Korean hip-hop artist Iron, from Show Me The Money 5, recently released his new album “Rock Bottom” and decides to go explicit with lyrics about rape.
Is there a way to understand what was going on in his head? For the first line of his song “Roll,” he expresses that he heard in his mind, “Boy, just rape me.” It phases you for a good minute when he next wants to establish that he thinks he’s “sober, not crazy.”
Maybe we should try to be more understanding… or maybe not. Although some may defend the piece by passing the lyrics off as some sort of kinky play, that (according to many others) is not very realistic. He continues to point obviously at rape with lines such as “Your teary gaze, I enjoy this pleasure” and “Gon’ be yo trauma, think of me every night.” Iron is a full-fledged adult, but it sounds like he truly hit rock bottom with this track.
In my opinion, his lyrics are plain trash (here’s the full translation if you want to read it all). Iron was anticipated to have a great future career after his appearance on Show Me The Money 5. Many fans rooted for him to succeed, but after reaching this level, he has lost many followers. It’s interesting that he would allow himself to release such lyrics without thinking of the controversies that would undoubtedly emerge as a result. Does he really find rape as a way to express love? It is just sad and unfortunate that he apparently finds the lyrics acceptable.
A while back, Iron got in trouble for marijuana and took a short break from his career to reflect, yet he decides to release an otherwise very promising comeback album with a track glorifying rape. In a deleted post of his, the artist already expressed his need to break free from society’s standards, so this track appears to be one of the many ways he thought he could accomplish that.
Some fans say this is just an expression of normal, sexual pleasure for a couple that enjoys S&M type bondage and dominance. However, should rape (even imagined) ever be considered acceptable as a fetish? Is it only an actual rape that is wrong? Or is it also wrong to be turned on by imagining that you’re raping someone? Where does one draw the line?
What are your thoughts about Iron’s lyrics? Let us know by tweeting to us @whatthekpop1!
Sarah (sapphir3bluu) is a writer for WTK from Las Vegas and fond of cats, K-pop, and singing. She enjoys learning new languages and is manager of Super Junior fanbase, WorldwideELFs, but has also done subbing work for EXO. If you don’t find her being slowly consumed by BTS, GOT7, NCT, and ASTRO, she is aspiring to go to graduate school and work in the health care field.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of What The Kpop as a whole.