Editor’s Note: This story is part of a week-long feature The ONE SHOTS is doing on Black History Month, the presence of black people in K-pop, and hip-hop.
So you’re listening to a K-pop track and you hear an English line that just makes you go, “WOAAAH! That was nice!” Or maybe you’re listening to a K-pop song and you hear an idol say something you’re sure you’ve heard before but you can’t quite put your finger on it. Chances are, you heard the line or reference somewhere in American hip-hop.
Contrary to popular belief, a lot of K-pop artists – specifically rappers – know their shit. You think Suga spits some of his epic lines without having studied American hip-hop? Not a chance. A lot of these kids are huge fans of hip-hop, much like we are fans of K-pop. In honor of the relationship between the two genres, here’s breakdown of all your favorite K-pop lyrics, and where they came from.
DON’T KILL MY VIVE
TAEYANG (RINGA LINGA): Meomchujima, Baby don’t kill my vive (Don’t stop, baby don’t kill my vibe).
KENDRICK LAMAR (BITCH, DON’T KILL MY VIBE): Bitch, don’t kill my vibe.
We love cracking on Taeyang’s “Don’t kill my vive” line, but in all seriousness, the similarities between Kendrick and Taeyang, at least in religious sense, are plenty. Kendrick’s song and video tip toe the line between fame and obscurity, sin and sanctity. Wanting to surround yourself with people who are on the same level as you spiritually and mentally. How do you navigate the music industry that’s so full of sin, when you’re a religious man? Taeyang’s got a hip-hop, too cool for school image. And sometimes that conflicts with the fact that YB is one of K-pop’s holy kids.
“Ringa Linga” has nothing to do with everything written above – in fact, it’s really just about dancing, having a good time, and waving your hands in the air like you just don’t care. But it’s still interesting to think about the parallels between Kendrick and Taeyang.
THE BEST COAST IS THE WET COAST
PSY (GENTLEMAN): Gonna make you sweat/Gonna make you wet/You know who I am/Wet Psy!
2PAC (VARIOUS): West side!
When 2pac was still alive, he repped the West coast really hard. He was an East coast native but a California boy at heart. So much so, that he would yell out “West side!” in a lot of his music. In “Gentleman” Psy decides to pour water all over himself and yell out “Wet Psy!” Which is funny, I guess. He could also be making reference to the fact that he’s becoming accepted by the “West side” aka the Western world.
Personally, I think Psy’s 2pac reference is outdated, random, and corny.
PARTY PEOPLE
GD & TOP: Ok, party people in the house
DOUG E. FRESH AND SLICK RICK: Ok, party people in the house
Before there was GD & TOP, there was Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick in the hip-hop classic “La Di Da Di.” In “High High,” GD and TOP sample Doug E.’s phrase “Ok, party people in the house.” It’s not a bad sample at all. In fact, since the original came out in 1985, tons of artists have sampled some portion of the track – from the Fresh Prince, to 50 Cent, to Miley Cyrus.
Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick are original gangstas – a couple of hip-hop pioneers. In fact, that dance that everyone was doing, the “Dougie”? Yeah, that was named after Doug E. Fresh. And when it comes to the Dougie, Lord knows Big Bang (ahem, Taeyang) has been known to pimp that dance out to the fullest.
MIND BLOWING!
BIG BANG/G-DRAGON (TONIGHT): Let me blow your mind
EVE AND GWEN STEFANIE (LET ME BLOW YA MIND): Let me blow your mind
Boy, is this a random reference for G-Dragon to make, or what? Not only that, but GD’s talking about some girl who he’s bored with and how lame she is and then all of a sudden he’s all, “Let me blow your mind gurl.” Like, no bro, you can’t blow my mind because you literally just said I’m dull. Like, seriously? Anyway.This is in reference to Eve and Gwen Stefanie’s 2001 single.
This collaboration was awesome because it took the two hottest women in the pop and hip hop genres respectively and put them in the same music video. Fun fact: it was the first song to win a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung collaboration.
A STATE OF BEEZING
G-DRAGON (CRAYON): I’m a G to the D, Gold ‘n’ Diamonds boy/Who told you I’m not? You know I beez that
NICKI MINAJ (BEEZ IN THE TRAP): I beez in the trap/bee beez in the trap
If American hip-hop is where G-Dragon is learning his English, I’m going to ask him to stop, now. Both artist use the word “beez” to mean a state of being. Where is Nicki? She’s in the trap. And what is G-Dragon? He is that.
