Video Of Lee Young Ji Rapping The N-Word Resurfaces As Fans Express Their Disappointment
South Korean rapper Lee Young Ji is under fire from netizens currently for a resurfaced clip.
Lee Young Ji has continued to rise in fame in recent years after winning High School Rapper 3 and Show Me the Money 11. Fans admire her rap skills as well as her bold and carefree personality.
K-Pop fans especially have grown to love Lee Young Ji due to her iconic idol interactions on her YouTube show My Alcohol Diary (also known as No Prepare).
@packayeji bringing this back cuz why tf not IT’S ICONIC #leeyoungji #monstax #jooheon #joohoney
@eternaldreams304 SOOBIN YOUNGJI BESTIES CONFIRMED😭 soobin looks so happy but poor youngji lmao #txt #tomorrow_x_together #투모로우바이투게더 #youngji #leeyoungji #fyp #foryou #kpopfyp #kpopinteractions
Her recent collaboration with SEVENTEEN sub-unit BSS for “Fighting” especially garnered praise from the fandom.
@jihawwafa Queen youngji got her own fancam, she slayyyyy 🔥🔥 #seventeen #bss #youngji #fyp
Yet, fans are disappointed to discover an old video of Lee Young Ji saying the N-word.
In the English language, the N-word, n*gga, is an ethnic, racial slur used against Black people, especially African-Americans, that originated as early as the 15th century, traced back to slavery.
American civil rights organization NAACP‘s (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) official position is that it does not condone the usage of the word “in any capacity.” Yet, most African-Americans believe it’s fine to say the N-word as long as you are Black in an attempt at reclamation. So, you will often hear Black music artists, especially rappers and Hip-Hop artists, include it in their lyrics.
Due to its frequent usage in songs, many K-Pop idols have got themselves in hot water by singing along. Now, Lee Young Ji is guilty of doing the same thing, and netizens are expressing their disapproval.
i just found out youngji said the n word.. non black rappers continue to disappoint me everyday pic.twitter.com/TqXdVnG78u
— ☮︎ mikey (@jiungaiko) March 20, 2023
@joosanhostan So many of these kpop/khiphop artists ain’t safe for US ✊🏾man…I’m sick of it..whole damn genre is based off hip hop/rap/ r&b and yet folks don’t know how to respect the culture #leeyoungji #youngji #khiphop
@cunttiest Girl saying the nword so casually like she own it..
@dailyyoonmirae Like i dont have faith in any celebrity but is it asking too much to not be stupid? #Dailyyoonmirae #youngji #kpopfypシ #kpopfyp #fypシ
In 2020, Lee Young Ji appeared on Mnet‘s K-pop music competition television program Good Girl. In the clip, Young Ji can be heard rehearsing American rapper Tyga‘s “Ayy Macarena,” which samples Los Del Rio‘s 1996 hit “Macarena,” with QUEEN WA$ABII. Tyga’s song includes the N-word in the chorus, so while rehearsing, Young Ji rapped the original lyrics, including it.
Ayy, Macarena, Macarena, Macarena (Ayy)
Put the chopper on a n*gga, turn him to a sprinter (Yee)
Bitches on my d*ck, told ’em give me one minute (One minute)
Ayy, Macarena, aight (Ayy)
Ayy, Macarena, Macarena, Macarena (Woo)
Put the chopper on a n*gga, turn him to a sprinter (Woah)
B*tches on my d*ck, tell ’em give me one minute (Minute)
Ayy, Macarena, aight (Ayy)— “Ayy Macarena,” Tyga
Youngji qui dit le nword dans good girl pourquoi ca me surprend elle est en duo avec wasabi pic.twitter.com/wPGpeiKy5v
— yuta nakamothoe (@leeho3_) May 29, 2020
For their actual performance of “Ayy Macarena,” the N-word was replaced with “ninja.” On the show’s broadcast, it was captioned as “ninza.”
At the time, viewers expressed their dismay over the situation. From Mnet airing and not censoring the entire rehearsal to even the poor replacement of words in the final performance, nothing about it was good.
not lee youngji actually rapping the n word 😭 i knew something wasn’t sitting right with me when they used “ninja” in place of it during their actual performance when they could have just skipped over it https://t.co/KmRHx3bVGo
— WASABALAMA (@bbyjimjams) May 21, 2020
Soooo I was watching good girl and really starting to like lee youngji but she just casually dropped the n word…mnet didn’t even try to censor?, am I hearing things cuz no one has really said anything about this
— 😵🚗 LA (@teeaamaa) July 3, 2020
With her current popularity status, the issue has resurfaced, and some fans are just now discovering it. Lee Young Ji has apologized a few times since the incident. She has replied to DMs, comments on her post, etc., regarding criticism, explaining the situation further.
In 2021, a netizen brought up Lee Young Ji’s usage of the N-word again in the comment section of one of her TikTok videos. Young Ji replied with a thread, written in English, apologizing and owning up to her mistake.
The controversial episode was aired in the summer of 2020. At the time, Lee Young Ji was 17 years old (international age), which can arguably still be seen as a kid, and while she is currently considered very good in English, it’s not her native language. So, it could have been an honest mistake, as every young person makes mistakes. On the other hand, QUEEN WA$ABII was 26 years old. Still, Lee Young Ji’s apology is only to be accepted by those in the Black community.
