Oh boy. I'm sitting here wondering if I even want to post this.
I suppose I will.
WARNING: If you could put every single possible trope from every American 'gangster' rap video into a single music video by a Korean dude. This is it. It would be comical if we didn't know Zico is completely serious about adopting this image. So, there is a whole lot of cussing, middle fingers, grills, 'bling' faceless women shaking their asses, guys riding around on bikes with ski-masks, confederate flags, gambling, very obvious and offensive slurs, and... much more.
I understand that this kind of image is often literally only a 'concept' to a native Korean, no different from 'cute' or 'sexy' or 'steampunk'. It's just a costume to try on. But the lack of cultural understanding for what any of this means and what is being appropriated... well, problems arise.
In this case, Zico is trying to gain credibility and wants to be taken seriously as something like an underground hip-hop artist, by pure mimicry: gestures, clothing, posturing, language, accessories, and locations. It comes across as naive and disingenuous.
To me, it makes him look like a fool. But that's just me. You be the judge.
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