Rapper B.I. speaks out on election fraud allegations: 'Just questioning makes you a conspiracy theorist'

Rapper B.I. has spoken out for the first time over controversy surrounding lyrics from his appearance on "Show Me the Money 12" that some interpreted as a dig at election fraud.

On June 5, B.I. appeared in a video published on the YouTube channel "Beautiful Nerd," where he addressed the National Election Commission. "In some ways, it should be the most transparent and fair institution in the country," he said. "There's been a lot of talk around elections, but aren't there also facts that have clearly come to light?"

The controversy stems from B.I.'s featured appearance on contestant Kwon Oh-sun's track "W.I.N." during the semifinal of Mnet's competition program "Show Me the Money 12," which aired in March. A line in the song — roughly translated as "If you strip it all bare, you'd be surprised — that level is like above a batter's eye" — sounds phonetically similar to "선관위," the Korean abbreviation for the National Election Commission. That similarity prompted speculation that the lyrics were a veiled reference to election fraud allegations.

"When you bring up something like that, people get angry right away, and I find myself wondering why," B.I. said. "I'm not sure this is really a political issue." When host Choi Je-woo noted that some had criticized him for embedding such a message on a mainstream program, B.I. pushed back: "By that logic, if you dug through my albums, you'd have to find something negative there too."

"I think a healthy society is one where public doubts get resolved," B.I. said. "There's a tendency to label anyone who questions things as a conspiracy theorist — so does that mean we're not even allowed to question?" Known as a devout Christian, he added: "I keep questioning even as I read the Bible. The most dangerous thing, I think, is blind faith."

On the lyrics themselves, he said they were written from that same personal outlook. "Whether I had suspicions or not, one side would be surprised either way, and the other side would be surprised too. I think of it as an expression in the broader sense," he said.

Meanwhile, the song's lyrics as registered on music streaming platforms omit the phrase "above a batter's eye," fueling separate allegations of censorship. B.I. denied that the streaming service had removed the words, saying he deleted them himself "to emphasize the word."

The controversy comes amid growing scrutiny of the National Election Commission following ballot shortages at some polling stations during the June 3 local elections, which have sparked heated debate over election management. President Lee Jae Myung said Sunday that he would call on the National Assembly to launch a parliamentary investigation into the ballot shortage and that the government would move swiftly to conduct its own investigation.

“타격 별로 없어” 박보영, 잠실 선결제 요구에 입 열었다…“걱정마라”

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