The never-ending discourse between rappers versus idols can be exhausting, but the truth is that a person can be one and the same. Some of the hottest idols also happen to be some of the best rappers in the industry and what better way to showcase their skills than in their own mixtapes? Check out our mixtape picks below to vamp up your playlist with some incredible talent.

“Yamazaki” - Bang Yongguk

B.A.P’s former leader Yongguk released his track “Yamazaki” in 2017 to plenty of controversy. Compared to the majority of idol content, the official video for “Yamazaki” is quite dark, establishing Yongguk’s life as an artist outside of the typically family-friendly K-Pop bubble. The track itself has a heavy traditional Japanese influence and features slower but certainly heavy flows from the rapper. If you’re not a fan of dark concepts, I’d advise avoiding the music video.

“텐데” - Bobby

Bobby from iKON released his debut solo Love and Fall in 2017, including his song “텐데.“ As a whole, the song has a relaxed vibe to it, with Bobby’s fast flows sounding unbelievably natural and easy against the minimal backing track. Though his talent is incredible, Bobby makes rapping sound as simple as breathing in this track and throughout the whole album.

“give it to me” - Agust D

The second single off his 2016 mixtape of the same name, “give it to me” is a song by BTS’s SUGA under his pseudonym Agust D. Though the titular track “Agust D” has gained much more attention over the years, “give it to me” is a perfect showcase of the artist’s skills as a rapper. Between impossibly fast flows and a biting chorus, “give it to me” is the kind of song that will hit you at first listen and then stick with you long after.

“VENI VIDI VICI” - ZICO

Back at the start of his solo career, ZICO released “VENI VIDI VICI” as the follow-up track to “Eureka” off of 2015’s Gallery. Julius Caesar’s famous phrase—translated to “I came, I saw, I conquered”—seems all too fitting for someone as talented as ZICO. With just the opening lines of the song, ZICO makes a bold declaration that he’s more than meets the eye (“allow me to reintroduce myself”). Though 2015 was still early in his career as a solo artist outside of Block B, recent years have seen him grow into one of the most illustrious hip-hop artists in Korea.