G-Dragon's Camp Says K-Pop Star Wasn't Wearing Blackface

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Says Trayvon Martin-like Instagram photo was both "HUGE misunderstanding" and reference to cover art from Big Bang mastermind's next solo effort



An Instagram photo of South Korean pop idol G-Dragon wearing what appears to be a hoodie and dark coloring over his skin was not meant as a comment on race or politics, according to a rep for the Big Bang leader.

"GD was simply wearing different facepaint colors and this is a HUGE misunderstanding," the spokesperson said in an email to SPIN. "The facepaint is only a color variation for his album cover which includes black, white, and red. It is in no way meant to be a political or racial statement."

The rep further clarified, "It’s being derived by a simple photo shoot where GD was using different facepaint colors for his upcoming album."

G-Dragon's spokesperson also said SPIN's article reporting on the image "is completely wrong and taken out of context."

The response comes after we reported on the photo, noting its resemblance to an iconic image of slain Florida youth Trayvon Martin and pointing out that it had drawn criticism online. Though the singer's Instagram account made no mention of Martin, the image bears an eerie similiarity to a meme that had Frank Ocean, Diddy, the-Dream, and others posting photos of themselves in a hoodie last year. (Rap-Up has a good collection of these Martin-inspired images.) Online forums Oh No They Didn't! and One Asian World previously pointed out an alleged connection to the Martin tributes.

G-Dragon is set to appear at KCON 2013, a K-pop convention in Los Angeles on August 24 and 25, and he is readying a new solo album. G-Dragon's 2012 "Crayon" was SPIN's No. 1 K-pop song of the year. His group Big Bang's "Bad Boy" was one of SPIN's 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time. Check out our coverage of a Big Bang concert in New Jersey here.

The original Instagram photo is below:

That's some Justin Bieber level of PR...

EDIT:
the official omona twitter has shared our open letter with authors from spin and the la times who wrote articles about GD.

Spin

Comments

[morningtsuji.livejournal.com]

it was in the korean news, and they were following it lol

[eccentricvibe.livejournal.com]

Idk if you mind me asking but is http://blackinasia.tumblr.com/ your tumblr?

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

"I'm only saying that you can paint your face black being clueless about another culture meaning"

I agree with you here, but GD is not clueless, this is not the first time so I'd say it's best for him to say "sorry" and not do it again

[45s.livejournal.com]

great idea but let's hope the person who compiled everything gets credit. us journalism is basically steal shit from the internet at this point

[45s.livejournal.com]

also that girl ifuaskedmeto that everyone hates but is like spot on with commentary compiled a good article about blatant racism in kpop that was ripped off by gawker too so :-/

this was a while back too

[millie (from livejournal.com)]

Thank you. A very dark blue, but blue nonetheless.

[45s.livejournal.com]

covered in canada quite a bit

[cordyceps.livejournal.com]

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

no not me, he just has good taste in icons

[atenais-pala.livejournal.com]

Maybe he knows something about "blackface", but why would he do it on purpose? And why do we have to be aware all the time about American culture? Probably lots of artists did something that could be misunderstood in countries like Poland, Nigeria or Paraguay, but I see nobody talking about that.

BTW, I'm not defending GD, I believe he was kind silly in this matter.

[candycrush808.livejournal.com]

Some of the article comments go on tangents, like "I'm not going to hold myself to an American standard of racism, I do what I want"! Yeah yeah, have a seat. The problem is two-fold. Even if some people don't know or understand why it's wrong, not everyone who finds out how offensive it has an epiphany or some freaking shakabuku moment. Not knowing is one thing, not caring is another.

[0ddie13.livejournal.com]

Green might anger aliens =)

[hisjulliet.livejournal.com]

well that is one type of delusion I haven't seen before

[heartsolid.livejournal.com]

Lol omg A+

[candycrush808.livejournal.com]

It's something.

[candycrush808.livejournal.com]

Omg. +1

[bloodtaki2.livejournal.com]

This sad excuse is as laughable as these guys from that band, Day above ground, saying they're not racist or objectifying women in their MV because their bassist is Indonesian. Groundbreaking proof.

If someone make a post about that song, I will sit in the post with my popcorn and enjoy the slaughter. Yup.

[candycrush808.livejournal.com]

IKR? Makes perfect sense. *eyeroll*

[opd-top.livejournal.com]

Lol seriously.

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

I know you're not, I understand your point

"And why do we have to be aware all the time about American culture?"

I think artist should be aware of the culture of their targeted audience
GD is clearly influenced by african-american culture, wants to be big in the US but seems to be impervious to some of it's aspect... that's just weird to me

I would give him a free pass if it was the first time, if he was ignorant and actually apologized to the people who were hurt but it's not the first time. That's my main issue really.

[bunica1990.livejournal.com]

Lol can't wait to see his tryhard ass at kcon and see fans protest the fact that he is there

[heartsolid.livejournal.com]

Perhaps they all say it while simultaneously walking across the street while clutching their purses and wallets when a POC (esp male) with a similar outfit and persona they love to fake approached them while they are on visits to LA and NYC?

[45s.livejournal.com]

"The country consumes a lot of American culture while remaining totally removed from the substance of it "

yeppppppppppppppppp and it's really the US's responsibility to change that perception but they won't bother

this is why i don't get koreans (who have never met a black person or that interacts with blk ppl extensively) who think all black ppl are primitive and thuggish yet don't question the fact that the same media they're getting this message from is the same one depicting them equally as bad.

[opd-top.livejournal.com]

One wank at a time please. T_T

[heartsolid.livejournal.com]

Will Smith renewed his black card a few months back so he thought he'd pay tribute with his upcoming album artwork. (/joking)