The music performance division of South Korean entertainment and media contents company CJ E&M has announced their recent acquisition of Hi-Lite Records.

Hi-Lite Records is a hip-hop label founded by rapper Paloalto (Jun Sang Hyun) in 2010. In addition to supporting his career, Hi-Lite is home to other venerated stars B-Free, Huckleberry P, Reddy, Okasian, Soul One, and Keith Ape.

With the merger, CJ E&M Music will provide business infrastructure, including investment, logistics, marketing and network support, to the label so that the artists, including CEO Paloalto, are better able to focus on their music. The company hopes the new acquisition will lead to more opportunities to diversify the Korean music market.

The deal comes as hip-hop becomes an increasingly more popular genre in South Korean music. The recent success of rap competition programs Show Me the Money, which Paloalto served as a judge for, and Unpretty Rapstar have helped bolster the success of many previously unknown artists.

"As much as there are different genres in a market as limited as Korea, this is a real time to diversify," said CJ E&M Music CEO Ahn Suk Joon, in a statement to the Korean media. "Hi-Lite Records and other skilled hip-hop labels will lead the Korean market to change."

It is unclear what role Paloalto will have in managing the company under CJ E&M.