Young prodigies in the Korean Hip Hop scene are on the rise, the talent is out there and these days we are seeing more and more unique and incredible young artists that are discovered by agencies or get their shot through audition programs.
In today’s Rapper in the Spotlight we will be sharing the career of ASH ISLAND, who debuted just a couple of years ago and his participation in ‘High School Rapper 2’ left a big impression on viewers.
HIGH SCHOOL RAPPER 2
Taking on the challenge and doing his intro cypher to the beat of EMINEM’s ‘Lose Yourself’, Yoon Jin-young (aka. Ash Island) left a strong first impression on the mentors and competitors of the second season of High School Rapper 2. It included well-known rappers like VINXEN and HAON.
He killed it with this improvisation and left many in awe.
For the second season of this well-known survival show, he ended 4th place, however, right after he was signed under the hip-hop label Ambition Musik. Check below a few of our favourite performances.
Ambition Musik
‘How R U’ and ‘Deadstar’ (feat. Changmo) were the first singles released by Ash Island after finishing the show.
With these two tracks Jin-young showcased the style and vibe he was going for in his music, with electronic undertones and beats that blend exquisitely with his lyrical delivery. He created a unique flow in his music that makes it very distinctive.
His debut album ‘Ash’ was released at the beginning of 2019, this EP consisted of seven tracks including the pre-released one featuring Changmo.
In this extended play, Ash Island blended his signature style with a 90s rock vibe and enhanced vocals. This solid debut EP had an interesting mix with its features that complemented his style. One track to be checked out is ‘Fall’, it shows a more raw and almost vulnerable side of Ash Island, part of the lyrics go as:
“(…)The fact that I can’t see anything anymore, but only pain
Scares me and reappears every night
The things you hated, the words you hated
And everything that you hated was all the damn me(…)”
Lyrics by: Lyricstranslate.com
Below you can check the music video for the title track ‘Paranoid’.
‘More ASH’ followed this release and included the extra tracks with ‘nightmare’ and ‘Oh My!’. In late 2019, Ash Island dropped the single ‘Empty Head’.
In 2020, he came back with ‘Error’ featuring rapper Loopy. In this single he showed his singing abilities in a song that showed a more rock side of his music. It was very refreshing to his signature style and well known hip-hop sound.
This single was followed by the single ‘Melody‘ which is part of his album ‘ISLAND‘. Check this track below.
Collaborations
Ambition Musik has done a few collaboration projects featuring different artists under this hip-hop label. Below you can check a few in which Ash Island is featured.
Make sure to check out his Killing Verse performance below, and head over to his Spotify profile here for more music.
