AAVE, or African-American Vernacular English, is a dialect Black Americans speak with its own unique grammatical structures, vocabulary, and cultural significance. Many people wrongly call it Gen-Z or TikTok slang, which erases its rich history and importance to Black culture. Non-Americans often use it to sound “hip” or “American” without understanding its origins or rules. This misuse can deeply offend people and disrespect the community that created this language. AAVE is an integral part of Black culture with its own complex linguistic rules that have developed over generations. Using it incorrectly or out of context is widely seen as cultural appropriation, especially when done by people with no connection to the community.
K-Pop songs frequently misuse AAVE in lyrics, showing a superficial understanding of the dialect. Most K-Pop songwriters and singers aren’t Black or connected to Black communities. They don’t understand AAVE properly, leading to awkward or incorrect usage that stands out to native speakers. Here are some major AAVE fails in K-Pop songs that demonstrate this problematic trend:
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1. BLACKPINK’s “As If It’s Your Last”
BLACKPINK created this iconic song with a major AAVE error that linguistics experts have pointed out. Lisa raps “you gon’ finna catch me” in her verse, combining two similar phrases in a way no native AAVE speaker would. “Gon'” (short for “going to”) and “finna” (derived from “fixing to”) both indicate future action in AAVE. Using them together is redundant and shows a fundamental lack of understanding about how AAVE structures work. It would be like saying “you are going to going to catch me” in Standard English.
2. BTS Jungkook’s “My Time”
Fans love this track for its melody and production, but its AAVE usage falls noticeably short of authentic. The song has a Black American producer and even Beyoncé reportedly enjoys it according to industry insiders. However, the line “Someday I’ll finna find my time” uses “finna” incorrectly in a way that sounds jarring to AAVE speakers. The phrase structure doesn’t follow proper AAVE rules since “finna” already indicates future tense, making “I’ll” (I will) redundant. This demonstrates how even professionally produced songs can misunderstand dialectical nuances.
3. BTS Jimin’s “Set Me Free Pt.2”
Jimin’s solo track contains the line “I never stop, fck all your opps,” which misuses AAVE terminology in a subtle but significant way. In AAVE, “opps” means enemies or opposition – essentially haters or rivals. People typically say “fck all my opps” instead of “your opps,” making this usage sound unnatural to fluent AAVE speakers. The lyric might make sense in the deeper context of Jimin’s album concept, which shows two versions of himself in conflict. Nevertheless, it sounds odd to most listeners and demonstrates how context is crucial for proper AAVE usage.
4. GIRLKIND’s “Fanci”
The lyrics “All my bad unnies, all my hood unnies” became instantly infamous among K-pop listeners familiar with both cultures. This awkward mix of Korean terminology (“unnie,” meaning older sister or female friend) with AAVE-associated terms creates a cultural mashup that feels forced and inauthentic. Fans widely consider these lyrics cringeworthy because they appropriate AAVE aesthetics while mixing in Korean words, creating a combination that belongs to neither culture authentically. The attempt to sound “cool” results in lyrics that feel disconnected from any genuine cultural expression.
5. BADVILLAIN’s “BADVILLAIN”
This group’s lyrics raise eyebrows with AAVE misuse that seems pulled from stereotypes rather than authentic understanding. They sing “I’m killin’ it (Brr) Shout out no… Mobbin’ with the bad girls, you ain’t even gang,” using AAVE terms like “mobbin'” (hanging out with your group) and references to “gang” culture. These phrases sound disconnected and unnatural in context, especially coming from K-pop idols whose lived experiences differ dramatically from the communities where these expressions originated. The terms don’t fit together in a way that makes sense to those familiar with authentic AAVE usage.
6. Rocking Doll’s “Rocking Doll”
Rocking Doll claims “I’m from the ghetto” in their song, a statement that is clearly untrue given the backgrounds of the group members. This appropriation goes beyond linguistic misuse into potentially offensive territory. The group also mentions dropping guns and pulling triggers, references that feel especially out of place in South Korean pop music. Such activities are illegal in Korea and far removed from the reality of K-pop idol life, making these lyrics feel particularly inauthentic and potentially harmful in perpetuating stereotypes.
7. (G)I-DLE Yuqi’s “On Clap (feat. Lexie Liu)”
Yuqi confused fans and linguistics experts alike with lines like “this beat on slap” and “bad boogie babies on tap.” These phrases mix up different AAVE structures in ways that reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of how the dialect works. “This beat slaps” is authentic AAVE meaning the music sounds good, while the construction “on something” works with adjectives in a completely different context, like “waist on skinny” to describe a thin waist.
Combining these distinct structures creates nonsensical phrases that no native AAVE speaker would use, highlighting the problems with borrowing language without proper understanding.