A recent interview with American producer Frankie Biggz drew comparisons between BTS’s SUGA and Eminem, but his credentials raise eyebrows.
South Korean rapper and BTS member SUGA has long been known for producing songs for major Korean artists, including IU, Heize, PSY, and even his bandmates. But now he is getting attention from a less expected source: Frankie Biggz, an American producer who claims SUGA is “changing how people view producers in the K-pop space” and even compares him to Eminem.
Biggz made the comments in an interview with a Russian journalist taking part in Honorary Reporters, a program backed by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. He praised SUGA’s control over his music and image, pointing to his stage presence and work ethic as qualities “like Eminem’s”, suggesting that SUGA commands the same kind of authority: “He has that presence. He has that authenticity, like Eminem, SUGA carries himself with respect, but if someone offends one of his team members, you’re going to have to talk to him first”.
It sounds impressive until you take a closer look.
Despite being introduced as a Grammy-winning producer with credits alongside the likes of Kanye West, 50 Cent, and Eminem, Biggz’s résumé does not quite live up to the billing. According to publicly available information (including a heavily self-written Wikipedia entry), his work consists largely of remixes and co-production on a handful of lesser-known projects. He did not win a Grammy, though an album he contributed to was once nominated. As for the Eminem connection? The closest he apparently came was knowing Luis Resto before Luis knew Eminem and remixing two of Em’s songs.
That did not stop him from squeezing two of the internet’s favourite topics — Eminem and Korean pop — into one neatly packaged comparison.
SUGA is undeniably talented, loves and respects Eminem, and his rise as a producer-performer hybrid in K-pop is noteworthy. But when fringe figures start handing out comparisons to artists like Eminem, it is hard not to view them with a critical eye.
