It’s that time again. At the beginning of my recap of episode 4 of the last season of Show Me The Money, I felt the need to establish some things. I’m going to post some of it here again:

“Anyone who has watched Show Me The Money before or read anything about the show online knows that it doesn’t take much for a season to begin to devolve into a hot mess. With all of the drama and controversy, from editing woes to out-of-line contestants, there’s a lot I could cover here. I decided to jump this post off with a couple of gems from the #smtm4 treasure trove on Tumblr that encapsulate my thoughts/feelings on the show:”

All of this is still 100% relevant. Let’s be honest, we’re all here for the entertainment but that doesn’t mean we can’t call the participants or Mnet out on their foolishness. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into it.

Shout out to Nahae Kim for subbing all of the episodes from last season. Word on the street (aka Tumblr) is that she is currently busy preparing for the MCAT (hope it goes well!) so no official English-subbed episodes have been uploaded yet. Unfortunately I do not speak Chinese or Vietnamese or any of the other languages SMTM5 has been subbed in thus far, so for now I’ll be relying on context clues, the Internet, and my two years of Korean classes at Northwestern to recap the show (shout out to Lee sunsaengnim and Baek sunsaengnim haha).

• Our producer teams for this season are  The Quiett and DOk2 (Illionaire), Gray and Simon D (AOMG), rapper Mad Clown and Gil from Leessang and Kush and Zion. T (Teddy and Kush’s new YG sub-label ‘The Black Label’)

 

• Everyone is saying Mad Clown is this season’s Verbal Jint. We need someone to laugh at right? He’s so awkward. I love it

• Someone meme this please:

• Mnet shows black contestants in line but we never get to see them audition…le sigh

• Zion.T graciously denies a string of hopefuls and then one contestant gives him trouble, snatching the necklace and everything. Zion. T tells him to mind his manners. That’s right Zion.T, put him in check

• I didn’t know Kush produced Yanghwa Bridge! People are failing to pronounce this man’s name left and right. One contestant (who I believe said he was 12?) messes up Kush’s name even after he corrects him. I don’t know much about Kush but he is precious:

•  Seo Chulgoo has returned! He was eliminated after the cypher mission with Snoop Dogg last season. He’s really good so I’m glad he’s back. During his audition, Kush gives him a freestyle challenge and he kills it

• Seo Chulgoo’s friend Yang Hongwon passes too
• The Quiett is very popular with the contestants but your boy had a hard time during auditions:

•  He finally passes this guy:

• Dok2 is shown judging a bunch of really young contestants which is notable because of how young he was when he started

• Bizniz from hip hop duo Infinite Flow arrives auditions and Dok2 passes him

• Thanks to some back story on Bizniz we get to see some throwback clips of Dok2 and Simon D (yep, that’s Simon D with the fro)

•  Is Dok2’s hair pink? Also is it just me or did it look like he was wearing lip gloss…
• This kid in the yellow jacket, I don’t know who he is but I like him. Kush passes him

• It’s Simon D’s turn to judge and I now see why everyone has been calling him an angel. He gives each contestant some advice before moving on. What a saint

• Gray arrives and all the girls start swooning…so much so they can’t remember their lyrics. The Quiett says even he follows Gray on Instagram although he doesn’t like any of his pictures LOL

• Baby J from Jewelry auditions but forgets her lyrics and isn’t able to move on

• We see G2 outside signing autographs and taking pics with fans inside. He has a hiccup during his audition with Gray and for a moment it seems like he won’t pass. Gray pretends to move on at first but finally hands over the necklace

• Gil is out here intimidating everyone while Mad Clown is probaby the most disarming out of everyone as he has shown forgetting lyrics often in the past

• AshB is here (from Unpretty season 2) and MadClown passes her

• CJamm is back after making it far on Season 3. He seems very relaxed despite facing Gil, who passes him

•  There are many female contestants but none of them seem to be passing until Simon D passes Giant Pink

• Kim Hong wu aka Reddy faces Simon D. He does really well as expected and moves on after winning Simon D’s approval

• Zion. T passes A-Tom from ToppDogg

• Sanchez (Microdot’s brother and well-known vocalist) auditions and Dok2 passes him

• Gun, Mino’s cousin, auditions with Zion. T while Mino smiles proudly in the audience (Zion. T passes him)

•  There are the usual contestant shenanigans with crazy costumes and strange antics and this happens…

• Bewhy is back! Everyone remembers his epic battle with Microdot from last season. The rapper known for his unique flow and devout faith is passed to the next round by Zion. T!

• One aka Jaewon has also returned! He received an all-pass in the second audition round last season but was eventually eliminated. I thought he was really good, just out of his league. He is now signed with YG so he talks about the pressure from the inevitable comparisons between him and Mino and Bobby. Poor baby is so nervous before facing Dok2. I’m not sure why but Dok2 has him go twice and he manages to do well both times!

• In one tense moment, a contestant takes issue with Dok2 for passing One but not him. He curses at Dok2 who handles it like a champ.

I am thoroughly enjoying the dynamic between all of the producer teams. I am rooting for Reddy, Bewhy and One as well as kid in the yellow jacket (who is he?? someone give me a name please…)

You can watch Episode 1 of SMTM5 at these links >>> Part 1 – Part 2

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