Want to hear the future of Atlanta’s KHip-Hop Scene? Listen to OSIX.
“Where I’m at now, I don’t have any problem with believing in myself because I’m just a regular dude doing something he enjoys,” OSIX says in this interview.
OSIX, a Korean-American rapper from Atlanta, always knew he liked an adventure.
“I wouldn’t say I was too artistic but I definitely had some creative and adventurous traits,” he told me this week. “I just liked trying new things to figure out what I liked.” This propensity to experimentation came from a childhood that was full of movement. OSIX was only two months old when his family immigrated from South Korea to North America. “I don’t really have one place I’d call home. Since I moved around a lot I didn’t really have a circle [of friends] that stayed consistent,” he explained. Atlanta became the place OSIX settled, but for many years his family jumped across the map from Florida to Oregon and, finally, to Georgia.
But being the new kid and someone whose home was never consistent gave OSIX the ability to adapt to change well. After graduating from high school in Atlanta, OSIX took a gap year and moved to Australia. By the time he left, OSIX was already showing an interest in making music and Vision Music, a crew of Asian-American musicians from Atlanta had caught his eye.
“When I moved to Australia, I listened to some of Vision Music’s songs and would show my friends there, since I thought they were good and from ATL like me,” he explained. When he moved back home a year later, OSIX was hired at a cafe that, ironically, was the same place B.K, a member of Vision Music, worked. They quickly became friends and OSIX came on board as a videographer for the group. Through B.K, OSIX met DH, RAVE, and DJ Ekkoh, two rappers and DJ in the collective and, proof that Southern cities are close-knit no matter the location, learned that a friend from high school who goes by the stage name SWIFTNESS, also is in the group. “As time went on I wanted to try making music,” he said. “So I slowly transitioned.”
Vision is emerging as a force within the Atlanta Korean hip-hop community. Check their dizzying EP “ACT 1: VISION”, an album that B.K told me came together organically and without much formal structure, to hear their potential.
“I eat a beat up like cannibalism,” they growl on “Chase a Check”. Elsewhere, the guys flex and flaunt their bars and threaten to “turn it up a notch” on tracks like “‘Till We Die”. Vision’s music sits far outside of K-Pop and instead, reflects the sound of several rappers born in Atlanta, legends like Lil Baby and 6lACK. The guys proudly rep their city in songs like “FXCKWITHUS” and have opened for leaders in the K-R&B scene like JUNNY and GEMINI. But their base is expanding far beyond Fulton County city limits.
OSIX was still on a high from the performance in Austin when we spoke. “That night was wild,” he said. “I remember finishing performing my first song ‘FOUND’, and looking at the crowd. I was able to make eye contact with every single person and it just felt crazy.” This performance felt special because it was the first time that OSIX had spent a long amount of time on stage by himself, something that the rapper is still getting used to. A self-described introvert, OSIX took time to find a different energy for the stage. But the Austin show was special: It proved to OSIX how much he has grown and how much potential he has as a soloist. “It made me realize how grateful I was to have this opportunity to show everyone my songs and my emotions in those songs,” he reflected. “It was an amazing night.”
“I remember finishing performing my first song ‘FOUND’, and looking at the crowd. I was able to make eye contact with every single person and it just felt crazy.” OSIX reflected.
OSIX’s first memories of music come from his sister.
When they were kids, OSIX’s sister would download their favorite K-Pop music online and then burn the songs onto a mix CD. These playlists, which now feel like a relic of long-gone history, were full of some of the biggest idol groups of the 2010s, and they soundtracked the siblings' car rides around their neighborhoods. “I grew up listening to a lot of 2NE1, BigBang, SHINee, FT Island, IU, and BEAST [now known as HIGHLIGHT],” he said.
OSIX refers to his interest in K-Pop as an era of his life that left with high school, but iKon’s “Welcome Back” album stuck with him. OSIX remembers watching iKon when they were trainees on the reality show MIX & MATCH, and found the members to be relatable. “I liked how they would show the personal side of them too, not only their artist side,” he said. For many fans like OSIX, iKon felt like a group whose rough edges weren’t sanded down. “I just liked ‘Welcome Back’ because I was a big iKon fan even before they debuted.”
By high school, OSIX was living in Atlanta, a natural place to study rap music. It’s a city that Joe Coscarelli describes in his book “Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story'' as representing “the most consequential musical ecosystem of this century so far.” As he transitioned out of K-Pop, OSIX became inspired by J.Cole’s “Forest Hills Drive” album. OSIX liked J.Cole's transparency and honesty, something that could be lacking in K-Pop. “I kept listening to his songs and watching his interviews, and I just really liked how real he was, in both his songs and his personality,” he said. In hindsight, these two albums function as a composite of OSIX’s Korean heritage and his love for hip-hop. OSIX chose his stage name, too, as a nod to his Korean roots. The “SIX” refers “in a different way”, as OSIX explained to me, to the last half of his Korean name Jun. Pronounce it and you’ll hear “Joon”, the sixth month of the year. English combines with Korean, influences mix together, and in the middle is the starting point for OSIX’s music.
“I’ve realized that there’s no need to compare myself because everyone has their own life, experience, and memories they carry with them,” OSIX explains.
OSIX’s musical journey has been a collaborative process. When I asked how he dealt with self-doubt when he first began making music, OSIX quickly credited the Vision crew for believing in him. “ I think the biggest thing [I struggled with] was telling myself I wasn’t good enough and that I felt like I was failing. The guys definitely helped me through that because I would always look at them, and they have all been doing music for five years more than I have,” he told me. “I would see their progress and it would give me confidence, and realize that I just need to submit to time.”
But the pace has moved quickly for OSIX. Earlier this year, he was scouted by Chris from Exposition to open for Junny and GEMINI’s tours, and though he’s only released three solo singles to date, his music is incredibly strong. “FOUND”, his latest single, is the song he’s most proud of. “It was the first song I worked on completely alone, from start to finish,” he told me. “FOUND” is a love song. There’s no flexing or shit talking; instead, it’s OSIX at his most charming, contemplating how he can make a girl feel comfortable and happy.
Today, OSIX records and writes his music at his apartment, usually on his own. It’s a process which suits his disposition to not be the center of attention. “There will be a couple occasions where I think of something and I'm not at home,” he explained about his process. “That’s when I go ahead and pull out the voice memo app and record what I thought of so I don’t forget in the future.”
This year, OSIX hopes to release new music, but he remains humble about what’s next. “Where I’m at now, I don’t have any problem with believing in myself because I’m just a regular dude doing something he enjoys,” he told me simply. There is, he reasons, no sense in worrying about belief when you do something you enjoy. “I used to stress a lot over music because I would compare myself to others and think I'm lacking, but I’ve realized that there’s no need to compare myself because everyone has their own life, experience, and memories they carry with them. Everyone is so different. As long as I enjoy making music, I’ll keep going.”
