Outsider Spits Crazy Fast In His Twentieth Anniversary Album HISTORIA
One of the fastest spitting rappers on the Korean scene is back with his fifth studio album HISTORIA released on February 21. This record captures the 20-year journey of his career under the name Outsider.
Born in 1983, Outsider (아웃사이더, whose real name is Shin Okcheol, 신옥철), has been recognized for rapping at speeds of over 17 syllables per second, making him one of the fastest rappers in the world. A skill that can be fully appreciated in his latest record, starting from the title track “HISTORY (feat. MC Sniper),” which also opens the album.
The song offers insight into the pride the rapper takes in staying true to his identity, never yielding to external influences. His music has always revolved around themes of isolation, struggle, and perseverance. Here’s a taste of the first verses:
“Always a loner.
Closing my heart, shutting my eyes, covering my ears,
That’s the history I’ve lived.
I always stand outside the line.
Forcing myself to conform to a standardized norm?
That’s not my philosophy.”
The song has a distinctly celebratory tone, with an intro that evokes the atmosphere of a rap battle and then gives way to an almost uninterrupted stream of verses dense with sentiment and reflection, where he likens himself to a “hungry Socrates” (“I’d rather be a hungry Socrates than a well-fed pig”) or even the “revolutionary Jeong Dojeon” (a Confucian scholar, thinker, and revolutionary in the late Goryeo and one of the key historical figures who helped establish the early Joseon Dynasty).
It also seems significant that the song is the result of a collaboration between Outsider and MC Sniper, two well-known figures in the Korean rap scene. They not only co-wrote the lyrics but also performed together. This is particularly notable given their troubled history, which ranged from a close friendship in the early days to a well-documented dispute over contract and management issues related to Sniper Sound, the label Outsider was signed to.
The conflict even led to mild (ish?) disses in songs, music videos, and social media comments, though it never escalated into a full-blown public feud. Eventually, the two reconnected in 2021.
When he presented the tracklist of HISTORIA, the rapper also reiterated the image he always held, of someone who remained “consistently outside the mainstream,” carving his own path while maintaining an “unshakable philosophy.” Outsider defined HISTORIA as a “collaborative masterpiece” made possible by the participation of artists such as Mc Sniper (MC 스나이퍼), Jung Sangsoo (정상수), Jang Moonbok (장문복), singer and actor Kim Jae Joong (김재중), Kan Jongwook (간종욱), GilGu (길구), Jung Yi Han from The Nuts (더넛츠 정이한), Kim Myunghoon from Ulala Session (울랄라세션 김명훈), Cheon Danbi (천단비).
He also revealed that some of the tracks were completed as far back as eight years ago but remained unreleased, while others “showcase the present-day Outsider”. It truly seems that, in making this album, Outsider looked both within himself and to the world around him, carefully selecting pieces that encapsulate the many facets of an artist—and a person—evolving over twenty years of life and career.
In a similar Instagram post, he said that HISTORIA intricately weaves together his philosophy, artistic evolution, and footsteps throughout the years, “unaffected by trends or the passing of time”. After having lived for 20 years with “his heart closed off, his eyes shut, and his ears blocked, walking his own path in music,” it’s now time to listen to his story. At the end, he quips, inviting people to listen to this “epic chronicle of two decades.”
Aren’t you now curious to check the album out?