There must be something exceptional about a Korean reality show that has lasted ten seasons and continues to thrive with new songs published weekly topping every digital chart. Show Me The Money (SMTM) premiered in 2012 and has since spawned a slew of household names in the industry, including Loco, Swings, DinDin, iKON’s Bobby, Giriboy, BewhY, Woo Won Jae, Wonstein, and many others. Despite all of the controversy surrounding the programme and how some seasons are more disastrous than others, the show remains relevant and manages to unearth new gems year after year. SMTM 9, in particular, is a personal favourite since it focuses on the music rather than riding on the controversy, despite the limitations imposed by COVID-19, especially after the dismal and underwhelming reception to SMTM 8.

SMTM 10 begins with an acknowledgment that it will be a season full of chart-topping songs, with one of the producer teams stating that winning the season isn’t a priority, but creating amazing songs is. This season, however, was not without controversy, with producer team TONAWAYUM (Yummda and TOIL) drawing backlash from the public over Yummda’s negligent passing of controversial contestant. However, songs produced by the show’s producer have been lining up the Top 10 in multiple charts on a weekly basis, making this arguably one of the most successful seasons in terms of music charting, with sokodomo’s MERRY-GO-ROUND (Feat. Zion.T, Wonstein & Prod. Slom) achieving Perfect-All-Kill (PAK) topping the charts for the entire week, only to be replaced the following week by BE’O’s LIMOUSINE (Feat. MINO), which received Real All Kill (RAK).

Ten years is a long time and a lot has changed since its inception. SMTM 10 boasts a line-up of four producer teams: Yumdda and TOIL (TONAWAYUM), Gaeko and Code Kunst (COKO), Gray and MINO (GRAYNOMA), Zion.T & Slom (T-SLA). Let’s have a look at the major changes that have occurred and the brief history behind them.

1. “Mandatory rules” flexibility over time

Every season of SMTM has its own set of rules for the missions, but one constant is that official songs released from Team Battle missions will not include those who have been eliminated despite having performed the song. The official songs always felt different and slightly lacking in the vibe and mood of the song to listeners who were used to the cohesive live versions.

Producer Code Kunst, who has participated in three seasons of the show, proposed that the eliminated contestants be included in the official release, and other producers and the production crew eventually agreed. This choice was welcomed by both participants and viewers, especially because it gave eliminated contestants like A-Chess from T-SLA team, who had participated in every season, the opportunity to have an official song from the show.

🎵 Listen to the songs from Team Battle missions:

The early competition features 1 vs 1 rounds, in which two rappers perform verses on the same beat, with the producers selecting just one of the rappers to advance to the next round. Due to a number of major matchups between two skilled rappers overlapping, skilled rappers are frequently eliminated at this early stage. The producers were given a limited ‘Producer Pass’ this season, allowing them to pass two rappers in a round if they believed it was necessary.

Another rule that has been a point of controversy and frustration among viewers and participants in the past has been removed this season. In previous seasons’ live performances, each producer team was required to assign a song to two team members and allow them to rehearse the same song for the whole week — with the cruel stipulation that only one of them be chosen in Mic Selection. All 14 participants who survived the Team Battle missions are all given their own songs without having to go through Mic Selection.

🎵Listen to the songs from the live performance missions:

2. More formidable strong fresh faces

With over 27,000 people auditioning for this season, it all comes down to luck in the open auditions. Some contestants like SINCE who is one of the finalists have been trying for a few seasons and have only now gotten a chance to be noticed by a producer. Established rappers, producers, and even singers wanted to participate as well, whether to improve their stagnated skills or to resurrect their careers. Swings (former SMTM 2 contestant and producer for SMTM 3, 777, and 8) joined in on the fun last year to prove himself to naysayers. But the ever-present question by viewers has always been whether or not experienced and accomplished competitors should be allowed to compete while there are amateurs or even elementary school kids joining in?

