Rapper San E steps into the middle of South Korea’s growing women’s rights movement with anti-feminist tracks.
South Korean rapper San E has landed himself in hot water with a series of incidents in which he ranted against the burgeoning feminist movement in the country. His actions are some of the most visible in a small but growing pushback from men who feel threatened by South Korea’s burgeoning women’s rights movement this year.
The trouble started last month when San E released a new song called “Feminist,” in which he calls out what he sees as hypocrisy among women. The song includes lyrics like “You’ll probably say among OECD countries/ Korea has a gender pay gap of blah blah blah/ F***ing fake fact/ Hey if you want those rights so bad why aren’t you going to the military?” and “Oh girls don’t need a prince/ Then pay half for the house when we marry.”
After getting intense pushback, including a powerful response song from female rapper Sleeq called “ Equalist,” San E released an apology, insisting that the song was not about his actual views on women’s rights. Rather, he insisted he was just attempting to satirize the views of faux feminists who believe those things about women. The response rang hollow for many, especially after San E doubled down on the controversial views at a concert this past weekend.
When the San E took the stage at Brand New Music’s year-end concert on December 2, the crowd began booing him, prompting the rapper to start a rant against feminists, particularly focused on radical feminist groups Womad and Megalia. “Womad is poison. Feminist no. You all are mentally sick,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a need for me to respect you if you’re not going to respect me… I don’t care how much you all attack me.
