Korean hip-hop competition SHOW ME THE MONEY returned in 2026 for its 12th season, bringing a new group of rappers together with some of the biggest names in Korean hip-hop.
The season features four producer teams led by ZICO and Crush, GRAY and Loco, J-Tong and Hukky Shibaseki, and Lil Moshpit and Jay Park. Across 12 episodes, contestants compete through rap battles and live performances while trying to make it to the final stage.
Amasian TV currently has all 12 episodes of SHOW ME THE MONEY 12 available with English captions.
Four Producer Teams
The producer lineup gives the season plenty of variety.
ZICO and Crush bring together two artists with very different musical backgrounds. ZICO has spent years working across Korean hip-hop and K-pop, while Crush is known for his R&B and hip-hop work.
GRAY and Loco reunite as a producer team, while J-Tong and Hukky Shibaseki bring a more underground hip-hop background to the competition.
The fourth team pairs Lil Moshpit with Jay Park, giving the season another combination of rapper and producer perspectives.
Contestants have to perform in front of these producers throughout the competition, with each round bringing a different challenge.
The Competition Goes Beyond Rap Battles
The basic premise is straightforward: rappers compete for the chance to become the next major name in Korean hip-hop.
The actual competition changes from round to round.
Early episodes introduce contestants and put them through ranking and battle missions. Later stages move toward larger performances and collaborations, with fewer rappers remaining as the season progresses.
By the semifinals, nine contestants were still competing for five spots in the finale. The final five were HAON, NOW IM YOUNG, Tray B, MASON HOME, and MILLI.
The Performances Get Bigger
The later rounds give contestants more room to show what they can do beyond a traditional battle.
The semifinal performances included everything from boom-bap and jazz-influenced tracks to stages featuring brass sections, string ensembles, dancers, and guest artists. Tray B performed “BAOW” with Jay Park, while MILLI performed “NEVER” with Lil Boi and Wonstein. HAON performed “ON to the next” without a featured artist before closing the stage alongside ZICO and Crush.
The finale continued that format with performances from all five finalists.
HAON performed “R.I.L” and “King’s Gambit” with ZICO, Gaeko, Sik-K, and VINXEN. The stage also reunited HAON and VINXEN, who previously appeared together through High School Rapper 2.
HAON Takes the Season 12 Title
The live finale aired on April 2, 2026.
HAON, representing Team ZICO and Crush, won SHOW ME THE MONEY 12. NOW IM YOUNG finished second, followed by Tray B, MILLI, and MASON HOME. HAON also placed first in both the real-time text voting and live audience voting during the finale.
The win also brought together two parts of HAON’s career. He had already gained attention through High School Rapper 2, and his Season 12 finale included a performance with VINXEN, another rapper associated with that earlier competition.
There’s More to Season 12
This season also introduced SHOW ME THE MONEY 12: World of Yacha, a companion series that followed eliminated contestants.
The spin-off gave rappers another opportunity to compete after leaving the main show, with three contestants eventually earning a chance to return to the main competition.
That made Season 12 larger than the main competition alone, with the additional series giving viewers more performances and more of the contestants’ stories.
Watch SHOW ME THE MONEY 12
SHOW ME THE MONEY 12 originally aired from January to April 2026 and consists of 12 episodes. Amasian TV currently lists all 12 episodes with English captions.
If you follow Korean hip-hop or enjoy competition shows built around live performances, the latest season brings together established artists, emerging rappers, producer teams, and some of the biggest stages in the SHOW ME THE MONEY series.