Rapper Jay Park shared a cover of Kendrick Lamar’s famous “DNA.” on Monday featuring other Asian artists involved with the H1ghr Music rap label founded by Park himself in 2017. The song speaks to the artists’ pride in their Asian heritage, sharing similar themes with Kendrick’s 2017 track. Despite the lyrical emphasis on Asian culture, the visuals of the video reflect aspects of being Black.
Many of the artists singing and rapping along with Park in the video sport dreads, durags, braids, and many fashion trends that originated in Black culture. Social media was disappointed at the disjointed effort, with some even calling Park flat-out racist for his actions.
Park attempted to make amends, posting a lengthy half-apology stating, “If y’all can fangirl over young Korean dudes with dyed hair I don’t see why we cant fanboy over rappers with face tats and dreads.”
He also posted a video from a 2018 freestyle appearance on Sway in the Morning where he talks about race relations between Blacks and Asians. Neither effort was well received, with one Twitter user stating, “Jay Park ‘apology’ is just saying ‘please let me appropriate black culture to make money.'”
This isn’t the first time the rapper has faced criticism for his culturally insensitive actions. Park was under fire with the Muslim community just a few weeks ago for the offensive lyrics “worship me like Allah” in “Mukbang! (Remix)”.
Check out the social media reaction below.
@hobisreal1