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Keith Ape is the opposite of KPop

The rapper screams and yells on ‘Live Long and Soul Lives [영원히, 영혼이 살아]’

LiFTED | Marcus Aurelius | 21 Sep 2021


In Korea, KPop is so omnipresent that its now part of the national tourism campaigns. It's bright and shiny, and everyone from teenagers to grandmothers can sing the songs.

Keith Ape is the opposite of KPop.

He's rude and brash, and always has a DGAF attitude. He rocketed to the front of the Asian Hip Hop scene with ‘It G Ma’ in 2015 and he’s been there ever since. After releasing his debut album, Born Again, in 2018, Keith has put out a steady string of well-received songs. On September 20, he released ‘Live Long and Soul Lives [영원히, 영혼이 살아],’ a Thrash Trap song that has a whole lot of yelling and not much rapping.

It's definitely not KPop.

A lot of times, the lines are blurred in Korean Hip Hop that almost has a KPop feel. But this will never be confused with KPop. The beat produced by 19AKIRA has an industrial feel to it with a side of claustrophobia. It would sound perfect in a horror movie where the walls with spikes on them are closing in on the people inside. Ape’s rapping is loud, abrasive, and noisy.

If you close your eyes, you can imagine a swelling crowd of teenagers at a festival throwing elbows, knees, and feet to this while bodies are smashing together. ‘Live Long and Soul Lives [영원히, 영혼이 살아]’ sounds like a mosh pit that most people are too scared to jump into or even stand on the sides of, because they might get a black eye or a kick in the chest.

The visuals are just as frightening as there’s blood, a hanging, and knife fights all at a frantic pace. If you want to upset your neighbors, ‘Live Long and Soul Lives [영원히, 영혼이 살아]’ is the perfect song to play as loud as possible because it's definitely not KPop.

Listen to Keith Ape’s ‘Live Long and Soul Lives [영원히, 영혼이 살아]’ below.