CORTIS and Hanroro “MoneyMoneyMoney” Lyric Controversy, Explained: Wordplay, Backlash, and a Peace Offering
CORTIS, the rookie boy group under Big Hit Music, has found itself at the center of an unexpected controversy just as it celebrates its first anniversary.
The source of the drama isn’t a scandal in the traditional sense — no leaked messages, no legal trouble, no scheduling disputes.
Instead, it’s a single lyric in a brand-new song that name-drops fellow artist Hanroro, and the ensuing online argument over whether that lyric was clever wordplay or a careless jab at another musician’s work.
Here’s everything that’s happened so far, and how the story has evolved from backlash to a surprisingly gracious resolution.
How the controversy started
CORTIS debuted the song “MONEYMONEYMONEY” live for the first time during its “PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN BIRTHDAY PARTY” concert at Korea University’s Hwajeong Gymnasium in Seoul, held over the weekend to mark the group’s first anniversary.
The track, co-written and co-composed by the members themselves, is a hip-hop cut centered on candid reflections about money — the idea that while wealth doesn’t guarantee happiness, plenty of things in life are genuinely difficult without it.
The song was formally released as part of the expanded edition of CORTIS’s second mini album, retitled with two additional tracks, “PACK IT UP” and “MONEYMONEYMONEY,” added to the original six-song tracklist.
One line in particular caught listeners’ attention immediately. Roughly translated, the lyric goes: “I wanna get paid while I play, Pororo / Stackin’ zeros on zeros in my account, like Hanroro / They say it’s all brainrot, but everyone’s slurping it down.”
The second line is the one that sparked debate. It plays on singer-songwriter Hanroro’s name and stage identity by linking it to the phrase “zeros on zeros,” a direct reference to her well-known song “0+0.” The rhyme structure ties Hanroro’s name to the concept of a bank account filling up with zeros — a wealth-flexing image that some listeners felt sat uncomfortably against the actual meaning of her song.
Why fans pushed back
“0+0” isn’t just any Hanroro track.
According to the singer’s own explanation of the song, it centers on the idea of two people choosing not to abandon each other and dreaming of a lasting future together — the “zero plus zero” in the title evokes feeling like you have nothing to offer, only to find hope in someone who stays anyway.
It’s widely regarded by her fans as an emotionally significant song, one that has reportedly helped listeners through difficult periods in their lives.
Given that context, a chunk of Korean netizens felt that reducing “0+0” to a rhyme about accumulating money missed the point entirely — or worse, mocked it.
One fan post that circulated on social platform X argued that using Hanroro’s name simply because it rhymed, in a song about making money, came across as disrespectful rather than complimentary, especially since the original song’s meaning had nothing to do with wealth at all.
Beyond the lyric itself, some critics also pointed at fans who found the line funny, arguing that treating another artist’s work as a punchline — regardless of comedic intent — wasn’t appropriate.
Others in the fandom folded the criticism into a broader concern about “shoutouts” in K-pop songwriting more generally, arguing that referencing a fellow artist should be additive and respectful, not just used because it’s catchy.
Not everyone saw it that way, though. A number of international fans and CORTIS listeners pushed back on the backlash itself, framing the lyric as an innocuous, even flattering, reference — a young group name-checking an artist they clearly listen to and admire, using her most recognizable song title as the hook.
To this camp, the outrage read as an overreaction to a fairly standard hip-hop technique: interpolating a peer’s name or work as a lyrical flex.
Keonho responds directly
As the controversy spread across social media in the days following the concert, CORTIS member Keonho addressed the criticism personally via a post on Weverse, the fan communication platform used by many HYBE-affiliated artists.
Keonho explained that he had recently taken up reading as a hobby and found himself increasingly drawn into Hanroro’s songwriting as a result — describing a growing appreciation for her lyrics that went beyond simply liking her music on the surface.
His explanation framed the “MoneyMoneyMoney” line as a genuine expression of fandom and admiration rather than an attempt to poke fun at “0+0” or diminish what the song means to its listeners.
According to reporting on the incident, Keonho characterized the reference as a witty nod born out of real respect for Hanroro’s songwriting craft, not a throwaway rhyme.
Keonho’s statement shifted some of the conversation, but it also opened a new line of criticism. A number of fans argued that it shouldn’t have fallen to a 20-year-old member of the group to manage the fallout, and that Big Hit Music.
The agency representing CORTIS — should have issued an official statement addressing the lyric and clarifying whether Hanroro or her team had been consulted before the reference was included in the song. As of the most recent reporting, Big Hit Music has not released any formal comment on the matter.
Hanroro breaks her silence
The clearest turning point in the story came when Hanroro herself addressed the controversy directly. She posted a lengthy message on her own fan community platform, explaining that many fans had reached out to her about the lyric and about Keonho’s Weverse post.
Hanroro said she was already aware that CORTIS members listened to and sang along to her song “0+0,” and noted that she considers herself a fan of CORTIS in return, admiring the members’ musical creativity.
She framed the situation as one artist connecting with another through music, saying she saw nothing more meaningful than musicians inspiring each other. On that basis, she said she was choosing to take the “MoneyMoneyMoney” reference as a compliment rather than a slight.
She went further, describing “0+0” as a song that evokes a range of emotional responses — both for her and, apparently, for the CORTIS members — and suggested that having a line from it appear in “MoneyMoneyMoney” could become a way for both artists to remember a moment of mutual respect between them going forward.
Her statement effectively closed the loop on the controversy from the artists’ side. What began as an accusation of disrespect toward Hanroro’s work ended with the two acts publicly describing the exchange as a moment of goodwill rather than conflict.
To conclude : Where things stand now
As of this week, the controversy has largely settled into resolution, at least between the two parties most directly involved. Keonho has explained his intent, Hanroro has publicly accepted the reference as a compliment, and much of the immediate backlash has cooled as a result.
Some fans, however, remain unsatisfied that Big Hit Music itself has stayed silent, arguing that a company-level acknowledgment — rather than a personal explanation from a 20-year-old idol — would have been the more appropriate response to criticism aimed at the group as a whole.
The episode is a fairly typical example of how quickly a single lyric can spiral into a full-blown online debate in the K-pop space, where references to other artists, intentional or not, are scrutinized closely by fandoms protective of the original work’s meaning. It’s also an example of how such disputes can be resolved relatively quickly when the artists involved choose to address it publicly and directly, rather than letting an agency statement — or silence — speak for them.
For now, “MoneyMoneyMoney” remains part of the expanded edition of CORTIS’s second mini album, and the lyric that sparked the debate is still very much part of the song as performed and released.
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