08 issue 11 — THE NEW CONTEXT

08 ISSUE XI
MAY 2026

Even beyonce’s booty looks flat next to yours

Black culture is widely consumed and celebrated, while Black people themselves remain marginalized or unacknowledged. Like in K-pop.

By Olivia Ellis

In April 2025, K-pop girl group Kiss of Life, known for their R&B-style music, faced backlash for livestreaming member Julie’s hip-hop-themed birthday party. During the celebration, the members were dressed up as male rappers, with some styling their hair in cornrows and wearing hoop earrings. They mimicked Ebonics and used African-American Vernacular English or AAVE when conversing with one another, acting out a fake scenario about someone stealing “their man.” They also organized a spread of soul food, including Southern Black staples such as cornbread, fried chicken, and green beans.

Image of Jay Park’s album cover for his hit song Mommae.
To anyone following the genre closely, this was only one of many instances in which K-pop artists have shown an utter lack of cultural sensitivity and perpetuated racial stereotypes about the Black community. This, while K-Pop draws explicitly on African-American music for much of its inspiration.

Black American culture is the blueprint for most Western music and fashion aesthetics that have become popular worldwide. For centuries, Black inventions have been ridiculed and stolen, predominantly by white inventors and artists. Black ways of living, style, and talents have been perceived as ghetto and unkempt, but have selectively become trendy and profitable to the mass audiences in the West and the Majority World.

White artists and entertainment companies have long turned to Black aesthetics as a tool for reinvention - often at moments of transition, controversy, or reputational strain. This pattern is visible across several high-profile cases.

For instance, Justin Timberlake adopted a more R&B-influenced sound and visual style following his departure from NSYNC, positioning himself as a more mature solo artist. Similarly, Miley Cyrus leaned into hip-hop aesthetics and twerking during her post-Liam Hemsworth breakup era, marking a sharp departure from her earlier Disney image.

In another example, Ariana Grande’s collaborations and public associations with artists like Big Sean and Mac Miller coincided with a noticeable shift toward hip-hop-inflected sounds and imagery.

Though often framed as a strategic P.R. move to boost an artist’s appeal, this pattern also reinforces the underappreciation of Black bodies, artists, and music. It underscores a recurring dynamic: Black culture is widely consumed and celebrated, while Black people themselves remain marginalized or unacknowledged.

The K-pop industry is one of many that have profited from Black aesthetics through sound, lyrics, and fashion. From Hip-Hop, Rap, and R&B aesthetics, black 80s-90s street fashion, the use of AAVE, saying the N-word out loud, to mimicking rap and singing styles from black artists, K-pop is deeply shaped by Black musical and aesthetic traditions. For example, Seo Taiji and the Boys are the first Korean Pop group and are also credited with founding K-pop. The group was heavily influenced by the New Jack Swing era of R&B artists such as Bobby Brown, Bell Biv DeVoe, and Janet Jackson. They incorporated hip-hop styles and black aesthetics into Korean music, gaining popularity and marking the start of K-pop's take off in the Korean music industry.

In the Korean hip-hop scene, there are many controversies about its cultural appropriation and insensitivity. Many hip-hop artists adopt stereotypical appearances, wear cornrows, braids, and dreads, and adopt a “black” persona to look trendy and edgy outside typical, polished Korean standards. K-hip-hop artists such as ZICO, CL, Jessie, and G-Dragon gained popularity for their “unique” hip-hop flows and styles, which are all cosplays and mimicry of Black influence. On the rap battle show, “Show Me The Money,” from 2012, contestants were praised and received more votes for saying the N-word.

In 2015, Jay Park, often called the “Korean Chris Brown,” gained popularity with his single “MOMMAE” (2015). The song topped the local music charts and drew global attention to the K-R&B industry. The song and music video were basically a ripoff of Chris Brown and Tyga’s album “Fan of a Fan: The Album.” Jay Park's hip-hop aesthetic was considered rebellious and gained attention in the club and party scene. The chorus starts “Even Beyonce’s booty looks flat next to yours,” and in the music video, while Korean women with revealing hip-hop clothing twerk around him. There are scenes where he is lying on the bed with women in lingerie and money, and his hair is in micro braids.

The first and second generations of K-pop featured bubbly, polished aesthetics, drawing inspiration from 2000s Western artists and groups such as NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and Destiny's Child. The third generation of K-pop expanded more into R&B aesthetics and music. BTS, a third-generation group and probably the biggest of the genre, initially debuted in 2013 as a hip-hop group. The three members, RM, formerly known as Rap Monster; SUGA, formerly known as GLASS and later as AGUSTD; and J-Hope, were heavily involved in the underground hip-hop and dance scene while trainees at HYBE Entertainment. The other members, Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, were all introduced to the hip-hop scene by these members, as hip-hop was the leading focus. BTS leaned into African American aesthetics - mohawk afros, braids, cornrows, bandanas, Timberlands, Jordans - and they were styled to resemble a black hip hop group wearing backward snapback hats and big gold chains.

Though aspects of BTS’s image exposed their lack of cultural sensitivity, they appear to have taken to heart lessons from famous rappers (Coolio, Warren G) and other black music industry stalwarts, and developed their own sound while incorporating their experiences into their music.

However, as their popularity grew in South Korea and the West, the hip hop aesthetic was dropped, and global stardom became the goal; their style shifted to a “safer”, more palatable, pop-friendly image.

Not surprisingly, Black fans face extreme racism and disappointment from companies, artists, and the K-pop community. Black travelers are likely to face discrimination in South Korea and the South Korean nightlife scene, where Black foreigners aren't allowed into hip-hop and R&B clubs and are subjected to racist attacks. Although Black presence in K-pop has increased as music companies have hired and utilized more Black producers, songwriters, and choreographers, racism persists in the way the industry operates and the way it fails to respect or reward the contributions of Black expression.

olivia ellis recently graduated with an MA in International Affairs from The New School.