Sometimes good music takes pop audiences a bit longer to discover.

For every successful star in K-pop or practically any other musical genre, there are countless brilliant talents that disappear unnoticed, never receiving their due.

That is why it is exciting to see rapper Beenzino's red-hot single "Aqua Man" enter the Billboard K-Pop Hot 100 for the first time this week, 11 months after being released on YouTube.

The song is a throwback to some of hip-hop's finest moments.

The dreamy Fender Rhodes of Tribe Called Quest, the shout-out-loud hooks of Pharrell Willilams and The Neptunes, even the crash cymbal breaks of MF DOOM.

But there is also something fresh and current about "Aqua Man," and that originality has a lot to do with the rapper himself.

Beenzino has the confident ease required of any good MC.

But though he surely owes a debt to Jay-Z and Kanye West for his humor and delivery, he also has something very much his own. And it's not just because he is mostly rapping in Korean.
In fact Beenzino's seamless flow between English and Korean is an aspect of the rapper's style that really makes him stand out.

Rhyming English words in Korean without ever sounding awkward, listeners don't need to need to be fluent in either language to know Beenzino is pulling off something special.

In K-pop landscape filled with often eye roll-worthy forced English phrases from performers who sound as though they barely speak the language, it is refreshing to see an artist use his bilingual skills as an advantage instead of an albatross.

When Beenzino, clearly fluent in both languages, suddenly jumps into English in "Aqua Man" throwing in lines like "You don't give a f**k about my broken heart," the result is a joke any Westerner with a sense of humor would enjoy.

The rapper is one of several South Korean artists that defy what Western audiences expect from artist from the region.

K-pop fans across America and Europe love Psy's wackiness, or Girls' Generation's lock step choreography, but very few outside South Korea realize that there are several rappers releasing tracks could hold up against any song on American hip hop radio.

Rappers like Leo Kekoa, Beenzino and even Yoo Se Yoon deserve their spotlight on the international stage.

Hopefully soon that day will come.

Check out the Beenzino song "Aqua Man" RIGHT HERE