Shenseea blasted for 'Shenyeng Anthem' video - Some viewers say production is disrespectful to Asians

Dancehall artiste Shenseea has released the highly anticipated music video for her song, 'Shenyeng Anthem', and the visuals have been creating quite the buzz on the entertainment circuit and social media. While some of the reviews have been good, not all the feedback has been positive.

Shenseea, who pays homage to her Asian heritage in the video, has been accused of cultural appropriation, with some viewers describing the entertainer's portrayal of Asian people as blatant racism. Despite being of Korean descent, viewers pointed out that Shenseea was in no position to represent Asian people as she does not identify with that culture.

Some viewers said that everything from the accent, to the style of dress, to make-up used in the video was a disrespect to the Asian culture.

"Their make-up is disgusting. This is terrible and offensive. Respect their culture and heritage," one user on Instagram commented.

"This is so offensive to the Japanese culture... Shenseea, you may be half-Korean, but this fell flat," another commented. "This is the equivalent of black face," wrote another user. "Can't do this s**t. Furthermore, at least if you're going to speak it, speak the actual language, not your English version mocking the way you think they sound."

Others suggested that Shenseea needs to be educated a little bit more on the different Asian societies because she dressed like a Chinese but spoke Japanese in the video's intro.

CULTURE MIX-UP

"People, please stop mixing up the Chinese and the Japanese cultures because they are not the same, 'konnichi wa' is 'hello' in Japanese," one user said on YouTube.

When THE WEEKEND STAR contacted Shenseea's team to gain insight on the concept for the video and whether or not they were satisfied with the outcome, they declined to comment. They also sought to steer clear of the racism and cultural appropriation debate as they refused to address some of the comments people have been making.

THE WEEKEND STAR understands that this is the second video to be done by Romeich Entertainment TV and is the directorial debut for Shenseea. The controversy seems to have worked in the artiste's favour, however, as the video has amassed more than quarter million views in less than a week.