“From ‘subject of treatment’ to creator”… A neurodivergent young adult opened the door to the industry with a music video
“From creation to distribution to video”… Star Friends expands the youth arts ‘industry model’
“Even if no one else does, I will believe in myself.”
Young adult Park Yoon-Su, a.k.a. rapper RapDogg
Under an overpass in Seoul, amid gritty scenes moving between an abandoned house and a studio, the voice of rapper RapDogg (legal name Park Yoon-Su) resounds. This is not a mere music video. It is the moment when a neurodivergent young adult, long treated as an object of ‘protection’ and ‘treatment,’ stands before the camera and declares himself a creator.
The music video produced by Star Friends is a work based on the first official EP album of Park Yoon-Su. It visualizes the identity and anger contained in the name RapDogg, burnout, and the resolve to start again.
Park Yoon-Su first encountered hip-hop in his third year of middle school. For over a decade since, he has continued making music within the education programs of Star Friends, and he now works as a peer support worker (guardian) and a cafe barista while pursuing creative work. He is not simply a ‘participant,’ but is becoming a creator who designs his own life.
His path has become even clearer recently. Through the Label+ membership of the music distribution platform ‘mixtape (mixtape.),’ he released official tracks and entered major platforms such as Melon·Bugs·YouTube Music. And this time, by moving on to music video production, he stepped one foot further into an industry structure that connects creation–distribution–video content.
The production method also differs from the conventional. Without support from large agencies or institutions, about 100 citizens raised the production budget through Naver Happybean. Young arts enterprises and independent creators collaborated on filming that used diverse locations, including space beneath an overpass, an abandoned house, and vehicles. It is not a ‘helping project,’ but an outcome created together.
Star Friends has run arts education for neurodivergent young adults. But the direction is clearly different: rather than treatment or rehabilitation, it is about bringing young people into the real industrial structure that spans lyrics writing·composition·recording·performance·distribution. This music video is a case that shows the experiment is no longer just an experiment.
On the ground, this is not viewed simply as a ‘good case.’ It is read as a signal that those excluded from the existing culture-and-arts ecosystem are emerging as new agents.
In an interview, Park Yoon-Su said, “Music is the driving force that makes me live in the present. However you choose to listen, this is my path.”
Kim Hyun-Su, board chair of Star Friends, said, “The art of young people is not the story of the socially disadvantaged, but the voice of an individual living in this era,” adding, “We will continue to build structures that enable them to find a place within the industry.”
From releasing tracks to a music video. It may look like a small change. But the questions remain. Why had this path not been open until now? And now, who will widen it further?
Young adult Park Yoon-Su, a.k.a. rapper RapDogg
