When she released her solo track “MTBD” back in 2014, the song had become highly controversial when Muslims noticed that the background track sounded very much like a reading of a verse from the Quran.
As the Quran is the central text of Islam, Muslims protested that it is extremely offensive and it should not be made light of by being put in a song or used for entertainment purposes of any form.
The Korea Muslim Federation had raised a formal complaint, and YG Entertainment had ultimately decided to take out the controversial part of the song out.
However, it seems like the unedited track made its way into CL’s performance in Los Angeles, and some fans were appalled that she had performed the controversial track again. Some have even gone to trending hashtags and demanding an apology and explanation on her Instagram.
So, while it might sound like one, it might not be one. The only people that know for sure are the people who worked on the song.
Now do I think she should have erred on the side of caution and used an edited version with a sound-alike sample (if she wanted to keep the same vibe in that portion of the song)? Yes. However, I honestly feel like to stop all this drama once and for all, she and the people who worked on the song should reveal the sample they used/got it from. If it turns out it was a Quran verse, then obviously edit it out and apologize.
This continual drama every time she performs the song just gets messy between Blackjacks and CL. It’s kind of silly that there’s been no official comment when YG knew this blew up in 2014 and most likely would again. Clearing it up would save everyone a lot of headache.
Park Sa-lim, Seoul