New Leaders of the Old-School: A SXSW Interview with Deepflow
It’s easy to see from South Korea’s popular culture after the ’90s how much of a style influence hip-hop is. But it doesn’t take much to get lost in the superficial and miss the substance. However, Deepflow is not one of those artists who wears the culture like a costume. His biggest influence (Nas’s debut and one of hip-hop’s most important albums, Illmatic) and understanding of its impact (“I thought [it] was basically the hip-hop textbook. I got a lot of information on how to produce music from that album. I learned from this album“) speaks to someone who lives and breathes hip-hop, owns and cares for it like one would a gift:
For me, hip-hop is my lifestyle. Wherever I drive or wherever I go, I listen to the music. Hip-hop is the first thing. Hip-hop for me is everything. It’s my lifestyle. It’s everywhere I go.
However, his personal achievements pale in comparison to his devotion to discovering and rearing fresh voices. Vismajor, based on his debut studio album of the same name, has done much to usher in a new wave of talented rap artists and bolster hip-hop’s ever-growing presence in South Korea. I likened him to another entrepreneur and mentor in hip-hop, North Carolina artist and producer 9th Wonder, who’s achievements include discovering and rearing Grammy-award winning artist Rapsody.
Deepflow’s passion for helping those who want a life in hip-hop is breathtaking: “I know about 9th Wonder. I also in Korea teach kids in school and produce new artists… trying to come up, hip-hop artists. I had a motive from them, on how to raise new artists. I’m trying to do well with producing new artists.” With talents like Don Mills, Nucksal, and Wutan stamping their mark on Korean hip-hop, he’s far surpassed “doing well” and has put Vismajor on the map.
He’s so invested in helping these kids he also directs their videos. In fact, he’s dedicated to learning more:
Right now I’ve got offers from underground rappers from Korea who want to produce music with me, but I’m not ready for it. I want to study more of producing music and directing. And I want to do it later on after I learn more about directing. I’m focusing on my career in music.
With his desire to nurture budding talent, it was inevitable we’d at least touch on the ever-growing popularity of survival shows like Show Me The Money and Unpretty Rapstar (언프리티 랩스타), both of which have the reputation of most televised talent contests: over-the-top with a touch of, shall we say, “creative” editing. At the mention of the shows, everyone had a laugh. Even without having to translate, Deepflow started to chuckle and whispered, “It’s not hip-hop.”
It’s just a TV show in Korea. I’m thinking the Korean trend right now is contests kind of based on music. New artists from Korea, the underground rappers, they’re trying to get famous, but it’s hard to get famous without going on that kind of show. So I’m kind of worried that all the music and trying to become a big artist in Korea has to be on [those shows].
When I mentioned my not so flattering thoughts on the trend (“I thought SMTM was a train wreck, and UR was fake.“), there was one word he definitely understood and responded to emphatically, a big grin on his face: “Fake!”
In spite of the growing popularity of these shows, and our shared wariness of the trend, Deepflow doesn’t really pass judgement. Rather he has a few words of wisdom to those truly trying to break into the industry: “You have to do what you want to do. Like [for shows like] SMTM. If you just want to be on TV or just want to be famous, you should do something else. Otherwise if you want to just make music and produce music, you have to have passion about it. Don’t try to just be famous. Do what you want to do.”
A shared love and respect of hip-hop allowed us to relate on a personal level, if only for a moment. It’s obvious he’s not shy about subject matter, speaking about his family and his life with candor in his tracks. However, even the most candid artists have subjects they tend to shy away from. For Deepflow, “everything except my girlfriend, my love story. Because I think my audience doesn’t want to know about the love story.” But rappers want love, too, if LL Cool J’s I Need Love [MV] is any indication. Again, Deepflow just laughed, shaking his hands and saying, “No, no, no,” a chuckle in his voice.
Deepflow is always a man with an eye toward the future, indicated by his never-ending desire to discover and expose new talent on the underground. He also has some exciting music in the works for himself. Though he did branch out from the East Coast slant of his music with last year’s Yanghwa, integrating elements of trap and dubstep in his sound, he wants to take a look back sonically and pay his respects:
I’m more into old-school hip-hop. So I’m not trying to find new beats and stuff. I want to look back and revise and rewrite the old-school era of hip-hop.
As we said our thank-yous and good-byes, I was again struck with just how kind Deepflow really was. I wasn’t expecting rudeness or even any self-congratulatory posturing. But he was sweet, if that’s even the word. Quiet, yes, but very expressive and obviously fervent with his passion. He’s so in love with the craft, always willing to learn more, explore more, discover more. It was this ardor that left the biggest impression on me, and after I shook his hand, his palm warm and his smile honest, I walked away a bigger fan than I already was before I sat down.
You can follow Deepflow and Vismajor on Facebook. Please check out and purchase Deepflow’s albums on iTunes and Synnara. You can purchase his award-winning Yanghwa at YesAsia.
