WEi’s Recent Cover Of (G)I-DLE’s “TOMBOY” Is Receiving Very Mixed Reactions From Netizens

Does changing the lyrics ruin the point of the song?
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Suzy Gardner
Suzy Gardner

A seemingly neverending discussion among K-Pop fans is the ability of idols to cover other artists’ performances. Specifically, there are usually concerns raised when male idols cover female choreography. In order to better show off their skill sets, male idols sometimes change choreography to make it look more ‘masculine.’ Which, of course, can lead to some strong criticisms from fans.

Of course, there are certainly covers that gain attention for the artists’ respect to the original choreography, like TXT Yeonjun‘s girl group covers or THE BOYZ‘s cover of TWICE‘s “What Is Love.”

But boy group WEi‘s recent cover of (G)I-DLE‘s hit song “TOMBOY” has garnered mixed responses from netizens for more than simply their changes to the choreography.

(G)I-DLE | CUBE Entertainment
WEi | @WEi__Official/Twitter

(G)I-DLE’s “TOMBOY” was meant to represent the group’s breaking away from traditional gender roles.

What we want to convey is that we don’t attribute our actions to gender or age. Because I’m me is why I am, and why I act the way I do.

-Soyeon

Soyeon | CUBE Entertainment

Fans praised the meaning behind the lyrics of the catchy song and (G)I-DLE achieved their first Realtime All-Kill with the hit song.

It’s understandable that when looking for a recent popular song to cover talented group WEi would have focused on (G)I-DLE’s hard-hitting song.

And while the members certainly gave their all to the cover, netizens are having extremely mixed reactions.

| @WEi__Official/Twitter

On one hand, fans of the group are praising everything from WEi’s excellent styling, strong dance moves, and talented vocals.

On the other hand, while some fans are critiquing the changes that WEi made to the original choreography…

Most of the criticisms for the cover are actually looking past the dance and focusing on how WEi changed the lyrics to the song.

Specifically, in the original version of “TOMBOY,” Soyeon raps “Your mom raised you as a prince, but this is queendom right.” The lyrics are intended to focus on female empowerment and an ability to overcome challenges in a world not necessarily intended for women to succeed.

But in WEi’s version of the song goes “My mom raised me as a prince, so this is kingdom right.” Which fans believe ruins the entire meaning of the song.

 And, according to some fans, makes the cover feel like it’s meant to focus on male empowerment.

However, other netizens are pointing out that, as Soyeon said, the lyrics are about defying gender norms, which they feel both groups represented.

And other netizens are pointing out that covers are never exact copies of the original song and that WEi was simply paying homage to a song they liked with their own artistic spin.

You can watch (G)I-DLE’s performance of “TOMBOY” here.

You can watch WEi’s cover here.

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