Basick(베이식) - Foundation Vol 4 Mixtape Thoughts(K-rap)

   Basick was a winner of one of the seasons of South Korean Hip Hop reality show, Show Me The Money. He is well known for his freestyle rapping that cuts deep when he raps without an instrumental. Foundation vol. 4 is his fourth mixtape in a series of others with the same name.

Track List:
01. One Time
02. SM58 (Feat. JUSTHIS)
03. Microphone Checker (MC) (Feat. Koonta, Paloalto)
04. F`Artist
05. IDCA (Feat. Double K)
06. The Kid
07. Mask (Feat. B JYUN)
08. ￦on It All (Feat. MBA)
09. A Game (Feat. Dbo)
10. My Wave (Feat. Sik-K)
11. Flava (Feat. SUPERBEE)
12. Real Life (Feat. The Quiett)
13. Starter (Feat. DJ Ebony)
14. Untitled (Feat. EPTEND, DJ Noah)
15. Flower
16. Goodbye (Feat. Brwn)

   Foundation vol. 4 might be some of Basick's best work for new time fans to get into his music. I'm sure the other mixtape were just as good as this one but I didn't give him the time of day until I listened to Microphone Checker. A big factor that makes this dude's music stand out among the other is the fact that he went to college in the states. So his outlook on Hip Hop culture will be very different from a rapper that has never been outside of South Korea. He can also speak English fluently like a native which he shows off in his tracks. Basick glides back and forth between English and Korean in his lyrics, Even using his English ability to hate on other rappers that he knows can't reply because they don't speak the English language. What I really look for in Rap that I listen to is for there to be a catchy hook. This doesn't always mean that the tracks have to feature a vocalist because a rap song can be catch depending on how the chorus is written. A rapper can use the repetition of a word to make a song stick in the listeners head. Plus having good flow, voice indiction, and good lyrics helps a bunch too. Family man Basick(since he is marred with a kid.) accomplishes most of these standards. Especially in tracks such as Real Life where The Quiett joins the rapper. Some of the tracks aren't as catchy as others since Foundation has a lot of tracks to choose from. I do appreciate the fact that he doesn't try to be a Korean bandwagon hip hop head. We all know what they look like….. Show Me The Money is full of these kids. He stays looking really regular besides his hat turned backwards sometimes. Please just be Korean so you can speak your truth through your art. Certain moments in Foundation, made me think that he was taking too much effort to go hard however, those "bitch pleases" and "I don't give a fucks" might have come from the heart.

   Basick's voice by itself isn't all that commanding if I'm to be honest. His strength lies in his lighting fast flow. He has this kind of ability to make you relate to what he is rapping about. I was watching one of his old performances on Show Me The Money that moved my heart.

  Basick isn't the best rapper that South Korea has to offer. He's still a king in his own right though. Check out his music if you want to.