The Hate Rodrigo MV wasn’t even out when it started receiving hate from the crowds. Now that Stone Music Entertainment has released the final product on June 27, 2023, some misunderstandings have been cleared away to make room for words of appreciation for the new collaboration between Choi Yena and GIDLE YUQI.
Once YENA’s latest single’s title and its music video teaser was revealed a week before the full-length MV premiere, her concept emerged as a cryptic sly and off-handed remark against the American singer Olivia Rodrigo. Music lovers instantly picked up on the parallels between her video’s visuals and that of Rodrigo’s Deja Vu music video. They were hell-bent on pushing for the idea that YENA was purposely picking on Olivia, and “trolling her”. Many others even found it absurd that she was paying a “homage” to the artist despite their similar ages.
Comments like “This is such low-level trolling”, “Why would she use the word ‘hate’?”, “I get what she’s trying to do, but did she really have to go to this extent?” “Honestly such a weird concept why name it hate rodrigo if you like her. She dug herself a hole with this one”, made it to the top back then, almost affirming that the South Korean artist had riled up a hate-agenda against the other. However, with the official premiere of the Hate Rodrigo music video, these myths were finally busted, and somehow the pre-release speculations and discussions only added to the track’s promotion as viewers turned up in great numbers to check out what all the fuss was about.
On June 27, 2023, however, her fans came out in support of the song, along with other casual K-pop listeners also tuning into her track. Using the same “Song of the Year” rhetoric K-pop fans always do to describe their favourite artists’ projects, her admirers tweeted the same message on social media aplenty. They even took notice of how she included her pre-debut pictures in the video.
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The final message left behind by the singer in her video was that she had dedicated her new craft to Olivia Rodrigo herself, the same person, whose work had inspired her to concoct a mix like this. The song’s title was rather just a playful twist on how she really felt about the singer.
Hate Rodrigo‘s lyrics rather illustrate the very misplaced idea of jealousy people often carry with them, when in fact they eventually end up admiring the same object of envy when they give it a chance. YENA, too, begins by claiming that she doesn’t imitate others, but soon realises that her style is quite similar to that of Olivia. Even hinting a mention of her song Good 4 U, she then lays emphasis upon how much she likes the singer instead. And the same affection expands to the point that she hates how much everything in her life has become about the same person, now a source of inspiration in her life.
And so, the video’s message finally reached the fans as well, who realised that she’s actually “idolizing and adoring Olivia”, and they conveyed the same to others on Twitter, requesting them not to misinterpret the meaning behind the song. Another Twitter user dissected the lyrics further and stated the following explanation – “she likes Olivia Rodrigo so much to the point where she hates how she compare herself to Olivia but she learned how to stand by who she really is in the end, by loving and accepting herself more”.
Here are Some Reactions to YENA’s Hate Rodrigo MV
REACTIONS THAT CAME AFTER THE MV RELEASE
SOME REACTIONS FROM YOUTUBE
REACTIONS THAT CAME BEFORE THE RELEASE
Hate Rodrigo is featured on the Stone Music Entertainment singer’s 2nd single album titled Hate XX, that also includes two more tracks – Bad Hobby and Wicked Love. The album is now streaming on Spotify.
Have your thoughts also changed around YENA’s song? Did you like the new YENA-YUQI collab? Let us know your opinions in the comments section below.
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