SEOUL – Violin duo TwoSet Violin, known for their mix of classical music and comedy on YouTube, have come under fire from Blackpink fans for a parody video.
In the Sell Out video released last Saturday, the two classically trained musicians – Brett Yang, 30, and Eddy Chen, 29 – parody Blackpink’s Shut Down from their Born Pink album released in September.
Yang plays the part of 18th-century composer Mozart, while Chen portrays violin virtuoso Paganini, who died almost 200 years ago.
The parody, which garnered close to 600,000 views within a day, shows Paganini taking offence to the two opening bars of his famous concerto La Campanella being sampled repeatedly in Shut Down.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klmvaVvv_0c[/embed]
Blackpink fans, known as Blinks, are up in arms over the lyrics and have taken to Twitter to attack the Australian duo.
Some of the more inflammatory lyrics include “That after getting all your fame, all your songs, they be sounding all the same” and “Barely making songs, how you call yourselves pop stars. You must play the tuba ‘cause you keep repeating only two bars”.
They also seemed to call out another popular K-pop girl group, Twice, with “If you think that you’re really the K-pop queens, then you better think twice”.
In the chorus, they made reference to the legend that Paganini had sold his soul to the devil for his vast talent – “I sold my soul to the devil. You sold yours to your label” – and added: “Unlike you, I have principles.”
Blinks called the parody video demeaning, hurtful and misogynistic, and accused TwoSet Violin of bullying and clout-chasing by riding on Blackpink’s fame.
Even though TwoSet Violin have a loyal following of close to four million subscribers on YouTube, they are no match for the 82.5 million Blinks following the quartet on the streaming platform.
Seemingly in response to the hate received online, TwoSet Violin posted a photo across their social media platforms on Monday, sharing a photo of Chen as Paganini with horns on his head in his silhouette, with the words “Sold my soul to the devil”.
[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/CkFg_hlyTE4/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading[/embed]
TwoSet Violin are due to perform in Singapore in November with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO), with tickets selling out within minutes of being released.
In the ferocious attacks by Blinks on social media, even the SSO and other musicians who have collaborated with TwoSet Violin were not spared.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
