Universal Music Korea has signed hip-hop artist, producer and composer Hukky Shibaseki to a management deal, announced Friday, August 7. Billboard

Under the partnership, Universal Music Korea — a division of Universal Music Group, the world's largest record-label group — will work with Hukky Shibaseki on creative projects, strategic collaborations and international opportunities, according to Billboard.

Hukky Shibaseki is an award-winning producer, composer and hip-hop artist known for experimental hip-hop, electronic textures and alternative homegrown rap. He won the Korean Hip-hop Awards 2025 'Hip-Hop Album of the Year' for Free Hukky Shibaseki & the God Sun Symphony Group: Odyssey.1. His recent credits include producing and mixing the track 'clear out the room,' with lyrics by J-Tong, mastered by Nahzam Sue at Wormwood Hill Studio and released via PINE MUSIC KOREA.

He has collaborated with South Korean talents including E SENS, B-Free, J-Tong and JJANGYOU.

At Universal Music Korea, Hukky Shibaseki joins a roster that includes DEAN, Okasian, Bryan Chase, LIM KIM, 1300 and HEYOON — a lineup that has taken shape through a string of signings over the past year. The Korean-Australian alternative hip-hop group 1300 was signed around June 2026. Hip-hop artists Okasian and Bryan Chase were signed in a separate deal. HEYOON, a Korean-born international pop artist based in Los Angeles and Korea, also joined the roster.

Calvin Wong, CEO of Universal Music Group Southeast Asia and Korea and senior vice-president of Asia, commented on the signing, Billboard reported.

Universal Music Korea's official Instagram account signalled the move a day before the formal announcement, posting a 'Welcome to Universal Music' message on August 6 with the hashtags #HukkyShibaseki and the Korean-script equivalent of his name.

For a general listener unfamiliar with Korean hip-hop, the context is straightforward: South Korea's hip-hop scene has grown into a self-sustaining industry with its own awards infrastructure, independent labels and production ecosystem, and major-label interest from global players like Universal has been increasing as that scene reaches international audiences. A management deal, in this case, means Universal Music Korea handles the business side of Hukky Shibaseki's career — strategy, collaborations, distribution — while the artist retains creative direction.

What makes Hukky Shibaseki's signing worth noting is his profile within that landscape. He is not a mainstream pop act crossing over from K-pop; he is an experimental artist whose work sits in the alternative lane of Korean hip-hop, and his Korean Hip-hop Awards win places him among peers recognised specifically by the genre's own community. That Universal Music Korea is investing in an artist of that profile — alongside a roster that already spans alternative hip-hop groups, solo rappers and pop — points to the breadth the label is building across Korean music.