K-Pop Throwback: Welcome To The Funky World Of Yammo! Before 'All I Know,' Rapper Staked His Claim On 2010's 'Who Got Gun' [AUDIO]

K-Pop Throwback is an occasional column where our editorial staff highlights songs from the genre's past that we feel are worth a second look.

South Korean rapper Yammo is one of the country's most original and promising artists.

Although many K-pop fans may have been first introduced to the rapper through his blistering guest star appearance on the horror hip hop track "All I Know" released last week by DOK2, Yammo's 2010 track "Who Got Gun" from the Bigdeal Records compilation "Legendary Bigdeal Bootleg Volume 1" is required listening for any rap fan.

Against one of the funkiest beats hip hop has heard in years, Yammo staked his claim as an artist that demands your attention on "Who Got Gun."

One reason Yammo is an artist to keep a close eye on, is his originality.

Even when he throws English phrases into "Who Got Gun," there isn't another rapper from anywhere in the world that Yammo is clearly borrowing from.

The horror movie problem child persona the rapper inhabits in DOK's "All I Know" may strike some listeners as reminiscent of Eminem conceptually speaking, yet there is no strong sonic similarity between the two artists.

Rather Yammo finds himself in the rare position of being an artist with little to compare him too stylistically speaking.

The beat on "Who Got Gun" however, is strongly steeped in the history of classic American hip hop, when producers leaned on samples from funk icons like James Brown and Parliament Funkadelic to pioneer a sound that is now more or less taken for granted.

Yet when the rare modern artist steps back onto that hallowed funky ground, as Yammo does with the "Who Got Gun" beat, the genre reaps major rewards, showing that those soulful beats can still be used as a genesis for rap grooves that sound as fresh as they did in 1989.

Where most modern day hip hop, from anywhere in the world, features a rap or a musical phrase that sounds interesting if you ignore the Autotuned hook or other aspects of the song, Yammo offered up an airtight track where every minute of the rap and its musical backdrop is nothing but a funky good time.

Our only question for Yammo is: what's next?

Listen to Yammo's funk-steeped 2010 South Korean hip hop track "Who Got Gun" from the album "Legendary Bigdeal Bootleg Volume 1" RIGHT HERE

Tags
All I Know
DOK2
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