Start of Korean Hiphop

History

Late 80's-Early 90's

The first piece of Korean music that may be considered as "hip hop" was a song called Kim Satgat by rock musician Hong Seobeom in 1989. Though he was considered to be 'rapping; in this song it was clear that he wasn't trying to be a rapper but it was rather experimental sound of his, as new sounds and genre from the U.S was gaining popularity. Although, nowadays his name is rarely mentioned when Korean Hiphop is mentioned.

Instead, the K-pop group Seo Taiji and the Boys,  Hyeon Jinyeong and Lee Hyundo were considered as the pioneers of Korean Hiphop.  In 1992, Seo Taiji's and the Boys' song I Know caused a massive sensation in Korea, however even then they weren't considered "hip-hop artists" but their genre was called "rap dance"- this influence is well and alive in today's Kpop were almost every song will have a rap verse and a group will have an assigned rapper. 

Though Seo Taiji and the Boys were considered pioneers of hiphop in South Korea, later on their career, they diverted to Seo Taeji's original passion which was rock music.

Late 90's 

During this time some artists who solely focused on hip hop emerged and it was becoming  normal for artists to be called "rappers". Though these rappers ultimately boiled down in two categories:

Overground - mostly groups who are produced by large companies and performed on television, e.g. Jinusean and Uptown. Jinusean particularly enjoyed popularity due to being produced by Yang Hyunsuk (from Seo Taiji and the Boys). 

Underground - artist who performed in underground clubs and created mixtapes.

Early 2000's

Through the development of the Internet in Korea, underground rappers would meet up in message boards online and in person in order to discuss latest American rap albums and to cultivate their own music.

*These overground and underground rapper referencesshinee
 can also be seen in Kpop, where 'underground' rappers would often diss 'Kpop idol rappers' questioning their authenticities as 'rappers'. 

It is clear that Korean hiphop is an import from America and American influences are rooted deeply in the sub-genre; from the early 90's where it's evident that Jinusean members were both Korean-Americans. It's also been argued how especially early Korean-hiphop overground artists were trying to be black and was essentially "cultural expropriation".

Mid 2000's to Present

As mentioned before underground rappers would often gather together and this allowed them to consider different ways in order to 'make hiphop Korean' and in order for them to be authentic over the existing hip-hop artists than have initially influenced them from the West. The Internet was now the hub for rappers to show their music and this became the platform for rapper Verbal Jint to showcase his revolutionary rhyming scheme which completely changed the Korean hiphop scenes way of creating and structuring raps.

Nowadays Korean hiphop have been gaining popularity not just in Korea but also worldwide through the Internet particularly Youtube and the use of popular rap beats used in western rap such as trap in Korean hiphop tracks. As well as the continuous mix of minimum english lyrics in the song as well which attracts a new audience for this genre. An example of this is the track "Eung Freestyle" by rappers: Live, Sik-K, Punchnello, Owen Ovadoz and Flowsik, which was featured on the Youtube Music's advert which gave it some exposure to some non Korean hiphop listeners. 

It can also be noted that rapper Keith Ape (featuring rappers JayAllday, Okasian and Japanese rappers Loota and Kohh), went viral with his song 'It G Ma' due to it's catchy trap beat and repetitive lyrics as well as very weird and trippy visual, however it has been called out to be cultural appropriation, as well as kind of a knock-off/ plagiarism of OG Maco's 'U Guessed It'.

*Cultural appropriation is still quite a sensitive topic when it comes to Korean hiphop, as the boundaries between the American hiphop and Korean hiphop are kind of blurb, however the artist theme selves, especially Korean-born rappers tend to be ignorant of the culture where Hiphop actually originated from, in comparison to Korean-American rappers who are trying to get mainstream in America.