As competition intensifies on Mnet’s Unpretty Rap Star among the eight female challengers, producer and judge San E was not very pleased with the recent performance done by rappers Tymee, Jolly V, and Jimin of AOA.
On the February 12th broadcast of Unpretty Rap Star, the eight rappers of the show were given a mission to enter a full-blown competition where they split up into different groups to choose between two tracks to perform.
The mission of the rap battle was to perform two original tracks written and composed by Verbal Jint, but only used as a basis for a new song. These two tracks, Track 2 and Track 3, were represented by daily guests 2AM’s Seulong and M.I.B’s Kangnam.
As rappers Jimin, Jolly V, and Tymee were teamed up together, the trio chose Track 2 represented by Seulong. With Track 2 as their performance song, the trio respectively presented themselves sitting on different chairs on stage with a quiet, melancholy mood to match up to the song’s theme of a break-up.
Following the calm, yet fierce rap performance of Track 2, none of the four judges between San E, Verbal Jint, Kangnam, and Seulong were satisfied. Of the four judges, San E was visibly the most disappointed and most outspoken.
“I’m embarrassed to have Verbal Jint here. Let me just ask, do you guys think music is a joke?” San E further criticized, “Did you guys come on this show with the sincere thought of approaching the path of a rapper? Because I would have put my whole life on the line to come out here and if I were you guys, even if I showed everything I had it wouldn’t be enough, but what in the world are you guys doing right now?”
Many viewers of the show left comments of agreement, saying, “San E is right. Their performance wasn’t very great. It could have been done much better,” “As a successful rapper, San E isn’t scolding them, but he’s just trying to lead them to the right path,” and, “I’m sure San E knows what he’s doing. There’s a certain image and hip hop code that many rappers live by. They put their all into delivering the best flow and lyrics, but if these girls aren’t putting in their all, it’s a good reason for a successful rapper like San E to say these things.”
In regards to the criticism, Jimin responded during her interview, “I think we misused the chairs. Our stage was really worth zero points. I don’t think we did anything right.”
On the other hand, AOA’s Jimin shed tears on the previous episode of the show, talking about the hardships of being a rapper of an idol group.
Source: TV Report and Sports Chosun
