by Fans on both sides continue to debate over how much K-pop takes from black artists, a debate that has been reaching its boiling point for some time.
allegedly plagiarizing Doja Cat’s “Say So” in her new solo song, “Weekend.”
The critiques come just a week after Taeyeon’s release, which has been met with critical and commercial success from fans across the globe. Despite the overall positive feedback, many fans can’t ignore the similar sound that “Weekend” has to “Say So.”
Music critic Jun Min Jae stated that “For me, it seemed like the song tried to reference Doja Cat in various ways, so I wasn’t pleased with it.”
The incident brings up an essential question to fans of K-pop – how much influence does the style take from black culture and artists? It’s a question that’s been debated for quite some time and one that die-hard K-pop fans often like to push under the rug.
Fans of Girls’ Generation are begging news outlets to “leave Taeyeon out of this” after questions arose over whether or not K-pop has “lost its unique spark since companies started pursuing the Billboard charts.”
Taeyeon and Doja Cat have yet to comment on the similarities between their songs. However, fans are still at the battle over whether or not Taeyeon’s song counts as a form of plagiarism or if it is simply a nod to Doja Cat and her musical style.
Some fans claim that the similar sounds are merely a coincidence, stating that Taeyeon wouldn’t go after Billboard charts because she doesn’t even care about the Korean charts – but others have noticed recently that Girls’ Generations’ record label, SM Entertainment, has been trying to expand into an American audience. Perhaps nothing displays this better than the new creation of NCT Hollywood, a U.S. subunit of the popular K-pop boy group NCT.
Though Taeyeon may not personally desire to appeal to the Billboard charts, many believe that SM might have other wishes for her. It is unclear how aware of Doja Cat Taeyeon’s similarities or if this is something she purposely did.
Fans on both sides continue to debate over how much K-pop takes from black artists, a debate that has been reaching its boiling point for quite some time.
Taeyeon fans continue to defend the artist and support her in her solo endeavors–but many are becoming increasingly aware of this problem that seems to spread across the K-pop industry.
