Black Nut’s Appearance Show Me The Money 4
Black Nut is a rapper that is definitely no stranger to the Show Me The Money series. He previously auditioned for the second season, but failed due to his lack of skills at the time, which still needed a little bit more polishing. He returned in the fourth season, auditioning in the face of producer Zico, showing his admiration for another rapper, Beenzino, as he auditioned with a song likening himself to the rapper. Fortunately, he passed the audition and Zico gifted him with the gold chain necklace.
The second round came with the mission of doing a solo rap in front of all the producers, if even one of the producers failed them before the time ran out, then the contestant would be eliminated. In that round, Black Nut took a shot at all of the producers present and decided to diss them, one by one. He mainly attacked Jinusean’s rap style, Tablo’s lyrics, Verbal Jint’s iconic bars, and other things. Not only that, he also took a shot at fellow contestant, Song Mino, for his supposed leg up in the race. This raised some concerns about his manners between the producers, but he was eventually passed to the next round.
In the next round, the contestants were then asked to pick another contestant to do a one-on-one rap battle with. Due to the contents of his previous rap, viewers predicted that he would battle with Song Mino, but he chose to battle Ahn Soo-min, a female rapper, simply because she was pretty. After their performance, the producers thought that he was definitely underperforming but, after much consideration, decided that he won over Ahn Soo-min.
Soon after that, the next round was held, in which the four teams of producers must choose which of the remaining contestants they want to put on their team after the contestants have previously chosen which team they want to play for. In this round, Black Nut went head-to-head with rapper Hanhae for Verbal Jint and San-E’s last open spot on their team. In the end, they chose to eliminate Black Nut, at first, but went back on their choice just an episode later, stating they were in over their heads to choose Hanhae over Black Nut, where Hanhae actually made a mistake during the evaluation. Ultimately, Black Nut joined their team.
Their first mission as a team was to face another team in a diss battle, and fortunately for reality television, Black Nut went head-to-head with Song Mino’s team. This diss battle was highly anticipated, but ended with some controversy as both teams seem to have underperformed and relied on tricks that could be considered rude and scandalous when considered after the fact. Black Nut was heavily criticized by both producers and fellow contestants for his actions, but still he made it to the next round.
With that, Black Nut moved on to the individual performances round, in which he needed to perform a song every week, according to a set theme, and go head-to-head with another contestant. The winner was chosen by live voting by the audience, and is done while filming. The results could be seen after all the performances were done, in the unit of American dollars. In these few rounds Black Nut performed some classic hits such as M.I.L.E (Make It Look Easy), 100, and 내가 할 수 있는 건.
During these few performances, Black Nut was given some criticism for still failing to improve on his skills and confidence, since he was still rapping with his sunglasses on. He was also seen as relying on some low blows when it came to his disses. That’s why, on the first round, the producers gave their appreciation to Microdot instead of Black Nut. In the end, he faced Song Mino in the semi finals, and lost to him in the second round of live voting.
Black Nut’s Scandals and Controversies
Diss Battle with Song Mino
On the August 7th episode of Show Me the Money 4, Black Nut was once again creating buzz with his inappropriate behavior, this time during his diss battle with Song Mino. Previously, Black Nut had been eliminated by the producers, yet was taken back after further consideration. That put another team at risk, as their diss battle opponent was switched last minute. This put a lot of attention on this particular diss battle as the result of that previous mishap.
All eyes were on Black Nut and Song Mino for the latest episode of the show, the two rappers finally going head-to-head in a diss exchange. Black Nut was known for his disses, and Song Mino was at a clear disadvantage, in terms of preparation time. However, the episode inevitably brought up yet another issue, this time with Black Nut’s lack of manners to Song Mino, as he resorted to ridiculous actions to cover up his mistakes while rapping.
After stumbling over some of his bars, Black Nut got down on his hands and knees, heading Song Mino’s legs like a dog, referencing the lyrics to Mino’s song “I’m Him.” Moreover, during Song Mino’s turn, Black Nut brought out a bamboo pillow and laid down, causing the rapper producers on the show to shake their heads with extreme disapproval.
Contestants and producers responded with negative reviews following the performances, making remarks such as “It’s all good and fun, but… is [Black Nut] just dissing, or does he want to fight?”, “I thought this battle was practically a mission made for Black Nut, but he was below expectations.”, “[Laying down] when someone’s rapping, is a bit too much..He’s laying down on a pillow.. who would be able to pay attention to what Mino is saying?”, “When someone’s rapping, no matter the fact that it’s a battle, doing something that draws attention isn’t right. I’m not a fan of that. Winning dirty, cheating to win.”, “I was a little disappointed in Black Nut today,” “The audience there was not listening to Song Mino’s rap.” and “It’s an issue simply of manners.”
