Hip Hop’s Impact on Ballad Singers

Ballads are keeping up with hip hop.

Although hip hop has taken over the music charts for the first half of the year, ballad singers have gained the support of hip hop songs and have been maintaining their music power.

On August 13, Huh Gak collaborated with rapper Swings for his new song 'That You're Mine' and is sweeping the music charts Melon, MNet, and Bugs. While it was possible for an all kill on music charts by Huh Gak's talents alone, his collaboration with Swings definitely played a big part in making it happen.

Im Jung Hee's song 'Love Is' also is topping the charts. It's a melancholy R&B song that features Baechigi's rap.

For a while traditional ballads were not doing so well, but it seems as if the featuring of popular rappers in ballads are quickly making them more popular. As a result, rappers are getting requests left and right to feature in songs. One rapper's rep stated, 'As hip-hop songs are gaining more love, there has been an increase in featuring requests. This includes requests from artists that rappers have never before worked with.'

Huh Gak's official related, 'Huh Gak is currently expanding his music by working with other artists such as Yoo Seungwoo and Jung Eunji. In an effort to try something new, he worked with Swings on his new song. It's a relief that their music tones match because it's much better than we expected.'