nasality of Mommy Son at the mid point of the album and prepares the listener for the downhill slope of the last three tracks.

Trash (쓰레기) (feat. Skull)

Skull is another artist that tends to shy away from features. He has a very distinctive, reggae sound that often requires the song to be moulded around it. In this case, using Skull in the hook works well, thanks in part to the reggaeton-inspired beat. The song is lyrically very simple, but the simplicity allows Mommy Son to use the repetitiveness as a storytelling tool. Trash is the last song on the album that attempts to show a more serious side of Mommy Son, and coincidentally also the last song to have a featuring artist.

Omm (공양발원문)

Omm introduces an aspect of Mommy Son that has not yet been explored in My Sadness. On the surface, it appears to be a standard trap-inspired song about wealth, but the second verse is a fascinating insight into Mommy Son’s relationship with money. He mentions that he is uncomfortable talking about money, but earns over 200 million won per year, mostly from performing at university events. It is this line more than any other on the album that gives the impression that Mad Clown and Mommy Son are not distinct entities.

Tap Dance

Fans of Mommy Son will already be familiar with Tap Dance, as it was the song he performed during his infamous Round 2 performance on Show Me The Money. From a composition standpoint, the song is all over the place. It begins with a sinister piano melody before introducing a harsh bass when the vocals come in, evolving to an extremely distorted bass that brings an element of chaos to the track. Following the hook, the song changes completely and it seems to be the calm after the storm, but the lyrics are just as erratic and unstable as they had been previously.

Verdict – 4.5/5

My Sadness is a stunning album and far from the gimmick or novelty record that many hip hop fans may have been expecting. The theme of sadness is present throughout the album, but is delivered in a multitude of ways that keeps the listening experience exciting. There are ebbs and flows to the sadness that could be interpreted as different coping mechanisms. In the beginning, the sadness is acknowledged as being present but is written off as a normal emotion. In the following tracks it morphs into cynicism, then nostalgia, then hopelessness. There is a brief period of clarity during Omm before a complete breakdown in Tap Dance, which may be the artist suggesting that they are not coping with their feelings at all. This leaves the listener feeling uneasy at the end of the album, and unsure about what should come next. Rather than a happy ending, Mommy Son’s condition actually worsened.

This brings us back to the question posed at the beginning of this article – why is this a Mommy Son album and not a Mad Clown album? The songs in this album are not just haphazardly thrown together, there is a noticeable narrative that takes the listener on a journey from start to finish. If Mommy Son is just a character, then it is a strange (but intriguing) choice to create an album about sadness. The sadness does not seem fictional, so why is it being portrayed by a fictional character?

It may be the case that Mommy Son isn’t just a character, but an alternative personality. After all, Mad Clown isn’t the artist’s real name, either. Just as Marshall Mathers has Eminem and Slim Shady, Jo Dongrim has Mad Clown and Mommy Son. The feelings discussed in My Sadness are just as real as any other work by Mad Clown, pink balaclava and humourous album artwork notwithstanding. This album has certainly given both depth and credibility to the character, and I expect this is not the last we will be hearing from Mommy Son.

From a musical standpoint, the appearance of smaller artists like Wonstein, Chanjuicy, and MUSHVENOM was a highlight of the album. Wonstein particularly impressed, and I’m looking forward to more of his work in the future. Every song is memorable and well-written and the styles vary enough to keep the listener interested. While eight songs is on the lower end for an LP, none of them are filler and Mommy Son has been able to explore the full spectrum of emotions associated with sadness. My Sadness is one of my favourite albums for 2019 and it will be regularly played for the rest of the year.