K-Pop Idol Saying The N-Word Somehow Causes A 20-Year-Old Song To Go Viral

Recently, there have been multiple instances of K-Pop idols doing cultural appropriation. Some of the first to gain attention came from an alleged YG Entertainment leaker who shared multiple clips of BLACKPINK members using the n-word in song covers.

Allegedly Leaked Videos Of BLACKPINK Saying The N-Word Surface Online

After this leak, somehow, one artist’s song has gone viral.

Also included in the YG leak was a cover performed by 2NE1‘s CL, who said the n-word multiple times throughout.

2NE1’s CL | @chaelincl/Instagram

Oh she was FEELING it pic.twitter.com/fhuC5vG55O

— zcxew (@Baekbyun47) March 31, 2025

The song is by American artist Lil’ Kim, who is known for tracks like “Magic Stick,” “The Jump Off,” and her feature on “Lady Marmalade.” To be specific, CL covered a track from Lil’ Kim’s The Naked Truth titled “Woah,” which was released as the album’s second single in 2005.

Lil’ Kim | @lilkimthequeenbee/Instagram

While many criticized CL over the cover, something surprising took place afterward.

On TikTok, the track has been used in many videos since CL’s cover was leaked, with one video having over 4 million views. Many of the clips credit CL for bringing the track to their attention, even if it was not in the best way.

dc: me #lilkim #cl

♬ original sound – TheVinylFlex

CL put us on #leak #ygleaker #blackpink #fyp

♬ original sound – TheVinylFlex

Whoa by Lil Kim has been on repeat lmao 😭. Shout out to Big CL #whoa #lilkim #cl #2ne1

♬ original sound – TheVinylFlex

When searching Lil’ Kim on Spotify, “Woah” is one of the autofill suggestions rather than some of her more popular tracks, showing that people specifically searched for it recently.

While cultural appropriation is wrong, it is interesting to see the 20-year-old song be introduced to a new audience that were likely children when it was released.