Fans Are Enraged Over “Street Man Fighter” Dance Team Allegedly Mocking NewJeans’ “Hype Boy” In A Dance Cover
Long past are the days when men can get away with exaggerated covers of girlish or girls-style choreography. Rather than the exaggerated style that was commonly seen in media previously, nowadays, male idols or dancers are often praised for respectful covers of dances by female groups. A prime example is TXT‘s Yeonjun, who recently went viral for his amazing covers of girl group choreography.
#NewJeans Cookie challenge with Txt’s Yeonjun pic.twitter.com/6GaZ3hg3es
— newjeans pics (@picsnewjeans) August 7, 2022
In fact, he even explained his one important rule for his covers.
And I didn’t want it to look like a caricature, so I tried to dance in a way that was thoughtful and cute. What I really wanted was to show it’s another thing I can do well.
— Yeonjun
On the other hand, a male dance group is currently being called out for their cover of NewJeans‘ “Hype Boy.” Netizens are calling it a “disrespectful caricature” that “mocks” the girls and the original choreography. The dance team Local Champs is a foursome slated to compete on Street Man Fighter, the male spinoff of the successful dancing reality show, Street Woman Fighter. They uploaded the cover dance to both their TikToks and Instagrams. Unfortunately, their cover was peppered with exaggerated movements.
Some of the added movements bordered on mockery.
When fans moved to call them out, one member, in particular, Hyunse Park, even pinned the comment and replied with a sarcastic “yep!”
You guys really just look like losers without making it look fun or touching at all. It’s to the point I feel uncomfortable at this…
— Netizen
Some even compared it to the scene in the original “Hype Boy” music video where the girls are upset at some boys who mocked their dance moves.
Fans are even more upset that some of the members of Local Champs have links to the famous dance team, YGX. In particular, Hyunse Park is a known member of YGX. YGX houses choreographers such as Leejung, who are well-known to choreograph for female idols. The full video was eventually deleted from the social media of Local Champs after much criticism but can be viewed on Twitter.
뉴진스 하입보이 희화화한 영상을 보고 너무너무너무 불쾌해짐. 근데 또 댄서래😇 댄서라는 사람들이 우스꽝스럽게 영상을 찍어 직접 올렸다는 사실이 참~~~ 통탄스럽네요~~~~ㅋㅋ pic.twitter.com/69vkLrtyMU
— 둘 (@youthmy_) August 24, 2022
Netizens didn’t hold back.
- “SMF is so problematic.”
- “I thought dancers were so prideful about their dance. Is that considered a dance?”
- “Ah f*ck I was going to like YGX but what’s going on with this.”
- “But Team Eoddae is really good at dancing.”
- “Why are they being like this to young kids?”
Conversely, Team Eoddae, who is also appearing on Street Man Fighter, covered the choreography. Although they are the original choreographers for NewJeans, netizens couldn’t help but compare the attitudes between the two teams.
street man fighter's team_eoddae (blackqworld's team) dancing to hypeboy#NewJeans #StreetManFighter #smf pic.twitter.com/MHdBsBbX51
— fau🐰 (@newjimuse) August 2, 2022
Even if a creator intends their short-form videos to be injected with a little humor, the line between mockery and light-hearted humor must be kept. Over-exaggeration in covers is not only a form of disrespect to the original choreographers and performers, but also to dance as an art.
Meanwhile, support NewJeans by checking out the adorable original choreography seen in the music video below:
