i mean this with no disrespect at all but this thread is full of so much inaccurate information it’s making this whole situation worse. https://twitter.com/TEARPNG/status/1266593696893394945

Yes rappers use controversial speeches in their work all the time, however usually their work directly references said controversial speech, in this case yoongi doesn’t mention JJ once in his lyrics or make any sort of connection to JJ as a person despite sampling his speech.

This thread brought up joyner lucas sampling the american psychiatric association in his song ISIS. That’s not a good comparison at all, joyner lucas lyrics directly reference mental health so it only makes sense that he would sample the APA. (which isn’t controversial btw)

another thread mentions kendrick lamar and his song DNA and his sampling of a fox news anchors criticism of hip hop culture in his song. This particular segment was actually a criticism of Kendricks own song Alright and his performance of this song in 2015 where he stood-

on a battered police car with an american flag. this sample tied to Kendrick as it was directed at HIM, and the lyrics of DNA are an exploration of how the world views kendrick lamar and blackness and how he views it. The sample he used shows the worlds view and he counters with-

an explanation of how rap music is misunderstood. A better comparison of the myg sample would be Brockhamptons song 1998 TRUMAN, which also samples JJ in its intro.

HOWEVER, the song 1998 TRUMAN is about the movie, the truman show which is about a man who’s life is brodcasted like a TV show. the sample BROCKHAMPTON uses features JJ spewing his anti government agenda, referencing not being free and this directly echoes the truman show.

The difference between brockhampton and yoongi using JJ samples is that brockhampton used the speech as an extension of the message they were trying to push in their song, the sample they chose was directly related to the theme of the song.

Now onto yoongi, this sample is problematic no matter which way you try to look at it. his lyrics do not mention JJ at all, nor do they mention the specific speech he chose to reference. not once does he mention people being “anti korean” there is no context to this sample.

In addition to this, this thread states that JJ was “anti korean”. he was not. JJ never presented himself as anti korean he was anti capitalism and a supporter of marxism and communism. in short he was anti-capitalism both in the united states and worldwide.

because of this he often criticized south korea but his criticism was not linked to race or the entertainment industry, and was instead political and economical. JJ used north korean ideals to create his paradise because he idolized the propaganda used by NK government

The main issue here is that the sample yoongi used has no context whatsoever, unlike the artists i mentioned before he neither mentions JJ nor his ideas. The song is about his success as a korean artist in the western industry.

The samples he chose don’t mention koreans at all but are instead, 1 is a call to action that cites the bible and discusses how people can free themselves by giving themselves to JJs idea of freedom, the 2nd is his criticizing his followers and beginning to prepare them for death

The thing about sampling problematic media is when people do it, they usually have a reason and the reason is provided either within the lyrics or the authors personal statements. THATS why people are upset. and rightfully so.

Once again JJ never criticized sk entertainment. only their government and economic system, if the song is meant to be a diss to critics and hater, JJ is not one of them. The sample was in poor taste no matter which way you look at it.

SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alright_(Kendrick_Lamar_song)

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/18994-kendrick-lamar-dna/

https://genius.com/Brockhampton-1998-truman-lyrics

https://genius.com/Joyner-lucas-isis-lyrics

https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=80857 

https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=64856 

https://www.nknews.org/2013/09/drinking-the-kool-aid/

https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=28340 

https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=28334 

https://genius.com/amp/Genius-english-translations-agust-d-what-do-you-think-english-translation-lyrics

also i’d like to add that even korean people are calling him out. there is no excuse for this.

someone raised a good point here and i tried to explain it in the replies. i added the transcripts to the sermons he sampled from in the sources part and i encourage y’all to read the transcripts as well.

https://twitter.com/sexcgguk/status/1266803150045970435?s=21 https://twitter.com/sexcgguk/status/1266803150045970435

someone else brought this up and i think it’s relevant to this discussion.
https://twitter.com/yoongsatoori/status/1266817400378441729?s=21 https://twitter.com/yoongsatoori/status/1266817400378441729