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| San E's latest single 'Trash Journalist' satirizes Korean yellow journalism and claims it incited national gender discrimination movements. Provided to Hankook Ilbo |
By Ko Dong-hwan
Outspoken hip-hop artist San E has taken a swipe at Korean journalists involved in "untrustworthy yellow journalism" in his new single "Trash Journalist."
The rapper released the single Tuesday through YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The song has not broken into a top 100 chart in any of Korea's seven major online music sites, including Melon and Bugs Music, which is rare for the musician. His past singles highlighting major social issues, like "Bad Year," about former President Park Geun-hye on the verge of impeachment, and "Oong Ang Oong," about online misandry communities, all became hits.
Nonetheless, "Trash Journalist" has certainly stirred the public, including Korean journalists, as related news poured out Wednesday morning.
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| One of San E's singles targeted radical members of Korean feminist online communities Womad and Megalia. Provided to Hankook Ilbo |
The track is filled with remarks about unconscientious reporters who would rather work for money and authority than cover the truth. It begins by claiming "they write fake news or gossip-based tabloids" and ends by saying "trash journalists incite the gender discrimination movement behind Megalia and Ilbe." Megalia is a major online community focusing on hating men and Ilbe is its counterpart.
San E, who judged fledgling hip-hoppers on TV rap competition show "Show Me the Money" on Mnet, criticized the journalists for "manipulating journalism" and "deleting online comments so they could read only what they want to read." He claimed they "bred the national gender hatred movement with a dishonesty pen that's supposed to be stronger than the sword."
"If you listen to this song and feel guilty, this song is about you," raps the musician, whose agency contract with Brand New Music ended shortly before the release of his latest satire.
The song also lampoons journalists' unscrupulous business ties with companies in exchange for writing favorable stories. He calls them "Human Centipede 4," referring to a Dutch horror film franchise from 2009.
He compares "trash" journalists and true journalists, accusing the former of "feeding on the misfortune of others" and "destroying one's life with a falsified story without a fact-check."
He also questions the reporters' actual duty. "Is it capturing celebrities' Instagram and spreading rumors? You hook people's minds so well you are like urban fishermen."
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| San E tweeted a captured image of some audience members' reactions during a performance on Dec. 2. The words on the image read: 'Womad and Megalia are social ills.' Photo from San E's Twitter |
San E portrays trash journalists gathering stories as "eating bread crumbs off streets" and attacks newspapers carrying the controversial stories as "a fire starter for a bonfire to burn a witch that hunts Hansel and Gretel." "Witch" appears to refer to trash journalists while the Brothers Grimm characters are the victimized news readers.
"Trash Journalist" received mixed reviews from the public. While it was hailed by those who are aware of rampant yellow journalism in Korea, backed by hundreds of media outlets, others laughed at him for "another act of dissing" and "failing to rank the song on top charts after all the effort."
Critics of the musician crashed his concert at SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul on Dec. 2, shouting sexual slurs and throwing a stuffed toy pig and makeshift banner at him. Some of the protesters were members of Womad and Megalia.
"I don't give a f***. No to Womad. No to Megalia. You guys are psychotic. I don't want to respect those who don't respect me and behave properly," the singer responded, showing his middle finger to the angry audience. After singing one of his most popular songs, "Story of Someone I Know," he left the stage and did not return.
