Mithra Jin removes foot from mouth, apologizes on air
by javabeans
On May 7, Epik High rapper Mithra Jin issued a public apology on variety show Goldfish for rude remarks made toward Min Kyung Hoon of the ballad group Buzz.
The rapper had hosted a radio show on music portal site Melon, “Mithra Jin’s Music Date,” in a special New Year’s broadcast back in January, after which he was criticized for insulting other artists. Mithra Jin explained that he’d been a little looser than his usual style that night, and should have been more careful when he said:
“The Nuts’ Ji Hyun Woo and singer of 1988 [old-fashioned] ballads Min Kyung Joon… The ones who don’t bow [in greeting] properly are all 1984’ers. You’d think their necks were in a cast.”
Tablo clarified, saying the press had misreported the statements. I’d say they really did, because the first article I read made Mithra Jin out to be rude and abrasive, but a second report printed the full quote, which is much less incendiary:
“The Nuts’ Ji Hyun Woo and singer of 1988 ballads Min Kyung Joon. Why are these kids born in the Year of the Rat so tall? They’re at least 184cm — the kids who don’t bow are all 84’ers. You’d think their necks were in a cast.”
(It’s a little convoluted, but it was meant as a play on words, with 184 cm => born 1984, Year of Rat => 2008 is Rat Year => New Year’s radio broadcast.)
But, Tablo conceded that although the comments toward Ji Hyun Woo weren’t that bad, Mithra Jin had been a bit unfair to Min Kyung Hoon, and DJ Tukutz even extended his own apology as well.
The show put Mithra Jin on the phone with Min Kyung Hoon, and although Min was unable to answer because he was in the middle of his own TV appearance, Mithra Jin apologized, saying, “I made some rude remarks about you in the past, and I want to take this opportunity to apologize directly. I’d like if we could have a drink sometime in the future and talk.”
Bit of a side rant:
I swear, Korean media really needs to get its act together. I’ve always been kind of wary of the press, but sometimes it’s hard to tell just how much liberty the reporters are taking in telling a story. As you can tell above, the simple omission of a sentence can drastically alter the tone of a statement. I’ve read at least four different articles all reporting this same story, and each source has “quoted” Mithra Jin differently. Western press has strict rules on quotations — anything that wasn’t explicitly stated must reside outside the quotation marks or be set off by brackets, so there’s no confusion as to what was exactly stated. But Korean media almost always paraphrases — within quotes, outside quotes, willy-nilly. The same “quote” can have slight wording variations in every source that chooses to quote it. It’s ridiculous. It’s like there are no standards for professional reporting — and perhaps there aren’t.
Via OSEN, and OSEN again
SONG OF THE DAY
Buzz – “약자의 눈물” (Tears of the weak) [ Download ]
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1 marcel
May 8, 2008 at 2:19 AM
bollocks.. mithra jin.. shouldn'ta done it.. i'm crazy bout ji hyun woo.. & he's wearing a sex pistols t-shirt! i'm about to watch "the filth & the fury" for music class.. i'll let you know how it is guys.. & poor min kyung hoon.. that was pretty insulting.. 1988 ballads.. nice one.. so is epik high too cool for buzz bc ballads are inferior to hip hop? well.. they can just go ahead & listen to the "never mind the bollocks, here's the sex pistols" album from 1977.. i swear.. do all musicians start acting like a!$holes once they become famous? hey dramabeans.. are there professional standards for anything in korea?
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2 amy
May 8, 2008 at 6:19 AM
it was supremely unprofessional for them to omit the one line that altered the entire tone of the quote, but from the first quote that you quoted, it doesn't look like they're adding something to the quote that mithra jin didn't say though...? this just seems to be a case of misquoting, which is a mistake the western press is also guilty of committing - or else there wouldn't be so many lawsuits from celebrities/people of importance for being misquoted.
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3 belleza
May 8, 2008 at 7:26 AM
There's no future! And Korea's dreaaaammmiiiiiinnng . . . . .
Entertainment and sports journalism in most of the world and here isn't particularly up to the same standards anymore. Reporting and punditry sleep in the same bed. And blog culture doesn't even use a bed.
But to be fair, hip hop without beef (I saw the way Tablo shady looked at Min Woo in Nonstop 5 and X-man, that's hate son!) is rather like Korea without beef. And, you know, Rain and Colbert are like Pac and Biggie. Somebody's got to stop the violence before they kill each other!
