Hey Young World,

This is the June 2023 edition of 1520’s Record Report, our series of monthly articles in which we recommend things we’re currently into.

We’ve picked the name Record Report in honor of Hip Hop magazine The Source, which’s album review section went under that name and, when we were growing up, told us what was worth copping and what wasn’t. In our own small way, we hope to do the same.

K-POp Dreaming (Podcast)

Most of you won’t have missed the meteoric rise of K-Pop. We too have been recommending certain K-Pop albums or songs for years now. Yet most people don’t really know anything about the genre. Given the importance the genre and the surrounding subculture have amassed, it’s time to change that. A great, wholesome way to start is ‘K-Pop Dreaming’, a podcast by the LAist.

Host Vivian Yoon takes listeners on a journey from K-Pop’s origins in Korean trot music and American presence in post-war South Korea to the 1992 LA Uprising and the booming global popularity of K-Pop in the present day, all juxtaposed against Yoon’s own coming-of-age as a second generation immigrant in Los Angeles, struggling to fit in and come to terms with her own identity.

- LAist

We especially recommend the following episode, about the fundamental influence Hip Hop had on K-Pop.

The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom (Video Game)

Given the unbelievable critical acclaim and sales numbers, we’re sure that you do not need use to recommend this game, but we want to do so anyway, because no game altered the way we perceive our environments like this one does since the glory days of the Tony Hawk franchise. It has consumed our free time and our TikTok feeds.

Kota The Friend - To See A Sunset (Album)

It hasn’t been a stellar year for Hip Hop, but that doesn’t mean good records aren’t coming out. Our favorite so far this year is probably ‘To See A Sunset’ by Kota The Friend. Kota playfully and thoughtfully raps his way through warm, nostalgic Statik Selektah beats. It was great when it came out earlier this year and it is even better in the summer.

One Love,

Marius | 1520