The Youtube sensation Psy had his past catching up with him in ways he certainly never saw coming. The Korean rapper, brought to international stardom by his song “Gangnam Style,” in the past sang not so flattering(an understatement) lyrics to the American foreign policy.
In 2004, Psy performed at an anti-American concert in Seoul where he rapped: "Kill those fucking Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives/Kill those fucking Yankees who ordered them to torture/Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law, and fathers/Kill them all slowly and painfully."
This story — which is still unconfirmed — was first reported in English a few months ago on CNN's citizen-reporting site iReport, where a self-described Korean-American writing under the byline "ausjeon" wrote that (all sic) "the worst thing that [Psy] has done to all Americans is this; Psy insulted American soldiers to an unbearable degree and talked about murdering all their families in his song." Ausjeon then quoted the lyrics.
Pretty... refreshing, for those of us sick of 'Gangnam Style'? (Is this how Psy becomes cool again?) The lyrics are from this song — "Dear America" by the South Korean rock band NEXT. We've been told that "Yankees," the word used by the CNN iReporter, is more accurately translated as "a bad curse word like 'assholes' or 'motherfuckers.'"
According to the Chosun Ilbo and several Korean-language music sites, NEXT, Psy, and other musicians jointly performed "Dear America" at a protest concert in 2004.
The concert was held after the decapitation of Korean missionary by Islamic militants in Iraq helped crystallize anti-U.S. military sentiment in South Korea. Two years earlier, two American soldiers had been acquitted of negligent homicide in the case of two 13-year-old Korean girls who were struck and killed by an American military vehicle. At the time, Psy was "among the most outspoken" pop stars in protesting the acquittal and the U.S. status of forces military agreement, according Korea Times (as quoted in Busan Haps); a YouTube video of Psy, face painted gold, smashing a miniature American tank model during a 2002 concert, was recently removed over "copyright claims."