Fun fact: Nicki uses the phrase “beez in the trap” to suggest she’s in a trap house – or a place where people can buy drugs. But it’s also a play on words. The phrase “bees in the trap” is an old proverb meaning you have everything you need and more. As in, you don’t need anything else because you have everything you want.
AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPRESS
G-DRAGON (CRAYON): My credit card is black
JAY Z (RUN THIS TOWN): All black everything: Black cards, black cars/All black everything
KANYE WEST (LAST CALL): “Oh my god, is that a black card?”/I turned around and replied, “Why yes/But I prefer the term African American Express.”
The black card is like one of those mythical legends that only a select few have ever had the privilege of laying eyes on. It’s a credit card that you can only get if American Express invites you to have it. So you have to be rich, powerful, and, you know, a member of the Illuminati or something.
According to folklore, the card is limitless; you can spend as much money as you want on it, since American Express figures you have enough money to pay it back. Black rappers especially like to make reference to the card because it’s “black.” GD’s making reference to it, not because he’s black, but because it shows that he has it all.
GIRLS
SE7EN (GIRLS): I love girls, girls, girls, girls/Girls I do adore
JAY Z (GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS): I love girls, girls, girls, girls/Girls I do adore
For Se7en’s foray into the American music industry, his people decided to make him go the “urban” route. His song “Girls” premiered on BET’s 106th and Park, and in the greatest mistake of all K-pop history, featured Lil’ Kim. The song sampled a well-known Jay Z record called “Girls, Girls, Girls” where Jay goes through all the kinds of girls he’s dating at the very moment (a Spanish chica who can make a mean meal, a black chick who “don’t know how to act,” and a French chick who loves to French kiss). Even though Se7en’s song was a decent one, it’s reception was lukewarm.
BAD = GOOD
CL (THE BADDEST FEMALE): This is for all my bad girls around the world/Not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good, you know/Let’s light it up and let it burn like we don’t care/Let em know how it feels damn good to be bad
RUN DMC (PETER PIPER): He’s a big bad wolf in your neighborhood/Not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good
Oh, you thought CL and the YG camp came up with this atrocity? No, long before CL explained to us what “bad” means, Run DMC told it to us first. Except, when they did it back in 1986, it sounded infinitely more cool. Maybe it’s because they got to the point quicker. CL had to add in all this extra verbiage, and no one has time for that.
OH? YOU DIDN’T KNOW?
GD & TOP (INTRO): If you didn’t know, now you know
NOTORIOUS B.I.G. (JUICY): If you don’t know, now you know
You tell someone “If you don’t know, now you know,” when you’ve hit them with something crucial. When you’ve told them something that they didn’t expect. Biggie’s “Juicy,” is the story of his life – from dropping out of high school, not being able to pay rent, selling drugs on the corner. And after every verse, he says “If you don’t know, now you know.”
GD & TOP’s “Intro” is the first song from their debut collaborative album. And they come with some heavy hitting, clever lines. And in a sense, they’re saying, now that they’re doing their own thing away from Big Bang, they’re going to hit their listeners with risque lyrics. And if you didn’t know how dope they were, well, “now you know.”
SUCKA EMCEES
BLOCK B/ZICO (VERY GOOD): The bursting pop bottle, get ready for the last spur/How many fake MCs out there?
KILLAH PRIEST (FAKE EMCEES): There’s too many phony emcees out there
“Very Good” was Block B’s first track after being away for so long because of that nasty lawsuit against their company. Can you imagine being Zico, seeing all these new rappers crop up, missing an entire season of rap battles, and not being able to release any music? It must have been excruciating. So, in “Very Good,” Zico reminds K-pop fans that all the rappers they’ve been listening to since he’s been gone are “fake emcees.”
It’s a bold statement, but not surprising. Flip through the hip-hop bible and you’ll notice that rappers call each other out all the time for being sucka emcees – since the beginning of rap. Every rapper thinks he or she’s more authentic than the next rapper. Zico is saying, “I’m back suckas!”
IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY
BIG BANG/GD (LOLLIPOP 2): We gon’ party like it’s your birthday (go, go, go)
5O CENT (IN DA CLUB): Go, go, go, go shawty, it’s your birthday. We gon’ party like it’s your birthday
There are a few days during the year when people party the hardest: New Year’s day, Tax Refund day, and their birthday.
