“Why don’t these companies hire someone who speaks English and knows the history of America, so they can advise them on what’s a good idea and what’s not a good idea?”

I cannot tell you how many times I have either said or though the above statement. This time it’s about Zico’s debut m/v Tough Cookie. For starters I don’t really listen to Block B. There is nothing wrong with the group, they just aren’t my cup of tea. But I am a huge fan of Korean hip-hop so naturally I know of Zico. When I heard that he was going to releasing a song that was going to be an amazing show of his lyrical prowess, I thought Great. Glad to hear it. Then I heard the title of the song. “Tough Cookie”. Not something I would refer to myself if I was trying to show off my hardcore-ness but hey, who am I to judge? Then I started seeing the gifs and pictures.

*sigh*

Ok. Please believe I am not a prude. I mean I’ve seen worse than that (and enjoyed it). We all remember how I giggled hysterically through Gary’s Shower Later m/v. The thing was, I wasn’t impressed. I smirked, shook my head and moved on. Until someone mentioned the lyrics via twitter.

Hold up. What?!?! Does he even know what that means? I understand that certain people think throwing English into a song makes it sound better or make you sound harder, but for the love of all that is holy, why don’t you check phrases out before you start recording? Does it really take that much out of your life to Google something, or ask someone who is not only fluent in the language, but also understand why just because you hear something that might sound cool, doesn’t mean it’s cool to say. Here’s an example of what I mean:

Zico: “Hyung, listen to what I have so far for Tough Cookie”

*proceeds to rap entire song

Hyung hears the line in question and holds up his hand.

Hyung: “Wait. Do you know what that means? Do you really want to say that? International fans may not like it because…” (explains in detail why some people find it offensive)

Zico: “Oh man, no I didn’t understand. I thought it just sounded cool because I heard it on some American rap songs and I thought it made me sound more hardcore. I’ll change it to ‘you’re such a punk-ass bitch’. Thanks, hyung.”

*END SCENE*

No harm, no foul and Zico would have saved himself all this grief. I decided to take a listen to the song and watch the m/v. My mistake.

Maybe if I had just heard the song before watching the m/v…actually no because I heard “faggot bitch” very clearly.

I honestly don’t know what he’s trying to convey with this video. Overall it looks like he’s going for being hardcore (flipping the bird repeatedly, Don Mills doing diamond pushups in a junk yard, smoking cigars,etc) but then he’s sitting in a bathtub full of chocolate chip cookies!

So then I thought maybe it’s him thumbing his nose at m/v’s like this. A satire that I just don’t understand because I’m not fluent in Korean. So I read the translations. (See what I did there Zico? I researched the lyrics) I was wrong AGAIN.

Dude.

There is so much wrongness on so many levels that I would spend a 1500+ words trying to get everything out. Confederate flags, random woman deep-throating the banana. Why?

Was Zico so busy that he didn’t bother to really think about every aspect of this video before releasing it? I understand that all the blame cannot be put on him because his company had to approve everything before it was released as well. But still. I know Zico has had some “issues” before with dropping the N-word on his song ‘I’m Still Fly’ and I really thought that he would have learned his lesson.

Color me surprised.

Or not because it seems like rappers and idols are doing more to get street cred. After the year k-pop has had, I really shouldn’t be that surprised.

I just find it disappointing. Someone needs to sit Zico down and explain everything to him. Dropping offensive words DOES NOT make you cool, or make you look hardcore. It makes you look foolish and ignorant. There are plenty of other Korean rappers that are considered hardcore or having street cred that aren’t making a mess of their songs and m/vs to do it (Tiger JK, Verbal Jint, P-Type). Maybe Zico needs to get some training with them. I don’t know.

I just hope Zico figures this mess out because this is not a good look.