Rap Monster x Warren G - “P.D.D” (2015)

“You can’t fuck with me, I’m with my man Warren G.” With this, Rap Monster ends any arguments that he’s not legit or credible as a rapper. But let’s rewind.

A few months before this, YG trainees Bobby and B.I appeared on hip-hop elimination program Show Me the Money. This wasn’t their first TV appearance, and exactly like what happened when Rap Monster and Suga appeared on Bong-hyeon Kim’s hip-hop radio program, they were followed by a few fangirls eager to cheer them on as YG idols-in-waiting. And, exactly like what happened to Rap Monster and Suga, the other competitors took notice.

But Bobby and B.I didn’t just bring along their fans. They also brought Atlas-sized chips on their shoulders about not being taken seriously as rappers just because they were idol trainees with fans who thought they were cute. B.I ultimately fell victim to his own nerves and was eliminated in the first round, but Bobby went on to win the whole contest. To prove to his underground competitors that he wasn’t what they thought he was, his lyrics turned on other idol rappers, who he accused of ruining the title for more skilled idol rappers like him — and not just the easy targets of “those who can’t sing” (see “We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2”), but wordplay that to netizens recalled idol groups Boyfriend, VIXX, and BTS, the last one multiple times. Rap Monster explains, in his interview with Bong-hyeon Kim:

Bobby made references to me a few times on Show Me The Money. He seemed to enjoy using words like ‘sangnamja (T/N: true man, also the title for ‘Boy in Luv’) and ‘leading a fast life’ (T/N: pronounced as Bangtang). Saying “Like a true man, I lead a fast life” isn’t a common mix of words, right? I thought that it wasn’t just a coincidence. He not only attacked Bangtan, but Boyfriend as well. It was the context of, “Everything you guys messed up, I’ll show it all here.” However, I didn’t even have much thoughts on it at that point either. I just thought, Bobby probably just dislikes us. However, on his lyrics for ‘Come Here’, there were lyrics that seemed to be targeting us again. “I live a fast life, there’s no need for pretty boys / They call me a monster, I never called myself that / You guys like a full-length mirror much better than a basement dungeon / If my skills were looks, then I would look like Wonbin in front of a bulletproof mirror.” But to be honest, Bobby isn’t really a Wonbin… (laughter) Anyways, these lyrics were the third time. I felt like I would be an idiot if I just endured it till the third time. If I didn’t give feedback in any way, then it would also be insulting to fans, and I personally couldn’t let it pass as well. TRANS. CR; YASUIS @ TUMBLR (@ryuveiys) | SOURCE CR; HIPHOPPLAYA

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Rap Monster’s response was a brief solo rap during the 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards (translation here), where he reused the words Bobby aimed at idol rappers, “put your guard up”. He and Bobby seem to have made peace since then, partly because both insist they never hated each other in the first place and that “dissing is just part of hip-hop”, and partly because of the attitude that drives the bridge of “P.D.D”. Rap Monster again: “If there’s any person who made personal attacks towards me, but wants to come with me from now on, then I want them too. I’ve gained that much ease. I also feel that I have matured a bit as well.” (Not that this stopped him from putting a pun on “Born Hater” in one verse, but “please don’t die / before I get to shoot you myself” is already so petty, what’s one more thing?)

So what about Warren G, who we see in the video welcoming Rap Monster into his studio? The two met during the filming of American Hustle Life, where Warren G was one of the group’s mentors; he took BTS around the neighbourhood where he grew up to teach them about the importance of giving back to the community. It was Warren G’s people who apparently proposed a collaboration with BTS, which would eventually just be for Rap Monster. Rap Monster got as fanboyish about it as expected: when the first demos sent didn’t sound enough like “Regulate” or “This D.J.”, he asked for another, until he got one that sounded like his idea of Warren G.

It’s pretty rare for a K-pop idol to collaborate with an American artist for a song that isn’t aimed at the American market or isn’t just an added feature on an existing song, and this kind of mutual collaboration is even rarer. (For an example of how it usually goes, see Girls’ Generation ft. Snoop Dogg.) And this isn’t Rap Monster’s only collaboration with an American hip-hop artist, either. In the first verse he mentions working with rapper Krizz Kaliko, which would result in “Rush” from Rap Monster’s recent “super cool” RM Mixtape. This collaboration also came about through mutual communication (Krizz Kaliko talks about it with Independent Grind Radio here) after BTS performed a dance to Krizz Kaliko’s song “Spaz”. “P.D.D” is aware of this rarity, and capitalizes on it. Rap Monster doesn’t need to download the “Control” beat (or, nowadays, “Born Hater”) when he’s got a Warren G original.