Can Someone Please Explain What "Gang Sunk That Dunker" Means?
Updated May 22 2020, 7:24 p.m. ET
Amalaratna Zandile Dlamini, aka Doja Cat, isn't really known for keeping her opinion to herself. And her fans are outspoken about loving her for it. So when her fans caught a post made by Lana Del Rey on May 21 in which Doja was mentioned, they weren't particularly happy. Neither were the fans of any of the other female artists that Lana named.
Neither, apparently, was Doja herself.
In a now-deleted comment, Doja wrote, "gang sunk that dunker." Sounds negative for sure, but, um, what the heck does it mean?
It turns out that it isn't the first time Doja has alluded to the phrase. And where she said it last has some painfully bad context.
What's the meaning behind "gang sunk that dunker" and why did Doja write it?
On May 21, Lana took to Instagram to write what would become a controversial post, the full text of which can be seen below:
Lana opens the post by saying, "Now that Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé have number one songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, f--king, cheating etc — can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money — or whatever I want — without being crucified or saying I'm glamorizing abuse?"
Lana goes on to say that she's tired of being told that she's "set women back hundreds of years" and that she believes "there needs to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like me." She also stated that she "really paved the way for women to stop 'putting on a happy face' and just say whatever the hell they wanted in their music."
Many took offense at Lana's post.
Overwhelmingly, the fans of the women listed at the top of Lana's post were not thrilled that she'd included them and a general consensus was that she was suggesting that she'd "paved the way" for the artists listed. And anyone could tell you that, if you come for Beyoncé, the Beyhive will sting. It was also not lost on many people that she primarily listed women of color, which some took to be a racist sentiment.
Many memes were made essentially accusing Lana of throwing a tantrum that the women listed were more successful than her, though they sing about similar topics.
It seemed that Doja herself took some offense. She commented, "gang sunk that dunker," before deleting it, though, as we already know, if you put it on the internet, it lives forever. The problem is, though, no one seems to know what she actually meant.
While some believe that the statement means "points were made," most believe it's a negative, with the general understanding of it being that Lana is "that dunker" as she tried to shoot her shot with the post. But the gang (Doja's fan / the fans of all the other women listed) sunk her, or dragged her for what she said.
Though the comment was deleted off the post, it's unknown if Doja or Lana did the deleting. However, Doja later tweet, "Gang ______________. (Complete it)," which seems to suggest that she stands by what she said...even if no one is totally sure what she means by it.
Lana further clarified what she meant in the comments section of her post.
The backlash to the initial post was so strong, Lana jumped into the comments of her post several times to explain what she meant.
"To be clear because I knowwwwww you love to twist things. I f--king love these singers and know them. #that is why I mentioned them I would also like to have some of the same freedom of expression without judgment of hysteria. There you go [sic]," her first comment read.
She followed up with, "By the way the singers I mentioned are my favorite singers so if you want to try and make a bone to pick out of that like you always do be my guest, it doesn’t change the fact that I haven’t had the same opportunity to express what I wanted to express without being completely decimated and if you want to say that that has something to do with race that’s your opinion but that’s not what I was saying."
"Bro," she continued. "This is sad to make it about a WOC issue when I’m talking about my favorite singers. I could’ve literally said anyone but I picked my favorite f--king people. And this is the problem with society today, not everything is about whatever you want it to be. It’s exactly the point of my post – there are certain women that culture doesn’t want to have a voice it may not have to do with race I don’t know what it has to do with. I don’t care anymore but don’t ever ever ever ever bro- call me racist because that is bulls--t."
She concluded with, "And my last and final note on everything – when I said people who look like me – I meant the people who don’t look strong or necessarily smart, or like they’re in control etc. it’s about advocating for a more delicate personality, not for white woman – thanks for the Karen comments tho. V helpful."
But on May 22, it was Doja's turn to get canceled due to very racist receipts.
On May 22, #DojaCatIsOverParty began trending — thanks to some rather painful videos.
"I learned that if you sunk a dunker, you could be anybody," she said, in the chat that is reportedly known as Tea Time. The Tinychat room is known to be a home for incels and racists. The video evidence of Doja engaging with the group is damaging enough, but it also shows her being open about her preference for white men.
There are further claims that she has reportedly said anti-black statements, used racial slurs, claimed to not want to be black, and put on sexually explicit shows for the men in Tea Time. As of now, these reports cannot be corroborated with video evidence, but there are some who claim that that they have seen it firsthand.
Another further issue was the report that Doja's song "Dindu Nuffin" was about Sandra Bland, who was found hanged in her jail cell three days after her arrest at a traffic stop. Video evidence was released of police brutality during her arrest. The phrase "dindu nuffin" is reportedly used to mock black people who died in police brutality.