Fans of season 10 of popular rap show 'Show Me the Money' have expressed upset at his behaviour and decisions on the show.
Show Me the Money controversy
YUMDDA's previous history of being a judge has not been very extensive; prior to Show Me the Money 10 he had only been a mentor on High School Rapper 4. However, this is not dim the excitement when he was announced as one half of producer team Tonawayum alongside TOIL. Despite this, his judging since the start of the show has only sparked controversy and upset among many fans of the show for a variety of reasons.
Initially, there were primarily issues with his judging in the elimination and 60 second rounds. While it is widely agreed that there is nothing wrong with quick-fire judging - The Quiett has appeared as a judge and mentor on both SMTM and HSR and has gained a reputation for his brief, but constructive criticism - YUMDDA's style of judging caused upset as many fans of the show found him to be discourteous and unconstructive in his comments.
Furthermore, despite previously claiming that he is "not fond of playing around when it comes to music", team Tonwayum's actions have not been following in line with this statement. During the 60 second round, they allowed Choi Sang-hyeon, who forgot his lyrics for over 30 seconds, to pass. Although they stated that this was due to accident, as they both missed the timing to press the "FAIL" button, YUMDDA arguably contradicted this during the round 3 1:1 battle between northfacegawd and Choi Sang-hyeon. His comments of "I picked [him]!" and that despite the contestant's lack of manners, he was still a good rapper, suggest that it was not accidental. Choi Sang-hyeon consequently lost this round, and northfacegawd progressed.
In addition to this, team YUMDDA x TOIL were the only producer duo who passed Song Min-yeong in the 60 second round. YUMDDA stated that he was interested in the young rapper's potential, however, his inexperience due to his age and his lack of foundational elements of rapping were clear. This decision stood in clear contrast to YUMDDA and TOIL's decision to fail Ja Mezz, despite all the other producer duos passing him and giving him praise. Fans were also upset when Song Min-yeong was picked over rapper San E, who is a veteran with much more experience, for their team round. He was also chosen over other more experienced rappers such as kitsyojii, PULLIK, and Blase. It has also been highly suggested that the producer pass was also used to pass Song Min-yeong over fellow contestant James An, which would have happened in their unaired 1:1 battle.
Many fans have called for YUMDDA's removal from the show - there have been over 80 posts on the official website of Show Me the Money asking for YUMDDA to resign. In addition to this, Korean netizens have been commenting "나락" on YUMDDA and The Quiett's show 'Rap House On Air'. This term is used to describe when something is decreasing in value.
Fellow rapper Onesun also released a video on his YouTube channel strongly criticising YUMDDA's judging style. He expressed disappointment at the lack of respect shown to the purpose of the show - Onesun highlighted the immense position of power YUMDDA has as a judge because he has so much influence over the contestants' ability to progress. Onesun was just one of many people who were angered by YUMDDA's decision to immediately pick Song Min-yeong for the team battle.
Onesun's SMTM 10 episode 5 review has over 1 million viewsIn response to hate comments about his judging, YUMDDA took to Instagram live to discuss the situation. He stated that he would make a new t-shirt which he would sell if he reached over 4000 hate comments. When this occurred, he then shared a post showing the amount of income earned from selling this merchandise. In one day, he earnt up to ₩184 million (roughly USD$155,000).
Plagiarism allegations
YUMDDA has also faced recent allegations of plagiarism in relation to his latest single 'To the Moon' feat. Uneducated Kid - one of which was proved to be true. It is currently speculated that the song sounds very similar to 'Trap Queen' by Fetty Wap, and 'Tell Me What You Want' by T-Wayne, Fetty Wap, and Remyboy Monty. A video comparing 'Trap Queen' and 'To the Moon' currently has over a million views on YouTube.
Video comparing 'To the Moon' and 'Trap Queen'In addition to sounding similar, YUMDDA released unauthorised artwork on his merchandise. The original creator, Corinna Marin, called YUMDDA out in a series of Instagram story posts showing how he had used her artwork as the album cover for his single, and also on hoodies and shirts. YUMDDA has since apologised for the use of copyrighted material, and has agreed to pay all proceeds stemming from copyright to Marin.
