One of a Kind

“I’m one of a kind

I’m a bear that can do a lot of tricks— no, more like a fox”

This is a song lyric from one of my most favorite rap songs. Right off the bat, you can detect a sense of arrogance – something that is very characteristic of the rap genre. He starts with a statement, a self-compliment that clearly separates him from “the rest.” He goes on to refer to himself as a bear. The initial connotations of the word ‘bear’ would be ‘big’, ‘intimidating’, ‘beastly’, ‘wild’, etc. I am sure this is a universal condition amongst humans – we wouldn’t immediately think ‘cute’ or ‘fuzzy wuzzy’ unless it specifically referenced teddy bears. The first thing that came to my mind was the movie Brave in which it was common to have bears do tricks for entertainment. The bears were often trapped in a cage or heavily chained and whipped while party guests would jeer and laugh in excitement. Let’s look at the word ‘bear’ itself. Other than the animalistic connotation, we can also see it as ‘bearing the weight of the world’, etc. Along with his job in the entertainment industry comes responsibility. It is a type of responsibility that needs to cater to his fans, his company, his friends, his family, and himself.

After calling himself a bear, he goes on to reject that idea and calls himself a fox instead. Foxes are completely different. I immediately think ‘cunning’ and ‘sly’. Again, this description is something that has become universal. Depending on culture and folklore the fox could symbolize many things, but it is not often described as stupid or slow – not like the bear that can be manipulated by humans. In Korean folklore the fox outwits the bear.

So now the rapper is saying that he is not some dumb person that merely conforms to rules and receives the short end of the stick. He is fully aware of the entertainment industry’s expectations. He mentions that he knows a lot of tricks, but his kind of tricks are not just singing, dancing, and rapping. He is letting his audience know that he cannot be easily taken advantage of like the rest of the ‘bears’ in the industry. He can work hard AND reap the benefits of having a celebrity status.

Therefore, the rapper is alluding to many things: 1) his personality is big, hard to miss, 2) he has been trained to entertain – it is his job, 3) his talent is incomparable and his style cannot be mimicked. He’s ‘one of a kind’.

There is a whole world of reasoning that I could back these lyrics from based on what I already know about the rapper and the entertainment industry. I specifically meant to keep his background story until the end of my post. He is actually a very, very prominent celebrity in the Kpop world – think Psy (You know, Gangnam Style) but better (in my opinion). What if I were to tell you that this guy is 5’8 and weighs 127 lbs? Nothing close to a bear. Cunning? Definitely. He pretty much rules the music charts with first place all-kills with every single song release. It’s called being a genius.

P.S. his name is G-Dragon and the song is called One of a Kind…if you are interested. You're welcome.