Blackpink and Kiss of Life.
Picture-Illustration: Vulture. Pictures: Emma McIntyre/Getty Photos for Coachella, Han Myung-Gu/WireImage
We’re solely 5 days in, nevertheless it looks like a complete month of discourse has already already been crammed into April. A number of Ok-pop idols have been dealing with criticism amid an ongoing discourse about whether or not the Ok-pop trade respects Black individuals as a lot because it admires Black tradition. To be clear, this isn’t a brand new dialog by any means — worldwide followers have been elevating considerations round anti-Blackness and cultural appropriation in Ok-pop for years. However this previous week has felt particularly notable to some individuals due to the close to back-to-back timing of those scandals. Beneath, what to find out about the alleged previous use of the N-word by Jennie, Lisa, and Rosé of Blackpink, the apparently “old-school hip-hop” themed Kiss of Life livestream that each one 4 members have now shared a joint handwritten apology for, and different latest controversies.
On March 30, a person who claimed to be a former YG Leisure worker started posting content material (together with purportedly leaked movies, unreleased music, and allegations about romantic relationships) regarding idols from throughout the Ok-pop trade. This so-called “YG leaker” shared a number of clips that allegedly present three of the 4 members of Blackpink — Jennie, Lisa, and Rosé — singing or rapping the N-word whereas masking songs as trainees previous to their debut as a YG Leisure group in 2016. Whereas not everybody trusted the authenticity of the supply, sufficient of those clips had been circulating that some individuals began creating compilation movies to depend what number of occasions every member appeared to have used the racial slur. (YG Leisure and representatives for Jennie, Lisa, and Rosé didn’t instantly reply to Vulture’s request for remark.)
Blackpink followers who had been damage started calling for the members to apologize. Some expressed doubt that Rosé and Jennie might have been absolutely unaware of the importance of the slur resulting from their backgrounds as English-speakers; per an Elle interview, Rosé was born and raised in Australia, whereas Jennie spent a part of her childhood finding out in New Zealand earlier than returning to her native Korea. (Lisa, who moved to Korea to coach when she was 14, instructed Rolling Stone that she started studying English in center faculty in her residence nation of Thailand.) Others maintained that whatever the members’s intentions or stage of consciousness previously, they nonetheless wanted to take accountability within the current — particularly since they work with Black artists.
Nonetheless, not all people wished Jennie, Lisa, and Rosé to apologize. Some individuals claimed that the detrimental response on-line was unwarranted. Others did take concern with using the phrase, however asserted that the women had been to not blame for what occurred whereas they had been trainees a decade in the past. One Blackpink fanbase with 1.2 million followers on X stated in an April 4 assertion that the leaked movies had been being “intentionally weaponized” towards the members, arguing that the “actual accountability” for this “mistake” lies with the Ok-pop trade and firms like YG Leisure for “failing to supply correct cultural schooling.”
As of publication, Jennie, Lisa, and Rosé haven’t publicly acknowledged the purportedly leaked movies.
On April 2, Kiss of Life members Julie, Belle, Natty, and Haneul celebrated Julie’s birthday in a since-deleted YouTube livestream with a gown code billed as “old-school hip-hop vibes.” The idea and styling had been closely criticized as appropriative of Black tradition: Haneul had facet cornrows, whereas Natty was carrying gold chains and, at one level, two hats stacked on high of one another. Some additionally felt that Belle, who rapped a part of Sexyy Purple’s “Pound City” and was known as “Lil Taco Belle” throughout the reside, was dressed as a chola and appropriating Chicano tradition. The members’s mannerisms and affected speech all through the livestream — together with Julie’s declaration that “Lil Taco Belle be flirting with my man and that’s not a bestie,” for instance — additionally attracted backlash for taking part in into stereotypes.
As clips unfold on-line, a viral tweet instructed that the members had been partaking in “superior racism” as a result of that they had soul meals on the desk. In the course of the broadcast, the group had really launched a menu of primarily Thai dishes. However from a distance and with out that context, an honest quantity of individuals appeared to mistake mango sticky rice and morning stir-fried glory (or pad pak boong) for cornbread and collard greens, which solely added to the a number of different frustrations with the printed. The general contents of the reside additionally stung for followers who thought that Kiss of Life ought to have identified higher, on condition that two members are Individuals who had been raised in america. (Belle is from Seattle, whereas Julie — who beforehand apologized in 2023 after a previous video resurfaced of her utilizing the N-word in a music cowl — is from Hawaii.)
Kiss of Life’s firm, S2 Leisure, addressed the backlash by releasing an April 3 apology assertion in English and Korean and taking down the livestream and associated social content material. “We sincerely apologize for inflicting discomfort to our viewers, the true function of the content material was to rejoice hip hop tradition the place a lot of the musical inspiration for Kiss of Life comes from,” the English assertion learn. “We apologize for our shortcomings in recognizing the detrimental cultural implications that our content material can be perceived as.” Instantly translated, the Korean assertion went barely additional in acknowledging that the livestream had adopted “stereotypes” of sure races. Nonetheless, many followers had been hoping for a extra particular apology that got here instantly from the members. Amid the controversy, a number of Kiss of Life fanpages run by Black and Latina followers posted statements on X to specific their disappointment and share their resolution to both completely or briefly depart their accounts.
Sure. On April 5, the 4 members shared a handwritten assertion that apologizes “for any ache and misery we now have induced our followers” and states that they’ll proceed to “educate” themselves. The group, which kicked off the Asia leg of their Kiss the Highway world tour the day earlier than, famous that they “wished to and will’ve addressed” the scenario sooner. “Our intention was to indicate how a lot we liked the class of old-fashioned hip hop as a result of it vastly influences our music. Whereas taking pictures the content material we ended up taking the idea too far,” the assertion stated. “We notice now that our content material was culturally insensitive and take full accountability for our actions and may solely promise to do higher.”
Across the identical time because the purported Blackpink leaks, a previous video resurfaced that allegedly exhibits CL, who debuted as a 2NE1 member in 2009, singing the N-word a number of occasions in a canopy. Additionally throughout the previous couple of days, the web has reacted to a member of the woman group Younger Posse changing the N-word with “zigga” whereas rapping and a male soloist carrying a durag in idea images. Finally, many on the web have recognized this week as a very tiring one for Black Ok-pop followers.
