Korelement is a man of many, many words. Raised on the verse of rap’s brightest luminaries and a dangerously high dose of New Jersey, rapper Korelement stands as Funky Goodwill Ambassador to the Beijing hip-hop faithful. With a packed local show schedule, a European tour on the horizon, and a music video in the oven, I sat down with the loquacious MC for a debriefing.

“There are rappers and there are Emcees,” says Korelement, “I’m an Emcee, so it’s a hip-hop style, not a rap style. It’s a frame of mind—tuning into the sound the universe made when it was first formed and trying to resonate or speak at the same frequency. That’s why I speak about life, things I believe are universal—peace, love, and prosperity, or lack thereof.”

I first met the hardest working man in flow business a year ago outside Yugong Yishan. Every the consummate hustler, Korelement pulled out his phone and demonstrated how he pays the bills, rapping along to some of his good time jams like, “This Is Beijing,” “Kung-Fu Kid” and “Miniskirts,” a track he just finished shooting a video for.

“With the help of some of Beijing’s bright young talent like Julie Luu (Home Grown Green Productions) Liang Shih (Director) and MING (Director of Photography), we created an edgy, sexy, video about how seeing a red plaid miniskirt wrapped around a beautiful woman strolling down the street with a pair of high heels and thigh-highs can make a dude’s day,” laughs Korelement.

The completion of the “Miniskirts” video fits nicely with his upcoming show at Dos Kolegas (May 22) while paving the way for Korelement’s upcoming European tour.

“I’ve never been to Europe so I want to take in as many sites as possible,” says Korelement, “I’m planning to hit Stockholm, Berlin, London, Paris, Rome, and Belgrade then move through Turkey to the Middle East, stop in Beirut, and end up in Cairo to fly back to Beijing.”

And why does a city boy from the States keep coming back to Beijing?

“I grew up in the Bronx and New Jersey, hanging with my brother and bumping those first albums of L.L. Cool J, Salt-N-Peppa, and RUN-DMC down in my mom’s basement and rapping under the stairs,” muses Korelement, “Seeing all the doors that have opened up here in China is something I never could have imagined when I lived in America.”

After his European tour, Korelement plans to release his new EP, “Where’s My Sunshine,” launch a new cartoon series featuring his music, and release tracks created in collaboration with the Ying Yang Twins.

Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, or Metal, Korelement is a very rare commodity.