A part of the K-pop community is seemingly on haywire on Friday, June 5, as fans and Vietnamese netizens are currently engaged in a heated discussion. This was after the claim of some online users that BTS Suga didn't just use Jim Jones' sample in his "What Do You Think?" track, but the speech of a former Vietnamese President as well.
According to the ongoing online debate, the reason why it's an issue between supporters of the idol and the netizens is because like Jim Jones, the cult leader who mass-murdered over 900 people, the former president has a bad reputation as well, which is why people find it offensive.
The controversy sparked when a Vietnamese Facebook user published an audio cut from the original version of BTS Suga's mixtape track, "What Do You Think?" Netizens found then out that the producer used the cult leader Jim Jones' speech as an intro (now deleted by Big Hit and rereleased the edited version).
It's literally part of the already deleted jj speech pic.twitter.com/ZJjOA02ZLx — (@TXT1_BTS1) June 5, 2020
I am Vietnamese and I can assure I heard Vietnamese words in the song. You don’t get to say anything, I know Vietnamese and we have full rights to be offended. I don’t know what’s the reason he put the speech in, so we’re waiting for BH announcement! pic.twitter.com/E2LeeIA1D2 — Haraki Mira (@HarakiMira) June 4, 2020
The account raised a question among his fellow Vietnamese online users to confirm if the mixtape inserts Vietnamese words relating to the former Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm, who they consider a notorious criminal for being a corrupt leader.
As other Vietnamese netizens found about the alleged "original" version of Suga's track, some said it's true, though it is not that clear for Jim Jones' sample is emphasized more in the record. Netizens who got to know about it then started spreading the concern on various social platforms. Further, it's also currently trending on Pann, an online Korean community site.
Apparently Suga used not only Jim Jones’ sample but also samples from Republic of Vietnam’s president Ngô Đình Diệm, who is till today one of the worst criminal in my country’s history. You can hear Ngô Đình Diệm’s speech from 0:11-0:17 in What Do You Think — Yves’s forbidden apple (@_jemappellelune) June 4, 2020
I'm Vietnamese and you can't here it because its Vietnamese, but it might be Ngo Dinh Diem, the corrupt president of South VN. He made a rule that to kill all Viet Cong soldiers and supporters so its a sensitive subject here. — ✦nate✦ l TREASURE ROTY #BLM (@ourbestlionboy) June 5, 2020
not op but similar to jim jones issue, at the same time in the background it seems suga used a sample of a speech by someone who committed huge act of violence (genocide?) against vietnamese people during the war. the sample they used even uses derogatory language towards viet. — noble consort IVY to emperor renjun1위 가수 팬 (@AFakeAquarius) June 5, 2020
Meanwhile, ARMYs then came to the rescue and defended Suga. According to some Vietnamese BTS fans, the claim is a hoax. ARMYs fired back to the "antis" and "bashers" who they presume to be trying to ruin Suga's reputation and asked them to present more solid proofs.
If Vietnamese want to protect yourselves, you have to take the proof like Dispatch. According to Dispatch, they have found two samples used in this song form jim speech not Vietnamese. How can I trust you who even don't show any proof yet? pic.twitter.com/EZIhyhPmzl — Genius Prod SUGA (@yoongihan309) June 4, 2020
Fans said that the audio is not legit as it could be edited or twisted. Moreover, Suga's fans are also reporting the account that allegedly spread false information and also warned them for defamation.
In addition to this, an ARMY, who claims is a Vietnamese and fluent in the language, presented an explanation about the alleged derogatory words that were used in the track, concluded that the claim is invalid.
i’m vietnamese, 100% fluent, and i call it bulls**t. 1) the “chúng tôi” part DOES sound like it, i agree, however 2) the part they take offense in, does NOT sound anything like it. ESPECIALLY the terms “nam bộ”, it aint even there. 3) i’ve worked as an admin for a vn fanpage pic.twitter.com/jOJEmT9b9S — giao (@okaypjm) June 4, 2020
There is no absolute confirmation yet if these rumors are fact-based. However, the discussion between Vietnamese and fans are still taking place.
Antis in my country trying to make it bigger, they been attacking for 3 days by posting on public pages/groups of vietnam. And now they posted it on pann to spread it internationally and they also sent to the Vietnam national broadcast — PT (@suga_addict) June 5, 2020
Some K-pop enthusiasts hope that Big Hit Entertainment will take action immediately regarding this, and whoever is at fault, should apologize sincerely.
What are your thoughts about this?