Harassment of KittiB
It first began with the lyrics found in the song Indigo Child, released under the label Just Music that Black Nut is signed to, and features several artists from the label. Black Nut’s lyrics referenced the fact that he claimed to get off to KittiB’s pictures, while in the same line referencing her appearance on Unpretty Rapstar, another Mnet rapping variety show. The line of the lyrics caused quite a storm with fans and online communities, which prompted KittiB to respond that the lyrics were utterly outrageous.
Most thought that it would end there, yet Black Nut followed up with another song, posted on his personal Soundcloud account. The lyrics of his rap referenced KittiB’s breasts as if they were objects, and were negative in connotation, prompting KittiB fans who heard the song to think that is it an outright expression of verbal harassment. Not only that, in another song found in the Just Music compilation album, Too Real, Black Nut once again referenced KittiB in a negative light. The repeat offense makes it clear the remarks weren’t coincidence, and that he could be held accountable.
On May 6th, 2017, KittiB took to her personal instagram to deliver her personal thoughts upon the rapper’s actions, and expressed her intentions to sue the rapper for defamation and other acts that correlate to the previously mentioned acts of harassment. The following are the claims she was suing for:
- For the sexual harassment found in the lyrics of the song Indigo Child (To be honest, I jerked off while looking at a photo of KittiB, of course, before seeing her on Unpretty Rapstar.)
- For the sexual harassment found in the lyrics of the song Po, uploaded on his personal soundcloud account
- For the sexual harassment found in the lyrics of the song Too real (I wouldn’t screw KittiB even if she was given to me for free), and releasing the song.
- For calling KittiB a ‘Kimchi B*tch’ on his personal instagram account and tagging KittiB’s account
- For acting out inappropriately while performing Indigo Child, specifically while rapping the lyrics mentioned above, on February 13th, 2016
- For acting out inappropriately while performing Indigo Child, specifically while rapping the lyrics mentioned above, on September 9th, 2016
- For mentioning KittiB in a performance of the song 100 on July 1st, 2017
- For mentioning KittiB in a performance of the song 100 on September 28th, 2017
She filed a complaint with the police department and the Female and Juvenile Crime Investigation Department, saying that his lyrics were a violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning Sexual Violence and contempt. At first she came to only report the first four accusations to the police as part of a defamation claim, yet it seems the first two points had passed the statute of limitations for an investigation, so they mainly investigated claims three and four. Following that, in October, 2017, KittiB added to those charges an additional four points, points five to eight, regarding performances that Black Nut had done since.
In response to these lyrics, KittiB wrote, “On the outside, I acted like I was fine, but honestly, I felt very angry and ashamed. I recently realized that it wasn’t right to just let it go. I feel hurt, stressed, and traumatized, yet people have been mocking me and spreading rumors. I will no longer put up with this.”
To the question of how she felt as she sued Black Nut, she answered, “I thought I was a pretty positive person, but I guess I did get stressed out from [Black Nut’s lyrics]. I lost sleep and suffered from extreme stress. I had to halt the preparation of my album. I hope immoral lyrics and actions are no longer tolerated under the name of ‘hip-hop.’ And I hope that laws pertaining to sexual crime are further enforced. I hope we can live in a society where victims can feel confident.”
In the meanwhile, as they wait for the court date, Black Nut has tried uploading an apology on his personal instagram account, yet it seemed very insincere and was followed up with another performance of the song that became the source of the problem to begin with. He seemed to play around during the court dates, as well, as he showed up with a white t-shirt vandalized with a promotion for another rapper’s release, showing that he has no remorse for the poor behavior he’s done. Adding to that, in his feature for rapper NO:EL’s album, he once again expressed his disdain for KittiB and acted as if he was not at fault.
On October 18, the prosecution demanded a penalty for Black Nut of one year in prison with two years of probation, at a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court. This means that Black Nut would be on probation for two years, and will have to serve one year in prison if he violates the condition of the suspension during those two years. The prosecution did not provide any explanation for the sentence recommendation. The sentence was supposed to be set on November 29th, 2018, yet it was delayed to January 10th, 2019, when he finally received the final sentencing.
