Mini Note #8: I don't know how to stomach 'Übermensch' in 2025

G-Dragon released his first album today in 12 years. I desperately want to listen to it, to hear what he has to offer. The reviews that I've read so far have been great. I also am horribly reluctant to listen due to the framing of the album, and so am not listening today. It is, after all, titled Übermensch.

According to a statement by GD, "Übermensch means ‘Beyond-Man,’ representing an individual who transcends themselves. This album embodies the idea of presenting a stronger and more resilient version of oneself to the public. I hope this strength resonates with my fans through my music."

Sounds good, right? Except that the idea, conceptualized by 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche as a goal for an elevated human existence, was co-opted by Nazis before and during World War II to mean a supreme German being, and thus a superior race. To me - and many other people who are Jewish or some other type of person targeted by Nazis and white supremacists - the idea of an Übermensch is extraordinarily uncomfortable. You see we are "untermensch", or sub-humans.

In the past I've explained and explored why conversations about swastikas and K-pop give me migraines, and why to some degree I do not care about them. In most cases, I don't believe the intentional harm. But in 2025, I really don't want to spend my precious time and energy listening to an album that glorifies the terminology so associated with hate, however it's doing it and whatever it's intent is. I just honestly don't care.

In this case, there's one of two options: G-Dragon doesn't understand the context, and is thus not as enmeshed in his artistic ideology as he appears to be; or he does, and he chose to use the idea anyway in an attempt to make a point on his own terms. Coming at a time when the world is witnessing an uptick in hate against others, and especially white supremacy, which the ideology is frequently related to. The album arrived the same week that Germany witnessed a major uptick during elections in support for the alt-right part known as the AfD, seen as the successors to the Nazi Party.

I'm not the only one who has been made uncomfortable by the themes G-Dragon is promoting, particularly with some branding that evoke the artistic style of Nazi Germany. I stumbled upon a few pretty engaging Reddit threads a few days ago, so take a read if you're interested in some other perspectives, including some interesting ones about what perhaps the specific artistic choices may mean as a way of turning the idea on its head. (Using D-Day for the final release trailer as "G-D Day" makes great artistic sense, but considering the connotation of all the rest... augh.)

You could presume that G-Dragon is attempting to take ownership of the term, identifying with the original idea and not the corrupted ideology it went on to become synonymous with. Maybe that's the case. But I think it ultimately comes down to him trying to be an edgy artiste, showing us all that yes, he does know philosophy (and there's a whole lot to say about him identifying and/or taking ownership of a particularly Eurocentric sort of philosophy).

But in a world where Kanye West, the god of hip-hop for so many years, is denying that he himself is a Nazi after many, many bouts of hate speech... I don't know. I don't care for edgy art for the sake of edginess. So I won't be listening right now. I'll probably listen eventually, because I really don't want to think that G-Dragon's intent is where my mind went, and I do want to enjoy what little good there is in the world nowadays.

But for the moment, I feel exhausted. The same way that I do not give a flying fuck what Kanye's reason was for selling a swastika shirt (spoiler: it's hate), I don't want to engage with the reasoning and rationale of this, and so I just won't engage.

To be honest, I was less frustrated honestly with a self-proclaimed Jew hater selling a swastika shirt during the Superbowl than I was all the Instagram news accounts using the shirt's picture for their feed, spreading swastikas all over my timeline and it not technically being hate speech. We can't normalize these things, saying that it's okay to use hateful symbols because it's art, especially not nowadays when we live in a world, and I live in a country, where we are othering and rounding up people, and starting to make registration lists.

History repeats itself and we cannot elevate the past to make a point in the present.

The tide of hate is rising and the idea of using it as shock factor really repulses me. So for today, at least, I will not be listening.

P.S.: I wrote this right before midnight, so all the typos are part of the Tamar Sleepytime Experience and you too should probably go to bed now.