even though this is a new-age cassie opinions blog, i am an elf first and foremost, which of course means i have opinions on the controversy surrounding the latest d&e title track, 지지배/jijibae (ggb).

for the uninitiated, 지지배/jijibae is a korean term derogatorily used by men about women that basically amounts to ‘’ in english. here is a twitter thread by eruchan_0415, who is an elf, explaining the history and current usages of the term. when d&e announced the name of their title track, many korean elf effectively flooded their dms with concerns about how this is the name of the title track. as a result, d&e cancelled all music show promotions, issued an apology, and re-recorded the song (released as “fix version").

as i’ve mentioned before, i live in the west. english songs come out all the time that refer to women in a derogatory fashion. maybe i’m desensitised, maybe i don’t mind because it’s about women as a monolith and i cannot take anything that reductive seriously to begin with. whatever the case, it is not my place to say that koreans should not be offended by the name of the track or that d&e’s reparations are suitable or enough.

i will say this: this song s. it’s so catchy. if i’m gonna be called a , at least it’s set to the tune of such a jam. ‘너무 예쁜 지지배 (지지배 지지배) / neomu yeppeun jijibae (jijibae, jijibae)’ plays in my head at the most inconvenient of times hahaha.

i will also say: i don’t think their reparations make a lot of sense. sure they re-recorded the song in light of the concerns… but it was released almost a week after they released the mv with the original lyrics, which was released on album drop day because all of that material was produced already and they didn't want to waste it. also, streaming sites like spotify still have the original lyrics, and streaming sites arguably have way more reach than a music video! i’m of the opinion that if they were gonna release fix version, they shouldn’t have released the original at all if the goal was to avoid offending listeners with the lyrics. the music video could have been delayed so that it didn’t get a head start at streaming numbers, or it could have been saved as a bonus feature on the physical album. availability on streaming could have also been delayed until fix version was ready. jpop does that (releasing on streaming much later after physical copies are available) all the time.

super junior delayed the renaissance twice due to title track complications, and i’m sure d&e were burned by the experience… but at least there is precedent for this, as unfortunate as it is. none of the fans would have faulted them for a delay; the circumstances impelling it at least were transparent and more understandable than those surrounding the renaissance 🙃

it’s unfortunate that this is the legacy of the first comeback d&e had under their independent agency, ode entertainment. we all know that if they stayed at sm, the song never would have been greenlit as it is. either they would have had donghae rewrite it or just scrapped the song entirely. i like the song in its current form (fix version doesn’t hit as hard tbh), but i also like a controversy-free super junior more. this group gets enough flack from international fans for untrue reasons, they really didn't need dissent from their home base for valid-by-home-base-standards-(at-minimum) reasons. it's such a happy, catchy ditty, just in time for summer; i wish it was set up for success.

alas, another thing this situation tells me is that there are perhaps zero (0) women/women sympathisers employed at ode. (insert obligatory disclaimer here about how it is not the responsibility of oppressed people to educate others on the tools of their oppression.) on the basis of faith trust and pixie dust, i am confident that if any single person brought up the potential for backlash before album production was fully underway, d&e would have heard that person out, and this whole thing could have been avoided.

finally, this leads into a greater concept that i’ve been thinking about, which is that i don’t think it’s a coincidence that d&e (and kyuhyun, but i’ll talk about him in another post) were the first ones to leave sm. these two, separately and together, are probably the most popular members by miles—not just in number, but also in fervour. they have so many fans, and these fans love them so much. eunhaers/annies/byeolnims/whatever they’re calling themselves are gonna make this comeback succeed through blood, sweat, and tears because the artists are d&e. no other member or combination of members would be so rallied behind.

all of that support means they're the /guinea pigs/. the rest of sj is probably gonna observe what happens to them now that they’ve left because they’re the best case scenario. if they flop, there's no hope for the rest of them. comparing the difference between kyuhyun’s restart to d&e’s 606, i am quite confident that we will likely not see another attempt at departing sm for an self-owned independent company. if anyone else leaves sm, they’ll be joining an established agency, for sure.[1]

[1] unless that person is shindong tbh. he already has so much experience in starting and closing independent business ventures, so he’s learned a lot about what works and why. the success of his walala studios is proof of that. if he wanted/needed to start an independent entertainment company post-sm, i really think he could do it. (for transparency’s sake, he did try to do that within the framework of walala, but it was to manage other entertainers [dancers, specifically], not himself. i think he let that fizzle out on purpose. on the basis of faith trust and pixie dust [part 2], i think it would turn out a lot differently if his own entertainment career were on the line... anyway!)

published: 4.5.2024