Didn’t think Blackness was a trend
Written by Shelby-Liza Ndumbi
I’m a Black K-pop fan, so my opinion is valid, but not more than the next one.
We’re so used to listening to our regular type of music such as: R&B, Rap, Hip Hop, Country, Techno, etc. The world of K-pop has always been present for decades now, but it hasn’t shown much groundbreaking momentum till somewhere around 2014. It became more than just vocal singers, no, it brought in Rap and Hip Hop to add some... spice to their brands.
The newer idols, whether their groups, duos, or solo artists have taken wind of that kind of extra sound to make their beat better and entertaining. Some sound great and others aren’t as popular as the previous ones. Although the music sounds amazing, you tend to notice certain, how do you put this, appearances or designs that look a little too close to how Black people normally turn up every day. Part of their culture.
It makes you question if the Asians took inspiration from Black individuals, their hair, skin tone, longer nails, lips, clothing and gang signs to promote the idols by showing them to be bold or different, yet that doesn’t always go well if they don’t appreciate where it came from.
Don’t think it’s been done other than in YouTube video form, but Black influence is real better known as Blackfishing.
Blackfishing are the actions of a non-Black person, often a white individual, altering their appearance to incorporate aspects of Black beauty and culture into their looks. It’s also closely associated with ‘catfishing’.
In this case, it’s used for profits in the idol world of K-pop. Let’s start from the top of one’s head, hair.
Black locks are unique. It’s different. It’s rough, but beautiful. It takes 5-8 hours, depending on who braids them and the style, to complete. It’s something that starts when you’re little, maybe four years old, braiding your natural hair and placing beads to weight them down.
Sitting on the ground for multiple hours isn’t the only problem, but the constant pulling and nail piercing that contributes. It’s our roots. We lived with that pain. We grew up in agony.
But once you get used to it, you manage to fall asleep. Literally. True story. LOL
(More on Black hair in my personal essay under 'Mix & Match').
Now, when you want to make an impact, you do something explosive, right? Well, that’s what’s done in the idol industry. Explosive hair. Many idols have done something abnormal with theirs, yet none more insulting than the following.
A good (or bad) example of Black culture being used for profits on someone from another ethnicity, is Lisa of BLACKPINK. This all-girl group consisting of four members (Jennie, Rosé, Jisoo & Lisa) is one of the most popular and talented ones around the planet.
The dance moves, the singing, the outrageous flare of their music. But, and it’s a big butt, Lisa did something wrong.
Back in 2019, they released one of their Earth-cracking songs called Kill This Love, and it’s great. The visuals are always BLACKPINK, but what we didn’t expect is what Lisa did to her hair. No one really mentions the fake blue nonsense on her head at the beginning of the MV, yet that’s not the real issue here. It’s what happens later in the video that audiences start to question, what the hell?
Around the 30 seconds mark, Lisa kicks open a door as she famously raps “here I come kicking the door” before you see her mis-blended, white horror show they call braids on her head. Lisa’s natural locks were a light kind of brown, fawn perhaps and had the braids placed into two high ponytails.
Yikes...
“Sometimes they apologize and sometimes they don’t, but they all know each other. When you see 10 people getting told this, you should know it’s wrong. It’s been happening, how are you not understanding that you can’t do this?” said Safiya, a Black 20-year-old K-pop fan and Centennial College social worker graduate from Ashtonbee campus
She got into K-pop after listening to a song called, I’m the Best by 2NE1, a girl group of four, on repeat at all her friends‘ birthday parties and inspired by another companion. Sofiya enjoys K-pop because of how the Asians perfect their art, not everyone can become an idol, it requires training in vocals, dance, coordination. And probably even having a certain body seize to be part of that world.
When it comes to Lisa’s white mess on her head, it was insulting and terrible looking. The braids didn’t match her fawn color locks, which also didn’t make sense as to why she wore them in the first place.
It was a shock, not the good kind.
“First and foremost, it looked bad. If you’re going to try to look like us, at least do it nicely. I feel like fans wouldn’t be as offended if they got proper people to do the hair. If it was Black people doing the hair, it would make sense.”
