Big Hit Entertainment apologises for Jim Jones speech sample used in Suga’s Agust D mixtape

Big Hit Entertainment has apologised over the sampling of cult leader Jim Jones’ speech in BTS star Suga’s mixtape.

The song What Do You Think?, from Suga’s Agust D mixtape D-2, contained a sample from a 1977 speech given by the American cult leader.

The section in question has since been removed with a new version released instead.

Jones was responsible for a mass murder-suicide at the commune famously known as Jonestown and has been mentioned in many songs or music videos.

918 commune members (304 of them children) were almost all killed by cyanide-poisoned Flavour Aid.

Big Hit Entertainment’s statement reads: ‘The vocal sample of the speech in the introduction of the song “What Do You Think?” on the mixtape was selected without any special intent by the producer who worked on the track, who was unaware of the identity of the speaker and used the sample for the overall atmosphere of the song.

‘After the speech sample was selected, the company followed our internal process and carried out procedures for reviewing the appropriateness of the content.

‘However, in both the selection and review processes, we committed an error in not recognizing the inappropriateness of the content and including the sample in the song.’

The label went on to say they have processes for reviewing the content for ‘potential social, cultural, and historical issues.’

‘However, we are experiencing the reality that there are limits to understanding and correctly responding to every situation,’ they added. ‘In this case, we were not able to recognize the issue in advance and displayed a lack of understanding about the relevant historical and social issues.

‘We apologise to those who felt uncomfortable or hurt because of this.’