Rappers within KPop idol groups have always caused a ruckus – can they really rap? Should they be considered rappers? The rap and hip hop community within South Korea is not very fond of idol rappers, but what happens when there are great rappers who just so happened to end up in idol groups? 

We discuss ALL of this in great detail today, and we go into some of our favorite groups including BTS, Stray Kids, Ateez, GOT7, Monsta X, NCT, SHINee, EXO, and even a few bonus mentions here and there to answer once and for all: are these idol rappers, or rappers in idol groups? 

Listen here:

KPop literally started because of the influence of hip hop in South Korea with Seo Taiji and the Boys. They were a genre-bending boy band leveraging a fusion of hip-hop, techno, and rock. They made it hip to be hip hop, and inspired now four generations of artists to make popular music that is heavily influenced by rap and hip hop.

What’s in a rapper?

Although this shouldn’t be controversial, the topic can be divisive depending on who you talk to if it involves their faves. So what’s the definition of a rapper?

• Content: what’s their story? Message? Point of view?
• Flow: do they have a signature rhythmic approach? Cadences?
• Delivery: what’s their sound? Do they have strength behind their words? Do you believe what they’re saying?

A rapper must write their own lyrics to be respected anywhere, whether it’s in the US or South Korea. The Korean entertainment agencies have been known to package up these perfectly well-rounded members who release new music every 8-10 months, and they have teams of producers and lyricists taking care of everything behind the scenes.

As of recent, there are groups who have been formed around rappers and strong lyricists to ensure that the group has a clear identity, and the members are given songwriting credits that are recognized by the Korean Music Copyright Association (KOMCA). The amount of writing credits distributed among the third and fourth generation groups speaks volumes to show the shift in the industry.

MIA2K’s stance on Idol Rappers vs. Rappers who are in Idol groups

After over a year of being exposed to multiple groups as well as artists in the KHipHop and KRap scene, we feel that we have a pretty good understanding of what makes a good rapper, and we decided to go down the list of groups we follow and give clear yes or no answers to the age-old question: are they idol rappers, or are they rappers in idol groups? To watch us do mental olympics to answer this question fairly across the board, see below:

KPop Idol Rapper Rankings

And because you’ve made it this far, we’ll share the brief and direct answers here with you all (but again, we give our full reasoning behind each of these statements in the episode so make sure to listen/watch to understand our scoring system):

BTS Rap Line: are they idol rappers or rappers in idol groups?

• RM: rapper in an idol group (salute to Runch Randa)
• Suga: rapper in an idol group (biggest strength is producing)
• j-hope: rapper in an idol group (biggest strength is dancing)

Stray Kids Rap Line: are they idol rappers or rappers in idol groups?

• Bang Chan: idol rapper (stellar leader, lyricist, producer, and artist, but not a rapper)
• Changbin: rapper in an idol group
• Han: rapper in an idol group (but super well-rounded in general and can do anything he wants to do)

Ateez Rap Line: are they idol rappers or rappers in idol groups?

• Hongjoong: rapper in an idol group
• Mingi: rapper in an idol group

Monsta X Rap Line: are they idol rappers or rappers in idol groups?

• Joohoney: rapper in an idol group (well-rounded artist)
• I.M: rapper in an idol group

GOT7 Rap Line: are they idol rappers or rappers in idol groups?

• Mark Tuan: idol rapper
• Jackson Wang: idol rapper
• BamBam: idol rapper

EXO Rap Line: are they idol rappers or rappers in idol groups?

• Chanyeol: idol rapper
• Kai: idol rapper
• Sehun: idol rapper

There are more groups mentioned in the podcast episode, so make sure to check it out! Let us know if you agree or don’t with our opinions, and remember that just because we deemed someone as an idol rapper doesn’t mean we’re saying they’re bad at rapping. There’s just different levels to the craft, and in our eyes some were born to do it, and some are good at it but it’s not their main lane.