Kim Hyun-Woong, a rapper from K-pop group 2Z faced backlash after launching a song that sampled the audio of George Floyd’s death. The death of George Floyd revived the Black Lives Matter movement recently when Floyd was killed because of police brutality. At first, 2Z was commended by global fans for uploading a Twitter photo on June 1 showing the group kneeling in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

However, things started to look bad when Kim uploaded a freestyle rap song on Instagram sampling Floyd’s final moments as he said, “I can’t breathe”. Netizens condemned the move calling it “beyond disgusting” and “disturbing”. The K-pop rapper has since removed the track and apologised on Instagram Stories where he said that he regretted his actions.

“It’s really my fault that there’s a George Floyd sampling on the song”.

“Since I was young, I love black people, hip-hop, and basketball. I am reflecting on what I did. I am acknowledging my wrongdoings. “Sorry, I really respect and love the black community,” Kim wrote. He also asked netizens not to lash out at his group members for his mistake. 2Z’s label stated on social media to clear the air and said that Kim had released the track without the management or members’ approval.

“The company (Gogo2020) and 2Z’s four other members would like to express their deep regret over the music posted on (Kim’s) personal social media profile.“Since no one at the company was aware of (Kim’s) upload of his self-made music content posted on his personal page, we feel deeply responsible for the late reaction and apologise.“(Kim) himself regrets his thoughtless actions and is reflecting on himself,” read the statement, based on translations from Twitter user @worldwide2z.

On Twitter, the response to Kim’s apology has received divided reactions with some accepting it and some against it. /TISG