Composer of B.HEART’s “Realistic” Speaks Out Against Plagiarism Accusations, Yong Jun Hyung Responds
Rookie boy group B.HEART had been accused of plagiarizing BEAST‘s “Ribbon“, “Butterfly” and “12:30” all remixed in to their debut title song “Realistic“; however, the composer of the song, StayAlone, has finally spoken out.
On January 27, StayAlone uploaded a blank photo on his Instagram account, which was previously changed from public to private as soon as claims of plagiarism arose.
After making his account public again, he uploaded a post and denied that he plagiarized the three BEAST songs. Also, he explained that the melody of “Realistic” had no similarities to “Ribbon”, “Butterfly”, or “12:30”; instead, he apologized for causing a misunderstanding, and explained that the two songs may sound similar, but no elements in the song were plagiarized.
“Hello. I am composer StayAlone.
Recently, B.HEART’s “Realistic” has been accused of plagiarizing BEAST’s “Ribbon”, but if you listen carefully, it is difficult to spot any similarities in the melody between the two songs.
In regards to the claims of the similar instrumentals of “Realistc” and “Ribbon”; triple-time songs provide a shorter arrangement span than songs in quadruple time, and I used a similar fill-in for the song so those who listened to it may believe the song gives off a similar vibe to that of “Ribbon”.
I would like to inform you that it was not plagiarized, but I should have been more careful in making sure there was no room for misunderstandings, and I admit that I was careless in that aspect.
I am sorry to those who felt burdensome due to this controversy; especially, affiliates of Around Us Entertainment, Yong Jun Hyung, and Kim Tae Joo. I promise to work harder and be more careful in each individual song so that issues like this do not arise again.
I would like to sincerely apologize again to the public and a certain group’s fanbase for causing them to worry.”
Fans who commented on his Instagram post were still unhappy with his response to these claims, and argued that he did not truly seem apologetic; rather, he appeared to defend his acts of plagiarism and minimize his fault.
Shortly after, BEAST’S Yong Junhyung also uploaded a picture of an eggplant on his Instagram account to express his opinion on the “apology” uploaded by StayAlone. In Korea, the eggplant (gaji) is often used as slang to express a sarcastic expression that means, “What an eyesore!” (gaji gaji handa).
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPxQN4qge60/?taken-by=bigbadboii
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPxTyi6AeeU/?taken-by=bigbadboii
“I think a lot of people are confused, so I’m writing because I think I’ll feel too guilty if I don’t speak up when I know the truth behind the situation. Late last year, that composer [StayAlone] contacted Taejoo and told us that he was a new composer and was a fan of our music; so, he sent us his demos, and of those demos, there was one song that was controversial. Taejoo told him that this demo was too similar to “Ribbon” and he even admitted that he made this song by referencing “Ribbon”. So we even spoke about how this song shouldn’t be released, and there was no talk of it being released thereafter. I think it’s such an amazing thing to hear that our music motivates others create their own, but this situation is very disappointing and I’m saddened to think that this could happen to other composers. I feel uncomfortable writing about this, but if I don’t write about this now, I feel that this issue will drag on and prevent me from attending to my busy schedule, so I’m writing in hopes to end it. On one side, I’m worried that I may appear rash, but I’m also writing so that our fans who love and listen to our songs aren’t hurt by this incident anymore. Have a fun and peaceful lunar new year.”
Source: ET News
