It’s Loopy, the oldest of the five, who came up with the idea to create a label. 

It all started around 2015 when Loopy met Nafla. Both of them went to a little show in Los Angeles to perform. At the time Nafla was already a member of the 42 crew. They became acquaintances and quickly became closer through collaborations on personal projects, or on projects involving other rappers like the track Mijangwon with Dumbfoundead, emblematic figure of the Korean-American rap scene (Ed: you can find more information on Loopy’s and Nafla’s articles).   

Months went by and Loopy and the 42Crew members kept up with their mutual enrichment.

However, Loopy was thinking big, and one day he told Nafla about a very ambitious project: creating their own label. Nafla hesitated for a while but finally followed Loopy in this crazy adventure. On January 22nd, 2016, Loopy, Nafla, and Bloo released Come Thru, their first collaboration. That’s how Mkit Rain is born 

Quickly, in 2016 February 12th, Owen joined them. It’s kind of through Nafla that Owen joined the label, they met a few months before and even released the famous track Locked and Loaded. Therefore it might have been a little bit difficult for him at first? He was new in a group of people who have known each other for a long time, but also; Loopy, Nafla, and Bloo all tended to have West Coast influences while Owen was more used to the East Coast vibe. However, thanks to the family-like atmosphere within the label, it seems that he fitted in fast. Therefore, on April 14th, 2016, the group released a new version of the track Come Thru, including Owen this time. 

The Members kept up with their own projects, like Bloo with his Mixtape Tony in June while in July Nafla released New Blood, an EP.    

On August 12th, the group released Weathermen, their first MV. Thanks to this release, the label drew some attention and since they all had some notoriety already, quickly they have been able to organize their first concert. Therefore, on October 30th, they performed on a rather known venue in Daegu. True to their ambition, the members didn’t want this concert to be a classic live performance, so they developed a whole concept they actually kept for some of their other tours. Fans of Marvel, the promotion campaign for their BAD BAD GOOD GOOD tour is inspired by the comics universe. The artists are represented like comics characters as you can see on the Event Youtube teaser.      

But October 30th was also a symbolic day for the label because it’s that day that Young West, the 5th and last member, joined Mkit Rain publicly. Once again, they cared about details because that same day, Mkit Rain released on their SoundCloud account a new track, Mkit Rain by Young West. 

Then in November, they went to China for their MONEY SHOWER tour with a date in Chengdu, and another one in Beijing.      

All this work has been rewarded by the Rookie Label of The Year at the 2016 HipHop Gallery Award. 

2017 was more about solo projects. Besides some live performances, the label really focused on the members’ solo careers. Loopy started the year in May with his album Ice. Then, in July, Young West released the mixtape #OKIDS followed in September by the album LIGHTNING VISION. That same month Owen released Problematic, his second album. In October Nafla dropped Angels, his first album while BLOO closed the year with his mini-album Downtown Baby released in December. 

On the other hand, in 2018 they have been really active as a group with not only a new MV in February for the track Don’t Move, but also in April, the release of Public Enemy, their very first group album. They kind of took the concept of the BAD BAD GOOD GOOD tour again but this time with a will to develop their own movie universe. Nafla’s MV Apple Box featured by Loopy and released in March 2018 is totally in keeping with this gangster film spirit by the way. They also confided that one of the purposes of this project was also to answer the hate wave they had to face at some point. Therefore, this album allowed them to clear all of this while exploring a new universe based on each of them. 

“Look around. Getting Stared at everywhere. We’re public enemy “

–Mkit Rain, ‘Public Enemy‘

As a consequence, you can notice a lot of references to comics and movies in this album, but also a lot of egotrip; bars about money and luxury. However, it’s important to point out that this project isn’t about living an easy life only. With Public Enemy they most of all wanted to show the necessity to work hard in order to reach the top. 

Teamwork makes the Dream work

Mkit Rain are pushed by their ambition, and it’s actually the essence of their name. Let’s go back in time, the name Mkit Rain comes from this time the members went to a strip club. As often happens in this kind of place, (Ed. or at least in the collective imagination), some people would have started to throw money in the air. In the euphoria of the moment, the members would have started to talk about the future, how they were going to become rich, so rich that they would make money rain, ‘Make It Rain’, a common expression in the HipHop culture by the way. Therefore, as a coincidence, someone would have shouted something like: “Why not Mkit Rain ?!”. This name was especially suitable for them as it was in keeping with their vision of what HipHop is. For them, HipHop culture was also about showing your success, your wealth.      

However, dreaming about success is one thing, but making it is quite another one. They didn’t have it easy, it’s truly thanks to their work that they reached that level. It’s also worth noting that at some point, Loopy and Bloo almost gave up to rap because of the haters’ pressure. Hip-Hop, and music in general, are not easy worlds, and talent is not always enough…     

The label never hid their will to bring a new touch to the HipHop scene, as much to the Korean one as to the American. The group is really influenced by OldSchool rappers like Biggie, Tupac, Big L, 50 cent but also more trendy ones like Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar or Asap Rocky. The group tries to make the most of those influences, and much as A$AP Mob, fashion and branding are important parts of their identity as a crew. They are the first to say that they go shopping a lot.   

Teamwork is yet central to the crew. Besides their American influence, what enabled the label to stand out is the fact they know each other forces and tastes. They are constantly learning from each other and attach much importance to mutual respect. 

As a consequence, each member has his own main function in the label. 

Loopy being the oldest usually suggests some ideas or even guidelines. Known for his positive aura, he does his best to be responsible, to cheer, and support the other members.   

Bloo tends to help artistic directors when it comes to the crew’s visual identity. He advises the crew for fashion but also for their body language during live performances. Talking about visual, most of their MVs are directed by DANTAYSPEAK, Hypnos, or T. 

Nafla is really good when it comes to production, they all learned from him a lot and with Young West they are really attentive to select the best beats only. 

Finally, in the beginning, Owen was the most experienced on stage, but he also has a real talent for writing lyrics, the members rely on him a lot.  

As for their writing process, when they are working on a group project, teamwork is once again the key. It seems that they would all write their lyrics on their own, and then they would give each other feedback. 

Therefore, their work is always really thorough. For instance, they adapt their live performances depending on their public. They explained that for the American public what matters the most is to have a good time with the artists while the Korean audience pay more attention to the performance in itself, the technique 

As a consequence, the label keeps on programming new dates and developing new projects.

Could other rappers join the label? It’s so far very unlikely. During an interview in July 2018, Loopy indeed explained that for now, they were mostly looking for producers. 

nuttynomads

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