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| Singer Zico (31) has sparked controversy in China over a song he made 14 years ago. In the song, Zico used the term ‘Jjanggae’ instead of Chinese cuisine, which has led to discomfort among the local Chinese community. /Photo: News1 |
“Singer Zico (31) has sparked controversy in China over a song he made 14 years ago. In the song, Zico used the term ‘Jjanggae’ instead of Chinese cuisine, which has led to discomfort among the local Chinese community.”, “On the 23rd, criticism of Zico’s 2010 song ‘If I ain’t got Jjanggae’ was posted on Chinese social media platform Weibo and other SNS sites.”, “‘If I ain’t got Jjanggae’ is a parody of Alicia Keys’ hit song ‘If I ain’t got you.’ Zico changed the lyrics while keeping the original melody. The song expresses Zico’s frustration about only eating Chinese food every day when he was a trainee at an entertainment agency.”,
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| ‘If I ain’t got Jjanggae’ album cover. /Photo: Block B YouTube channel capture |
“It took 14 years for this song to spark controversy in China. A netizen with 240,000 followers claimed, ‘The term Jjanggae in the controversial lyrics was translated as black bean noodles, but it actually refers to Chinese people. Disrespecting Chinese people as ‘dogs’.” ‘, ‘There were also movements to boycott the song ‘SPOT!’ which Zico collaborated with Blackpink’s Jennie. One netizen stated, “We should not support Zico. We must show the fear of the Chinese people”, and another netizen pointed out, “Those who have been to Korea will know this word. It doesn’t make sense for Chinese people to support him.” Criticism of Zico’s song received 63,000 likes and over 1,800 comments. ‘, ‘Some Chinese individuals have been leaving malicious comments on Zico’s Instagram. In a challenge video Zico posted on his SNS on the 10th, there were many emoticons expressing vomiting alongside comments in Chinese.’, “Zico made a comeback with his new song ‘SPOT!’ released on April 26th. ‘SPOT!’ quickly climbed the domestic and international music charts upon its release. It ranked 15th on the Billboard Global (excluding the US) chart and 32nd on the Global 200 chart, maintaining its position for 3 consecutive weeks, and also reached 75th place on Spotify’s ‘Weekly Top Songs Global’ chart for the week of May 10-16.”