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| Part-Time Cooks / Courtesy of Lim Ji-seok |
By Celeste Kriel
Seoul-based hip-hop duo Part Time Cooks are on their way to full-time success with the release of their latest song "California Butterfly" with Korean hip-hop artist Jay Park last week. The duo have stepped up their game and are heating up the Korean music scene in this collaboration with Park, who is signed to Roc Nation in the U.S. The song is a feel-good track with tropical and South African influences that is perfect for dancing to under the summer sun, while the video is appropriately set in a colorful utopian jungle.
Less than 24 hours after the music video was released via Youtube and just before performing at the South African party Jol at Cakeshop, Part Time Cooks joined The Korea Times outside a GS25 convenience store in Haebangchon where they live for an exclusive first interview after the release of California Butterfly.
Winding down (or turning up) with a Guinness or two, the pair chatted candidly while being approached by fans throughout the interview. They spoke about fan reactions, collaborating with Jay Park, using music as a universal language and their future plans.
The song, which has strong South African influences and Korean, English and Zulu verses, was produced by Yuefoh as part of an ongoing project between the group and the producer over the past year-and-a-half.
"We've been working on a bunch of songs with the same producer Yuefoh. He made the beat but it's been an ongoing process of back and forth, changing some instrumentation, different mixes and different arrangements…adding verses," Black Moss told The Korea Times.
He hails from Durban, South Africa _ the birthplace of Kwaito, a modern genre stemming from house music.
"You know how it starts off with the Kwaito feel in the beginning, that's the first thing that jumped up to me…that 'doom tse tse tse eish,' Ng'cela ungiphe is'khathi esincane.'" Black Moss continues as he trails off into the Zulu rap lyrics featured in the song, which means "Please give me some of your time," most often used as a smooth pickup line in his hometown.
Even though the song was only released less than a day before the interview, the duo seemed hyped on the initial responses via social media.
"I think everyone really likes it. It's a really feel good song that came out while the weather is still nice. It's a fun song and it's not too serious. People know Jay Park's name and that it's kind of a level up for us. People are proud of us. It's a reason to dance and it's a good song to dance to," said Saul Goode, an American.
The song has also already been making waves internationally and bringing fans together.
"Websites have picked it up and shared it even all the way in Brazil. The comments on social media have been so positive and some have been hilarious. On one of the YouTube comments someone said 'cheeseburger oppa looks so good,' because in the video Black Moss is dancing on a cheeseburger."
The song showcases everything we do _ there are multilingual kind of raps and flows, it's showing that borders don't matter and we have three languages in one song, three countries in one song … it's really just about the music. It's not just an American hip-hop song not just a Korean hip-hop song, it's an American hip-hop song by a Korean artist, or it's a Korean hip-hop song by an American and African artist. I think that's what we are trying to show the fans, that hip-hop music has that much of a global reach, that it's possible," Black Moss said.
The duo's current success has been a long time in the making and they have come a long way from linking on weekends at Saul's apartment to cook beats in his bedroom as they had originally come to Korea to teach English. Their hard work paid off, and two independent albums later, they signed with Korean record label Vis Major last year.
Part Time Cooks are eyeing the global stage soon. They are working on creating a global sound, touring the U.S and South Africa and making universal music.
"That's the direction we want go to. Fusing modern hip-hop, trap sounds with R&B and Kwaito," Black Moss said.
The duo will perform "California Butterfly" live for the first time this weekend in Sinchon at the Craft Beer Festival at 8 p.m. and will have another performance Saturday at the Daegu Hip-Hop Festival.
Visit parttimecooks.com or fb.com/parttimecookspage for more information or follow @parttimecooks on Instagram or Twitter.
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