DAMN, SHE’S BAD
B.A.P (CRASH): Have you seen that girl? Yeah, she know she bad
YOUNG MONEY/JAE MILLZ (BED ROCK): Yeah, look at how she walks/Mmmhmm, she know she bad
In Young Money’s first big posse cut “Bed Rock,” each member talks about their love for the opposite sex. Except, the girls they’re talking about, they just want to hit it and quit it. I mean, if Drake’s line, “I love your sushi roll/hotter than wasabi” doesn’t drive that point home, I don’t know what will. In B.A.P’s “Crash,” the sentiments are a bit more romantic. They’re talking about a girl that they love and takes their breath away.
What would happen if a group like B.A.P wrote a song about wanting to be with a girl for just one night? I mean, like the Young Money kids, B.A.P is full of young members with volatile hormones and hot girls throwing themselves at them all the time. Yet, B.A.P is forced to sing about how some imaginary girl “takes their breath away.” Hahaha.
THE B-BOY STANCE
G-DRAGON (HIGH HIGH): I’m Mr. G, in the club, in my B-boy stance
CASSIDY/SWIZZ BEATS (B-BOY STANCE): Chillin’ the in the club in my B-boy stance, with my hoodie on and my gun in my pants
RUN DMC (SUCKER MCS): I cold chill at a party in a b-boy stance and rock on the mic and make the girls wanna dance
The B-boy stance is another term for posting up. You’re in the club, you’re too cool to dance with all the other lames having fun on the dance floor, so you stand with your friends by the wall in your B-boy stance. The term became popular back in the 1980s when break dance artists (B-boys) used it as their de facto pose. Emcees, or rappers, started doing it at parties before confrontations or taking photos with friends.
Run DMC says they’re hanging out in their poses, waiting to rock the mic and get up on some girlies, Cassidy says he’s got a hoodie and a gun just in case someone wants to fight, and G-Dragon says unabashedly, he’s “Mr. G.” In all the above songs, going to the club or a party in your “B-boy stance,” is just another sign that you’re one bad motha.
LET’S GET OUT OF HERE
SEUNGRI (STRONG BABY): Put on my jacket and then…let’s go
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE (LIKE I LOVE YOU): Put on my jacket and then…maybe we’ll fly tonight
Seungri’s line is perfect in so many ways. Both he and Justin are talking to a girl – telling her to take his jacket so they can leave the club and go have sexy time somewhere private.
Strong Baby was the panda’s coming out party – the track and music video that made fans say “Wow, Seungri ain’t just Big Bang’s maknae.” He was sexy, confident, and entertaining. And we all know he’s got a huge hard-on for anything Justin Timberlake, who’s “Like I Love You” was also his debut and coming out party from N’Sync. When Justin came out with that song, everyone thought, “Wow, this kid is more than just the cute guy in that boy band.”
JT’s track was produced by the Neptunes, which consists of producers Pharrell and Chad Hugo. The Neputunes had a very distinct sound – very strange and off color – a sound that when you heard it, you knew it was them. Seungri’s “Strong Baby” sounds just like the Neptunes produced it, which is what I’m sure Seungri was going for.
All in all, not a shabby way for Seungri to pay homage to a guy who inspired him.
LOOK AT ME GO
ALL OF K-POP: Leggo!
CHRIS BROWN (Look At Me Now): Leggo!
Any time you see a K-pop artist say “leggo” in a song or tweet “leggo!” they are not only embarrassing themselves, they’re also using a word that was made trendy by Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now” track with Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne. “Leggo” is the abbreviation for the simple request, “Let’s go.” For example, “I’m hungry, leggo to the wing shop.” Or, “I need some new jeans, leggo to the mall.” In the cool kid sense, people use it to brag about something they’ve got going on. For example, “We’re about to get on stage in Japan…LEGGO!” Or, “YG says our album is actually dropping next week…LEGGO!” For the record, “leggo” is dumb.
BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY
MBLAQ (IT’S WAR): Malcolm X’s “By any means necessary” speech
MALCOLM X: We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.
I know this is supposed to be strictly hip-hop, but dammit, it’s Black History Month, so I’m going to throw this one in here too. MBLAQ thought it’d be a good idea to start their “It’s War” track with one of the most important speeches in American history. Which is cool.
What’s that, you say? The song isn’t about civil rights at all? Not even human rights? Or like, the freedom to wear tight pants? The song is about his girl leaving him for another guy? So, they took a speech that is an essential part of black history, and used it to somehow talk about unrequited love? Hm. Okay.
Anyway, just in case anyone was wondering who is speaking in the beginning of MBLAQ’s “It’s War,” if you didn’t know, now you know.
How many of these did you know about and what other ones weren’t on this list? Got any knowledge of your own to drop? Let us know in the comments! And follow us for the rest of the week as we talk black history month!
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