Chase Bars of the Monkey Bars, a Korean American Hiphop Record Production Team composed of producers James Keys and Chase Bars, released his first mixtape, The Gooktape: Beatoo & Laeem.
“Gook” is a derogatory term that denotes Asians, or Koreans. “Beatoo and Laeem” is “Beat and Rhyme” written in Korean pronunciation. Interestingly enough, Chase chose to sample his beats from Korean music, or kayo (Deulgukhwa, Cho Youngpil, Kim Kwangsuk, etc). “As an artist, I thought ‘what would be the best representation of me as a Korean American?’. This mixtape is Chase’s attempt to accurately depict and exemplify Korean, or Asian American hiphop. “I hope this could also be a great opportunity to introduce good Korean classics to those who are unfamiliar with them”.