Lisa is one the most confident and well-known Asian artists, for her to turn around and do this... twice is remarkable. The second time, she had creative freedom for her MV of her solo song Money. In this one, her hair was gray-ish with four red braids attached into a high ponytail.
So, she knew not to do that. Hmm...
When idols take inspiration from Black people and incorporate it into their careers, it’s seen more as them wearing Blackness as a concept, a costume rather than learning it and then appreciating the source. It’s to appear more Hip Hop. Her outfit in her 2021 MV didn’t do her justice either. It added to how bad it already looked.
Other idols have done braids, twists, or dreadlocks too: Kai of EXO, Hyuna (solo artist), Yeji of Itzy, J.Seph of KARD, Jay Park (solo artist) and more than what we wanted.
Let’s go down a little further and talk about skin tones as well as body and clothing.
People of color come in all different shades of Black. It’s almost like we have multiple versions of ourselves in society.
A good example of an Asian artist who’s been accused of Blackfishing is a soloist named Jessi. She likes to tan, apparently and that can be misperceived by the audience. Yet, it’s not just her anti-Asian skin that poses a jolt, it’s also her figure and body movement that shows distinct Black behavior. Jessi continuously claims, when accused of Blackfishing, that she isn’t. But we beg to differ.
She complains once people say that when her hair is died red, she’s acting Black.
The issue isn’t really her hair color, but her skin, her behavior. When you watch her music videos, her NUNU NANA song for example, she twerks and shakes her ass. And where did that come from, Black people! Sofiya can’t see why K-pop fans would believe that Jessi is Blackfishing, but somehow, she doesn’t notice it.
“She [Jessi] likes to tan. Some idols prefer to be whiter, like bleach. I think it’s around that concept. Jessi just likes herself darker.”
But that’s where the arguments lie, Jessi’s natural skin is a very light kind of brown, which doesn’t even appear brown. When she tans, her dark skin almost looks Black that you can’t tell that isn’t her indifferent skin. There are darker pictures than this one. Trust.
Same with her fashion choices. Clothing has evolved over the centuries; of course, however, Jessi’s are deeply derived from Black influences. Like Lisa’s outfit in Kill This Love with her white disaster, because of that fur coat she, dare we say, looked like an Asian pimp.
It didn’t work whatsoever, Lis. And regardless of how talented Jessi is and described as having a “Western baddie character” for her brand, doesn’t mean she’s beyond reproach like some fans want. She’s even categorized as problematic at times for more than just the basis of appearances but for the usage of offensive language and excuses to deflect blame.
Are you telling us she just randomly woke up one morning looking like she does now with NO help from Black people’s everyday design?? Why do you think she likes to tan, hmm? Ask yourselves.
She creates amazing music, but Jessicah is an experienced Blackfisher. We said what we said. If you disagree, it’s your right, Cupcakes.
How about nails and gang signs?
*I felt like expressing how funny-looking this man's hands look. LOL. His left one looks broken. Classic. Anyway...
“That feels beyond wrong to me [gang signs].” said Safiya “If you were to come on tour, and be throwing gang signs up, you’ll get shot. You did it to yourself. You’re throwing up gang signs.”
We remember when long pressed-on nails were seen as ‘low-income’ or ‘ratchet’, very Black. But now it has transformed into a go-to style. The way Black women would wear their nails long was an attempt at differentiating ourselves from the rest of the populace, yet it was seen as poor.
Idols are no exception to this abrupt shift, once they start to design their own differently, it’s now in style.
That’s not the biggest pit hole here, if a non-Black person flashes gang signs without understanding both the dangers and the history behind it, it’s pure ignorance at its finest, ladies and gentlemen.
Stray Kids member Hyunjin (second slide) posted a group of photos of himself on their official Instagram account in Winter wear. When you look closely, he shows a famous gang sign you mostly see in Black related MVs (or photos) like: Migos, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Tyga, Bobby Shmurda, Ayo & Teo. You don’t wanna be flicking that into people’s faces, especially those with good eyes.
Note!
Idols sniff for Black culture because it’s adventurous, daring and profit from it while also making remarks about our mannerisms. There are plenty of examples on YouTubeeee.
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Credits to Pinterest for the images and Canva for the edits.
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