That was also the ‘charm’ of SMTM, where a complete nobody might beat well-known figures in the industry. One famous example is SMTM 6, where Jo Woo Chan, a 12-year old, made it to the semi-finals while Woo Won Jae, an unknown underground rapper then, breezed through to the finals. This year, San E, a former producer from SMTM 3 and 4, decided to compete alongside SMTM 4 champion Basick. Interestingly, producer MINO was the season’s runner-up, and one of the most famous running jokes in SMTM is that most people thought MINO won the season because Basick’s success didn’t generate much hype. Basick made it to the semi-finals with TONAWAYUM while San E was ousted during team selection. 

unofficialboy, Ahn Byeong Woong and sokodomo are among the young participants, having previously joined a couple of times in prior seasons. Thirteen-year-old Song Min Young and 18-year-old Hwang Jisang from TONAWAYUM team, and the majority of the GRAYNOMA team members, including BE’O, Mudd the student and Anandelight are among the young entrants who advanced to the semi-finals and finals this year. Jo Gwangil of the COKO team is a 96-liner who made a mark in the South Korean hip hop community with the release of Acrobat, a fast-paced rapping song. He made it to the finals on his first attempt on the show. Despite their youth and lack of industry experience, they all demonstrated that they were very skilled and deserving of the producers’ selection in the team selection round.

3. The eventual shift to other genres

Vasco (now known as Bill Stax) used to get a lot of flak in SMTM 3 for his tendency of fusing hard metal into his tracks in a competition that was supposed to be about hip hop. Because of the influence of classical music from his brother, BewhY, one of the most influential winners that came out of SMTM and the producer for SMTM 8 and 9, frequently utilised orchestra arrangements in the songs he produced. 

Many contestants have been deemed not hip hop ‘enough’ to make it to the show over the seasons, while singers who participate, such as Sanchez, Phantom’s vocalist who participated in SMTM 5, had to forego singing entirely. Due to the local hip hop scene labeling him a sellout for making public-friendly hit songs (deemed ‘not hip hop enough’) like Officially Missing You, lIlBOI, Season 9’s winner and one-half of duo Geeks, used to be depressed for 5 years and went into a hiatus due to that. He questioned in his 60-seconds selection round verse how it’s fine for rappers to talk about drugs, luxury, and women, but when he rapped about love, he was called foul names. As soon as IllBOI’s video became widespread, the audience slammed Deepflow, a seasoned hip hop artist who once released a diss verse about Geeks’ music. IllBOI later emerged as the winner of the season.

The shift in the genre is inevitable due to the buzz the show generates inviting a diverse range of participants (and has been met with fierce resistance from purists), but it is more evident this season than any before. Songs from this season such as Trouble by T-SLA team (where Zion T assigned sokodomo to sing the hook part) and Basick’s Meeting is Easy Parting is Hard (ft. Leellamarz Prod. TOIL) are fused with punk and pop-rock elements respectively (TOIL himself rocking the guitar on the latter song and Basick was even instructed by Yummda to sing during the chorus to elevate the song) and do extremely well on multiple charts. Mudd the student is one of the skilled outstanding participants who have been coveted by all the producers. Mudd, who dresses like a ’70s rocker and has dabbled in alternative rock in his prior releases, does not define himself by genre, but because of his abilities, all of the producers have agreed to support any genre Mudd wants to explore in the show. Mudd later joined the GRAYNOMA squad and advanced to the semi-finals.

Another major turning point in this season is also singer-rapper finally making it to the finals. Singer-rappers always garnered the most attention by the general public such as pH-1 in SMTM 777, Big Naughty in SMTM 8 and Wonstein in SMTM 9 but not one have made it into the finals until BE’O who went viral with Counting Stars, an unreleased song performed in the 60-seconds selection round; finally did last week. Tabber, a singer under DEAN’s label you.will.knovv made it into the semi-finals without having to forego singing completely and Koonta, a renowned reggae musician whose reggae musicality shone through in his performance also made it to the final.

🎵Listen to the songs from the semi-finals:

SMTM10 will be airing its final this week on Friday, December 3, with a diverse range of finalists— SINCE the first female rapper to make it to the finals, BE’O the first singer-rapper to the finals, Koonta a reggae musician whose genius musical abilities transcends genre and Jo Gwang Il, known for his shocking speed in rapping and lyricism. Who do you think will win, and what is your favourite song from the season thus far?

Written by: Ain
Featured Image by: Ain