Rapper Jay Park, who is also the head of the Korean hip-hop label AOMG, has apologised for his controversial “Allah” lyric in his ‘Mukkbang! (Remix)’ following backlash from fans.
Last Thursday (May 27), the musician took to Twitter to apologise to his Muslim fans after he compared himself to Allah in his lyrics. Released at the end of last year, ‘Mukkbang! (Remix)’, which is a rework of Lil Cherry and GOLDBUUDA’s 2020 joint single, contained the lyrics, “Worship me like Allah / Get it done like wallah,” in one of Park’s verses.
In his apology, Park admitted that he “didn’t see the problem” at first but “as I read the comments […] I see that I used a word some are willing to die behind in my lyrics, and it’s not my place to use something that means so much to the Muslim people in my rap lyrics freely”.
“I apologize to all my Muslim fans,” he continued. “The intent was never to disrespect or offend, and I will be more mindful going forth. I love and respect everybody from all different cultures, ethnicities and religions.”
🙏❤️ I humbly apologize. pic.twitter.com/uOUwxzqdN0
— JAY BUM PARK (@JAYBUMAOM) May 27, 2021
The apology came after a user had posted the lyrics to Twitter on May 27, condemning it as “offensive” to the Muslim community. As the tweet went viral, other users have also criticised Park for being “disrespectful”.
sorry non skz but just found out about jay parks SUPER offensive lyrics about comparing himself (astaghfirullah) to Allah and even terribly trying to rhyme it with wallah and it’s just .. sorry but if u genuinely support this man plssss block me bc i’m super weirded out by him pic.twitter.com/IQsJ8GqBBo
— aya (@hwangover) May 26, 2021
Tw // islamophobic
The fact that jay park also wrote this song just shows how disrespectful he is ,, when will these artists stop using islamic things for their aesthetics and hv a basic decency for our religion ? Its too normalized and got swept under the rug everytime 🙁 pic.twitter.com/yyfuPIsyFP
— Lia ❆⁷ (@yerinkth) May 27, 2021
However, according to Malay Mail, the rapper had originally posted a series of now-deleted tweets in which he claimed that his “lyrics were never meant to be offensive or disrespectful”. He also defended himself, calling the “outta pocket” accusations of racism from critics a “bullshit false narrative”.
“To me its just lyrics to some it’s more serious. Simple as that,” he wrote before adding in a follow-up tweet that he wasn’t aware of the sacred meaning behind the word ‘Allah’. “Words and symbols mean everything to some but for those who don’t know, [it’s] just another word. No one’s fault.”
“Love all my REAL Muslim fans and I hope it don’t make you think of me any different,” he concluded, according to Malay Mail. “To those who wanna hate, let ’em hate.”
Park reportedly deleted his initial apology after several users called him out for branding the criticisms as “haters”. He uploaded the second apology several hours later.