K-Hip Hop has been on the rise in popularity lately, now that hip hop is becoming a staple in popular music. Label H1ghr Music already understands the full impact K-Hip Hop has on fans and this year they gave fans a unique opportunity to experience all their artists’ talents in one go. H1ghr Music is home to Sik-K, pH-1, Woodie Gochild, Golden, HAON, BIG Naughty, Ted Park and TRADE L, and of course features the label founder Jay Park. Combined with the talents of in-house producers WOOGIE, GroovyRoom and guest producer BOYCOLD, the company released two full-length albums, H1ghr Music: Blue Tape and H1ghr Music: Red Tape, featuring all their artists along with several music videos to match. The albums are divided by genres and instead of each artist having their own separate song, the album is full of songs with either a subset or all of the artists featuring on each song. This idea is really innovative, setting apart H1ghr Music for their creativity as well as giving fans several songs and videos that showcase the collaborative power of all the artists.
H1ghr Music started in 2017, by Korean-American rapper Jay Park and his long-time associate Cha Cha Malone in the USA. When the company launched, they already had several artists already signed and later added on a few more. These artists are known to collaborate together but this is the first time they have released dedicated albums like this together. This type of album is known as a compilation album — a treat listeners don’t encounter very often.
The first release was H1ghr Music: Red Tape which came out in early September. Red Tape undoubtedly is their K-Hip Hop album. The album is mixed with new and old school hip-hop sounds. “Closed Case,” “DDDD Freestyle,” “Team,” and “World Domination” from the album have a sound more reminiscent to 90’s and early 2000’s hip hop, versus songs like “The Purge,” “Check My Bio,” and “Telefono Remix” sound more like newer hip-hop songs. In the song “Dance like Jay Park,” a featured track with rappers Ted Park and Parlay Pass, Jay Park used his verse to speak about the Black Lives Matter movement, using his platform to bring light to the unrest in his home country. Along with the album release, the company also uploaded seven music videos and visuals for some of the songs on the album. Red Tape is an album to hype listeners up with well-crafted beats and strong verses.
Two weeks later, H1ghr Music: Blue Tape dropped. While Red Tape is an album listeners can get hyped up to, Blue Tape is a much smoother listen with more R&B throughout the album. Just like Red Tape, this album mixes old school and new school with modern twists. “Afternoon,” “Lean on Me” and “Swing My Way” give a throwback R&B feel with music to get the listeners swaying their hips while “Back From 0” and “RSVP Remix” have a more modern sound, resembling songs popular on the music charts now. Blue Tape has a romantic, mature, and sexy feel that listeners can chill to or dance to. Compared to Red Tape, Blue Tape only has two music videos for the album but still an equal number of songs to enjoy.
The albums are both great and give fans plenty of content, which is a relief to fans of H1ghr Music artist Sik-K. Earlier this year, fans of his received some saddening news: Sik-K will be enlisting in the South Korean military this year, as conscription for about two years is expected of all Korean males. Before his enlistment, he took part in the making of the Red and Blue Tapes just like the other artists. He enlisted on June 29th but finished his work for the album so fans could see him and support him one last time until he can return, making this special for everyone involved.
H1ghr Music’s Red Tape and Blue Tape albums are a real game changer, using all their artists to make two compilation albums, each a different genre. It allows artists to work together, showcase their talents, have fun, and for the listener to get to know H1ghr Music as a whole. They did it seamlessly, creating 28 amazing songs that fans can pick their favorites from. Not only is this concept cool and innovative, they released plenty of music videos for fans to enjoy and gave labelmate Sik-K a great send-off before serving his country.
This article was written by KPOP-TV Blog Team member Ausia Richardson
