BTS’ “Ddaeng” is not just a cool song from the Rap Line, but it has a deep meaning for the Big Hit Entertainment group and their fans. RM, Suga, and J-Hope wrote and produced the song as a gift to ARMYs for BTS Festa in 2018.
So, when Filipino rappers Flow-G and Skusta Clee released a song which has remarkable similarities with “Ddaeng,” ARMYs were very upset about it. The pair are members of the Philippines hip hop collective Ex Battalion.
Flow-G and Skusta Clee released a song as a duo called “DEYM” under the name 90’s Gang. It didn’t take long for Filipino ARMYs to notice how the pair’s song sounded so much like RM, Suga, and J-Hope’s “Ddaeng.” (Listen here).
As if that’s not enough, Flow-G and Skusta Clee denied that they copied the BTS song despite how obvious the similarity was. Skusta Clee took to Twitter to tell ARMYs to take it easy as they did not plagiarize “Ddaeng.”
Flow-G also defended his and Skusta Clee’s song, claiming that he used “a generic flow, generic words, and generic beat” to produce it, which is why “DEYM” has no connection to “Ddaeng” at all. The Filipino rapper then angered a lot of ARMYs when he brought up BTS’s past false accusations. Flow-G posted a YouTube video with the title, “Why BTS Is Called the ‘Plagiarism Boy Scouts.’”
While there is no question that many singers and rappers have been inspired by their fellow artist’s works, what made Flow-G and Skusta Clee’s case different is that they flatly denied that they were inspired by “Ddaeng” or credit BTS to their version.
Because of that, ARMYs felt that they have no choice but to report the whole thing to Big Hit Entertainment. The agency is known for not tolerating disrespectful acts towards their artists, so legal action is expected as soon as the company got their hands on the plagiarism report.
Despite Flow-G and Skusta Clee’s denial, netizens pointed out that this is not the first time that the latter was involved in plagiarizing issues with a K-pop song. Two years ago, Skusta Clee released a solo track called “Wag Ka Nang Magalit” (Don’t get mad) featuring Esze Talento and O.C. Dawgs, which they clearly plagiarized from BIGBANG’s “Bad Boy.”
Listen for comparison: BIGBANG’s “Bad Boy” here, and Skusta Clee featuring Esze Talento and O.C. Dawgs "Wag Ka Nang Magalit" here. You be the judge.
