TWICE And Lee Young Ji's "Strategy" Performance Triggers Fiercely Divided Reactions

TWICE recently made their comeback with their 14th mini album, Strategy, along with its title track of the same name, featuring American rapper Megan Thee Stallion.

While Megan Thee Stallion is featured in both the song and the MV, having traveled to South Korea to collaborate with TWICE, she can’t be part of all current promotions. For instance, TWICE is promoting “Strategy” on music shows, but Megan Thee Stallion can’t perform her song portion. Sometimes, the rap portion is omitted.

Yet, at a recent performance, TWICE brought out another female rapper to rap Megan Thee Stallion’s lines. Lee Young Ji, who is known to be a friend of TWICE members, covered Megan Thee Stallion’s parts. The group guested on Episode 11 of The Seasons: Rainbow of Lee Young Ji.

The video went viral, with 4.3M views on X (formerly Twitter) at the time of writing.

TWICE AND LEE YOUNGJI PERFORMING 'STRATEGY' LIVE WITH YOUNGJI DOING MEGAN THE STALLION'S PART pic.twitter.com/QIU0dry0QR

— minaron (@godmitzu) December 6, 2024

Many netizens loved the performance, praising it so much that they claimed Lee Young Ji should have been the featured artist from the start.

On the other hand, some netizens were not fans, and that’s putting it lightly. Some begged Lee Young Ji to never “touch this song again.” They also wondered why one of TWICE’s rappers couldn’t just cover Megan Thee Stallion’s lines.

youngji…..don’t ever touch this song again and i’m being so fuckin serious 😭 https://t.co/Ov83ScOq57

— ho is you cool🤏🏿 (@acropeach) December 6, 2024

Still, many defended TWICE and Lee Young Ji. They pointed out that Lee Young Ji is a common substitute when the original rapper can’t perform with a group. Besides, Young Ji is TWICE’s friend.

But the girls want her to sing :( why are you all so mean https://t.co/IeLpQ0q77y

— arda (@jiwolesbbff) December 8, 2024

First of all Youngji can do the song and Megan’s verse perfectly so if you can do any better post it 🙄 pic.twitter.com/AaB0zsySeb

— Skyᰔ (@skylar_vantos) December 7, 2024

It appeared that most of the criticism against Lee Young Ji stemmed from her allegedly being “anti-Black.” She had previously been criticised for saying the N-word, an ethnic, racial slur against Black people that originated as early as the 15th century and is traced back to slavery. Lee Young Ji had appeared on Mnet‘s K-Pop music competition television program Good Girl. In the clip, Young Ji could be heard rehearsing American rapper Tyga‘s “Ayy Macarena,” which samples Los Del Rio‘s 1996 hit “Macarena.” Tyga’s song includes the N-word in the chorus, so while rehearsing, Young Ji rapped the original lyrics, including it, but has since apologized. Many are still upset, although it’s four years ago. Others have accepted the apology, believing it genuine.