False Alarm: Psy Is Not a Rabid Boston Sports Fan

Knowing, as we do, that South Korean rapper Psy has spent some time in Boston, we were initially excited to see the Buzzfeed headline “Psy Allegedly Rapped ‘Kill Those F—— Yankees’ In 2004.” Hey! Who knew he had the virulent passions of a Red Sox fan after such a short stint at BU and Berklee? Maybe a little excessive on the cursing and violence, but isn’t that the Boston sports fan’s way?

Alas, this is a false alarm, and in fact, a much darker tale.

It turns out Psy performed in an anti-American protest concert in 2004 as sentiments against South Korean involvement in the Iraq war reached a peak. He may have rapped lyrics to a song by Korean rock band’s song “Dear American” involving the aforementioned “Effing Yankees.” He definitely picked up a model American tank and smashed it on the ground. (A tank had run over two small Korean girls and the soldiers driving it were acquitted in a U.S. military court.)

Yes, we started this day considering Psy a goofy but generally well liked figure – one who managed to unseat Justin Bieber for the most YouTube views of all time. We end it with him becoming a bit more polarizing, and definitely no more of a Red Sox fan than he was before.