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4 Javabeans
May 8, 2008 at 9:21 AM
funny, marcel, i saw the sex pistols shirt and wondered if he'd ever even listened to them. i think the tenor of the statement was more about Min Kyung Hoon's singing style (he has an almost trot-like warble when he sings) than the fact that ballads are inferior musical forms
amy, you're right in that they're not adding anything to the statement. but the articles that omit the context, print the curtailed quote, then say Mithra Jin is accused of badmouthing another singer offer the impression that what he said was done in a malicious spirit. when i read the articles explaining in more detail, i felt like it had been blown out of proportion.
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5 marcel
May 8, 2008 at 11:03 AM
@javabeans: ji hyun woo is a rock guitarist so i think he might have.. yeah.. i still think it was rather mean of mithra to put down min kyung hoon's singing style.. which to me is the same as essentially trashing his music & the genre he sings in.. imo buzz should be recognized as a classic.. & as if to imply that trot is just a shabby old form of music! i don't listen to it myself but from what i know it's very important to korea & laid the grounds for punks like mithra to even have a musical career.. he shouldn't forget that hip hop has roots that go way back to that era either.. we just watched "scratch" in class.. so whether he's making fun of min kyung hoon's individual singing style or another genre.. it just gives the impression that mithra jin has no appreciation for anyone or anything besides himself.. it sounds like someone needs to take a turntable needle to his overly inflated balloonhead.. or dare i say he sounds like an insecure aging rapper who knows his end is around the corner? or maybe he was just buzzed during the radio program.. we'll never know for sure will we?.. hmph.. :(
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6 Javabeans
May 8, 2008 at 11:14 AM
Well, I think Mithra knew he sounded bad, hence the public on-television apology and broadcast phone call to make up for it. And clearly the others also thought the apology was warranted since Tablo and Tukutz were both apologetic as well.
But my point was mainly that the reports really did make him sound assier than he was.
It may be my appreciation for Epik High speaking, but I think they've earned the right to have a little ego. I'm okay with it. Mithra consistently produces well-thought-out, provocative and lyrical poetry in his rapping. Though clearly this incident was less thought-out than should have been.
(I remain unconvinced that any young kpop guitarist must know who the Sex Pistols are merely because he wears a t-shirt. Particularly since I see no Johnny Rotten influences in The Nuts. It's not a bad thing, just not necessarily convincing.)
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7 jippo
May 8, 2008 at 12:06 PM
AMEN.
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8 marcel
May 8, 2008 at 12:12 PM
i actually like epik high a lot myself.. sometimes it's just fun to rip on things you hear in the news ;) also maybe i'm kind of disappointed to find out someone i admire might have a lil' bit of 'tude.. i'm morbidly allergic to ppl with big egos..
i was thinking the same thing about ji hyun woo & the sex pistols.. but i figured they must have gotten the idea from somewhere? either that or the stylist for the photo shoot just thought it was a cool shirt..
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9 ek
May 8, 2008 at 1:27 PM
i love Ji Hyun Woo, i think that pic was for Over The Rainbow photoshoot. the epik high guy should have a better attitude, maybe he could have said it or did say it in a joking tone, but otherwise he just dissed all 1984-ers, not cool.
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10 belleza
May 8, 2008 at 1:36 PM
@marcel,
Actually that Pistols shirt is kinda ahhh . . . say, you were wearing a Lakers shirt that had green and white instead of purple and gold. (or an Arsenal uni with a blue lion crest.) If you were from, say, Kazakhstan, you would might get a high five. If you lived in the United States, well they know that you're a "foreigner." Or Avril Lavigne.
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11 marcel
May 8, 2008 at 7:29 PM
@belleza,
HAHA!! the shirt reminded me of Avril Lavigne too :D
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12 Sue
May 8, 2008 at 7:49 PM
i had spotted blurbs of this today, but didn't bother to actually read it. i know you've mentioned it before, but the way these articles are written... they just seem like tabloids.
(what's the korean equivalent of the new york times?)
but in the quotes: min kyung joon? the articles didn't get his name wrong too, did they?
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13 mina
May 9, 2008 at 10:09 PM
the thing is media can not be trusted...they twist facts and make up stories! i had a first hand experience when one of my friends got killed and the media reported that he was caught up in a gang fight between two groups but there was none at all...he was just walking home with one of his friend when a group of guys gang up on them...ever since
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