“That’s really taehyung’s whole verse" — Stray Kids' face allegations of plagiarizing V's verse in BTS’ Jump after upcoming album Hop mashup release

BTS fans have accused Stray Kids of plagiarizing V's verse from Jump for its upcoming song Walkin on Water from the album Hop. On December 6, 2024, JYP Entertainment unveiled the mashup of Stray Kids' songs from its upcoming album titled Hop. The mashup is a slight remix of songs, including Walkin on Water, Bounce Back, and more, which is performed by all the members of Stray Kids.

However, ARMYs (BTS' fandom) alleged that a portion of the song Walkin on Water sounded similar to V's verse in the hip-hop track Jump. Although the lyrics are different, fans and netizens alleged that the melodic flow of V’s verse in Jump and Stray Kids’ Walkin On Water are similar.

This led to a massive debate online among K-pop fans as the BIGHIT MUSIC group's song Jump was reportedly inspired by the 90s American Hip-hop duo Kriss Kross's Jump. As per BTS' interview with Hanryupia in 2014, Suga and RM reportedly revealed that they worked on Kriss Kross's Jump as a cover. However, they added their lyrics and made several modifications, which were later added to their album SKHOOL LUV AFFAIR.

ARMYs accused the LALALALA singers of specifically copying the melodic flow of V's verse from Jump. Many took to social media to share their thoughts on the plagiarism allegations against Stray Kids.

“I thought this was gonna be armys being dramatic but no that’s really taehyung’s whole verse that’s crazy,” a fan said.

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“the problem is... bts sampled the original, while skz sampled bts' original part who wasn't in the sample song. the credit should be two, the original singer of jump and bts members, especially yoongi. but the problem is, they didn't do it. so it's a straight copycat,” another fan said.

“DAMN I thought y’all were exaggerating. It really is nuga nareul magado," a user reacted.

On the other hand, Stray Kids’ fans came in defense of the group, saying they may have sampled from Kriss Kross's Jump.

“#them saying hybe should file a lawsuit. hybe WONT be filing ANY lawsuits bc hybe aren’t brainless twt users and they ACTUALLY understand how music, copyright and samples work n r professionals in this, hope this helps!,”a user stated.

“This is called a mashup, it is transformative and doesn't necessarily sound like the real song, beats sampled are of fair use. And it'll take an intelligent and knowledgeable self producing artist to break it down so y'all understand,” a fan wrote

“Doing all that yapping over a mashup video is crazy my god,” another fan wrote.

Stray Kids and JYP Entertainment have yet to comment on the allegations.

More about Stray Kids’ upcoming hip-hop album Hop

Stray Kids is gearing up for its comeback with the Hip-hop album Hop, which includes 12 tracks, of which eight songs are solo tracks by each member. Furthermore, JYP Entertainment has unveiled each member’s solo songs’ visual teasers through its social media and the official YouTube channel.

Hop Tracklist: