“Not true”: BTS’ Jungkook’s agency firmly deny plagiarism allegations against the maknae’s solo single SEVEN

On Tuesday, August 22, BTS' Jungkook's agency, BIG HIT MUSIC, issued a firm statement categorically denying plagiarism charges brought against the maknae's single, SEVEN. For those uninformed, producer Yang Joon-young of Fin.K.L's Time of Mask had accused BTS' youngest member of plagiarism and alleged that SEVEN sounded very similar to Time of Mask and had a similar "scale sequence."

BIG HIT MUSIC responded to the allegations and stated that the claims of copyright infringement against SEVEN are not true. The Billboard chart-topper was composed by a team of five international composers and is totally unrelated to the aforementioned Korean song, which was released 24 years ago. As per BIG HIT MUSIC, the claims presented are one-sided and absurd.

Issuing a solid statement of denial, the agency wrote,

"We would like to inform you that the claims of copyright infringement regarding Jungkook’s SEVEN are not true. SEVEN is a song that was made through the collaboration of five foreign composers, and it is a creation that is completely unrelated to the song on a domestic album from 24 years ago like some are claiming."

"They are one-sided claims that do not meet any criteria such as substantial similarity and principles in determining plagiarism.”

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BTS' Jungkook's SEVEN has been accused of plagiarism by Korean composer Yang Joon-young

Amid the success of SEVEN, allegations have surfaced that the track is similar to Fin. K.L's b-side track Time of Mask from the 2000 album called S.P.E.C.I.A.L. According to the track's original composer, Yang Joon-young, SEVEN bears an uncanny resemblance to it. The composer claimed that the two songs have a very similar scale sequence.

SEVEN is produced by a team of five talented foreign composers - Grammy-award-winning Andrew Watt, Jon Bellion, Henry Walter, Theron Makiel Thomas, and American rapper Latto, who participated in the music video as well. Composer Yang Joon-young had reportedly requested to investigate and evaluate the scale sequence of BTS' Jungkook's SEVEN.

Initially, HYBE Labels (BIG HIT MUSIC's parent company) responded by stating that the issue cannot be resolved as BTS' producer Bang Si-hyuk or Bang PD is on an overseas trip to the United States and will respond when he gets back.

However, it seems like the discourse around the controversy snowballed, prompting BIG HIT MUSIC to draft a firm response to the plagiarism allegations debunking that BTS' Jungkook's SEVEN bears not even the slightest resemblance to Yang Joon-young's Time to Mask in any shape or form.

This isn't the first time BTS' Jungkook's SEVEN has been embroiled in plagiarism-related controversy. Back in July, an American music reviewer uploaded a video on TikTok sharing perceived similarities between SEVEN and a TikTok video by So Y Tiet, a Vietnamese content creator, alleging that there are similarities between the two songs.

Shortly after, acclaimed music reviewer Jarred Jermaine delved deeper into both songs and responded by saying that there were indeed similarities between the two songs. ARMYs stood by BTS' Jungkook and refuted the music reviewer's charges.

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BTS' Jungkook tops Spotify’s Global Weekly Chart for 5 weeks in a row

BTS' Jungkook continues to make strides with his new song SEVEN as he unlocks a new Spotify's weekly Global Top Songs chart achievement. The tantalizing single featuring Han So-hee and Latto was released on July 14 and debuted at the number one spot on the Global Top Songs chart.

Additionally, Bangtan's maknae became the first male artist ever to surpass 15 million first-day streams with a new song on Spotify, second only to Taylor Swift. Five weeks later, SEVEN continues to chart at the number one spot on Spotify's weekly Global Top Songs, making the Euphoria singer the first-ever Korean artist in history to top the chart for five weeks in a row.

SEVEN's official music video currently has 172 million views on YouTube.