Her remarks have become a hot topic.
22 minutes ago
Singer and musical actress Ock Joo Hyun has come under scrutiny for her supposed double standards about using autotune.
Ock Joo Hyun
Recently, Ock became a hot topic for her very public and intense criticism of singers who use autotune. In a series of messages to fans, she called out the growing industry practice of overusing autotune for all kinds of live vocals, and even mentioned that she didn’t “want to interact” with such artists.
It’s because we can’t let those strange dreamers, who can’t sing yet have a career in singing, grow. We have to cut them from the root.
— Ok Joo Hyun
She also criticized singers for lip-syncing for live performances, calling them out harshly.
At least, I have never lip-synced in any project. But some people who lip-sync end up legends… at shows with the biggest ticket prices. Are you scared? But if I sang that song using lip-sync, everyone would’ve been after me.
— Ok Joo Hyun
While initially, these remarks won her support from netizens, her previous post regarding BIGBANG member G-Dragon has turned it into a debate.
G-Dragon | @xxxibgdrgn/Instagram
On March 29 of last year, G-Dragon held a massive concert at the Goyang Sports Complex in Gyeonggi Province as a part of his Übermensch World Tour. The concert took place under adverse weather conditions due to strong winds and cold temperature, resulting in a delayed start. Following the show, many audience members complained that the live show relied heavily on pre-recorded vocals, to the point where some performances amounted to little more than live ad-libs over the backing tracks. The overall response to the concert appeared to be focused on the bad performance quality.
However, Ock Joo Hyun, who had attended the show, had fiercely defended G-Dragon at that time. She had shared her thoughts on social media the following day, mentioning how “heartbreaking” it was to see an artist having to perform in such bad weather in an outdoors venue. She added, “It is truly unreasonable to expect someone to sing live while breathing in such freezing air. I wanted to wrap the blanket I was sitting on around him.”
Ock Joo Hyun’s post | @o._.julia/Instagram
This post has garnered renewed attention in light of her fierce criticism against autotune and lipsyncing, with many questioning if her standards applied to everyone equally. While some argued that the singer lacked the boldness to directly call out bigger artists, others felt that her criticism for manipulating live vocals and her sympathy for artists having to perform in harsh conditions can coexist without contradicting each other.